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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Black Star Passes, by John W Campbell
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Black Star Passes
+
+Author: John W Campbell
+
+Illustrator: Jerome Podwil
+
+Release Date: February 27, 2007 [EBook #20707]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLACK STAR PASSES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by V. L. Simpson, Greg Weeks and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+    THREE AGAINST THE STARS
+
+    A sky pirate armed with superior weapons of his own
+    invention....
+
+    First contact with an alien race dangerous enough to
+    threaten the safety of two planets....
+
+    The arrival of an unseen dark sun whose attendant
+    marauders aimed at the very end of civilization in this
+    Solar System....
+
+    These were the three challenges that tested the skill
+    and minds of the brilliant team of scientist-astronauts
+    Arcot, Wade, and Morey. Their initial adventures are a
+    classic of science-fiction which first brought the name
+    of their author, John W. Campbell, into prominence as a
+    master of the inventive imagination.
+
+
+
+    JOHN W. CAMPBELL first started writing in 1930 when his
+    first short story, _When the Atoms Failed_, was
+    accepted by a science-fiction magazine. At that time he
+    was twenty years old and still a student at college. As
+    the title of the story indicates, he was even at that
+    time occupied with the significance of atomic energy
+    and nuclear physics.
+
+    For the next seven years, Campbell, bolstered by a
+    scientific background that ran from childhood
+    experiments, to study at Duke University and the
+    Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote and sold
+    science-fiction, achieving for himself an enviable
+    reputation in the field.
+
+    In 1937 he became the editor of _Astounding Stories_
+    magazine and applied himself at once to the task of
+    bettering the magazine and the field of s-f writing in
+    general. His influence on science-fiction since then
+    cannot be underestimated. Today he still remains as the
+    editor of that magazine's evolved and redesigned
+    successor, _Analog_.
+
+
+
+THE BLACK STAR PASSES
+
+JOHN W. CAMPBELL
+
+
+
+
+
+ACE BOOKS, INC.
+1120 Avenue of the Americas
+New York, N.Y. 10036
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BLACK STAR PASSES
+
+Copyright, 1953, by John W. Campbell, Jr.
+
+Copyright, 1930, by Experimenter Publications, Inc.
+
+An Ace Book, by arrangement with the author.
+
+
+_Cover art by Jerome Podwil._
+
+
+
+Printed in U.S.A.
+
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+
+Introduction 7
+
+
+BOOK ONE
+
+Piracy Preferred 11
+
+
+BOOK TWO
+
+Solarite 71
+
+
+BOOK THREE
+
+The Black Star Passes 145
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+These stories were written nearly a quarter of a century ago, for the
+old _Amazing Stories_ magazine. The essence of any magazine is
+not its name, but its philosophy, its purpose. That old _Amazing
+Stories_ is long since gone; the magazine of the same name today is
+as different as the times today are different from the world of 1930.
+
+Science-fiction was new, in 1930; atomic energy was a dream we
+believed in, and space-travel was something we tried to understand
+better. Today, science-fiction has become a broad field, atomic
+energy--despite the feelings of many present adults!--is no dream.
+(Nor is it a nightmare; it is simply a fact, and calling it a
+nightmare is another form of effort to push it out of reality.)
+
+In 1930, the only audience for science-fiction was among those who
+were still young enough in spirit to be willing to hope and speculate
+on a new and wider future--and in 1930 that meant almost nothing but
+teen-agers. It meant the brightest group of teen-agers, youngsters who
+were willing to _play_ with ideas and understandings of physics
+and chemistry and astronomy that most of their contemporaries
+considered "too hard work."
+
+I grew up with that group; the stories I wrote over the years, and,
+later, the stories I bought for _Astounding Science Fiction_
+changed and grew more mature too. _Astounding Science Fiction_
+today has many of the audience that read those early stories; they're
+not high school and college students any more, of course, but
+professional engineers, technologists and researchers now. Naturally,
+for them we need a totally different kind of story. In growing with
+them, I and my work had to lose much of the enthusiastic scope that
+went with the earlier science fiction.
+
+When a young man goes to college, he is apt to say, "I want to be a
+scientist," or "I want to be an engineer," but his concepts are broad
+and generalized. Most major technical schools, well knowing this, have
+the first year course for _all_ students the same. Only in the
+second and subsequent years does specialization start.
+
+By the sophomore year, a student may say, "I want to be a
+_chemical_ engineer."
+
+At graduation, he may say, "I'm going into chemical engineering
+_construction_."
+
+Ten years later he may explain that he's a chemical engineer
+specializing in the construction of corrosion-resistant structures,
+such as electroplating baths and pickling tanks for stainless steel.
+
+Year by year, his knowledge has become more specialized, and much
+deeper. He's better and better able to do the important work the world
+needs done, but in learning to do it, he's necessarily lost some of
+the broad and enthusiastic scope he once had.
+
+These are early stories of the early days of science-fiction. Radar
+hadn't been invented; we missed that idea. But while these stories
+don't have the finesse of later work--they have a bounding enthusiasm
+that belongs with a young field, designed for and built by young men.
+Most of the writers of those early stories were, like myself, college
+students. (_Piracy Preferred_ was written while I was a sophomore
+at M.I.T.)
+
+For old-timers in science-fiction--these are typical of the
+days when the field was starting. They've got a fine flavor
+of our own younger enthusiasm.
+
+For new readers of science-fiction--these have the stuff that laid the
+groundwork of today's work, they're the stories that were meant for
+young imaginations, for people who wanted to think about the world
+they had to build in the years to come.
+
+Along about sixteen to nineteen, a young man has to decide what is,
+for him, the Job That Needs Doing--and get ready to get in and pitch.
+If he selects well, selects with understanding and foresight, he'll
+pick a job that _does_ need doing, one that will return rewards
+in satisfaction as well as money. No other man can pick that for him;
+he must choose the Job that _he_ feels fitting.
+
+Crystal balls can be bought fairly reasonably--but they don't work
+well. History books can be bought even more cheaply, and they're
+moderately reliable. (Though necessarily filtered through the cultural
+attitudes of the man who wrote them.) But they don't work well as
+predicting machines, because the world is changing too rapidly.
+
+The world today, for instance, needs engineers desperately. There a
+lot of jobs that the Nation would like to get done that can't even be
+started; not enough engineers available.
+
+Fifty years ago the engineering student was a sort of Second Class
+Citizen of the college campus. Today the Liberal Arts are fighting for
+a come-back, the pendulum having swung considerably too far in the
+other direction.
+
+So science-fiction has a very real function to the teen-agers; it
+presents varying ideas of what the world in which he will live his
+adult life will be interested in.
+
+This is 1953. My son will graduate in 1955. The period of his peak
+earning power should be when he's about forty to sixty--about 1970,
+say, to 1990. With the progress being made in understanding of health
+and physical vigor, it's apt to run beyond 2000 A.D., however.
+
+Anyone want to bet that people will be living in the same general
+circumstances then? That the same general social and cultural and
+material standards will apply?
+
+I have a hunch that the history books are a poor way of planning a
+life today--and that science-fiction comes a lot closer.
+
+There's another thing about science-fiction yarns that is quite
+conspicuous; it's so difficult to pick out the villains. It might have
+made quite a change in history if the ballads and tales of the old
+days had been a little less sure of who the villains were. Read the
+standard boy's literature of forty years ago; tales of Crusaders who
+were always right, and Saracens who were always wrong. (The same
+Saracens who taught the Christians to respect the philosophy of the
+Greeks, and introduced them to the basic ideas of straight,
+self-disciplined thinking!)
+
+Life's much simpler in a thatched cottage than in a dome on the
+airless Moon, easier to understand when the Villains are all pure
+black-hearted villains, and the Heroes are all pure White Souled
+Heroes. Just look how simple history is compared with science-fiction!
+It's simple--but is it good?
+
+These early science-fiction tales explored the Universe; they were
+probings, speculations, as to where we _could_ go. What we
+_could_ do.
+
+They had a sweep and reach and exuberance that belonged.
+
+They _were_ fun, too....
+
+John W. Campbell, Jr.
+Mountainside, N.J.
+April, 1953
+
+
+
+
+BOOK ONE
+
+PIRACY PREFERRED
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE
+
+
+High in the deep blue of the afternoon sky rode a tiny speck of
+glistening metal, scarcely visible in the glare of the sun. The workers
+on the machines below glanced up for a moment, then back to their work,
+though little enough it was on these automatic cultivators. Even this
+minor diversion was of interest in the dull monotony of green. These
+endless fields of castor bean plants had to be cultivated, but with the
+great machines that did the work it required but a few dozen men to
+cultivate an entire county.
+
+The passengers in the huge plane high above them gave little thought to
+what passed below, engrossed with their papers or books, or engaged in
+casual conversation. This monotonous trip was boring to most of them. It
+seemed a waste of time to spend six good hours in a short 3,500 mile
+trip. There was nothing to do, nothing to see, except a slowly passing
+landscape ten miles below. No details could be distinguished, and the
+steady low throb of the engines, the whirring of the giant propellers,
+the muffled roar of the air, as it rushed by, combined to form a
+soothing lullaby of power. It was all right for pleasure seekers and
+vacationists, but business men were in a hurry.
+
+The pilot of the machine glanced briefly at the instruments, wondered
+vaguely why he had to be there at all, then turned, and leaving the
+pilot room in charge of his assistant, went down to talk with the chief
+engineer.
+
+His vacation began the first of July, and as this was the last of June,
+he wondered what would have happened if he had done as he had been half
+inclined to do--quit the trip and let the assistant take her through. It
+would have been simple--just a few levers to manipulate, a few controls
+to set, and the instruments would have taken her up to ten or eleven
+miles, swung her into the great westward air current, and leveled her
+off at five hundred and sixty or so an hour toward 'Frisco'. They would
+hold her on the radio beam better than he ever could. Even the landing
+would have been easy. The assistant had never landed a big plane, but he
+knew the routine, and the instruments would have done the work. Even if
+he hadn't been there, ten minutes after they had reached destination, it
+would land automatically--if an emergency pilot didn't come up by that
+time in answer to an automatic signal.
+
+He yawned and sauntered down the hall. He yawned again, wondering what
+made him so sleepy.
+
+He slumped limply to the floor and lay there breathing ever more and
+more slowly.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The officials of the San Francisco terminus of The Transcontinental
+Airways company were worried. The great Transcontinental express had
+come to the field, following the radio beam, and now it was circling the
+field with its instruments set on the automatic signal for an emergency
+pilot. They were worried and with good reason, for this flight carried
+over 900,000 dollars worth of negotiable securities. But what could
+attack one of those giant ships? It would take a small army to overcome
+the crew of seventy and the three thousand passengers!
+
+The great ship was landing gently now, brought in by the emergency
+pilot. The small field car sped over to the plane rapidly. Already the
+elevator was in place beside it, and as the officials in the car drew up
+under the giant wing, they could see the tiny figure of the emergency
+pilot beckoning to them. Swiftly the portable elevator carried them up
+to the fourth level of the ship.
+
+What a sight met their eyes as they entered the main salon! At first
+glance it appeared that all the passengers lay sleeping in their chairs.
+On closer examination it became evident that they were not breathing!
+The ear could detect no heartbeat. The members of the crew lay at their
+posts, as inert as the passengers! The assistant pilot sprawled on the
+floor beside the instrument panel--apparently he had been watching the
+record of the flight. There was no one conscious--or apparently
+living--on board!
+
+"Dead! Over three thousand people!" The field manager's voice was
+hoarse, incredulous. "It's impossible--how could they have done it? Gas,
+maybe, drawn in through the ventilator pumps and circulated through the
+ship. But I can't conceive of any man being willing to kill three
+thousand people for a mere million! Did you call a doctor by radio,
+Pilot?"
+
+"Yes, sir. He is on his way. There's his car now."
+
+"Of course they will have opened the safe--but let's check anyway. I can
+only think some madman has done this--no sane man would be willing to
+take so many lives for so little." Wearily the men descended the stairs
+to the mail room in the hold.
+
+The door was closed, but the lock of the door was gone, the
+magnesium-beryllium alloy burned away. They opened the door and entered.
+The room seemed in perfect order. The guard lay motionless in the steel
+guard chamber at one side; the thick, bullet-proof glass made his
+outlines a little blurred, and the color of his face was green--but they
+knew there too must be that same pallor they had seen on the other
+faces. The delicate instruments had brought in the great ship perfectly,
+but it was freighted with a cargo of dead!
+
+They entered the room and proceeded to the safe, but it was opened as
+they had expected. The six-inch tungsto-iridium wall had been melted
+through. Even this unbelievable fact no longer surprised them. They
+only glanced at the metal, still too hot to touch, and looked about the
+room. The bonds had been taken. But now they noticed that over the
+mail-clerk's desk there had been fastened a small envelope. On it was
+printed:
+
+    To the Officials of the San Francisco Airport
+
+Inside was a short message, printed in the same sharp, black letters:
+
+    Gentlemen:
+
+    This plane should land safely. If it doesn't, it is your
+    fault, not mine, for the instruments that it carries
+    should permit it. The passengers are NOT dead! They have
+    been put in a temporary state of suspended animation.
+    Any doctor can readily revive them by the injection of
+    seven c.c. of decinormal potassium iodide solution for
+    every 100 pounds of weight. Do NOT use higher
+    concentrations. Lower concentrations will act more
+    slowly.
+
+    You will find that any tendency toward leprosy or cancer
+    will have been destroyed. It will kill any existing
+    cancer, and cure it in about one week. I have not
+    experimented with leprosy beyond knowing that it is
+    cured very quickly.
+
+    This is an outside job. Don't annoy the passengers with
+    questions.
+
+    The gas used cannot be stopped by any material I know
+    of. You can try it with any mask--but don't use the
+    C-32L. It will react with the gas to kill. I would
+    advise that you try it on an animal to convince
+    yourselves.
+
+    I have left stock in my new company to replace the bonds
+    I have taken.
+
+    Piracy Incorporated is incorporated under my own laws.
+
+                                                  The Pirate
+
+On the desk beneath the note was a small package which contained a
+number of stock certificates. They totalled $900,000 face value of
+"Piracy Preferred", the preferred stock of a corporation, "Piracy, Inc."
+
+"Piracy! Pirates in the air!" The field manager forced an unnatural
+laugh. "In 2126 we have pirates attacking our air lines. _Piracy
+Preferred!_ I think I'd prefer the bonds myself. But thank God he did
+not kill all those people. Doctor, you look worried! Cheer up. If what
+this pirate says is true, we can resuscitate them, and they'll be better
+off for the experience!"
+
+The doctor shook his head. "I've been examining your passengers. I'm
+afraid that you'll never be able to bring these people back to life
+again, sir. I can't detect any heart action even with the amplifier.
+Ordinary heart action sounds like a cataract through this instrument. I
+can see nothing wrong with the blood; it has not coagulated as I
+expected, nor is there any pronounced hydrolysis as yet. But I'm afraid
+I'll have to write out the death warrants for all these men and women.
+One of the people on that ship was coming to see me. That's how I
+happened to be on the field. For her, at least, it may be better so. The
+poor woman was suffering from an incurable cancer."
+
+"In this case, Doctor, I hope and believe you are wrong. Read this
+note!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was two hours before the work of reviving the passengers could be
+started. Despite all the laws of physics, their body temperature had
+remained constant after it had reached seventy-four, showing that some
+form of very slow metabolism was going on. One by one they were put into
+large electric blankets, and each was given the correct dose of the
+salt. The men waited anxiously for results--and within ten minutes of
+the injection the first had regained consciousness!
+
+The work went forward steadily and successfully. Every one of the
+passengers and crew was revived. And the Pirate had spoken the truth.
+The woman who had been suffering from cancer was free from pain for the
+first time in many months. Later, careful examination proved she was
+cured!
+
+The papers were issuing extras within five minutes of the time the great
+plane had landed, and the radio news service was broadcasting the first
+"break" in a particularly dead month. During all of June the news had
+been dead, and now July had begun with a bang!
+
+With time to think and investigate, the airport officials went over the
+ship with the Air Guard, using a fine-tooth comb. It was soon evident
+that the job had been done from the outside, as the Pirate had said. The
+emergency pilot testified that when he entered the ship, he found a
+small piece of wire securing the air lock from the outside. This had
+certainly been put on while the ship was in flight, and that meant that
+whoever had done this, had landed on the great ship with a small plane,
+had somehow anchored it, then had entered the plane through the air lock
+at the ten mile height. He had probably flown across the path of the
+plane, leaving a trail of gas in its way to be drawn in through the
+ventilator pumps. It had been washed out by the incoming good air later,
+for the emergency pilot had not been affected.
+
+Now the investigation led them to the mail-room. Despite the refractory
+nature of the metal, the door had been opened by melting or burning out
+the lock. And an opening had been burned into the safe itself! Opened by
+melting it through!
+
+A bond shipment was due the next day, and the airline officials planned
+to be on the watch for it. It would get through safely, they were sure,
+for men were put on board in steel chambers hermetically welded behind
+them, with oxygen tanks and automatic apparatus sealed within to supply
+them with clean air. The front of the tanks were equipped with
+bullet-proof glass windows, and by means of electrically operated
+controls the men inside could fire machine guns. Thus they were
+protected from the Pirate's gas and able to use their weapons.
+
+The ship was accompanied by a patrol of Air Guardsmen. Yet, despite,
+this, cancer cases were aboard with the hope of being gassed.
+
+When the plane reached the neighborhood of San Francisco, there had been
+no sign of an attack. The Pirate might well retire permanently on a
+million, if he were alone, as the singular signature indicated; but it
+seemed much more probable that he would attempt another attack in any
+case. Well, that just meant watching all the planes from now on, a
+tremendous job for the Air Guard to handle.
+
+The leader of the patrol turned in an easy bank to descend the ten miles
+to Earth, and his planes followed him. Then suddenly through the
+communicator came an unmistakable sound. _The plane automatically
+signaling for an emergency pilot!_ That could only mean that the plane
+had been gassed under the very eyes of his men!
+
+The bonds were gone and the passengers gassed, and incredibly, the men
+in the steel tanks were as thoroughly gassed as the rest.
+
+The note was brief, and as much to the point as was the absence of the
+bonds.
+
+
+    To the Officials of the Airport:
+
+    Restore as usual. The men in the tanks are asleep
+    also--I said the gas would penetrate _any_ material. It
+    does. A mask obviously won't do any good. Don't try that
+    C-32L mask. I warn you it will be fatal. My gas reacts
+    to produce a virulent poison when in contact with the
+    chemicals in the C-32L.
+
+                                                  The Pirate
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+
+On the thirty-ninth floor of a large New York apartment two young men
+were lounging about after a strenuous game of tennis. The blue tendrils
+of smoke from their pipes rose slowly, to be drawn away by the efficient
+ventilating system. The taller of the two seemed to be doing most of the
+talking. In the positions they had assumed it would have been rather
+difficult to be sure of which was the taller, but Robert Morey was a
+good four inches taller than Richard Arcot. Arcot had to suffer under
+the stigma of "runt" with Morey around--he was only six feet tall.
+
+The chosen occupation of each was physical research, and in that field
+Arcot could well have called Morey "runt", for Arcot had only one
+competitor--his father. In this case it had been "like father, like
+son". For many years Robert Arcot had been known as the greatest
+American physicist, and probably the world's greatest. More recently he
+had been known as the father of the world's greatest physicist. Arcot
+junior was probably one of the most brilliant men the world had ever
+seen, and he was aided in all his work by two men who could help him in
+a way that amplified his powers a thousand fold. His father and his best
+friend, Morey, were the complimentary and balancing minds to his great
+intelligence. His father had learned through years of work the easiest
+and best ways of performing the many difficult feats of laboratory
+experimentation. Morey could develop the mathematical theory of a
+hypothesis far more readily than Arcot could. Morey's mind was more
+methodical and exact than Arcot's, but Arcot could grasp the broad
+details of a problem and get the general method of solution developed
+with a speed that made it utterly impossible for his friend even to
+follow the steps he suggested.
+
+Since Arcot junior's invention of the multiple calculus, many new
+ramifications of old theories had been attained, and many developments
+had become possible.
+
+But the factor that made Arcot so amazingly successful in his line of
+work was his ability to see practical uses for things, an ability that
+is unfortunately lacking in so many great physicists. Had he collected
+the royalties his inventions merited, he would have been a billionaire
+twice or thrice over. Instead he had made contracts on the basis that
+the laboratories he owned be kept in condition, and that he be paid a
+salary that should be whatever he happened to need. Since he had sold
+all his inventions to Transcontinental Airways, he had been able to
+devote all his time to science, leaving them to manage his finances.
+Perhaps it was the fact that he did sell these inventions to
+Transcontinental that made these lines so successful; but at any rate,
+President Arthur Morey was duly grateful, and when his son was able to
+enter the laboratories he was as delighted as Arcot.
+
+The two had become boon companions. They worked, played, lived, and
+thought together.
+
+Just now they were talking about the Pirate. This was the seventh day of
+his discovery, and he had been growing steadily more menacing. It was
+the great Transcontinental Airways that had suffered most repeatedly.
+Sometimes it was the San Francisco Flyer that went on without a pilot,
+sometimes the New York-St. Louis expresses that would come over the
+field broadcasting the emergency signal. But always the people were
+revived with little difficulty, and each time more of the stock of
+"Piracy, Inc." was accumulated. The Air Guard seemed helpless. Time and
+time again the Pirate slipped in undetected. Each time he convinced
+them that it was an outside job, for the door was always sealed from the
+outside.
+
+"Dick, how do you suppose he gets away with the things he does right
+under the eyes of those Air Guardsmen? He must have some system; he does
+it every time."
+
+"I have a vague idea," Arcot answered. "I was going to ask you today, if
+your father would let us take passage on the next liner carrying any
+money. I understand the insurance rates have been boosted so high that
+they don't dare to send any cash by air any more. They've resorted to
+the slow land routes. Is there any money shipment in sight?"
+
+Morey shook his head. "No, but I have something that's just as good, if
+not better, for our purpose. The other day several men came into Dad's
+office, to charter a plane to San Francisco, and Dad naturally wondered
+why they had been referred to the president of the company. It seems the
+difficulty was that they wanted to hire the ship so they could be
+robbed! A large group of medical men and cancer victims were going for
+the 'treatment'. Each one of the twenty-five hundred going was to bring
+along one hundred dollars. That meant a total of a quarter of a million
+dollars, which is to be left on the table. They hoped the Pirate would
+gas them and thus cure them! Dad couldn't officially do this, but told
+them that if there were too many people for the San Francisco express,
+two sections would be necessary. I believe they are going on that second
+section. Only one hundred dollars! A low price for cancer cure!
+
+"Another thing: Dad asked me to tell you that he'd appreciate your help
+in stopping this ultra-modern pirate. If you go down to see him in the
+morning, you'll doubtless be able to make the necessary arrangements."
+
+"I'll do so gladly. I wonder, though, if you know more about this than I
+do. Did they try that C-32L mask on an animal?"
+
+"The Pirate was telling the truth. They tried it on a dog and he went to
+sleep forever. But do you have any idea how that gas does all it does?"
+
+Now Arcot shook his head. "I don't know what the gas is, but have a lead
+on how it works. You may know that carbon monoxide will seep through a
+solid plate of red-hot steel. That has been known for some three hundred
+years now, and I have to hand it to this Pirate for making use of it.
+Even in the war of 2075 they didn't find any practical application for
+the principle. He has just found some gas that induces sleep in very low
+concentrations, and at the same time is able to penetrate to an even
+greater extent than carbon monoxide."
+
+"I was wondering how he stores that stuff," Morey commented. "But I
+suppose he makes it as fast as he uses it, by allowing two or more
+constituents to react. It might well be simple enough to store them
+separately, and the air-stream blowing past him would carry the gas
+behind him, permitting him to lay a stream of it in front of the big
+plane. Is that about it?"
+
+"That was about what I had figured. One of the things I want to do when
+I go with that Invalid Special tomorrow is to get some samples for
+analysis."
+
+"That's a pretty big order, isn't it, Dick? How are you going to handle
+it, or even get it into your apparatus?"
+
+"Easily enough as far as getting the sample goes. I have already had
+some sample bottles made. I have one of them in the lab--excuse me a
+moment." Arcot left the room, to return a few minutes later with a large
+aluminum bottle, tightly closed. "This bottle has been pumped out to a
+very good vacuum. I then swept it out with helium gas. Then it was
+pumped out again. I hope to take this into some gas-filled region, where
+the gas will be able to leak in, but the air won't. When it comes to
+going out again, the gas will have to fight air pressure, and will
+probably stay in."
+
+"Hope it works. It would help if we knew what we were bucking."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next morning Arcot had a long conference with President Morey. At
+the end of it, he left the office, ascended to the roof, and climbed
+into his small helicopter. He rose to the local traffic level, and
+waiting his chance, broke into the stream of planes bound for the great
+airfields over in the Jersey district. A few minutes later he landed on
+the roof of the Transcontinental Airways shops, entered them, and went
+to the office of the Designing Engineer, John Fuller, an old schoolmate.
+They had been able to help each other before, for Fuller had not paid as
+much attention to theoretical physics as he might have, and though he
+was probably one of the outstanding aeronautical designers, he often
+consulted Arcot on the few theoretical details that he needed. Probably
+it was Arcot who derived the greatest benefit from this association, for
+the ability of the designer had many times brought his theoretical
+successes to practical commercial production. Now, however, he was
+consulting Fuller, because the plane he was to take that afternoon for
+San Francisco was to be slightly changed for him.
+
+He stayed in Fuller's office for the better part of an hour, then
+returned to the roof and thence to his own roof, where Morey junior was
+waiting for him.
+
+"Hello, Dick! I heard from Dad that you were going this afternoon, and
+came over here. I got your note and I have the things fixed up here. The
+plane leaves at one, and it's ten-thirty now. Let's eat lunch and then
+start."
+
+It was half-past eleven when they reached the flying field. They went
+directly to the private office which had been assigned to them aboard
+the huge plane. It was right next to the mail-room, and through the wall
+between the two a small hole had been cut. Directly beneath this hole
+was a table, on which the two men now set up a small moving picture
+camera they had brought with them.
+
+"How many of the gas sample bottles did you bring, Bob?" asked Arcot.
+
+"Jackson had only four ready, so I brought those. I think that will be
+enough. Have we got that camera properly placed?"
+
+"Everything's O.K., I believe. Nothing to do now but wait."
+
+Time passed--then they heard a faint whir; the ventilator machinery had
+started. This drew air in from outside, and pumped it up to the
+necessary pressure for breathing in the ship, no matter what the
+external pressure might be. There was a larger pump attached similarly
+to each of the engines to supply it with the necessary oxygen. Any loss
+in power by pumping the air in was made up by the lower back pressure on
+the exhaust. Now the engines were starting--they could feel the
+momentary vibration--vibration that would cease as they got under way.
+They could visualize the airtight door being closed; the portable
+elevator backing off, returning to the field house.
+
+Arcot glanced at his watch. "One o'clock. The starting signal is due."
+
+Morey sank back into a comfortable chair. "Well, now we have a nice long
+wait till we get to San Francisco and back, Dick, but you'll have
+something to talk about then!"
+
+"I hope so, Bob, and I hope we can return on the midnight plane from San
+Francisco, which will get us in at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, New
+York time. I wish you'd go right to your father's office and ask him
+over to our place for supper, and see if Fuller can come too. I think
+we'll be able to use that molecular controller on this job; it's almost
+finished, and with it we'll need a good designing engineer. Then our
+little movie show will no doubt be of interest!"
+
+There was a low rumble that quickly mounted to a staccato roar as the
+great propellers began whirling and the engines took up the load. The
+ground began to flash behind them; then suddenly, as flying speed was
+reached, there was a slight start, the roaring bark of the engine took
+on a deeper tone, the rocking stopped and the ground dropped away. Like
+some mighty wild bird, the plane was in the air, a graceful, sentient
+thing, wheeling in a great circle as it headed for San Francisco. Now
+the plane climbed steadily in a long bank; up, up, up she went, and
+gradually the terrific roar of the engine died to a low throbbing hum as
+the low pressure of the air silenced the noise.
+
+Below them the giant city contracted as the great ship rode higher. The
+tiny private helicops were darting about below them like streams of nigh
+invisible individuals, creeping black lines among the buildings of the
+city. The towering buildings shone in the noon sun in riotous hues as
+the colored tile facing reflected the brilliant sunlight with glowing
+warmth of color.
+
+It was a city of indescribable beauty now. It was one of the things that
+made this trip worthwhile.
+
+Now the shining city dropped behind them, and only the soft green of the
+Jersey hills, and the deep purple-black of the sky above were visible.
+The sun blazed high in the nigh-black heavens, and in the rarefied air,
+there was so little diffusion that the corona was readily visible with
+the aid of a smoked glass. Around the sun, long banners in space, the
+Zodiacal light gleamed dimly. Here and there some of the brighter stars
+winked in the dark sky.
+
+Below them the landscape swung slowly by. Even to these men who had made
+the trip dozens of times, the sight was fascinating, inspiring. It was a
+spectacle which had never been visible before the development of these
+super-planes. Whole flying observatories had been made that had taken
+photographs at heights of fifteen miles, where the air was so rarefied
+that the plane had to travel close to eight hundred miles an hour to
+remain aloft.
+
+Already ahead of them Arcot and Morey could see the great splotch of
+color that was Chicago, the mightiest city of Earth. Situated as it was
+in the heart of the North American continent, with great water and
+ground landing facilities and broad plains about it, it made a perfect
+airport. The sea no longer meant much, for it was now only a source of
+power, recreation and food. Ships were no longer needed. Planes were
+faster and more economical; hence seacoast cities had declined in
+importance. With its already great start toward ascendancy, Chicago had
+rapidly forged ahead, as the air lines developed with the great
+super-planes. The European planes docked here, and it was the starting
+point of the South American lines. But now, as they swung high above it,
+the glistening walls of soft-colored tiles made it a great mass of
+changing, flashing color beneath them. Now they could see a great air
+liner, twice the size of their plane, taking off for Japan, its six
+giant propellers visible only as flashing blurs as it climbed up toward
+them. Then it was out of sight.
+
+It was over the green plains of Nebraska that the Pirate usually worked,
+so there the men became more and more alert, waiting for the first sign
+of abnormal drowsiness. They sat quietly, not talking, listening
+intently for some new note, but knowing all the while that any sound the
+Pirate might make would be concealed by the whirring roar of the air
+sweeping past the giant airfoils of the plane.
+
+Suddenly Arcot realized he was unbearably sleepy. He glanced drowsily
+toward Morey who was already lying down. He found it a tremendous effort
+of the will to make himself reach up and close the switch that started
+the little camera whirring almost noiselessly. It seemed he never pulled
+his arm back--he just--lay there--and--
+
+A white uniformed man was bending over him as he opened his eyes. To one
+side of him he saw Morey smiling down at him.
+
+"You're a fine guard, Arcot. I thought you were going to stay awake and
+watch them!"
+
+"Oh, no, I left a much more efficient watchman! _It_ didn't go to
+sleep--I'm willing to bet!"
+
+"No, it may not have gone to sleep, but the doctor here tells me it has
+gone somewhere else. It wasn't found in our room when we woke up. I
+think the Pirate found it and confiscated it. All our luggage, including
+the gas sample bottles, is gone."
+
+"That's all right. I arranged for that. The ship was brought down by an
+emergency pilot and he had instructions from father. He took care of the
+luggage so that no member of the pirate's gang could steal it. There
+might have been some of them in the ground crew. They'll be turned over
+to us as soon as we see the emergency man. I don't have to lie here any
+longer, do I, doctor?"
+
+"No, Dr. Arcot, you're all right now. I would suggest that for the next
+hour or so you take it easy to let your heart get used to beating again.
+It stopped for some two hours, you know. You'll be all right, however."
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+
+Five men were seated about the Morey library, discussing the results of
+the last raid, in particular as related to Arcot and Morey. Fuller, and
+President Morey, as well as Dr. Arcot, senior, and the two young men
+themselves, were there. They had consistently refused to tell what their
+trip had revealed, saying that pictures would speak for them. Now they
+turned their attention to a motion picture projector and screen that
+Arcot junior had just set up. At his direction the room was darkened;
+and he started the projector. At once they were looking at the three
+dimensional image of the mail-room aboard the air liner.
+
+Arcot commented: "I have cut out a lot of useless film, and confined the
+picture to essentials. We will now watch the pirate at work."
+
+Even as he spoke they saw the door of the mail-room open a bit, and
+then, to their intense surprise, it remained open for a few seconds,
+then closed. It went through all the motions of opening to admit
+someone, yet no one entered!
+
+"Your demonstration doesn't seem to show much yet, son. In fact, it
+shows much less than I had expected," said the senior Arcot. "But that
+door seemed to open easily. I thought they locked them!"
+
+"They did, but the pirate just burned holes in them, so to save property
+they leave 'em unlocked."
+
+Now the scene seemed to swing a bit as the plane hit an unusually bad
+air bump, and through the window they caught a glimpse of one of the
+circling Air Guardsmen. Then suddenly there appeared in the air within
+the room a point of flame. It hung in the air above the safe for an
+instant, described a strangely complicated set of curves; then, as it
+hung for an instant in mid-air, it became a great flare. In an instant
+this condensed to a point of intensely brilliant crimson fire. This
+described a complex series of curves and touched the top of the safe. In
+an inconceivably short time, the eight-inch thickness of tungsto-iridium
+alloy flared incandescently and began to flow sluggishly. A large circle
+of the red flame sprang out to surround the point of brilliance, and
+this blew the molten metal to one side, in a cascade of sparks.
+
+In moments, the torch had cut a large disc of metal nearly free;
+seemingly on the verge of dropping into the safe. Now the flame left the
+safe, again retracting itself in that uncanny manner, no force seeming
+either to supply it with fuel or to support it thus, though it burned
+steadily, and worked rapidly and efficiently. Now, in mid-air, it hung
+for a second.
+
+"I'm going to work the projector for a few moments by hand so that you
+may see this next bit of film." Arcot moved a small switch and the
+machine blinked, giving a strange appearance to the seemingly solid
+images that were thrown on the screen.
+
+The pictures seemed to show the flame slowly descending till it again
+touched the metal. The tungsto-iridium glowed briefly; then, as suddenly
+as the extinguishing of a light, the safe was gone! It had disappeared
+into thin air! Only the incandescence of the metal and the flame itself
+were visible.
+
+"It seems the pirate has solved the secret of invisibility. No wonder
+the Air Guardsmen couldn't find him!" exclaimed Arcot, senior.
+
+The projector had been stopped exactly on the first frame, showing the
+invisibility of the safe. Then Arcot backed it up.
+
+"True, Dad," he said, "but pay special attention to this next frame."
+
+Again there appeared a picture of the room, the window beyond, the mail
+clerk asleep at his desk, everything as before, except that where the
+safe had been, _there was a shadowy, half visible safe_, the metal
+glowing brightly. Beside it there was visible a shadowy man, holding
+the safe with a shadowy bar of some sort. And through both of them the
+frame of the window was perfectly visible, and, ironically, an Air
+Guardsman plane.
+
+"It seems that for an instant his invisibility failed here. Probably it
+was the contact with the safe that caused it. What do you think, Dad?"
+asked Arcot, junior.
+
+"It does seem reasonable. I can't see off-hand how his invisibility is
+even theoretically possible. Have you any ideas?"
+
+"Well, Dad, I have, but I want to wait till tomorrow night to
+demonstrate them. Let's adjourn this meeting, if you can all come
+tomorrow."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next evening, however, it seemed that it was Arcot himself who could
+not be there. He asked Morey, junior, to tell them he would be there
+later, when he had finished in the lab.
+
+Dinner was over now, and the men were waiting rather impatiently for
+Arcot to come. They heard some noise in the corridor, and looked up, but
+no one entered.
+
+"Morey," asked Fuller, "what did you learn about that gas the pirate was
+using? I remember Arcot said he would have some samples to analyze."
+
+"As to the gas, Dick found out but little more than we had already
+known. It is a typical organic compound, one of the metal radical type,
+and contains one atom of thorium. This is a bit radioactive, as you
+know, and Dick thinks that this may account in part for its ability to
+suspend animation. However, since it was impossible to determine the
+molecular weight, he could not say what the gas was, save that the
+empirical formula was C_{62}TH H_{39}O_{27}N_{5}. It broke down at a
+temperature of only 89° centigrade. The gases left consisted largely of
+methane, nitrogen, and methyl ether. Dick is still in the dark as to
+what the gas is." He paused, then exclaimed: "Look over there!"
+
+The men turned with one accord toward the opposite end of the room,
+looked, and seeing nothing particularly unusual, glanced back rather
+puzzled. What they then saw, or better, failed to see, puzzled them
+still more. Morey had disappeared!
+
+"Why--why where--ohhh! Quick work, Dick!" The senior Arcot began
+laughing heartily, and as his astonished and curious companions looked
+toward him, he stopped and called out, "Come on, Dick! We want to see
+you now. And tell us how it's done! I rather think Mr. Morey here--I
+mean the visible one--is still a bit puzzled."
+
+There was a short laugh from the air--certainly there could be nothing
+else there--then a low but distinct click, and both Morey and Arcot were
+miraculously present, coming instantaneously from nowhere, if one's
+senses could be relied on. On Arcot's back there was strapped a large
+and rather hastily wired mechanism--one long wire extending from it out
+into the laboratory. He was carrying a second piece of apparatus,
+similarly wired. Morey was touching a short metal bar that Arcot held
+extended in his hand, using a table knife as a connector, lest they get
+radio frequency burns on making contact.
+
+"I've been busy getting the last connection of this portable apparatus
+rigged up. I have the thing in working order, as you see--or rather,
+didn't see. This other outfit here is the thing that is more important
+to us. It's a bit heavy, so if you'll clear a space, I'll set it down.
+Look out for my power supply there--that wire is carrying a rather
+dangerously high E.M.F. I had to connect with the lab power supply to do
+this, and I had no time to rig up a little mechanism like the one the
+pirate must have.
+
+"I have duplicated his experiment. He has simply made use of a principle
+known for some time, but as there was no need for it, it hasn't been
+used. It was found back in the early days of radio, as early as the
+first quarter of the twentieth century, that very short wavelengths
+effected peculiar changes in metals. It was shown that the plates of
+tubes working on very short waves became nearly transparent. The waves
+were so short, however, that they were economically useless. They would
+not travel in usable paths, so they were never developed. Furthermore,
+existing apparatus could not be made to handle them. In the last war
+they tried to apply the idea for making airplanes invisible, but they
+could not get their tubes to handle the power needed, so they had to
+drop it. However, with the tube I recently got out on the market, it is
+possible to get down there. Our friend the pirate has developed this
+thing to a point were he could use it. You can see that invisibility,
+while interesting, and a good thing for a stage and television
+entertainment, is not very much of a commercial need. No one wants to be
+invisible in any honest occupation. Invisibility is a tremendous weapon
+in war, so the pirate just started a little private war, the only way he
+could make any money on his invention. His gas, too, made the thing
+attractive. The two together made a perfect combination for criminal
+operations.
+
+"The whole thing looks to me to be the work of a slightly unbalanced
+mind. He is not violently insane; probably just has this one particular
+obsession. His scientific bump certainly shows no sign of weakness. He
+might even be some new type of kleptomaniac. He steals things, and he
+has already stolen far more than any man could ever have any need of,
+and he leaves in its place a 'stock' certificate in his own company. He
+is not violent, for hasn't he carefully warned the men not to use the
+C-32L mask? You'll remember his careful instructions as to how to revive
+the people!
+
+"He has developed this machine for invisibility, and naturally he can
+fly in and out of the air guard, without their knowing he's there,
+provided their microphonic detectors don't locate him. I believe he uses
+some form of glider. He can't use an internal combustion engine, for the
+explosions in the cylinders would be as visible as though the cylinders
+were made of clear quartz. He cannot have an electric motor, for the
+storage cells would weigh too much. Furthermore, if he were using any
+sort of prop, or a jet engine, the noise would give him away. If he used
+a glider, the noise of the big plane so near would be more than enough
+to kill the slight sounds. The glider could hang above the ship, then
+dive down upon it as it passed beneath. He has a very simple system of
+anchoring the thing, as I discovered to my sorrow. It's a powerful
+electro-magnet which he turns on when he lands. The landing deck of the
+big plane was right above our office aboard, and I found my watch was
+doing all sorts of antics today. It lost an hour this morning, and this
+afternoon it gained two. I found it was very highly magnetized--I could
+pick up needles with the balance wheel. I demagnetized it; now it runs
+all right.
+
+"But to get back, he anchors his ship, then, leaving it invisible, he
+goes to the air lock, and enters. He wears a high altitude suit, and on
+his back he has a portable invisibility set and the fuel for his torch.
+The gas has already put everyone to sleep, so he goes into the ship,
+still invisible, and melts open the safe.
+
+"His power supply for the invisibility machine seems to be somewhat of a
+problem, but I think I would use a cylinder of liquid air, and have a
+small air turbine to run a high voltage generator. He probably uses the
+same system on a larger scale to run his big machine on the ship. He
+can't use an engine for that either.
+
+"That torch of his is interesting, too. We have had atomic hydrogen
+welding for some time, and atomic hydrogen releases some 100,000
+calories per mole of molecular hydrogen; two grains of gas give one
+hundred thousand calories. Oxygen has not been prepared in any
+commercial quantity in the atomic state. From watching that man's torch,
+from the color of the flame and other indications, I gather that he uses
+a flame of atomic oxygen-atomic hydrogen for melting, and surrounds it
+with a preheating jacket of atomic hydrogen. The center flame probably
+develops a temperature of some 4000° centigrade, and will naturally make
+that tungsten alloy run like water.
+
+"As to the machine here--it is, as I said, a machine which impresses
+very high frequencies on the body it is connected with. This puts the
+molecules in vibration at a frequency approaching that of light, and
+when the light impinges upon it, it can pass through readily. You know
+that metals transmit light for short distances, but in order that the
+light pass, the molecules of metal must be set in harmonic vibration at
+a rate approaching the frequency of light. If we can impress such a
+vibration on a piece of matter, it will then transmit light very freely.
+If we impress this vibration on the matter, say the body, electrically,
+we get the same effect and the body becomes perfectly transparent. Now,
+since it is the vibration of the molecules that makes the light pass
+through the material, it must be stopped if we wish to see the machine.
+Obviously it is much easier to detect me here among solid surroundings,
+than in the plane high in the sky. What chance has one to detect a
+machine that is perfectly transparent when there is nothing but
+perfectly transparent air around it? It is a curious property of this
+vibrational system of invisibility that the index of refraction is made
+very low. It is not the same as that of air, but the difference is so
+slight that it is practically within the limits of observation error; so
+small is the difference that there is no 'rainbow' effect. The
+difference of temperature of the air would give equal effect.
+
+"Now, since this vibration is induced by radio impulse, is it not
+possible to impress another, opposing radio impulse, that will overcome
+this tendency and bring the invisible object into the field of the
+visible once more? It is; and this machine on the table is designed to
+do exactly that. It is practically a beam radio set, projecting a beam
+of a wavelength that alone would tend to produce invisibility. But in
+this case it will make me visible. I'm going to stand right here, and
+Bob can operate that set."
+
+Arcot strode to the middle of the room, and then Morey turned the
+reflector of the beam set on him. There was a low snap as Arcot turned
+on his set, then he was gone, as suddenly as the coming of darkness when
+a lamp is extinguished. He was there one moment, then they were staring
+at the chair behind him, knowing that the man was standing between them
+and it and knowing that they were looking through his body. It gave them
+a strange feeling, an uncomfortable tingling along the spine. Then the
+voice--it seemed to come from the air, or some disembodied ghost as the
+invisible man called to Morey.
+
+"All right, Bob, turn her on slowly."
+
+There was another snap as the switch of the disrupter beam was turned
+on. At once there was a noticeable fogginess in the air where Arcot had
+been. As more and more power was turned into the machine, they saw the
+man materialize out of thin air. First he was a mere shadowy outline
+that was never fully above the level of conscious vision. Then slowly
+the outlines of the objects behind became dimmer and dimmer, as the body
+of the man was slowly darkened, till at last there was only a wavering
+aura about him. With a snap Morey shut off his machine and Arcot was
+gone again. A second snap and he was solid before them. He had shut off
+his apparatus too.
+
+"You can see now how we intend to locate our invisible pirate. Of course
+we will depend on directional radio disturbance locating devices to
+determine the direction for the invisibility disrupter ray. But you are
+probably marvelling at the greatness of the genius who can design and
+construct this apparatus all in one day. I will explain the miracle. I
+have been working on short wave phenomena for some time. In fact, I had
+actually made an invisibility machine, as Morey will testify, but I
+realized that it had no commercial benefits, so I didn't experiment with
+it beyond the laboratory stunt stage. I published some of the theory in
+the Journal of the International Physical Society--and I wouldn't be
+surprised to learn that the pirate based his discovery on my report.
+
+"I am still working on a somewhat different piece of apparatus that I
+believe we will find very relevant to this business. I'll ask you to
+adjourn after tonight's meeting for another twenty-four hours till I can
+finish the apparatus I am working on. It is very important that you be
+here, Fuller. I am going to need you in the work to follow. It will be
+another problem of design if this works out, as I hope it will."
+
+"I'll certainly make every effort to be here, Arcot," Fuller assured
+him.
+
+"I can promise you a tough problem as well as an interesting one." Arcot
+smiled. "If the thing works, as I expect it to, you'll have a job that
+will certainly be a feather for your cap. Also it will be a change."
+
+"Well, with that inducement, I'll certainly be here. But I think that
+pirate could give us some hints on design. How does he get his glider
+ten miles up? They've done some high-altitude gliding already. The
+distance record took someone across the Atlantic in 2009, didn't it? But
+it seems that ten miles straight up is a bit too steep for a glider.
+There are no vertical air currents at that height."
+
+"I meant to say that his machine is not a true glider, but a
+semi-glider. He probably goes up ten miles or more with the aid of a
+small engine, one so small it probably takes him half a day to get
+there. And it would be easy for a plane to pass through the lower
+traffic lanes, then, being invisible, mount high and wait for the air
+liner. He can't use a very large engine, for it would drag him down, but
+one of the new hundred horsepower jobs would weigh only about fifty
+pounds. I think we can draw a pretty good picture of his plane from
+scientific logic. It probably has a tremendous wingspread and a very
+high angle of incidence to make it possible to glide at that height, and
+the engine and prop will be almost laughably small."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next evening the men got together for dinner, and there was
+considerable speculation as to the nature of the discovery that Arcot
+was going to announce, for even his father had no knowledge of what it
+was. The two men worked in separate laboratories, except when either had
+a particularly difficult problem that might be solved by the other. All
+knew that the new development lay in the field of short wave research,
+but they could not find out in what way it concerned the problem in
+hand.
+
+At last the meal was over, and Arcot was ready to demonstrate.
+
+"Dad, I believe that you have been trying to develop a successful solar
+engine. One that could be placed in the wings of a plane to generate
+power from the light falling on that surface. In all solar engines what
+is the greatest problem to be solved?"
+
+"Well, the more I investigate the thing, the more I wonder which is the
+greatest. There are a surprising number of annoying problems to be met.
+I should say, though, that the one big trouble with all solar engines,
+eliminating the obvious restriction that they decidedly aren't
+dependable for night work, is the difficulty of getting an area to
+absorb the energy. If I could get enough area, I could use a very low
+efficiency and still have cheap power, for the power is absolutely free.
+The area problem is the greatest difficulty, no doubt."
+
+"Well," Arcot junior said quietly, "I think you have a fairly good area
+to use, if you can only harness the energy it absorbs. I have really
+developed a very efficient solar engine. The engine itself requires no
+absorbing area, as I want to use it; it takes advantage of the fact that
+the Earth is absorbing quintillions of horsepower. I have merely tapped
+the power that the Earth has already absorbed for me. Come here."
+
+He led the way down the corridor to his laboratory, and switched on the
+lights. On the main laboratory bench was set up a complicated apparatus
+of many tubes and heavy bus bar connectors. From the final tube two thin
+wires ran to a long tubular coil. To the left of this coil was a large
+relay switch, and a rheostat control.
+
+"Turn on the relay, Dad, then slowly rotate the controller to the left.
+And remember that it is rather powerful; I know this doesn't look like a
+solar engine, and nine o'clock at night seems a peculiar hour to
+demonstrate such a thing, but I'll guarantee results--probably more than
+you expect."
+
+Dr. Arcot stepped up to the controls and closed the switch. The lights
+dimmed a bit, but immediately brightened again, and from the other end
+of the room came a low, steady hum as the big transformer took up the
+load.
+
+"Well, from the sound of that ten K.W. transformer there, if this engine
+is very efficient we ought to get a terrific amount of power out of it."
+Dr. Arcot was smiling amusedly at his son. "I can't very well control
+this except by standing directly in front of it, but I suppose you know
+what you're doing."
+
+"Oh, this is a laboratory model, and I haven't gotten the thing into
+shape really. Look at the conductors that lead to the coil; they
+certainly aren't carrying ten K.W."
+
+Dr. Arcot slowly rotated the rheostat. There was a faint hum from the
+coil; then it was gone. There seemed to be no other result. He rotated
+it a bit more; a slight draught sprang up within the room. He waited,
+but when nothing more startling occurred, he gave the rheostat a sharp
+turn. This time there was absolutely no doubt as to the result. There
+was a roar like a fifty-foot wind tunnel, and a mighty blast of cold air
+swept out of that coil like a six-inch model of a Kansas cyclone. Every
+loose piece of paper in the laboratory came suddenly alive and whirled
+madly before the blast of air that had suddenly leaped out. Dr. Arcot
+was forced back as by a giant hand; in his backward motion his hand was
+lifted from the relay switch, and with a thud the circuit opened. In an
+instant the roar of sound was cut off, and only a soft whisper of air
+told of the furious blast that had been there a moment before.
+
+The astonished physicist came forward and looked at the device a moment
+in silence, while each of the other men watched him. Finally he turned
+to his son, who was smiling at him with a twinkle in his eye.
+
+"Dick, I think you have 'loaded the dice' in a way that is even more
+lucrative than any other method ever invented! If the principle of this
+machine is what I think it is, you have certainly solved the secret of a
+sufficiently absorbing area for a solar engine."
+
+"Well," remarked the elderly Morey, shivering a bit in the chill air of
+the room, "loaded dice have long been noted for their ability to make
+money, but I don't see how that explains that working model of an Arctic
+tornado. _Burr_ it's still too cold in here. I think he'll need
+considerable area for heat absorption from the sun, for that engine
+certainly does cool things down! What's the secret?"
+
+"The principle is easy enough, but I had considerable difficulty with
+the application. I think it is going to be rather important though--"
+
+"Rather important," broke in the inventor's father, with a rare display
+of excitement. "It will be considerably more than that. It's the biggest
+thing since the electric dynamo! It puts airplanes in the junk heap! It
+means a new era in power generation. Why, we'll never have to worry
+about power! It will make interplanetary travel not only possible, but
+commercially economical."
+
+Arcot junior grinned broadly. "Dad seems to think the machine has
+possibilities! Seriously, I believe it will antiquate all types of
+airplanes, prop or jet. It's a direct utilization of the energy that the
+sun is kindly supplying. For a good many years now men have been trying
+to find out how to control the energy of atoms for air travel, or to
+release the energy of the constitution of matter.
+
+"But why do it at all? The sun is doing it already, and on a scale so
+gargantuan that we could never hope nor desire to approach it. Three
+million tons of matter go into that colossal furnace every second of
+time, and out of that comes two and a half decillion ergs of energy.
+With a total of two and a half million billion billion billions of ergs
+to draw on, man will have nothing to worry about for a good many years
+to come! That represents a flood of power vaster than man could
+comprehend. Why try to release any more energy? We have more than we can
+use; we may as well tap that vast ocean of power.
+
+"There is one thing that prevents us getting it out, the law of
+probability. That's why Dad mentioned loaded dice, for dice, as you
+know, are the classical example of probability when they aren't loaded.
+Once they are loaded, the law still holds, but the conditions are now so
+changed that it will make the problem quite different."
+
+Arcot paused, frowning, then resumed half apologetically, "Excuse the
+lecture--but I don't know how else to get the thought across. You are
+familiar with the conditions in a liter of helium gas in a container--a
+tremendous number of molecules, each dashing along at several miles a
+second, and an equal number dashing in the opposite direction at an
+equal speed. They are so thickly packed in there, that none of them can
+go very far before it runs into another molecule and bounces off in a
+new direction. How good is the chance that all the molecules should
+happen to move in the same direction at the same time? One of the old
+physicists of Einstein's time, a man named Eddington, expressed it very
+well:
+
+    'If an army of monkeys were playing on typewriters they
+    might write all the books in the British Museum. The
+    chance of their doing so is decidedly more favorable
+    than the chance that all the molecules in a liter of
+    gas should move in the same direction at the same
+    time.'
+
+The very improbability of this chance is the thing that is making our
+problem appear impossible.
+
+"But similarly it would be improbable--impossible according to the law
+of chance--to throw a string of aces indefinitely. It is
+impossible--unless some other force influences the happening. If the
+dice have bits of iridium stuck under the six spots, they will throw
+aces. Chance makes it impossible to have all the molecules of gas move
+in the same direction at the same time--unless we stack the chances. If
+we can find some way to influence them, they may do so.
+
+"What would happen to a metal bar if all the molecules in it decided to
+move in the same direction at the same time? Their heat motion is
+normally carrying them about at a rate of several miles a second, and if
+now we have them all go in one way, the entire bar must move in that
+direction, and it will start off at a velocity as great as the velocity
+of the individual molecules. But now, if we attach the bar to a heavy
+car, it will try to start off, but will be forced to drag the car with
+it, and so will not be able to have its molecules moving at the same
+rate. They will be slowed down in starting the mass of the car. But
+slowly moving molecules have a definite physical significance. Molecules
+move because of temperature, and lack of motion means lack of heat.
+These molecules that have been slowed down are then cold; they will
+absorb heat from the air about them, and since the molecule of hydrogen
+gas at room temperature is moving at about seven miles a second, when
+the molecules of the confined gas in our car, or the molecules of the
+metal bar are slowed down to but a few hundred miles an hour, their
+temperature drops to some hundreds of degrees below zero, and they
+absorb energy very rapidly, for the greater the difference in
+temperature, the greater the rate of heat absorption.
+
+"I believe we will be able to accelerate the car rapidly to a speed of
+several miles a second at very high altitudes, and as we will be able to
+use a perfectly enclosed streamlined car, we should get tremendous
+speeds. We'll need no wings, of course, for with a small unit pointed
+vertically, we'll be able to support the car in the air. It will make
+possible a machine that will be able to fly in reverse and so come to a
+quick stop. It will steer us or it will supply us with electrical power,
+for we merely have to put a series of small metal bars about the
+circumference of the generator, and get a tremendously powerful engine.
+
+"For our present need, it means a tremendously powerful engine--and one
+that we can make invisible.
+
+"I believe you can guess the source of that breeze we had there? It
+would make a wonderful air-conditioning unit."
+
+"Dick Arcot," began Morey, his voice tight with suppressed excitement,
+"I would like to be able to use this invention. I know enough of the
+economics of the thing, if not its science, to know that the apparatus
+before us is absolutely invaluable. I couldn't afford to buy the rights
+on it, but I want to use it if you'll let me. It means a new era in
+transcontinental air travel!"
+
+He turned sharply to Fuller. "Fuller, I want you to help Arcot with the
+ship to chase the Pirate. You'll get the contract to design the new
+airliners. Hang the cost. It'll run into billions--but there will be no
+more fuel bills, no oil bills, and the cost of operation will be
+negligible. Nothing but the Arcot short wave tubes to buy--and each one
+good for twenty-five thousand hours service!"
+
+"You'll get the rights on this if you want them, of course," said Arcot
+quietly. "You're maintaining these laboratories for me, and your son
+helped me work it out. But if Fuller can move over here tomorrow, it
+will help things a lot. Also I'd like to have some of your best
+mechanics to make the necessary machines, and to start the power units."
+
+"It's done," Morey snapped.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+
+Early the next morning Fuller moved his equipment over to the laboratory
+and set up his table for work. There Arcot and Morey joined him, and the
+designing of the new machine was started.
+
+"First, let's get some idea of the most advisable shape," Fuller began
+methodically. "We'll want it streamlined, of course; roughly speaking, a
+cylinder modified to fit the special uses to which it will be put. But
+you probably have a general plan in mind, Arcot. Suppose you sketch it
+for us."
+
+The big physicist frowned thoughtfully. "Well, we don't know much about
+this yet, so we'll have to work it out. You'll have plenty of fun
+figuring out strains in this machine, so let's be safe and use a factor
+of safety of five. Let's see what we'll need.
+
+"In the first place, our machine must be proof against the Pirate's gas,
+for we won't be riding a beam with instruments to guide us safely, if we
+pass out. I've thought that over, and I think that the best system is
+just what we used in the sample bottles--a vacuum. His gas is stopped by
+nothing, so to speak, but there is no substance that will stop it! It
+will no doubt penetrate the outer shell, but on reaching the vacuum, it
+will tend to stay there, between the inner and outer walls. Here it will
+collect, since it will be fighting air pressure in going either in or
+out. The pressure inside will force it back, and the pressure outside
+will force it in. If we did not pump it out, it would soon build up
+pressure enough to penetrate the interior wall. Now, since the stuff can
+leak through any material, what kind of a pump shall we use? It won't be
+pushed by a piston, for it will leak through either the cylinder walls
+or the piston. A centrifugal pump would be equally ineffective. A
+mercury vapor pump will take it out, of course, and keep a high vacuum,
+but we'd never make any progress.
+
+"Our new machine gives us the answer. With it we can just have a number
+of openings in the wall of the outer shell, and set in them one of these
+molecular motion directors, and direct the molecules into the outside
+air. They can't come in through it, and they will go out!"
+
+"But," Morey objected, "the vacuum that keeps out the gas will also keep
+out heat, as well! Since our generator is to run on heat energy, it will
+be rather chilly inside if we don't remedy that. Of course, our power
+units could be placed outside, where the blast of air will warm them,
+but we really won't have a very good streamline effect if we hang a big
+electric generator outside."
+
+"I've thought of that too," Arcot answered. "The solution is obvious--if
+we can't bring the generator to the air, we must bring the air to it."
+He began sketching rapidly on the pad before him, "We'll have all the
+power equipment in this room here in the back, and the control room up
+in front, here. The relays for controlling will be back here, so we can
+control electrically the operation of the power equipment from our warm,
+gas-tight room. If it gets too warm in there, we can cool it by using a
+little of the heat to help accelerate the ship. If it is too cold, we
+can turn on an electric heater run by the generator. The air for the
+generator can come in through a small sort of scoop on top, and leave
+through a small opening in the rear. The vacuum at the tail will assure
+us a very rapid circulation, even if the centrifugal pump action of the
+enclosed generator isn't enough."
+
+His thoughts began moving more rapidly than his words. "We'll want the
+generator greatly over power to run tests over a greater range. Won't
+need more than one hundred kilowatts altogether, but should install
+about a thousand--A.C., of course. Batteries in the keel for starting
+the generator.... Self-supporting when it's rolling....
+
+"But let's set down some actual figures on this."
+
+For the rest of the day the three men were working on the general plan
+of the new ship, calculating the strengths needed, supplementing
+mathematics with actual experiments with the machines on hand. The
+calculating machines were busy continuously, for there were few rules
+that experience could give them. They were developing something entirely
+new, and though they were a designing staff of three of the foremost
+mathematicians in the world, it was a problem that tested their
+ingenuity to the utmost.
+
+By the evening of the first day, however, they had been able to give the
+finished designs for the power units to the mechanics who were to make
+them. The order for the storage battery and the standard electrical
+equipment had been placed at once. By the time they had completed the
+drawings for the mail casting, the materials were already being
+assembled in a little private camp that Morey owned, up in the hills of
+Vermont. The giant freight helicopters could land readily in the wide
+field that had been cleared on the small plateau, in the center of which
+nestled a little blue lake and a winding trout brook.
+
+The mechanics and electrical engineers had been sent up there
+already--officially on vacation. The entire program could be carried out
+without attracting the least attention, for such orders from the great
+Transcontinental lines were so frequent that no importance was attached
+to them.
+
+Four days after the final plans had been completed the last of the
+supplies were being assembled in the portable metal shed that was to
+house the completed machine. The shining tungsto-steel alloy frame
+members were rapidly being welded in place by cathode ray welding
+torches in the hands of skilled artisans.
+
+Already at the other end of the shop the generator had been arranged for
+use with the molecular motion power units. The many power units to drive
+and support the ship were finished and awaiting installation as the crew
+quit work on the fourth evening. They would be installed on the frame in
+the morning, and the generator would be hoisted into place with the
+small portable crane. The storage batteries were connected, and in place
+in the hull. The great fused quartz windows rested in their cases along
+one wall, awaiting the complete application of the steel alloy plates.
+They were to be over an inch thick, an unnecessary thickness, perhaps,
+but they had no need to economize weight, as witnessed by their choice
+of steel instead of light metal alloys throughout the construction.
+
+The three men had arrived late that afternoon in a small helicopter, and
+had gone directly to the shops to see what progress had been made. They
+had been forced to remain in New York to superintend the shipment of the
+necessary supplies to the camp site, and since no trouble was
+anticipated in the making of the steel framework, they had not felt it
+necessary to come. But now they would be needed to superintend the more
+delicate work.
+
+"She's shaping up nicely, isn't she?" Arcot gazed at the rapidly
+rounding frame with a critical eye. Unhindered as they were by the
+traditional shapes, by wings or other protuberances, they had been able
+to design a machine of striking beauty. The ship was to retain its
+natural metallic sheen, the only protection being a coat of "passivity
+paint"--a liquid chemical that could be brushed or sprayed on iron,
+chromium, nickel or cobalt alloys, rendering them passive to practically
+all chemical agents. The new "paint" left the iron or steel as
+brilliantly glossy as ever, but overcast with a beautiful iridescence,
+and immune to the most powerful reagents.
+
+The three men walked around the rapidly growing hull, and looked with
+excited interest at the heavy welded joints and the great beams. The
+ship seemed capable of withstanding a fall of several hundred feet with
+little damage. The location of the power units was plainly visible and
+easily recognized, for at each point there came together four or five
+great beams, welded into one great mass of tough metal, and in it there
+were set heavy tungsten bolts that would hold the units in place.
+
+They inspected each joint minutely for signs of flaws, using a small
+portable X-ray fluoroscope to see the interior of the metal. Each joint
+seemed perfect. They retired, satisfied that everything was ready for
+the work of the next day.
+
+The morning began early with a long swim in the lake, and a hearty
+breakfast of country cured ham and eggs. Then the work on the great
+framework was continued, and that day saw the power units bolted in
+place, removable if change was thought advisable. Each power unit was
+equipped with long streamlined copper fins lying close to the rounded
+hull, that they might absorb heat more rapidly.
+
+Day by day the structure drew nearer completion, and, with the large
+crew of highly skilled workers, the craft was practically complete
+within a week. Only the instruments remained to be installed. Then at
+last even these had been put in place, and with the aid of Fuller, Morey
+junior, and his own father, Arcot had connected their many complicated
+circuits.
+
+"Son," remarked Arcot senior, looking critically at the great
+switchboard, with its maze of connections, its many rheostats and
+controls, and its heavy bus bar connectors behind it, "no one man can
+keep an eye on all those instruments. I certainly hope you have a
+good-sized crew to operate your controls! We've spent two days getting
+all those circuits together, and I'll admit that some of them still have
+me beat. I don't see how you intend to watch all those instruments, and
+at the same time have any idea what's going on outside."
+
+"Oh," laughed Arcot junior, "these aren't intended for constant
+watching. They're merely helps in a lot of tests I want to make. I want
+to use this as a flying laboratory so I can determine the necessary
+powers and the lowest factor of safety to use in building other
+machines. The machine is very nearly completed now. All we need is the
+seats--they are to be special air-inflated gyroscopically controlled
+seats, to make it impossible for a sudden twist of the ship to put the
+strain in the wrong direction. Of course the main gyroscopes will
+balance the ship laterally, horizontally, and vertically, but each chair
+will have a separate gyroscopic mounting for safety."
+
+"When do you expect to start after the Pirate?" Fuller asked.
+
+"I plan to practice the manipulation of the machine for at least four
+days," Arcot replied, "before I try to chase the Pirate. I'd ordinarily
+recommend the greatest haste, but the man has stolen close to ten
+million already, and he's still at it. That would not be done by anyone
+in his right mind. I suppose you've heard, the War Department considers
+his new gas so important that they've obtained a pardon for him on
+condition they be permitted to have the secret of it. They demand the
+return of the money, and I have no doubt he has it. I am firmly
+convinced that he is a kleptomaniac. I doubt greatly if he will stop
+taking money before he is caught. Therefore it will be safe to wait
+until we can be sure of our ability to operate the machine smoothly. Any
+other course would be suicidal. Also, I am having some of those
+tool-makers make up a special type of molecular motion machine for use
+as a machine gun. The bullets are steel, about three inches long, and as
+thick as my thumb. They will be perfectly streamlined, except for a
+little stabilizer at the tail, to guide 'em. They won't spin as a rifle
+bullet does, and so there will be no gyroscopic effect to hold them nose
+on, but the streamlining and the stabilizer will keep them on their
+course. I expect them to be able to zip right through many inches of
+armour plate, since they will have a velocity of over four miles a
+second.
+
+"They'll be fed in at the rate of about two hundred a minute--faster if
+I wish, and started by a small spring. They will instantly come into the
+field of a powerful molecular motion director, and will be shot out
+with terrific speed. It will be the first rifle ever made that could
+shoot bullets absolutely parallel to the ground.
+
+"But that is all we can do today. The guns will be mounted outside, and
+controlled electrically, and the charts will be installed tomorrow. By
+the day after tomorrow at eight A.M. I plan to take off!"
+
+The work the next day was rushed to completion far earlier than Arcot
+had dared to hope. All the men had been kept isolated at the farm, lest
+they accidentally spread the news of the new machine. It was with
+excited interest that they helped the machine to completion. The guns
+had not been mounted as yet, but that could wait. Mid-afternoon found
+the machine resting in the great construction shed, completely equipped
+and ready to fly!
+
+"Dick," said Morey as he strode up to him after testing the last of the
+gyroscopic seats, "she's ready! I certainly want to get her going--it's
+only three-thirty, and we can go around to the sunlight part of the
+world when it gets dark at the speeds we can travel. Let's test her
+now!"
+
+"I'm just as anxious to start as you are, Bob. I've sent for a U.S. Air
+Inspector. As soon as he comes we can start. I'll have to put an 'X'
+license indication on her now. He'll go with us to test it--I hope.
+There will be room for three other people aboard, and I think you and
+Dad and I will be the logical passengers."
+
+He pointed excitedly. "Look, there's a government helicopter coming.
+Tell the men to get the blocks from under her and tow her out. Two power
+trucks should do it. Get her at least ten feet beyond the end of the
+hangar. We'll start straight up, and climb to at least a five mile
+height, where we can make mistakes safely. While you're tending to that,
+I'll see if I can induce the Air Inspector to take a trip with us."
+
+Half an hour later the machine had been rolled entirely out of the shed,
+on the new concrete runway.
+
+The great craft was a thing of beauty shimmering in the bright sunlight
+The four men who were to ride in it on its maiden voyage stood off to
+one side gazing at the great gleaming metal hull. The long sweeping
+lines of the sides told a story of perfect streamlining, and implied
+high speed, even at rest. The bright, slightly iridescent steel hull
+shone in silvery contrast to the gleaming copper of the power units'
+heat-absorption fins. The great clear windows in the nose and the low,
+streamlined air intake for the generator seemed only to accentuate the
+graceful lines of the machine.
+
+"Lord, she's a beauty, isn't she, Dick!" exclaimed Morey, a broad smile
+of pleasure on his face.
+
+"Well, she did shape up nicely on paper, too, didn't she. Oh, Fuller,
+congratulations on your masterpiece. It's even better looking than we
+thought, now the copper has added color to it. Doesn't she look fast? I
+wish we didn't need physicists so badly on this trip, so you could go on
+the first ride with us."
+
+"Oh, that's all right, Dick, I know the number of instruments in there,
+and I realize they will mean a lot of work this trip. I wish you all
+luck. The honor of having designed the first ship like that, the first
+heavier-than-air ship that ever flew without wings, jets, or props--that
+is something to remember. And I think it's one of the most beautiful
+that ever flew, too."
+
+"Well, Dick," said his father quietly, "let's get under way. It should
+fly--but we don't really know that it will!"
+
+The four men entered the ship and strapped themselves in the gyroscopic
+seats. One by one they reported ready.
+
+"Captain Mason," Arcot explained to the Air Inspector, "these seats may
+seem to be a bit more active than one generally expects a seat to be,
+but in this experimental machine, I have provided all the safety devices
+I could think of. The ship itself won't fall, of that I am sure, but the
+power is so great it might well prove fatal to us if we are not in a
+position to resist the forces. You know all too well the effect of sharp
+turns at high speed and the results of the centrifugal force. This
+machine can develop such tremendous power that I have to make provision
+for it.
+
+"You notice that my controls and the instruments are mounted on the arm
+of the chair really; that permits me to maintain complete control of the
+ship at all times, and still permits my chair to remain perpendicular to
+the forces. The gyroscopes in the base here cause the entire chair to
+remain stable if the ship rolls, but the chair can continue to revolve
+about this bearing here so that we will not be forced out of our seats.
+I'm confident that you'll find the machine safe enough for a license.
+Shall we start?"
+
+"All right, Dr. Arcot," replied the Air Inspector. "If you and your
+father are willing to try it, I am."
+
+"Ready, Engineer?" asked Arcot.
+
+"Ready, Pilot!" replied Morey.
+
+"All right--just keep your eye on the meters, Dad, as I turn on the
+system. If the instruments back there don't take care of everything, and
+you see one flash over the red mark--yank open the main circuit. I'll
+call out what to watch as I turn them on."
+
+"Ready son."
+
+"Main gyroscopes!" There was a low snap, a clicking of relays in the
+rear compartment, and then a low hum that quickly ran up the scale.
+"Main generators!" Again the clicking switch, and the relays thudding
+into action, again the rising hum. "Seat-gyroscopes." The low click was
+succeeded by a quick shrilling sound that rose in moments above the
+range of hearing as the separate seat-gyroscopes took up their work.
+"Main power tube bank!" The low hum of the generator changed to a
+momentary roar as the relays threw on full load. In a moment the
+automatic controls had brought it up to speed.
+
+"Everything is working perfectly so far. Are we ready to start now,
+son?"
+
+"Main vertical power units!" The great ship trembled throughout its
+length as the lift of the power units started. A special instrument had
+been set up on the floor beside Arcot, that he might be able to judge
+the lift of his power units; it registered the apparent weight of the
+ship. It had read two hundred tons. Now all eyes were fixed on it, as
+the pointer dropped quickly to 150-100-75-50-40-20-10--there was a
+click and the instrument flopped back to 300--it was registering in
+pounds now! Then the needle moved to zero, and the mighty structure
+floated into the air, slowly moving down the field as a breeze carried
+it along the ground.
+
+The men outside saw it rise swiftly into the sky, straight toward the
+blue vault of heaven. In two or three minutes it was disappearing. The
+glistening ship shrank to a tiny point of light; then it was gone! It
+must have been rising at fully three hundred miles an hour!
+
+To the men in the car there had been a tremendous increase in weight
+that had forced them into the air cushions like leaden masses. Then the
+ground fell away with a speed that made them look in amazement. The
+house, the construction shed, the lake, all seemed contracting beneath
+them. So quickly were they rising that they had not time to adjust their
+mental attitude. To them all the world seemed shrinking about them.
+
+Now they were at a tremendous height; over twenty miles they had risen
+into the atmosphere; the air about them was so thin that the sky seemed
+black, the stars blazed out in cold, unwinking glory, while the great
+fires of the sun seemed reaching out into space like mighty arms seeking
+to draw back to the parent body the masses of the wheeling planets.
+About it, in far flung streamers of cold fire shone the mighty zodiacal
+light, an Aurora on a titanic scale. For a moment they hung there, while
+they made readings of the meters.
+
+Arcot was the first to speak and there was awe in his voice. "I never
+began to let out the power of this thing! What a ship! When these are
+made commercially, we'll have to use about one horsepower generators in
+them, or people will kill themselves trying to see how fast they can
+go."
+
+Methodically the machine was tried out at this height, testing various
+settings of the instruments. It was definitely proven that the values
+that Arcot and Morey had assigned from purely theoretical calculations
+were correct to within one-tenth of one percent. The power absorbed by
+the machine they knew and had calculated, but the terrific power of the
+driving units was far beyond their expectations.
+
+"Well, now we're off for some horizontal maneuvers," Arcot announced.
+"I'm sure we agree the machine can climb and can hold itself in the air.
+The air pressure controls seem to be working perfectly. Now we'll test
+her speed."
+
+Suddenly the seats swung beneath them; then as the ship shot forward
+with ever greater speed, ever greater acceleration, it seemed that it
+turned and headed upward, although they knew that the main stabilizing
+gyroscopes were holding it level. In a moment the ship was headed out
+over the Atlantic at a speed no rifle bullet had ever known. The radio
+speedometer needle pushed farther and farther over as the speed
+increased to unheard of values. Before they left the North American
+shoreline they were traveling faster than a mile a second. They were in
+the middle of the Atlantic before Arcot gradually shut off the
+acceleration, letting the seats drop back into position.
+
+A hubbub of excited comments rose from the four men. Momentarily, with
+the full realization of the historical importance of this flight, no one
+paid any attention to anyone else. Finally a question of the Air
+Inspector reached Arcot's ears.
+
+"What speed did we attain, Dr. Arcot? Look--there's the coast of Europe!
+How fast are we going now?"
+
+"We were traveling at the rate of three miles a second at the peak."
+Arcot answered. "Now it has fallen to two and a half."
+
+Again Arcot turned his attention to his controls. "I'm going to try to
+see what the ultimate ceiling of this machine is. It must have a
+ceiling, since it depends on the operation of the generator to operate
+the power-units. This, in turn, depends on the heat of the air, helped
+somewhat by the sun's rays. Up we go!"
+
+The ship was put into a vertical climb, and steadily the great machine
+rose. Soon, however, the generator began to slow down. The readings of
+the instruments were dropping rapidly. The temperature of the
+exceedingly tenuous air outside was so close to absolute zero that it
+provided very little energy.
+
+"Get up some forward speed," Morey suggested, "so that you'll have the
+aid of the air scoop to force the air in faster."
+
+"Right, Morey." Arcot slowly applied the power to the forward propulsion
+units. As they took hold, the ship began to move forward. The increase
+in power was apparent at once. The machine started rising again. But at
+last, at a height of fifty-one miles, her ceiling had been reached.
+
+The cold of the cabin became unbearable, for every kilowatt of power
+that the generator could get from the air outside was needed to run the
+power units. The air, too, became foul and heavy, for the pumps could
+not replace it with a fresh supply from the near-vacuum outside. Oxygen
+tanks had not been carried on this trip. As the power of the generator
+was being used to warm the cabin once more, they began to fall. Though
+the machine was held stable by the gyroscopes, she was dropping freely;
+but they had fifty miles to fall, and as the resistance of the denser
+air mounted, they could begin to feel the sense of weight return.
+
+"You've passed, but for the maneuvers, Dr. Arcot!" The Air Inspector was
+decidedly impressed. "The required altitude was passed so long ago--why
+we are still some miles above it, I guess! How fast are we falling?"
+
+"I can't tell unless I point the nose of the ship down, for the
+apparatus works only in the direction in which the ship is pointed. Hold
+on, everyone, I am going to start using some power to stop us."
+
+It was night when they returned to the little field in Vermont. They had
+established a new record in every form of aeronautical achievement
+except endurance! The altitude record, the speed record, the speed of
+climb, the acceleration record--all that Arcot could think of had been
+passed. Now the ship was coming to dock for the night. In the morning it
+would be out again. But now Arcot was sufficiently expert with the
+controls to maneuver the ship safely on the ground. They finally solved
+the wind difficulty by decreasing the weight of the ship to about fifty
+pounds, thus enabling the three men to carry it into the hanger!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next two days were devoted to careful tests of the power factors of
+the machine, the best operating frequency, the most efficient altitude
+of operation, and as many other tests as they had time for. Each of the
+three younger men took turns operating, but so great were the strains of
+the sudden acceleration, that Arcot senior decided it would be wisest
+for him to stay on the ground and watch.
+
+In the meantime reports of the Pirate became fewer and fewer as less and
+less money was shipped by air.
+
+Arcot spent four days practicing the manipulation of the machine, for
+though it handled far more readily than any other craft he had ever
+controlled, there was always the danger of turning on too much power
+under the stress of sudden excitement.
+
+The night before, Arcot had sailed the ship down and alighted on the
+roof of Morey senior's apartment, leaving enough power on to reduce the
+weight to but ten tons, lest it fall through the roof, while he went
+down to see the President of the Lines about some "bait" for the Pirate.
+
+"Send some cash along," said Arcot, when he saw Morey senior, "say a
+quarter of a million. Make it more or less public knowledge, and talk it
+up so that the Pirate may think there's a real haul on board. I am going
+to accompany the plane at a height of about a quarter of a mile above. I
+will try to locate him from there by means of radar, and if I have my
+apparatus on, I naturally can't locate him. I hope he won't be scared
+away--but I rather believe he won't. At any rate, you won't lose on the
+try!"
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+
+Again Morey and Arcot were looking at the great Jersey aerodrome, out on
+the fields that had been broad marshes centuries before. Now they had
+been filled in, and stretched for miles, a great landing field, close to
+the great city across the river.
+
+The men in the car above were watching the field, hanging inert, a point
+of glistening metal, high in the deep velvet of the purple sky, for
+fifteen miles of air separated them from the Transcontinental machine
+below. Now they saw through their field glasses that the great plane was
+lumbering slowly across the field, gaining momentum as it headed
+westward into the breeze. Then it seemed to be barely clearing the great
+skyscrapers that towered twenty-four hundred feet into the air, arching
+over four or five city blocks. From this height they were toys made of
+colored paper, soft colors glistening in the hot noon sunlight, and
+around and about them wove lines of flashing, moving helicopters, the
+individual lost in the mass of the million or so swiftly moving
+machines. Only the higher, steadily moving levels of traffic were
+visible to them.
+
+"Just look at that traffic! Thousands and thousands coming back into the
+city after going home to lunch--and every day the number of helicopters
+is increasing! If it hadn't been for your invention of this machine,
+conditions would soon be impossible. The airblast in the cities is
+unbearable now, and getting worse all the time. Many machines can't get
+enough power to hold themselves up at the middle levels; there is a down
+current over one hundred miles an hour at the 400-foot level in downtown
+New York. It takes a racer to climb fast there!
+
+"If it were not for gyroscopic stabilizers, they could never live in
+that huge airpocket. I have to drive in through there. I'm always afraid
+that somebody with an old worn-out bus will have stabilizer failure and
+will really smash things." Morey was a skillful pilot, and realized, as
+few others did, the dangers of that downward airblast that the countless
+whirring blades maintained in a constant roar of air. The office
+buildings now had double walls, with thick layers of sound absorbing
+materials, to stop the roar of the cyclonic blast that continued almost
+unabated twelve hours a day.
+
+"Oh, I don't know about that, Morey," replied Arcot. "This thing has
+some drawbacks. Remember that if we had about ten million of these
+machines hung in the air of New York City, there would be a noticeable
+drop in the temperature. We'd probably have an Arctic climate year in
+and year out. You know, though, how unbearably hot it gets in the city
+by noon, even on the coldest winter days, due to the heating effect of
+the air friction of all those thousands of blades. I have known the
+temperature of the air to go up fifty degrees. There probably will have
+to be a sort of balance between the two types of machines. It will be a
+terrific economic problem, but at the same time it will solve the
+difficulties of the great companies who have been fermenting grain
+residues for alcohol. The castor bean growers are also going to bring
+down their prices a lot when this machine kills the market. They will
+also be more anxious to extract the carbon from the cornstalks for
+reducing ores of iron and of other metals."
+
+As the ship flew high above the Transcontinental plane, the men
+discussed the economic values of the different applications of Arcot's
+discoveries from the huge power stations they could make, to the cooling
+and ventilating of houses.
+
+"Dick, you mentioned the cooling effect on New York City; with the
+millions on millions of these machines that there will be, with huge
+power plants, with a thousand other different applications in use, won't
+the terrific drain of energy from the air cause the whole world to
+become a little cooler?" asked Fuller.
+
+"I doubt it, Bob," said Arcot slowly. "I've thought of that myself.
+Remember that most of the energy we use eventually ends up as heat
+anyway. And just remember the decillions of ergs of energy that the sun
+is giving off! True, we only get an infinitesimal portion of that
+energy--but what we do get is more than enough for us. Power houses can
+be established very conveniently in the tropics, where they will cool
+the air, and the energy can be used to refine metals. That means that
+the surplus heat of the tropics will find a use. Weather control will
+also be possible by the direction-control of great winds. We could set
+huge director tubes on the tops of mountains, and blow the winds in
+whatever direction best suited us. Not the blown wind itself, but the
+vast volume of air it carried with it, would be able to cool the
+temperate zones in the summer from the cold of the poles, and warm it in
+winter with the heat of the tropics."
+
+After a thoughtful silence, Arcot continued, "And there is another thing
+it may make possible in the future--a thing that may be hard to accept
+as a commercial proposition. We have a practically inexhaustible source
+of energy now, but we have no sources of minerals that will last
+indefinitely. Copper is becoming more and more rare. Had it not been for
+the discoveries of the great copper fields of the Sahara and in Alaska,
+we wouldn't have any now. Platinum is exhausted, and even iron is
+becoming more and more valuable. We are facing a shortage of metals. Do
+you realize that within the next two centuries we will be unable to
+maintain this civilization unless we get new sources of certain basic
+raw materials?
+
+"But we have one other chance now. The solution is--there are nine
+planets in this solar system! Neptune and Uranus are each far vaster
+than Earth; they are utterly impossible for life as we know it, but a
+small colony might be established there to refine metals for the distant
+Earth. We might be able to build domed and sealed cities. But first we
+could try the nearer planets--Mars, Venus, or some satellites such as
+our Moon. I certainly hope that this machine will make it possible."
+
+For some time they sat in silence as they sped along, high above the
+green plains of Indiana. Chicago lay like some tremendous jewel far off
+on the horizon to the right and ahead. Five miles below them the huge
+bulk of the Transcontinental plane seemed a toy as it swung slowly
+across the fields--actually traveling over six hundred miles an hour.
+At last Morey spoke.
+
+"You're right, Arcot. We'll have to think of the interplanetary aspects
+of this some day. Oh, there's Chicago! We'd better start the vacuum gas
+protector. And the radar. We may soon see some action."
+
+The three men immediately forgot the somewhat distant danger of the
+metal shortage. There were a number of adjustments to be made, and these
+were quickly completed, while the machine forged evenly, steadily ahead.
+The generator was adjusted to maximum efficiency, and the various tubes
+were tested separately, for though they were all new, and each good for
+twenty-five thousand hours, it would be inconvenient, to say the least,
+if one failed while they were in action. Each tested perfect; and they
+knew from the smooth functioning of the various relays that governed the
+generator, as the loads on it varied, that it must be working perfectly,
+at something less than one-half maximum rating.
+
+Steadily they flew on, waiting tensely for the first sign of a glow from
+the tiny neon tube indicator on the panel before Morey.
+
+"This looks familiar, Dick," said Morey, looking about at the fields and
+the low line of the blue mountains far off on the western horizon. "I
+think it was about here that we took our little nap in the 'Flying Wheel
+chair', as the papers called it. It would be about here th-- LOOK! It is
+about here! Get ready for action, Fuller. You're taking the machine gun,
+I'll work the invisibility disrupter, and Arcot will run the ship. Let's
+go!"
+
+On the board before him the tiny neon tube flickered dully, glowed
+briefly like a piece of red-hot iron, then went out. In a moment it was
+glowing again, and then quickly its brilliance mounted till it was a
+line of crimson. Morey snapped the switch from the general radar to the
+beam receiver, that he might locate the machine exactly. It was fully a
+minute before the neon tube flashed into life once more. The pirate was
+flying just ahead of the big plane, very likely gassing them. All
+around him were the Air Guardsmen, unaware that the enemy was so near.
+As the disrupter beam could be projected only about a mile, they would
+have to dive down on the enemy at once; an instant later the great plane
+beneath them seemed to be rushing upward at a terrific speed.
+
+The two radar beams were kept focused constantly on the Pirate's craft.
+When they were about two miles from the two planes, the neon tube blazed
+brilliantly with a clash of opposing energy. The Pirate was trying to
+maintain his invisibility, while the rapidly growing strength of the
+machine above strove to batter it down. In moments the ammeter connected
+with the disrupter beam began to rise so rapidly that Morey watched it
+with some concern. Despite the ten-kilowatt set being used to project
+the beam, the resistance of the apparatus on board the pirate ship was
+amazing.
+
+Abruptly the three became aware of a rapidly solidifying cloud before
+them. The interference of the beam Morey was sending had begun breaking
+down the molecular oscillation that permitted the light to pass freely
+through the pirate's craft. Suddenly there was a circle of blue light
+about the shadow form, and a moment later the ionized air relapsed into
+normal condition as the pirate's apparatus broke down under the strain.
+At once Morey shut off his apparatus, convinced by the sudden change
+that the pirate's apparatus had blown out. He glanced up quickly as
+Arcot called to him, "Morey--look at him go!"
+
+Too late. Already the plane had shot off with terrific speed. It had
+flashed up and to their left, at a rate of climb that seemed
+unbelievable--except that the long trail of flaming gas told the story!
+The plane was propelled by rockets! The terrific acceleration carried it
+out of their range of vision in an instant, and as Arcot swung the ship
+to bring him again within sight of the windows, they gasped, for already
+he was many miles away.
+
+There was a terrific wrench as Arcot threw on all the power he dared,
+then quickly leveled the machine, following the pirate at lightning
+speed. He increased the acceleration further as the men grew accustomed
+to the force that weighed them down. Ahead of them the pirate was racing
+along, but quickly now they were overhauling him, for his machine had
+wings of a sort! They produced a tremendous amount of head resistance at
+their present velocity, for already the needle of the radio speedometer
+had moved over to one mile a second. They were following the fleet plane
+ahead at the rate of 3600 miles an hour. The roar of the air outside was
+a tremendous wave of sound, yet to them, protected by the vacuum of the
+double walls, it was detectable only by the vibration of the car.
+
+Rapidly the pirate's lead was cut down. It seemed but a moment before he
+would be within range of their machine gun. Suddenly he nosed down and
+shot for the ground, ten miles below, in a power dive. Instantly Arcot
+swung his machine in a loop that held him close to the tail of the
+pirate. The swift maneuvers at this speed were a terrific strain on both
+men and machines--the acceleration seemed crushing them with the weight
+of four men, as Arcot followed the pirate in a wide loop to the right
+that ended in a straight climb, the rocket ship standing on its tail,
+the rocket blast roaring out behind a stream of fire a half mile long.
+
+The pirate was climbing at a speed that would have distanced any other
+machine the world had ever seen, but the tenacious opponent behind him
+clung ever tighter to the tiny darting thing. He had released great
+clouds of his animation suspending gas. To his utter surprise, the ship
+behind him had driven right through it, entirely unaffected! He, who
+knew most about the gas, had been unable to devise a material to stop
+it, a mask or a tank to store it, yet in some way these men had
+succeeded! And that hurtling, bullet-shaped machine behind! Like some
+miniature airship it was, but with a speed and an acceleration that put
+even his ship to shame! It could twist, turn, dive, rise and shoot off
+on the straight-away with more flashing speed than anything aloft. Time
+and again he tried complicated maneuvers that strained him to the
+utmost, yet that machine always followed after him!
+
+There was one more thing to do. In outer space his rockets would support
+him. In a straight climb he shot up to the blazing sun above, out into
+space, while the sky around him grew black, and the stars shone in
+solemn splendor around him. But he had eyes for only one thing, the
+shining car that was rising with more than equal speed behind him. He
+knew he must be climbing over two thousand miles an hour, yet the
+tracker came ever closer. Just out of sighting range for the machine gun
+now ... in a moment ... but, she was faltering!
+
+The men in the machine behind sat white-lipped, tense, as the whirling
+shocks of sudden turns at terrific speed twisted the gyroscopic seats
+around like peas in a rolling ball. Up, down, left, right, the darting
+machine ahead was twisting with unbelievable speed. Then suddenly the
+nose was pointed for the zenith again, and with a great column of flame
+shooting out behind him, he was heading straight toward space!
+
+"If he gets there, I lose him, Morey!" said Arcot. The terrific
+acceleration of the climb seemed to press them to their seats with a
+deadly weight. It was labor to talk--but still the car ahead shot
+on--slowly they seemed to be overhauling him. Now that the velocities
+were perforce lowered by the effects of gravity, and the air resistance
+of the atmosphere was well nigh gone, only the acceleration that the
+human body could stand was considered. The man ahead was pushing his
+plane ahead with an acceleration that would have killed many men!
+
+Slowly the acceleration of the machine was falling. Arcot pushed the
+control over to the last ampere, and felt the slight surge, as greater
+power rushed through the coils momentarily. Soon this was gone too, as
+the generator behind faltered. The driving power of the atmospheric heat
+was gone. More than sixty miles below them they could see the Earth as a
+greenish brown surface, slightly convex, and far to the east they could
+distinguish a silvery line of water! But they had no eyes but for the
+column of shooting flame that represented the fleeing raider! Out in
+airless space now, he was safe from them. They could not follow. Arcot
+turned the plane once more, parallel to the Earth, watching the plane
+above through the roof window. Slowly the machine sank to the fifty-mile
+level, where there was just sufficient air to maintain it in efficient
+operation.
+
+"Well, he beat us! But there is only one thing for us to do. He must
+hang there on his rockets till we leave, and we can hang here
+indefinitely, if we can only keep this cabin decently warm. He has no
+air to cool him, and he has the sun to warm him. The only thing that is
+worrying him right now is the heat of his rockets. But he can throw most
+of that out with the gases. Lord, that's some machine! But eventually
+his rockets will give out, and down he will come, so we'll just hang
+here beneath him and--whoa--not so fast--he isn't going to stay there,
+it seems; he is angling his ship off a bit, and shooting along, so that,
+besides, holding himself up, he is making a little forward progress.
+We'll have to follow! He's going to do some speeding, it seems! Well, we
+can keep up with him, at our level."
+
+"Dick, no plane ever made before would have stood the terrific pulls and
+yanks that his plane got. He was steering and twisting on the standard
+type air rudders, and what strains he had! The unique type of plane must
+be extremely strong. I never saw one shaped like his before, though--it
+is the obvious shape at that! It was just a huge triangular arrowhead!
+Did you ever see one like it?"
+
+"Something like it, yes, and so have you. Don't you recognize that as
+the development of the old paper gliders you used to throw around as a
+kid? It has the same shape, the triangular wings with the point in the
+lead, except that he undoubtedly had a slight curve to the wings to
+increase the efficiency. Something like the flying wings of fifty years
+ago. I hope that man is only a kleptomaniac, because he can be cured of
+that, and I may then have a new laboratory partner. He has some
+exceedingly intelligent ideas!
+
+"He's an ingenious man, but I wish he didn't store quite so much fuel
+in his rocket tubes! It's unbearably cold in here, and I can't sacrifice
+any power just for comfort. The rocket ship up there seems to be getting
+more and more acceleration in the level. He has me dropping steadily to
+get air to run the generator. He is going fast enough!"
+
+They followed beneath the pirate, faster and faster as the rockets of
+the ship began to push it forward more and more.
+
+"Dick, why is it he didn't use all his rockets at first instead of
+gradually increasing the power this way?"
+
+"If you were operating the ship, Morey, you'd understand. Look at the
+speedometer a moment and see if you can figure it out."
+
+"Hmmm--4.5 miles per second--buzzing right along--but I don't see what
+that--good Lord! We never will get him at this rate! How do you expect
+to get him?"
+
+"I have no idea--yet. But you missed the important point. He is going
+4.5 miles a second. When he reaches 5 miles a second he will never come
+down from his hundred and fifty mile high perch! He will establish an
+orbit! He has so much centrifugal force already that he has very little
+weight. We are staying right beneath him, so we don't have much either.
+Well, there he goes in a last spurt. We are falling behind pretty
+fast--there we are catching up now--no--we are just holding parallel!
+He's done it! Look!"
+
+Arcot pulled out his watch and let go of it. It floated motionless in
+the air for a moment, then slowly drifted back toward the rear of the
+room. "I am using a bit of acceleration--a bit more than we need to
+maintain our speed. We are up high enough to make the air resistance
+almost nothing, even at this velocity, but we still require some power.
+I don't know--"
+
+There was a low buzz, repeated twice. Instantly Morey turned the dials
+of the radio receiving set--again the call signal sounded. In a moment a
+voice came in--low, but distinct. The power seemed fading rapidly.
+
+"I'm Wade--the Pirate--help if you can. Can you get outside the
+atmosphere? Exceed orbital speed and fall out? Am in an orbit and can't
+get out. Fuel reserve gage stuck, and used all my rockets. No more
+power. Can not slow down and fall. I am running out of compressed air
+and the generator for this set is going--will take animation suspending
+gas--will you be able to reach me before entering night?"
+
+"Quick, Morey--answer that we will."
+
+"We will try, Pirate--think we can make it!"
+
+"O.K.--power about gone--"
+
+The last of his power had failed! The pirate was marooned in space! They
+had seen his rockets go out, leaving the exhaust tube glowing for a
+moment before it, too, was dark, and only the sun shining on the silvery
+ship made it visible.
+
+"We have to hurry if we want to do anything before he reaches night!
+Radio the San Francisco fields that we will be coming in soon, and we
+need a large electro-magnet--one designed to work on about 500 volts
+D.C., and some good sized storage cells; how many will have to be
+decided later, depending on the room we will have for them. I'll start
+decelerating now so we can make the turn and circle back. We are
+somewhere west of Hawaii, I believe, but we ought to be able to do the
+trick if we use all the power we can."
+
+Morey at once set to work with the radio set to raise San Francisco
+airport. He was soon in communication with them, and told them that he
+would be there in about an hour. They promised all the necessary
+materials; also that they would get ready to receive the pirate once he
+was finally brought in to them.
+
+It was nearer an hour and a quarter later that the machine fell to the
+great San Francisco landing field, where the mechanics at once set to
+work bolting a huge electro-magnet on the landing skids on the bottom of
+the machine. The most serious problem was connecting the terminals
+electrically without making holes in the hull of the ship. Finally one
+terminal was grounded, and the radio aerial used as the other. Fuller
+was left behind on this trip, and a large number of cells were installed
+in every possible position. In the power room, a hastily arranged motor
+generator set was arranged, making it possible to run the entire ship
+from the batteries. Scarcely had these been battened down to prevent
+sliding under the accelerations necessary, than Arcot and Morey were
+off. The entire operation had required but fifteen minutes.
+
+"How are you going to catch him, Arcot?"
+
+"I'll overtake him going west. If I went the other way I'd meet him
+going at over 10 miles a second in relation to his machine. He had the
+right idea. He told me to fall out to him at a greater than orbital
+speed. I will go just within the Earth's atmosphere till I get just
+under him, holding myself in the air by means of a downward acceleration
+on the part of the regular lifting power units. I am going to try to
+reach eight miles a second. We will be overhauling him at three a
+second, and the ship will slow down to the right speed while falling out
+to him. We must reach him before he gets into the shadow of the Earth,
+though, for if he reaches 'night' he will be without heat, and he'll die
+of cold. I think we can reach him, Dick!"
+
+"I hope so. Those spare cells are all right, aren't they? We'll need
+them! If they don't function when we get out there, we'll fall clear off
+into space! At eight miles a second, we would leave Earth forever!"
+
+The ship was accelerating steadily at the highest value the men aboard
+could stand. The needle of the speedometer crept steadily across the
+dial. They were flying at a height of forty miles that they might have
+enough air and still not be too greatly hindered by air resistance. The
+black sky above them was spotted with points of glowing light, the
+blazing stars of space. But as they flew along, the sensation of weight
+was lost; they had reached orbital speed, and as the car steadily
+increased its velocity, there came a strange sensation! The Earth loomed
+gigantic above them! Below them shone the sun! The direction of up and
+down was changed by the terrific speed! The needle of the speedometer
+was wavering at 7.8 miles a second. Now it held steady!
+
+"I thought you were going to take it up to eight miles a second, Dick?"
+
+"Air resistance is too great! I'll have to go higher!"
+
+At a height of fifty miles they continued at 8.1 miles a second. It
+seemed hours before they reached the spot where the pirate's machine
+should be flying directly above them, and they searched the black sky
+for some sign of the shining dot of light. With the aid of field glasses
+they found it, far ahead, and nearly one hundred miles above.
+
+"Well, here we go! I'm going to fall up the hundred miles or so, till
+we're right in his path; the work done against gravity will slow us down
+a little, so I'll have to use the power units somewhat. Did you notice
+what I did to them?"
+
+"Yes, they're painted a dull black. What's the idea?"
+
+"We'll have no air from which to get heat for power out here, so we'll
+have to depend on the sunlight they can absorb. I'm using it now to slow
+us down as much as possible."
+
+At last the tiny silver dot had grown till it became recognizable as the
+pirate plane. They were drawing up to it now, slowly, but steadily. At
+last the little machine was directly beneath them, and a scant hundred
+yards away. They had long since been forced to run the machine on the
+storage batteries, and now they applied a little power to the vertical
+power units. Sluggishly, as they absorbed the sun's heat, the machine
+was forced lower, nearer to the machine below. At last a scant ten feet
+separated them.
+
+"All right, Morey."
+
+There was a snap, as the temporary switch was closed, and the current
+surged into the big magnet on the keel. At once they felt the ship jump
+a little under the impulse of the magnet's pull on the smaller machine.
+In a moment the little plane had drifted up to the now idle magnet,
+touched it and was about to bounce off, when Morey again snapped the
+switch shut and the two machines were locked firmly together!
+
+"I've got him, Dick!" Morey exclaimed. "Now slow down till it falls.
+Then we can go and wait for it. Being a glider, it ought to be quite
+manageable!"
+
+Now the energy of the power units on the roof of the machine began to
+slow down the two machines, the magnet grinding slightly as the momentum
+of the plane was thrust upon it. They watched the speedometer drop. The
+speed was sinking very slowly, for the area of the absorbing fins was
+not designed to absorb the sun's heat directly, and was very
+inefficient. The sun was indeed sinking below their horizon; they were
+just beginning to watch that curious phenomenon of seeing dawn backward,
+when they first struck air dense enough to operate the power units
+noticeably. Quickly the power was applied till the machines sank rapidly
+to the warmer levels, the only governing factor being the tendency of
+the glider to break loose from the grip of the magnet.
+
+At fifty miles the generator was started, and the heaters in the car at
+once became more active. There was no heat in the car below, but that
+was unavoidable. They would try to bring it down to warm levels quickly.
+
+"Whew, I'm glad we reached the air again, Dick. I didn't tell you
+sooner, for it wouldn't have done any good, but that battery was about
+gone! We had something like twenty amp-hours left! I'm giving the
+recharge generator all she will take. We seem to have plenty of power
+now."
+
+"I knew the cells were low, but I had no idea they were as low as that!
+I noticed that the magnet was weakening, but thought it was due to the
+added air strain. I am going to put the thing into a nose dive and let
+the glider go down itself. I know it would land correctly if it had a
+chance. I am going to follow it, of course, and since we are over the
+middle of Siberia we'd better start back."
+
+The return trip was necessarily in the lower level of the atmosphere,
+that the glider might be kept reasonably warm. At a height of but two
+miles, in the turbulent atmosphere, the glider was brought slowly home.
+It took them nearly twenty hours to go the short distance of twelve
+thousand miles to San Francisco, the two men taking turns at the
+controls. The air resistance of the glider forced them to go slowly;
+they could not average much better than six hundred an hour despite the
+fact that the speed of either machine alone was over twelve hundred
+miles an hour.
+
+At last the great skyscrapers of San Francisco appeared on their
+horizon, and thousands of private planes started out to meet them.
+Frantically Arcot warned them away, lest the air blast from their props
+tear the glider from the magnet. At last, however, the Air Guard was
+able to force them to a safe distance and clear a lane through one of
+the lower levels of the city traffic. The great field of the
+Transcontinental lines was packed with excited men and women, waiting to
+catch a glimpse of two of the greatest things the country had heard of
+in the century--Arcot's molecular motion machine and the Air Pirate!
+
+The landing was made safely in the circle of Air Guardsmen. There was a
+small hospital plane standing beside it in a moment, and as Arcot's ship
+released it, and then hung motionless, soundless above it, the people
+watched it in wonder and excitement. They wanted to see Arcot perform;
+they clamored to see the wonderful powers of this ship in operation. Air
+Guardsmen who had witnessed the flying game of tag between these two
+super-air machines had told of it through the press and over the radio.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Two weeks later, Arcot stepped into the office of Mr. Morey, senior.
+
+"Busy?"
+
+"Come on in; you know I'm busy--but not _too_ busy for you. What's on
+your mind?"
+
+"Wade--the pirate."
+
+"Oh--hmm. I saw the reports on his lab out on the Rockies, and also the
+psychomedical reports on him. And most particularly, I saw the request
+for his employment you sent through channels. What's your opinion on
+him? You talked with him."
+
+Arcot frowned slightly. "When I talked to him he was still two different
+identities dancing around in one body. Dr. Ridgely says the problem's
+settling down; I believe him. Ridgely's no more of a fool in his line
+than you and Dad are in your own lines, and Ridgely's business is
+healing mental wounds. We agreed some while back that the Pirate must be
+insane, even before we met him.
+
+"We also agreed that he had a tremendously competent and creative mind.
+As a personality in civilization, he'd evidently slipped several cogs.
+Ridgely says that is reparable.
+
+"You know, Newton was off the beam for about two years. Faraday was in a
+complete breakdown for nearly five years--and after his breakdown, came
+back to do some monumental work.
+
+"And those men didn't have the help of modern psychomedical techniques.
+
+"I think we'd be grade A fools ourselves to pass up the chance to get
+Wade's help. The man--insane or not--figured out a way of stabilizing
+and storing atomic hydrogen for his rockets. If he could do that in the
+shape he was then in...!
+
+"I'd say we'd be smart to keep the competition in the family."
+
+Mr. Morey leaned back in his chair and smiled up at Arcot. "You've got a
+good case there. I'll buy it. When Dr. Ridgely says Wade's got those
+slipped cogs replaced--offer him a job in your lab staff.
+
+"I'm a bit older than you are; you've grown up in a world where the
+psychomedical techniques really work. When I was growing up,
+psychomedical techniques were strictly rule of thumb--and the doctors
+were all thumbs." Mr. Morey sighed. Then, "In this matter, I think your
+judgment is better than mine."
+
+"I'll see him again, and offer him the job. I'm pretty sure he'll take
+it, as I said. I have a suspicion that, within six months, he'll be a
+lot saner than most people around. The ordinary man doesn't realize what
+a job of rechecking present techniques can do--and Wade is, naturally,
+getting a very thorough overhaul.
+
+"Somewhat like a man going in for treatment of a broken arm; in any
+decent hospital they'll also check for any other medical problems, and
+he'll come out healthier than if he had never had the broken arm.
+
+"Wade seems to have had a mind that made friends with molecules, and
+talked their language. After Ridgely shows him how to make friends with
+people--I think he'll be quite a man on our team!"
+
+
+
+
+BOOK TWO
+
+SOLARITE
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+
+The lights of great Transcontinental Airport were blazing in cheering
+splendor. Out there in the center of the broad field a dozen men were
+silhouetted in the white brilliance, looking up at the sky, where the
+stars winked cold and clear on the jet background of the frosty night. A
+slim crescent of moon gleamed in the west, a sickle of light that in no
+way dimmed the cold flame of the brilliant stars.
+
+One point of light now moved across the motionless field of far-off
+suns, flashing toward the airport in a long, swift curve. The men on the
+field murmured and pointed up at it as it swept low over the blazing
+lights of New York. Lower it swooped, the towering city behind it. Half
+a mile into the air the buildings rose in shining glory of colored tile
+that shone brightly in the sweeping play of floodlights.
+
+One of them picked out the descending machine, and it suddenly leaped
+out of the darkness as a shining, streamlined cylinder, a cylinder with
+a great halo of blue fire, as the beam of the searchlight set it off
+from the jet black night.
+
+In moments the ship was vast before the eyes of the waiting men; it had
+landed gently on the field, was floating smoothly, gracefully toward
+them.
+
+Twenty-four men climbed from the great ship, shivering in the icy blast
+that swept across the field, spoke a moment with the group awaiting
+their arrival, then climbed quickly into the grateful warmth of a field
+car. In a moment they were speeding toward the lights of the field
+house, half a mile off.
+
+Behind them the huge ship leaped into the sky, then suddenly pointed its
+nose up at an angle of thirty degrees and shot high into the air at an
+unbelievable speed. In an instant it was gone.
+
+At the field house the party broke up almost immediately.
+
+"We want to thank you, Mr. Morey, for your demonstration of the new ship
+tonight, and you, Dr. Arcot, for answering our many questions about it.
+I am sure we all appreciate the kindness you have shown the press." The
+reporters filed out quickly, anxious to get the news into the morning
+editions, for it was after one o'clock now. Each received a small slip
+of paper from the attendant standing at the exit, the official statement
+of the company. At last all had left but the six men who were
+responsible for the new machine.
+
+This night had witnessed the official demonstration of the first of the
+Arcot-Morey molecular motion ships. Small as she was, compared to those
+that were to come, yet she could carry over three thousand passengers,
+as many as could any existing winged plane, and her speed was immensely
+greater. The trip from the west coast to the eastern had been made in
+less than one hour. At a speed close to one mile a second the great ship
+had shot through the thin air, twenty-five miles above the Earth.
+
+In this vessel a huge bar of metal could be affected by an
+ultra-high-frequency generator. When so affected, its molecules all
+moved forward, taking the ship with them. Thus, a molecular motion drive
+vessel could, theoretically, approach the velocity of light as a limit.
+
+"Arcot," said Morey, Senior, after the pressmen had left the room, "as
+president of this company I certainly want to thank you for the
+tremendous thing you have given us to use. You have 'sold' us this
+machine--but how can we repay you? Before this, time and time again,
+you have sold us your inventions, the ideas that have made it possible
+for Transcontinental to attain its present high position in world
+transportation. All you have ever accepted is the laboratory you use,
+its upkeep, and a small annual income. What can we do to show our
+appreciation this time?"
+
+"Why," answered Arcot smiling, "you haven't stated the terms correctly.
+Actually, I have a fully equipped lab to putter around in, all the time
+I want for my own amusement, and all the money I want. What more could I
+ask?"
+
+"I suppose that's all true--but you draw only about six thousand a year
+for personal expenses--a good clerk could get that--and you, admittedly
+the most brilliant physicist of the Earth, are satisfied! I don't feel
+we're paying you properly!"
+
+Arcot's expression became suddenly serious. "You can repay me this
+time," he said, "for this latest discovery has made a new thing
+possible. I've always wanted to be able to visit other planets--as has
+many a scientist for the last three centuries. This machine has made it
+possible. If you are willing--we could start by the spring of 2117. I'm
+quite serious about this. With your permission, I want to start work on
+the first interplanetary ship. I'll need Fuller's help, of course. The
+proposition will be expensive, and that's where I must ask you to help
+me. I think, however, that it may be a paying proposition, at that, for
+there will certainly be something of commercial value on the other
+planets."
+
+They had walked out to the shed where Arcot's private molecular motion
+car stood, the first machine ever built that used the heat of the sun to
+drive it. Thoughtfully the president of the great Transcontinental Lines
+looked at it. It was small compared with the great machine that had just
+brought them east, but of the same swift type. It was a thing of
+graceful beauty even on the ground, its long curving streamlines giving
+it wonderful symmetry. They stood in thoughtful silence for a
+minute--the young men eager to hear the verdict of their prospective
+backer. Morey, always rather slow of speech, took an unusually long
+time to answer.
+
+"If it were only money you asked for, Arcot, I'd gladly give you double
+the sum, but that isn't the case. I know perfectly well that if you do
+go, my son will go with you, and Fuller and Wade will naturally go too."
+He looked at each in turn. "Each of you has come to mean a lot to me.
+You and Fuller have known Bob since college days. I've known Wade only
+three months, but every day I grow to like him more. There's no denying
+the fact that any such trip is a terrifically dangerous proposition. But
+if you were lost, there would be more than my personal loss. We would
+lose some of the most brilliant men on Earth. You, for instance, are
+conceded as being the world's most brilliant physicist; Fuller is one of
+the greatest designing engineers; Wade is rapidly rising into prominence
+as a chemist and as a physicist; and my son is certainly a good
+mathematician."
+
+He paused, frowning, weighing the situation. "But you men should know
+how to get out of scrapes just that much better. Certainly there are few
+men on Earth who would not be willing to back such a group of men--or
+any one of you, for that matter! I'll back your trip!" His words became
+more facetious. "I know that Arcot and you, Bob, can handle a gun fairly
+well, I don't know so much about Wade and Fuller. What experience have
+you two had?"
+
+Fuller shook his head. "I think I'll fit best in the galley on the trip,
+Mr. Morey. I've done the cooking on a number of camping trips, and food
+is an important factor in the success of any expedition. I can shoot a
+bit, too."
+
+Wade spoke rather hesitantly. "I come from the west, and have had a good
+bit of fun with a gun in the Rockies; there are still some mountain
+lions and some deer there, you know. I also have a sneaking acquaintance
+with the new gun, which Arcot developed in connection with his molecular
+motion. But there is so little you know about me--and most of it bad--I
+don't see how I really get in on this opportunity--but," he added
+hastily, "I certainly don't intend to keep the old boy knocking--I'm
+with you, since I'm invited!"
+
+Arcot smiled. "Then you'll definitely support us?"
+
+"Yes, I will," replied Morey, Senior, seriously, "for I think it's worth
+doing."
+
+The four young men climbed into the ship, to start for their apartment.
+Arcot was piloting, and under his sure touch the ship sped out into the
+cold night air, then up through the atmosphere, till they hung poised at
+a height of fifty miles on the upper edge of the airy blanket. They
+looked out in silent thought at the magnificent blazing stars of space.
+Here, where the dust-laden air could no longer mask their true colors,
+the stars shone unwinkingly, steadily, and in a glory that earth-bound
+men had never seen before. They shone in a wonderous riot of color, as
+varied and as beautiful as the display of colored floodlights in some
+great city. They were tiny pinpoints of radiance, red, green, orange,
+and yellow, shining with intense brilliance.
+
+Slowly Arcot let the machine settle to the blazing city miles below.
+
+"I love to come out here and look at those cold, pinpoint lights; they
+seem to draw me--the lure of other worlds. I've always had a sense of
+unfulfilled longing--the desire to go out there--and it's always been so
+hopeless. Now--I'll be out there by next spring!" Arcot paused and
+looked up at the mighty field of stars that arched over his head to be
+lost on either horizon. A wonderful night!
+
+"Where shall we go first, Dick?" asked Wade softly as he gazed out at
+the far-off suns of space, his voice unconsciously hushed by the
+grandeur of the spectacle.
+
+"I've thought of that for the last four months, and now that we are
+definitely going to go, we'll have to make a decision. Actually, it
+won't be too hard to decide. Of course we can't leave the solar system.
+And the outer planets are so far away that I think we had better wait
+till later trips. That leaves the choice really between Mars, Venus, and
+Mercury. Mercury isn't practical since it's so close to the sun. We know
+a fair bit about Mars from telescopic observation, while Venus, wrapped
+in perpetual cloud, is a mystery. What do you vote?"
+
+"Well," said Morey, "it seems to me it's more fun to explore a
+completely unknown planet than one that can be observed telescopically.
+I vote Venus." Each of the others agreed with Morey that Venus was the
+logical choice.
+
+By this time the machine had sunk to the roof of their apartment, and
+the men disembarked and entered. The next day they were to start the
+actual work of designing the space ship.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+
+"When we start this work," Arcot began next morning, "we obviously want
+to design the ship for the conditions we expect to meet, and for maximum
+convenience and safety. I believe I've thought about this trip longer
+than the rest of you, so I'll present my ideas first.
+
+"We don't actually _know_ anything about conditions on Venus, since no
+one has actually been there. Venus is probably a younger planet than
+Earth. It's far nearer the sun than we are, and it gets twice the heat
+we do. In the long-gone time when the planets were cooling I believe
+Venus required far longer than Earth, for the inpouring heat would
+retard its cooling. The surface temperature is probably about 150
+degrees Fahrenheit.
+
+"There is little land, probably, for with the cloud-mass covering Venus
+as it does, it's logical to visualize tremendous seas. What life has
+developed must be largely aquatic, and the land is probably far behind
+us in evolution. Of course, Venus is the planet of mystery--we don't
+know; we can only guess. But we do know what things we are going to need
+to cross space.
+
+"Obviously, the main driving force will be the power units. These will
+get their energy from the rays of the sun by absorbing them in copper
+discs about twelve feet in diameter--the ship will have to be more of a
+disc than a cylinder. I think a ship a hundred and eighty feet long,
+fifty feet wide, and twenty feet deep will be about the best dimensions.
+The power units will be strung along the top of the ship in double
+rows--one down each side of the hull. In the middle will be a series of
+fused quartz windows, opening into a large room just under the outer
+shell. We'll obviously need some source of power to activate the power
+tubes that run the molecular motion power units. We'll have a generator
+run by molecular motion power units in here, absorbing its heat from the
+atmosphere in this room. The air will be heated by the rays of the sun,
+of course, and in this way we'll get all our power from the sun itself.
+
+"Since this absorption of energy might result in making the ship too
+cool, due to the radiation of the side away from the sun, we'll polish
+it, and thus reduce the unlighted side's radiation.
+
+"The power units will not be able to steer us in space, due to their
+position, and those on the sides, which will steer us in the atmosphere
+by the usual method, will be unable to get the sun's power; they'll be
+shaded. For steering in space, we'll use atomic hydrogen rockets,
+storing the atomic gas by the Wade method in tanks in the hold. We'll
+also have a battery down there for starting the generator and for
+emergencies.
+
+"For protection against meteors, we'll use radar. If anything comes
+within a dozen miles of us, the radar unit covering that sector will at
+once set automatic machinery in operation, and the rockets will shoot
+the ship out of the path of the meteor."
+
+All that day Arcot and the others discussed the various pieces of
+apparatus they would need, and toward evening Fuller began to draw rough
+sketches of the different mechanisms that had been agreed upon.
+
+The next day, by late afternoon, they had planned the rough details of
+the ship and had begun the greater task of calculating the stresses and
+the power factors.
+
+"We won't need any tremendous strength for the ship while it is in
+space," Arcot commented, "for then there will be little strain on it.
+It will be weightless from the start, and the gentle acceleration will
+not strain it in the least, but we must have strength, so that it can
+maneuver in the atmosphere.
+
+"We'll leave Earth by centrifugal force, for I can make much better
+speed in the atmosphere where there is plenty of power to draw on;
+outside I must depend solely on sunlight. We'll circle the Earth,
+forming an orbit just within the atmosphere, at five miles a second.
+We'll gradually increase the speed to about ten miles a second, at which
+point the ship would normally fly off into space under its own
+centrifugal force. With the power units we'll prevent its release until
+the proper moment. When we release it, it will be entirely free of
+Earth, and no more work will be needed to overcome Earth's pull."
+
+The planning continued with exasperating slowness. The details of the
+work were complex, for all the machines were totally new. Several weeks
+passed before even the power units could be ordered and the first work
+on the ship started. After that orders for materials left the office
+daily. Still, it was late in November before the last order was sent
+out.
+
+Now they must begin work on other phases of the expedition--food
+supplies and the standard parts of the equipment.
+
+In the interval Arcot had decided to make a special ventilated suit for
+use on Venus. This was to make use of a small molecular motion director
+apparatus to cool the air, and blow it through the suit. The apparatus
+consisted of a small compressed air-driven generator and a power tube
+bank that could be carried on the back.
+
+"Arcot," Wade said when he saw the apparatus completed and the testing
+machine ready, "I've just noticed how similar this is to the portable
+invisibility apparatus I developed as the Pirate. I wonder if it might
+not be handy at times to be invisible--we could incorporate that with a
+slight change. It wouldn't add more than five pounds, and those tubes
+you are using I'm sure are easily strong enough to carry the extra
+load."
+
+"Great idea, Wade," said Arcot. "It might be very useful if we met
+hostile natives. The disappearance stunt might make us gods or something
+to primitive beings. And now that you mention it, I think we can install
+the apparatus in the ship. It will require almost no power, and might
+save our lives some time."
+
+The work went forward steadily at the great Transcontinental Shops where
+the space ship was being built. Its construction was being kept as much
+of a secret as possible, for Arcot feared the interference of the crowds
+that would be sure to collect if the facts were known, and since the
+shops directly joined the airfield, it meant that there would be
+helicopters buzzing about the Transatlantic and Transcontinental planes.
+
+The work to be done required the most careful manipulation and
+workmanship, for one defect could mean death. They calculated six weeks
+for the trip, and in the time before they could reach either planet,
+much might happen to a crippled ship.
+
+To the men who were making the trip, the waiting seemed most
+exasperating, and they spent the days before they could begin the
+installation of the electrical apparatus in purchasing the necessary
+standard equipment; the standard coils, tubes, condensers, the canned
+food supplies, clothes, everything that they could imagine as of
+possible utility. They were making the ship with a great deal of empty
+storage space, for Arcot hoped the trip would be a financial success,
+particularly supplying much-needed metals. Many vital elements were
+already excessively scarce, and no satisfactory substitutes had been
+found.
+
+On the outward trip some of this space would be filled with the many
+things they would consume en route. In addition they were carrying a
+great many spare parts, spare tubes, spare power units, spare
+condensers--a thousand and one odd parts. Arcot intended that they
+should be able to make an entire new power switchboard and motion
+director unit if anything should go wrong, and he certainly had all the
+apparatus.
+
+At last came the day when the final connection had been soldered, and
+the last joint welded. The atomic hydrogen tanks were full, and under
+the ship's own power the oxygen tanks were filled and the batteries
+charged. They were ready for a test flight!
+
+The great ship rested on the floor of the shed now, awaiting the start.
+
+"Oh fellows--come here a minute!" Arcot called to the other members of
+the party. "I want to show you something."
+
+The three walked quickly to the bow where Arcot stood, and following the
+line of his vision, looked in wonder to see that everything was right.
+They watched curiously as he drew from his coat a large glass bottle,
+tightly sealed.
+
+"What's that for?" asked Wade curiously.
+
+"We're about to start on the first cruise, and I've been wondering if it
+isn't time we gave the ship a name."
+
+"Great--I'd been thinking of that too--what are we going to name her?"
+
+"Well," said Arcot, "I had been thinking of Alexander--he longed for
+other worlds to conquer!"
+
+"Not bad," Morey commented. "I have been thinking of naming it too--I
+guess we all have--but I was thinking of Santa Maria--the first ship to
+discover the New World."
+
+"I was thinking more of its home," said Wade. "How about calling it
+Terrestrian?"
+
+"Well--it's your turn, Fuller--you designed it. What do you suggest for
+your masterpiece?" asked Arcot.
+
+"I was thinking also of its home--the home it will never leave. I like
+to think that we might find people on Venus, and I would like to have a
+name on it that might be translatable into more friendly and less
+foreign terms--why not call it Solarite?"
+
+"Solarite--a member of the solar system--it will be that, always. It
+will be a world unto itself when it makes its trips--it will take up an
+orbit about the sun--a true member of the solar system. I like it!"
+Arcot turned to the others. "How about it?" It was agreed upon
+unanimously.
+
+"But I'm still curious about that glass bottle, so carefully sealed."
+Morey commented with a puzzled smile. "What's in it? Some kind of gas?"
+
+"Wrong--no gas--practically nothing at all, in fact. What more
+appropriate for christening a space ship than a bottle of hard vacuum?
+
+"We can't have a pretty girl christen this ship, that's sure. A flying
+bachelor's apartment christened by a mere woman? Never! We will have the
+foreman of the works here do that. Since we can't have the ship slide
+down the ways or anything, we will get inside and move it when he
+smashes the bottle. But in the meantime, let's have a symbol set in
+contrasting metal on the bow. We can have a blazing sun, with nine
+planets circling it, the Earth indicated conspicuously; and below it the
+word SOLARITE."
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+
+It was shortly after noon when the newly christened _Solarite_ left on
+its first trip into space. The sun was a great ball of fire low in the
+west when they returned, dropping plummet-like from the depths of space,
+the rush of the air about the hull, a long scream that mounted from a
+half-heard sound in the outer limits of the Earth's atmosphere, to a
+roar of tortured air as the ship dropped swiftly to the field and shot
+into the hanger. Instantly the crew darted to the side of the great
+cylinder as the door of the ship opened.
+
+Fuller appeared in the opening, and at the first glimpse of his face,
+the hanger crew knew something was wrong. "Hey, Jackson," Fuller called,
+"get the field doctor--Arcot had a little accident out there in space!"
+In moments the man designated returned with the doctor, leading him
+swiftly down the long metal corridor of the _Solarite_ to Arcot's room
+aboard.
+
+There was a mean-looking cut in Arcot's scalp, but a quick, sure
+examination by the doctor revealed that there appeared to be no serious
+injury. He had been knocked unconscious by the blow that made the cut,
+and he had not yet recovered his senses.
+
+"How did this happen?" asked the doctor as he bathed the cut and deftly
+bandaged it.
+
+Morey explained: "There's a device aboard whose job it is to get us out
+of the way of stray meteors, and it works automatically. Arcot and I
+were just changing places at the controls. While neither of us was
+strapped into our seats, a meteor came within range and the rocket tubes
+shot the car out of the way. We both went tumbling head over heels and
+Arcot landed on his ear. I was luckier, and was able to break my fall
+with my hands, but it was a mean fall--at our speed we had about double
+weight, so, though it was only about seven feet, we might as well have
+fallen fourteen. We took turns piloting the ship, and Arcot was about to
+bring us back when that shock just about shook us all over the ship. We
+will have to make some changes. It does its job--but we need warning
+enough to grab hold."
+
+The doctor was through now, and he began to revive his patient. In a
+moment he stirred and raised his hand to feel the sore spot. In ten
+minutes he was conversing with his friends, apparently none the worse
+except for a very severe headache. The doctor gave him a mild opiate,
+and sent him to bed to sleep off the effects of the blow.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With the ship fully equipped, tested and checked in every possible way,
+the time for leaving was set for the following Saturday, three days off.
+Great supplies of stores had to be carried aboard in the meantime. Care
+had to be exercised in this work, lest the cargo slip free under varying
+acceleration of the _Solarite_, and batter itself to bits, or even wreck
+some vital part of the ship. At noon on the day chosen, the first ship
+ever to leave the bounds of the Earth's gravity was ready to start!
+
+Gently the heavily laden _Solarite_ rose from the hangar floor, and
+slowly floated out into the bright sunshine of the early February day.
+Beside it rode the little ship that Arcot had first built, piloted by
+the father of the inventor. With him rode the elder Morey and a dozen
+newsmen. The little ship was badly crowded now as they rose slowly, high
+into the upper reaches of the Earth's atmosphere. The sky about them
+was growing dark--they were going into space!
+
+At last they reached the absolute ceiling of the smaller ship, and it
+hung there while the _Solarite_ went a few miles higher; then slowly,
+but ever faster and faster they were plunging ahead, gathering speed.
+
+They watched the radio speedometer creep up--1-2-3-4-5-6--steadily it
+rose as the acceleration pressed them hard against the back of the
+seats--8-9--still it rose as the hum of the generator became a low
+snarl--10-11-12--they were rocketing at twelve miles a second, the
+tenuous air about the ship shrieking in a thin scream of protest as it
+parted on the streamlined bow.
+
+Slowly the speed rose--reached fifteen miles a second. The sun's pull
+became steadily more powerful; they were falling toward the fiery
+sphere, away from the Earth. A microphone recessed in the outer wall
+brought them the fading whisper of air from outside. Arcot shouted a
+sudden warning:
+
+"Hold on--we're going to lose all weight--out into space!"
+
+There was a click, and the angry snarl of the overworked generator died
+in an instant as the thudding relays cut it out of the circuit.
+Simultaneously the air scoop which had carried air to the generator
+switched off, transferring to solar heat as a source of power. They
+seemed to be falling with terrific and ever-increasing speed. They
+looked down--saw the Earth shrinking visibly as they shot away at more
+than five miles a second; they were traveling fifteen miles a second
+ahead and five a second straight up.
+
+The men watched with intensest interest as the heavens opened up before
+them--they could see stars now a scant degree from the sun itself, for
+no air diffused its blinding glory. The heat of the rays seemed to burn
+them; there was a prickling pleasantness to it now, as they looked at
+the mighty sea of flame through smoked glasses. The vast arms of the
+corona reached out like the tentacles of some fiery octopus through
+thousands of miles of space--huge arms of flaming gas that writhed out
+as though to reach and drag back the whirling planets to the parent
+body. All about the mighty sphere, stretching far into space, a wan glow
+seemed to ebb and flow, a kaleidoscope of swiftly changing color. It was
+the zodiacal light, an aurora borealis on a scale inconceivable!
+
+Arcot worked rapidly with the controls, the absence of weight that gave
+that continued sense of an unending fall, aiding him and his assistants
+in their rapid setting of the controls.
+
+At last the work was done and the ship flashed on its way under the
+control of the instruments that would guide it across all the millions
+of miles of space and land it on Venus with unerring certainty. The
+photo-electric telescopic eye watched the planet constantly, keeping the
+ship surely and accurately on the course that would get them to the
+distant planet in the shortest possible time.
+
+Work thereafter became routine requiring a minimum of effort, and the
+men could rest and use their time to observe the beauties of the skies
+as no man had ever seen them during all the billions of years of time
+that this solar system has existed. The lack of atmosphere made it
+possible to use a power of magnification that no terrestrial telescope
+may use. The blurred outlines produced by the shifting air prohibits
+magnifications of more than a few hundred diameters, but here in space
+they could use the greatest power of their telescope. With it they could
+look at Mars and see it more clearly than any other man had ever seen
+it, despite the fact that it was now over two hundred million miles
+away.
+
+But though they spent much time taking photographs of the planets and of
+the moon, and in making spectrum analyses of the sun, time passed very
+slowly. Day after day they saw measured on the clocks, but they stayed
+awake, finding they needed little sleep, for they wasted no physical
+energy. Their weightlessness eliminated fatigue. However, they
+determined that during the twelve hours before reaching Venus they must
+be thoroughly alert, so they tried to sleep in pairs. Arcot and Morey
+were the first to seek slumber--but Morpheus seemed to be a mundane god,
+for he did not reward them. At last it became necessary for them to
+take a mild opiate, for their muscles refused to permit their tired
+brains to sleep. It was twelve hours later when they awoke, to relieve
+Wade and Fuller.
+
+They spent most of the twelve hours of their routine watch in playing
+games of chess. There was little to be done. The silver globe before
+them seemed unchanging, for they were still so far away it seemed little
+larger than the moon does when seen from Earth.
+
+But at last it was time for the effects of the mild drug to wear off,
+and for Wade and Fuller to awaken from their sleep.
+
+"Morey--I've an idea!" There was an expression of perfect innocence on
+Arcot's face--but a twinkle of humor in his eyes. "I wonder if it might
+not be interesting to observe the reactions of a man waking suddenly
+from sleep to find himself alone in space?" He stared thoughtfully at
+the control that would make the ship perfectly transparent, perfectly
+invisible.
+
+"I wonder if it would?" said Morey grasping Arcot's idea. "What do you
+say we try it?" Arcot turned the little switch--and where there had been
+the ship, it was no more--it was gone!
+
+Fuller stirred uneasily in his bed, tightly strapped as he was. The
+effects of the drug were wearing off. Sleepily he yawned--stretched, and
+blindly, his heavy eyes still closed, released the straps that held him
+in bed. Yawning widely he opened his eyes--with a sudden start sat
+upright--then, with an excellent imitation of an Indian on the warpath,
+he leaped from his bed, and started to run wildly across the floor. His
+eyes were raised to the place where the ceiling should have been--he
+called lustily in alarm--then suddenly he was flying up--and crashed
+heavily against the invisible ceiling! His face was a picture of utter
+astonishment as he fell lightly to the floor--then slowly it changed,
+and took on a chagrined smile--he understood!
+
+He spun around as loud cries suddenly resounded from Wade's room across
+the hall--then there was a dull thud, as he too, forgetting the
+weightlessness, jumped and hit the ceiling. Then the cries were gone,
+like the snuffing of a candle. From the control room there rose loud
+laughter--and a moment later they felt more normal, as they again saw
+the four strong walls about them.
+
+Wade sighed heavily and shook his head.
+
+They were approaching the planet visibly now. In the twelve hours that
+had passed they had covered a million miles, for now they were falling
+toward the planet under its attraction. It glowed before them now in
+wonderous splendour, a mighty disc of molten silver.
+
+For the last twenty-four hours they had been reducing their speed
+relative to Venus, to insure their forming an orbit about the planet,
+rather than shoot around it and back into space. Their velocity had been
+over a hundred miles a second part of the way, but now it had been
+reduced to ten. The gravity of the planet was urging them forward at
+ever increasing speed, and their problem became more acute moment by
+moment.
+
+"We'll never make it on the power units alone, out here in space," said
+Arcot seriously. "We'll just shoot around the planet. I'll tell you how
+we can do it, though. We'll circle around it, entering its atmosphere on
+the daylight side, and shoot into the upper limits of its atmosphere.
+There the power units can find some heat to work on, and we can really
+slow down. But we'll have to use the rocket tubes to get the
+acceleration we'll need to drive the ship into the air."
+
+There was a sudden clanging of a bell, and everyone dived for a hold,
+and held on tightly. An instant later there was a terrific wrench as the
+rocket jets threw the plane out of the way of a meteor.
+
+"We're getting near a planet. This is the third meteor we've met since
+we were more than a million miles from Earth. Venus and Earth and all
+the planets act like giant vacuum cleaners of space, pulling into
+themselves all the space debris and meteors within millions of miles by
+their gravitational attraction."
+
+Swiftly the planet expanded below them--growing vaster with each passing
+moment. It had changed from a disc to a globe, and now, as the molten
+silver of its surface seemed swiftly clouding, it turned grey; then they
+saw its true appearance, a vast field of rolling, billowing clouds!
+
+The _Solarite_ was shooting around the planet now at ten miles a second,
+far more than enough to carry them away from the planet again, out into
+space once more if their speed was not checked.
+
+"Hold on everybody," Arcot called. "We're going to turn toward the
+planet now!" He depressed a small lever--there was a sudden shock, and
+all the space about them seemed to burst into huge, deep-red atomic
+hydrogen flames.
+
+The _Solarite_ reeled under the sudden pressure, but the heavy
+gyroscopic stabilizers caught it, held it, and the ship remained on an
+even keel. Then suddenly there came to the ears of the men a long drawn
+whine, faint--almost inaudible--and the ship began slowing down. The
+_Solarite_ had entered the atmosphere of Venus--the first man-made
+machine to thus penetrate the air of another world!
+
+Quickly Arcot snapped open the control that had kept the rockets
+flaming, turning the ship to the planet--driving it into the atmosphere.
+Now they could get their power from the air that each instant grew more
+dense about them.
+
+"Wade--in the power room--emergency control post--Morey--control board
+there--hang on, for we'll have to use some husky accelerations."
+
+Instantly the two men sprang for their posts--literally diving, for they
+were still almost weightless.
+
+Arcot pulled another lever--there was a dull snap as a relay in the
+power room responded--the lights wavered--dimmed--then the generator was
+once more humming smoothly--working on the atmosphere of Venus! In a
+moment the power units were again operating, and now as they sucked a
+plentitude of power from the surrounding air, they produced a force that
+made the men cling to their holds with almost frantic force. Around them
+the rapidly increasing density of the air made the whine grow to a roar;
+the temperature within the ship rose slowly, warmed by friction with
+the air, despite the extreme cold at this altitude, more than
+seventy-five miles above the surface of the planet.
+
+They began dropping rapidly now--their radio-speedometer had fallen from
+ten to nine--then slowly, but faster and faster as more heat could be
+extracted from the air, it had fallen 8--7--6--5--4. Now they were well
+below orbital speed, falling under the influence of the planet. The
+struggle was over--the men relaxed. The ship ran quietly now, the smooth
+hum of the air rushing over the great power units coming softly through
+the speaker to their ears, a humming melody--the song of a new world.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+
+Suddenly the blazing sun was gone and they were floating in a vast world
+of rolling mists--mists that brushed the car with tiny clicks, which,
+with the millions of particles that struck simultaneously, merged into a
+steady roar.
+
+"Ice--ice clouds!" Morey exclaimed.
+
+Arcot nodded. "We'll drop below the clouds; they're probably miles deep.
+Look, already they're changing--snow now--in a moment it will be
+water--then it'll clear away and we'll actually see Venus!"
+
+For ten miles--an endless distance it seemed--they dropped through
+clouds utterly impenetrable to the eye. Then gradually the clouds
+thinned; there appeared brief clear spots, spots into which they could
+see short distances--then here and there they caught glimpses of green
+below. Was it water--or land?
+
+With a suddenness that startled them, they were out of the clouds,
+shooting smoothly and swiftly above a broad plain. It seemed to stretch
+for endless miles across the globe, to be lost in the far distance to
+east and west; but to the north they saw a low range of hills that rose
+blue and misty in the distance.
+
+"Venus! We made it!" Morey cried jubilantly. "The first men ever to
+leave Earth--I'm going to start the old sender and radio back home!
+Man--look at that stretch of plain!" He jumped to his feet and started
+across the control room. "Lord--I feel like of ton of lead now--I sure
+am out of condition for walking after all that time just floating!"
+
+Arcot raised a restraining hand. "Whoa--wait a minute there, Morey--you
+won't get anything through to them now. The Earth is on the other side
+of Venus--it's on the night side, remember--and we're on the day side.
+In about twelve hours we'll be able to send a message. In the meantime,
+take the controls while I make a test of the air here, will you?"
+
+Relieved of the controls, Arcot rose and walked down the corridor to the
+power room where the chemical laboratory had been set up. Wade had
+already collected a dozen samples of air, and was working on them.
+
+"How is it--what have you tested for so far?" asked Arcot.
+
+"Oxygen and CO_{2}. The oxygen is about twenty-two per cent, or
+considering the slightly lower air pressure here, we will have just
+about the right amount of oxygen. The CO_{2} is about one-tenth of one
+per cent. The atmosphere is O.K. for terrestrial life apparently; that
+mouse there is living quite happily. Whatever the other seventy-five per
+cent or so of diluting gas is, I don't know, but it isn't nitrogen."
+
+Briefly Arcot and Wade discussed the unusual atmosphere, finally
+deciding that the inert gas was argon.
+
+"No great amount of nitrogen," Arcot concluded. "That means that life
+will have a sweet time extracting it from the air--but wherever there is
+life, it finds a way to do the impossible. Test it more accurately, will
+you--you try for nitrogen and I'll try the component inert gasses."
+
+They ran the analyses rapidly, and in a very short time--less than an
+hour--their results stood at 23 per cent oxygen, .1 per cent carbon
+dioxide, 68 per cent argon, 6 per cent nitrogen, 2 per cent helium, 5
+per cent neon, .05 per cent hydrogen, and the rest krypton and xenon
+apparently. The analyses of these inert gasses had to be done rather
+roughly in this short time, but it was sufficient to balance fairly
+accurately.
+
+The two chemists reported back to the control cabin.
+
+"Well, we'll be able to breathe the atmosphere of Venus with ease. I
+believe we can go on now. I have been surprised to see no water in
+sight, but I think I see my mistake now. You know the Mississippi has
+its mouth further from the center of the Earth than its source; it flows
+up hill! The answer is, of course, that the centrifugal force of the
+Earth's spin impels it to flow that way. Similarly, I am sure now that
+we will find that Venus has a vast belt of water about the middle, and
+to the north and south there will be two great caps of dry land. We are
+on the northern cap.
+
+"We have the microphone turned way down. Let's step up the power a bit
+and see if there are any sounds outside," said Arcot and walked over to
+the power control switch. An instant later a low hum came from the
+loudspeaker. There was a light breeze blowing. In the distance, forming
+a dull background for the hum, there came a low rumbling that seemed
+punctuated now and then by a greater sound.
+
+"Must be a long way off," said Arcot, a puzzled frown on his face.
+"Swing the ship around so we can see in what direction the sound is
+loudest," he suggested.
+
+Slowly Morey swung the ship around on its vertical axis. Without a
+doubt, something off in the direction of the hills was making a
+considerable noise.
+
+"Arcot, if that's a fight between two animals--two of those giant
+animals that you said might be here--I don't care to get near them!"
+Fuller's narrowed eyes strove to penetrate the haze that screened the
+low hills in the blue distance.
+
+The microphone was shut off while the _Solarite_ shot swiftly forward
+toward the source of the sound. Quickly the hills grew, the blue
+mistiness disappearing, and the jagged mounds revealing themselves as
+bleak harsh rock. As they drew nearer they saw beyond the hills,
+intermittent flashes of brilliant light, heard shattering blasts of
+sound.
+
+"A thunderstorm!" Wade began, but Arcot interrupted.
+
+"Not so fast, Wade--Fuller's animal _is_ there--the only animal in all
+creation that can make a noise like that! Look through the
+telescope--see those dots wheeling about there above the flashing
+lights? The only animal that can make that racket is man! There are men
+over there--and they aren't in a playful mood! Turn on the invisibility
+while we can, Morey--and let's get nearer!"
+
+"Look out--here we go!" Morey began to close a tiny switch set in one
+side of the instrument panel--then, before the relay below could move,
+he had flipped it back.
+
+"Here, you take it, Arcot--you always think about two steps ahead of
+me--you're quicker and know the machine better anyway."
+
+Quickly the two men exchanged places.
+
+"I don't know about that, Morey," said a voice from vacancy, for Arcot
+had at once thrown the ship into invisibility. "The longer we're here,
+the more mistakes I see we made in our calculations. I see what put me
+off so badly on my estimate of the intelligence of life found here! The
+sun gives it a double dose of heat--but also a double dose of other
+radiations--some of which evidently speed up evolution. Anyway, we may
+be able to find friends here more quickly if we aid one side or the
+other in the very lively battle going on there. Before we go any
+further, what's our decision?"
+
+"I think it is a fine idea," said Fuller. "But which side are we to
+aid--and what are the sides? We haven't even seen them yet. Let's go
+nearer and take a good look."
+
+"Yes--but are we going to join either side after looking?"
+
+"Oh, that's unanimous!" said Wade, excitedly.
+
+The invisible ship darted forward. They sped past the barrier of low
+hills, and were again high above a broad plain. With a startled gasp,
+Arcot cut their speed. There, floating high in the air, above a
+magnificent city, was a machine such as no man had ever before seen! It
+was a titanic airplane--monstrous, gargantuan, and every other word that
+denoted immensity. Fully three-quarters of a mile the huge metal wings
+stretched out in the dull light of the cloudy Venerian day; a machine
+that seemed to dwarf even the vast city beneath it. The roar of its
+mighty propellers was a rumbling thunder to the men in the _Solarite_.
+From it came the flashing bursts of flame.
+
+On closer inspection, the watchers saw what seemed to be a swarm of tiny
+gnats flying about the mighty plane. They appeared to be attacking the
+giant as vainly as gnats might attack an eagle, for they could not
+damage the giant machine. The flashing bombs burst in blasts of yellow
+flame as harmlessly as so many firecrackers.
+
+All that mighty plane was covered with heavy metal plates, fully ten
+inches thick, and of metal so tough that when the powerful bombs hit it
+they made no impression, though they blasted tremendous craters in the
+soil below. From it poured a steady stream of bombs that burst with a
+great flash of heat and light, and in an instant the tiny planes they
+struck streaked down as incandescent masses of metal.
+
+Yet the giant seemed unable to approach the city--or was it defending
+it? No, for it was from the city that the vainly courageous little ships
+poured out. But certainly it was not these ships that kept the titanic
+battleship of the air at bay!
+
+Tensely the men watched the uneven conflict. The rain of bombs
+continued, though all fell short of the city. But slowly around the
+metropolis there appeared an area of flaring, molten lava, and steadily
+this moved toward the beautiful buildings. Suddenly the battleship
+turned toward the city and made a short dash inward on its circling
+path. As though awaiting this maneuver, a battery of hissing, flaming
+swords of white light flashed upward, a few hundred feet from the ring
+of molten rock. As the titanic plane rolled, side-slipped out of the
+way, they passed, harmlessly, barely missing a monstrous wing.
+
+"Which?" Arcot demanded. "I say the city. No one should destroy anything
+so magnificent."
+
+Not a dissenting voice was raised, so Arcot sent the _Solarite_ nearer.
+
+"But what in the world can we do to that huge thing?" Fuller's voice
+came eerily out of the emptiness. "It has perfect invulnerability
+through size alone."
+
+There was sudden silence among the Terrestrials as one of the tiny
+planes darted forward and dove at full speed directly toward one of the
+giant's propellers. There were fifty of these strung along each great
+wing. If enough of them could be destroyed, the plane must crash. There
+came a terrific crash--a flare of light--and splintered fragments of
+flaming wreckage plummeted down. Yet the mighty blades continued
+whirling as smoothly as ever!
+
+What could the _Solarite_ do against the giant monoplane? Evidently
+Arcot had a plan. Under his touch their machine darted high into the sky
+above the great plane. There was a full mile between them when he
+released the sustaining force of the _Solarite_ and let it drop,
+straight toward the source of the battle--falling freely, ever more and
+more rapidly. They were rushing at the mighty plane below at a pace that
+made their hearts seem to pause--then suddenly Arcot cried out, "Hold
+on--here we stop!"
+
+They seemed a scant hundred feet from the broad metal wings of the
+unsuspecting plane, when suddenly there was a tremendous jerk, and each
+man felt himself pressed to the floor beneath a terrific weight that
+made their backs crack with the load. Doggedly they fought to retain
+their senses; the blackness receded.
+
+Below them they saw only a mighty sea of roaring red flames--a hell of
+blazing gas that roared like a score of bombs set off at once. The
+_Solarite_ was sitting down on her rocket jets! All six of the rocket
+tubes in the base of the ship had been opened wide, and streaming from
+them in a furious blast of incandescent gas, the atomic hydrogen shot
+out in a mighty column of gas at 3500 degrees centigrade. Where the gas
+touched it, the great plane flared to incandescence; and in an
+immeasurable interval the fall of the _Solarite_ ended, and it rebounded
+high into the air. Arcot, struggling against the weight of six
+gravities, pulled shut the little control that had sent those mighty
+torches blasting out. An instant later they sped away lest the plane
+shoot toward the gas columns.
+
+From a safe distance they looked back at their work. No longer was the
+mighty plane unscathed, invulnerable, for now in its top gaped six great
+craters of incandescent metal that almost touched and coalesced. The
+great plane itself reeled, staggering, plunging downward; but long
+before it reached the hard soil below, it was brought into level flight,
+and despite many dead engines, it circled and fled toward the south. The
+horde of small planes followed, dropping a rain of bombs into the
+glowing pits in the ship, releasing their fury in its interior. In
+moments the beings manning the marauder had to a large extent recovered
+from the shock of the attack and were fighting back. In a moment--just
+before the ship passed over the horizon and out of sight--the
+Terrestrians saw the great props that had been idle, suddenly leap into
+motion, and in an instant the giant had left its attackers
+behind--fleeing from its invisible foe.
+
+Under Arcot's guidance the ship from Earth, still invisible, returned to
+the approximate spot where they had destroyed the invulnerability of the
+Giant. Then suddenly, out of nothing, the _Solarite_ appeared. In an
+instant a dozen of the tiny two-man planes darted toward it. Just that
+they might recognize it, Arcot shot it up a bit higher with the aid of
+the keel rockets at one-third power. The typical reddish flame of atomic
+hydrogen, he knew, would be instantaneously recognizable.
+
+Little these planes were, but shaped like darts, and swifter than any
+plane of Earth. They shot along at 1000 miles an hour readily, as Arcot
+soon found out. It was not a minute before they had formed a long line
+that circled the _Solarite_ at minimum speed, then started off in the
+direction of the city. On impulse Arcot followed after them, and
+instantly the planes increased their velocity, swiftly reaching 1000
+miles per hour.
+
+The city they were approaching was an inspiring sight. Mighty towers
+swept graceful lines a half mile in the air, their brightly colored
+walls gleaming in rainbow hues, giving the entire city the aspect of a
+gigantic jewel--a single architectural unit. Here was symmetry and
+order, with every unit in the city built around the gigantic central
+edifice that rose, a tremendous tower of black and gold, a full half
+mile in the air.
+
+The outer parts of the city were evidently the residential districts,
+the low buildings and the wide streets with the little green lawns
+showing the care of the individual owner. Then came the apartment houses
+and the small stores; these rose in gentle slopes, higher and higher,
+merging at last with the mighty central pinnacle of beauty. The city was
+designed as a whole, not in a multitude of individually beautiful, but
+inharmonious units, like some wild mixture of melodies, each in itself
+beautiful, but mutually discordant.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+
+The Terrestrians followed their escort high above these great buildings,
+heading toward the great central tower. In a moment they were above it,
+and in perfect order the ships of the Venerians shot down to land
+smoothly, but at high speed. On the roof of the building they slowed
+with startling rapidity, held back by electromagnets under the top
+dressing of the roof landing, as Arcot learned later.
+
+"We can't land on that--this thing weighs too much--we'd probably sink
+right through it! The street looks wide enough for us to land there."
+Arcot maneuvered the _Solarite_ over the edge of the roof, and dropped
+it swiftly down the half mile to the ground below. Just above the
+street, he leveled off, and descended slowly, giving the hurrying crowds
+plenty of time to get from beneath it.
+
+Landing finally, he looked curiously at the mass of Venerians who had
+gathered in the busy street, coming out of buildings where they
+evidently had sought shelter during the raid. The crowd grew rapidly as
+the Terrestrians watched them--people of a new world.
+
+"Why," exclaimed Fuller in startled surprise, "they look almost like
+us!"
+
+"Why not?" laughed Arcot. "Is there any particular reason why they
+shouldn't look like us? Venus and Earth are very nearly the same size,
+and are planets of the same parent sun. Physical conditions here appear
+to be very similar to conditions back home, and if there's anything to
+Svend Arrehenius' theory of life spores being sent from world to world
+by sunlight, there's no reason why humanoid races cannot be found
+throughout the universe. On worlds, that is, suitable for the
+development of such life forms."
+
+"Look at the size of 'em," Fuller commented.
+
+Their size was certainly worth noting, for in all that crowd only the
+obviously young were less than six feet tall. The average seemed to be
+seven feet--well-built men and women with unusually large chests, who
+would have seemed very human indeed, but for a ghastly, death-like blue
+tinge to their skin. Even their lips were as bright a blue as man's lips
+are red. The teeth seemed to be as white as any human's, but their
+mouths were blue.
+
+"They look as if they'd all been eating blueberries!" laughed Wade. "I
+wonder what makes their blood blue? I've heard of blue-blooded families,
+but these are the first I've ever seen!"
+
+"I think I can answer that," said Morey slowly. "It seems odd to us--but
+those people evidently have their blood based on hemocyanin. In us, the
+oxygen is carried to the tissues, and the carbon dioxide carried away by
+an iron compound, hemoglobin, but in many animals of Earth, the same
+function is performed by a copper compound, hemocyanin, which is an
+intense blue. I am sure that that is the explanation for these strange
+people. By the way, did you notice their hands?"
+
+"Yes, I had. They strike me as having one too many fingers--look
+there--that fellow is pointing--why--his hand hasn't too many fingers,
+but too many thumbs! He has one on each side of his palm! Say, that
+would be handy in placing nuts and bolts, and such fine work, wouldn't
+it?"
+
+Suddenly a lane opened in the crowd, and from the great black and gold
+building there came a file of men in tight-fitting green uniforms; a
+file of seven-foot giants. Obviously they were soldiers of some
+particular branch, for in the crowd there were a number of men dressed
+in similar uniforms of deep blue.
+
+"I think they want one or more of us to accompany them," Arcot said.
+"Let's flip a coin to decide who goes--two better stay here, and two go.
+If we don't come back inside of a reasonable period of time, one of you
+might start making inquiries; the other can send a message to Earth, and
+get out of harm's way till help can come. I imagine these people are
+friendly now, however--else I wouldn't go."
+
+The leader of the troop stepped up to the door of the _Solarite_, and
+coming to what was obviously a position of attention, put his left hand
+over his right breast in an equally obvious salute, and waited.
+
+The coin was flipped with due ceremony--it would decide which of them
+were to have the distinction of being the first Terrestrians to set foot
+on Venus. Arcot and Morey won, and they quickly put on the loose-fitting
+ventilated cooling suits that they might live comfortably in the hot air
+outside--for the thermometer registered 150°!
+
+The two men quickly walked over to the airlock, entered, closed it
+behind them, and opened the outer door. There was a slight rush of air,
+as the pressure outside was a bit lower than that inside. There was a
+singing in their ears, and they had to swallow several times to equalize
+the pressure.
+
+The guards at once fell into a double row on either side of them, and
+the young officer strode ahead. He himself had curbed his curiosity
+after the single startled glance he had given these strange men. Only
+their hands were visible, for the cooling suits covered them almost
+completely, but the strange pink color must indeed have been startling
+to the eyes; also their dwarf stature, and the strange suits they wore.
+The men of his little troop, however, as well as the people in the crowd
+about them, were not so disinterested. They were looking in eager
+amazement at these men who had just saved their city, these strange
+small men with their queer pink skin. And most surprising of all,
+perhaps, the inner thumb was missing from each hand!
+
+But soon they had passed beyond the sight of the crowd, which was held
+in check by a handful of the deep blue uniformed men.
+
+"Those fellows would never hold such a Terrestrial crowd back if
+visitors from another planet landed!" remarked Morey wonderingly.
+
+"How do they know we are visitors from another planet?" Arcot objected.
+"We suddenly appeared out of nowhere--they don't even know our direction
+of approach. We might be some strange race of Venerians as far as they
+know."
+
+They walked briskly up to the massive gold and black entrance, and
+passed through the great doors that seemed made of solid copper, painted
+with some clear coating that kept the metal lustrous, the rich color
+shining magnificently. They stood open wide now, as indeed they always
+were. Even the giant Venerians were dwarfed by these mighty doors as
+they passed through into an equally vast hall, a tremendous room that
+must have filled all the front half of the ground floor of the gigantic
+building, a hall of graceful columns that hid the great supporting
+members. The stone, they knew, must serve the Venerians as marble serves
+us, but it was a far more handsome stone. It was a rich green, like the
+green of thick, heavy grass in summer when the rain is plentiful. The
+color was very pleasing to the eye, and restful too. There was a
+checker-board floor of this green stone, alternated with another, a
+stone of intense blue. They were hard, and the colors made a very
+striking pattern, pleasingly different from what they had been
+accustomed to, but common to Venus, as they later learned.
+
+At last the party had crossed the great hall, and stopped beside a large
+doorway. The officer halted for a moment, and gestured toward two of his
+men, who remained, while the others walked quickly away. The diminished
+party stepped through the doorway into a small room whose walls were
+lined with copper, and an instant later, as the officer pushed a small
+button, there was a low hiss of escaping air, and a copper grating
+sprang quickly up across the opening of the elevator. He touched another
+button, and there was the familiar sinking feeling as the car rose, a
+low hum seeming to come from its base.
+
+The elevator rose swiftly through a very considerable distance--up--up,
+endlessly.
+
+"They must have some wonderfully strong cables here on Venus!" Morey
+exclaimed. "The engineers of Terrestrial buildings have been wondering
+for some time how to get around the difficulty of shifting elevators.
+The idea of changing cars doesn't appeal to me, either--but we must have
+risen a long way!"
+
+"I should say so--I wonder how they do it. We've been rising for a
+minute and a half at a very fair clip--there we are; end of the line--I
+want to look at this car!" Arcot stepped over to the control board,
+looked at it closely, then stepped out and peered down between the car
+and the shaft as the copper grating fell, simultaneously pulling down
+with it the door that had blocked off the hallway.
+
+"Come here, Morey--simple system at that! It would be so, of course.
+Look--they have tracks, and a regular trolley system, with cog rails
+alongside, and the car just winds itself up! They have a motor
+underneath, I'll bet, and just run it up in that way. They have never
+done that on Earth because of the cost of running the car up without too
+much power. I think I see the solution--the car has electro-dynamical
+brakes, and descending, just slows itself down by pumping power into the
+line to haul some other car up. This is a mighty clever scheme!"
+
+As Arcot straightened, the officer beckoned to him to follow, and
+started down the long corridor which was lined on either side with large
+doorways, much like a very exotic earthly office building. Passing
+through a long series of branching corridors they at last reached one
+that terminated in a large office, into which the young officer led
+them. Snapping to attention, he spoke briefly and rapidly, saluted and
+retired with his two men.
+
+The man before whom the Terrestrians stood was a tall, kindly-faced old
+gentleman. His straight black hair was tinged with bluish gray, and the
+kindly face bore the lines of age, but the smiling eyes, and the air of
+sincere interest gave his countenance an amazingly youthful air. It was
+warm and friendly despite its disconcerting blueness. He looked
+curiously, questioningly at the two men before him, looked at their
+hands, his eyes widening in surprise; then he stepped quickly forward,
+and extended his hand, at the same time looking toward Arcot.
+
+Smiling, Arcot extended his own. The Venerian grasped it--then with an
+exclamation on the part of each, they mutually released each other,
+Arcot feeling an uncomfortable sensation of heat, just as the Venerian
+felt a flash of intense cold! Each stared from his hand to the hand of
+the other in surprise, then a smile curved the blue lips of the Venerian
+as he very emphatically put his hand at his side. Arcot smiled in turn,
+and said to Morey in an animated tone:
+
+"They have a body temperature of at least 170° Fahrenheit. It would
+naturally be above room temperature, which is 150° here, so that they
+are most unpleasantly hot to us. Marvelous how nature adapts herself to
+her surroundings!" He chuckled. "I hope these fellows don't have fevers.
+They'd be apt to boil over!"
+
+The Venerian had picked up a small rectangle of black material, smooth
+and solid. He drew quickly upon it with what appeared to be a pencil of
+copper. In a moment he handed the tablet to Arcot, who reached out for
+it, then changed his mind, and motioned that he didn't want to burn his
+fingers. The old Venerian held it where Arcot could see it.
+
+"Why, Morey, look here--I didn't think they had developed astronomy to
+any degree, because of the constant clouds, but look at this. He has a
+nice little map of the solar system, with Mercury, Venus, Earth, the
+Moon, Mars, and all the rest on it. He has drawn in several of the
+satellites of Jupiter and of Saturn too."
+
+The Venerian pointed to Mars and looked inquisitively at them. Arcot
+shook his head and pointed quickly to Earth. The Venetian seemed a bit
+surprised at this, then thought a moment and nodded in satisfaction. He
+looked at Arcot intently. Then to the latter's amazement, there seemed
+to form in his mind a thought--at first vague, then quickly taking
+definite form.
+
+"Man of Earth," it seemed to say, "we thank you--you have saved our
+nation. We want to thank you for your quick response to our signals. We
+had not thought that you could answer us so soon." The Venerian seemed
+to relax as the message was finished. It obviously had required great
+mental effort.
+
+Arcot looked steadily into his eyes now, and tried to concentrate on a
+message--on a series of ideas. To him, trained though he was in deep
+concentration on one idea, the process of visualizing a series of ideas
+was new, and very difficult. But he soon saw that he was making some
+progress.
+
+"We came in response to no signals--exploration only--we saw the
+battle--and aided because your city seemed doomed, and because it seemed
+too beautiful to be destroyed."
+
+"What's it all about, Arcot?" asked Morey wonderingly, as he watched
+them staring at each other.
+
+"Mental telepathy," Arcot answered briefly. "I'm terribly thick from his
+point of view, but I just learned that they sent signals to Earth--why,
+I haven't learned--but I'm making progress. If I don't crack under the
+strain, I'll find out sooner or later--so wait and see." He turned again
+to the Venerian.
+
+The latter was frowning at him rather dubiously. With sudden decision he
+turned to his desk, and pulled down a small lever. Then again he looked
+intently at Arcot.
+
+"Come with me--the strain of this conversation is too great--I see you
+do not have thought transference on your world."
+
+"Come along, Morey--we're going somewhere. He says this thought
+transference is too much for us. I wonder what he is going to do?"
+
+Out into the maze of halls they went again, now led by the kindly
+seven-foot Venerian. After walking through a long series of halls, they
+reached a large auditorium, where already there had gathered in the
+semi-circle of seats a hundred or so of the tall, blue-tinged Venerians.
+Before them, on a low platform, were two large, deeply-cushioned chairs.
+To these chairs the two Terrestrians were led.
+
+"We will try to teach you our language telepathically. We can give you
+the ideas--you must learn the pronunciation, but this will be very much
+quicker. Seat yourselves in these chairs and relax."
+
+The chairs had been designed for the seven-footers. These men were six
+feet and six feet six, respectively, yet it seemed to them, as they sank
+into the cushions, that never had they felt such comfortable chairs.
+They were designed to put every muscle and every nerve at rest.
+Luxuriously, almost in spite of themselves, they relaxed.
+
+Dimly Arcot felt a wave of sleepiness sweep over him; he yawned
+prodigiously. There was no conscious awareness of his sinking into a
+deep slumber. It seemed that suddenly visions began to fill his
+mind--visions that developed with a returning consciousness--up from the
+dark, into a dream world. He saw a mighty fleet whose individual planes
+were a mile long, with three-quarters of a mile wingspread--titanic
+monoplanes, whose droning thunder seemed to roar through all space. Then
+suddenly they were above him, and from each there spurted a great stream
+of dazzling brilliance, an intense glow that reached down, and touched
+the city. An awful concussion blasted his ears. All the world about him
+erupted in unimaginable brilliance; then darkness fell.
+
+Another vision filled his mind--a vision of the same fleet hanging over
+a giant crater of molten rock, a crater that gaped angrily in a plain
+beside low green hills--a crater that had been a city. The giants of the
+air circled, turned, and sped over the horizon. Again he was with
+them--and again he saw a great city fuse in a blazing flash of blinding
+light--again and yet again--until around all that world he saw smoking
+ruins of great cities, now blasted crimson craters in a world of fearful
+desolation.
+
+The destroyers rode up, up, up--out of the clouds--and he was with them.
+Out beyond the swirling mists, where the cold of space seemed to reach
+in at them, and the roaring of the mighty propellers was a thin
+whine--then suddenly that was gone, and from the tail of each of the
+titanic machines there burst a great stream of light, a blazing column
+that roared back, and lit all space for miles around--rocket jets that
+sent them swiftly across space!
+
+He saw them approaching another world, a world that shone a dull red,
+but he saw the markings and knew that it was Earth, not Mars. The great
+planes began falling now--falling at an awful speed into the upper air
+of the planet, and in an instant the rocket flares were gone, fading and
+dying in the dense air. Again there came the roar of the mighty
+propellers. Then swiftly the fleet of giants swooped down, lower and
+lower. He became aware of its destination--a spot he knew must be New
+York--but a strangely distorted New York--a Venerian city, where New
+York should have been. And again, the bombs rained down. In an instant
+the gigantic city was a smoking ruin.
+
+The visions faded, and slowly he opened his eyes, looked about him. He
+was still in the room of the circle of chairs--he was still on
+Venus--then with sudden shock, understanding came. He knew the meaning
+of these visions--the meaning of that strangely distorted New York, of
+that red earth. It meant that this was what the Venerians believed was
+to happen! They were trying to show him the plans of the owners and
+builders of those gigantic ships! The New York he had seen was New York
+as these men imagined it.
+
+Startled, confused, his forehead furrowed, he rose unsteadily to his
+feet. His head seemed whirling in the throes of a terrific headache. The
+men about him were looking anxiously at him. He glanced toward Morey. He
+was sleeping deeply in the seat, his features now and again reflecting
+his sensations. It was his turn to learn this new language and see the
+visions.
+
+The old Venerian who had brought them there walked up to Arcot and spoke
+to him in a softly musical language, a language that was sibilant and
+predominated in liquid sounds; there were no gutturals, no nasals; it
+was a more musical language than Earth men had ever before heard, and
+now Arcot started in surprise, for he understood it perfectly; the
+language was as familiar as English.
+
+"We have taught you our language as quickly as possible--you may have a
+headache, but you must know what we know as soon as possible. It may
+well be that the fate of two worlds hangs on your actions. These men
+have concentrated on you and taught you very rapidly with the massed
+power of their minds, giving you visions of what we know to be in
+preparation. You must get back to your wonderful ship as quickly as
+possible; and yet you must know what has happened here on our world in
+the last few years, as well as what happened twenty centuries ago.
+
+"Come with me to my office, and we will talk. When your friend has also
+learned, you may tell him."
+
+Quickly Arcot followed the Venerian down the long corridors of the
+building. The few people they met seemed intent on their own business,
+paying little attention to them.
+
+At last they seated themselves in the office where Arcot had first met
+his escort; and there he listened to a new history--the history of
+another planet.
+
+"My name is Tonlos," the old man said. "I am a leader of my
+people--though my title and position are unimportant. To explain would
+entail a prolonged discussion of our social structure, and there is no
+time for that. Later, perhaps--but now to our history.
+
+"Twenty centuries ago," Tonlos continued, "there were two great rival
+nations on this planet. The planet Turo is naturally divided so that
+there would be a tendency toward such division. There are two enormous
+belts of land around the globe, one running from about 20 degrees north
+of the equator to about 80 degrees north. This is my country, Lanor. To
+the south there is a similar great belt of land, of almost identical
+size, Kaxor. These two nations have existed for many thousands of our
+years.
+
+"Two thousand years ago a great crisis arose in the affairs of the
+world--a great war was in process of starting--but a Lanorian developed
+a weapon that made it impossible for the Kaxorians to win--and war was
+averted. The feeling was so strong, however, that laws were passed which
+stopped all intercourse between the two nations for these thousands of
+years. By devious ways we've learned that Kaxor has concentrated on the
+study of physics, perhaps in hopes of finding a weapon with which they
+could threaten us once more. Lanor has studied the secrets of the human
+mind and body. We have no disease here any longer; we have no insanity.
+We are students of chemistry, but physics has been neglected to a great
+extent. Recently, however, we have again taken up this science, since it
+alone of the main sciences had not received our study. Only twenty-five
+years have been spent on these researches, and in that short time we
+cannot hope to do what the Kaxorians have done in two thousand.
+
+"The secret of the heat ray, the weapon that prevented the last war, had
+been almost forgotten. It required diligent research to bring it to life
+again, for it is a very inefficient machine--or was. Of late, however,
+we have been able to improve it, and now it is used in commerce to smelt
+our ores. It was this alone that allowed this city to put up the slight
+resistance that we did. We were surely doomed. This is the capital of
+Lanor, Sonor. We--and the nation--would have fallen but for you.
+
+"We have had some warning that this was coming. We have spies in Kaxor
+now, for we learned of their intentions when they flew the first of
+their giant planes over one of our cities and dropped a bomb! We have
+been trying, since we discovered the awful scope of their plans, to send
+you a warning if you could not help us. That you should come here at
+this particular time is almost beyond belief--a practically impossible
+coincidence--but perhaps there is more than coincidence behind it? Who
+knows?" He paused briefly; went on with a heavy sigh: "Since you drove
+that plane away, we can expect a new raid at any moment, and we must be
+prepared. Is there any way you can signal your planet?"
+
+"Yes--we can signal easily," Arcot answered; he struggled with the newly
+acquired language. "I do not know the word in your tongue--it may be
+that you do not have it--radio we call it--it is akin to light, but of
+vastly longer wavelength. Produced electrically, it can be directed like
+light and sent in a beam by means of a reflection. It can penetrate all
+substances except metals, and can leak around them, if it be not
+directional. With it I can talk readily with the men of Earth, and this
+very night I will."
+
+Arcot paused, frowning thoughtfully, then continued, "I know there's
+definite need for haste, but we can't do anything until Morey has
+received the knowledge you've given me. While we're waiting here, I
+might just as well learn all I can about your planet. The more I know,
+the more intelligently I'll be able to plan for our defense."
+
+In the conversation which followed, Arcot gained a general knowledge of
+the physical makeup of Venus. He learned that iron was an exceedingly
+rare element on the planet, while platinum was relatively plentiful.
+Gold, though readily available, was considered a nuisance, since it was
+of no practical value due to its softness, excessive weight and its
+affinity for many catalysts. Most of the other metallic elements were
+present in quantities approximating those of Earth, except for an
+element called "morlus". When Tonlos mentioned this, Arcot said:
+
+"Morlus--I have the word in your language--but I do not know the
+element. What is it?"
+
+"Why--here is some!"
+
+Tonlos handed Arcot a small block of metal that had been used as a
+weight on a table in one corner of the room. It seemed fairly dense,
+about as heavy as iron, but it had a remarkably bluish tint. Obviously,
+it was the element that composed the wings of the airplane they had
+seen that afternoon. Arcot examined it carefully, handicapped somewhat
+by its heat. He picked up a small copper rod and tried to scratch it but
+there was no noticeable effect.
+
+"You cannot scratch it with copper," said Tonlos. "It is the second
+hardest metal we know--it is not as hard as chromium, but far less
+brittle. It is malleable, ductile, very very strong, very tough,
+especially when alloyed with iron, but those alloys are used only in
+very particular work because of iron's rarity."
+
+Indicating the bluish block, Arcot said, "I'd like to identify this
+element. May I take it back to the ship and test it?"
+
+"You may, by all means. You will have considerable difficulty getting it
+into solution, however. It is attacked only by boiling selenic acid
+which, as you must know, dissolves platinum readily. The usual test for
+the element is to so dissolve it, oxidize it to an acid, then test with
+radium selenate, when a brilliant greenish blue salt is--"
+
+"Test with radium selenate!" Arcot exclaimed. "Why, we have no radium
+salts whatever on Earth that we could use for that purpose. Radium is
+exceedingly rare!"
+
+"Radium is by no means plentiful here," Tonlos replied, "but we seldom
+have to test for morlus, and we have plenty of radium salts for that
+purpose. We have never found any other use for radium--it is so active
+that it combines with water just as sodium does; it is very soft--a
+useless metal, and dangerous to handle. Our chemists have never been
+able to understand it--it is always in some kind of reaction no matter
+what they do, and still it gives off that very light gas, helium, and a
+heavy gas, niton, and an unaccountable amount of heat."
+
+"Your world is vastly different from ours," Arcot commented. He told
+Tonlos of the different metals of Earth, the non-metals, and their
+occurrence. But try as he would, he could not place the metal Tonlos had
+given him.
+
+Morey's arrival interrupted their discussion. He looked very tired, and
+very serious. His head ached from his unwonted mental strain, just as
+Arcot's had. Briefly Arcot told him what he had learned, concluding with
+a question as to why Morey thought the two planets, both members of the
+same solar family, should be so different.
+
+"I have an idea," said Morey slowly, "and it doesn't seem _too_ wacky.
+As you know, by means of solar photography, astronomers have mapped the
+sun, charting the location of the different elements. We've seen
+hydrogen, oxygen, silicon and others, and as the sun aged, the elements
+must have been mixed up more and more thoroughly. Yet we have seen the
+vast areas of single elements. Some of those areas are so vast that they
+could easily be the source of an entire world! I wonder if it is not
+possible that Earth was thrown off from some deposit rich in iron,
+aluminum and calcium, and poor in gold, radium and those other
+metals--and particularly poor in one element. We have located in the sun
+the spectrum of an element we have named coronium--and I think you have
+a specimen of coronium in your hand there! I'd say Venus came from a
+coronium-rich region!"
+
+The discussion ended there, for already the light outside had deepened
+to a murky twilight. The Terrestrians were led quickly down to the
+elevator, which dropped them rapidly to the ground. There was still a
+large crowd about the _Solarite_, but the way was quickly cleared for
+them. As the men passed through the crowd, a peculiar sensation struck
+them very forcibly. It seemed that everyone in the crowd was wishing
+them the greatest success--the best of good things in every wish.
+
+"The ultimate in applause! Morey, I'll swear we just received a silent
+cheer!" exclaimed Arcot, as they stood inside the airlock of the ship
+once more. It seemed home to them now! In a moment they had taken off
+the uncomfortable ventilating suits and stepped once more into the room
+where Wade and Fuller awaited them.
+
+"Say--what were you fellows doing?" Wade demanded. "We were actually
+getting ready to do some inquiring about your health!"
+
+"I know we were gone a long time--but when you hear the reason you'll
+agree it was worth it. See if you can raise Earth on the radio, Morey,
+will you, while I tell these fellows what happened? If you succeed, tell
+them to call in Dad and your father, and to have a couple of tape
+recorders on the job. We'll want a record of what I have to send. Say
+that we'll call back in an hour." Then, while Morey was busy down in the
+power room sending the signals out across the forty million miles of
+space that separated them from their home planet, Arcot told Wade and
+Fuller what they had learned.
+
+Morey finally succeeded in getting his message through, and returned to
+say that they would be waiting in one hour. He had had to wait eight
+minutes after sending his message to get any answer, however, due to
+time required for radio waves to make the two-way trip.
+
+"Fuller," Arcot said, "as chef, suppose you see what you can concoct
+while Wade and I start on this piece of coronium and see what there is
+to learn."
+
+At the supper table Wade and Arcot reported to the others the curious
+constants they had discovered for coronium. It was not attacked by any
+acid except boiling selenic acid, since it formed a tremendous number of
+insoluble salts. Even the nitrate violated the long-held rule that "all
+nitrates are soluble"--it wouldn't dissolve. Yet it was chemically more
+active than gold.
+
+But its physical constants were the most surprising. It melted at 2800°
+centigrade, a very high melting point indeed. Very few metals are solid
+at that temperature. But the tensile strength test made with a standard
+bar they finally turned out by means of a carbaloy tool, gave a reading
+of more than one million, three hundred thousand pounds per square inch!
+It was far stronger than iron--stronger than tungsten, the strongest
+metal heretofore known. It was twice as strong as the Earth's strongest
+metal!
+
+Fuller whistled in awe. "No wonder they can make a plane like that when
+they have such a metal to work with." The designing engineer had visions
+of a machine after his own heart--one in which half the weight was
+_not_ employed in holding it together!
+
+It was a little later that they got communication through to Earth, and
+the men went to the power room. The television screen was struggling to
+form a clear image despite the handicap of forty million miles of space.
+In a moment it had cleared, though, and they saw the face of Dr. Arcot.
+He showed plainly that he was worried about the startling news that had
+reached him already, sketchy though it was. After brief though warm
+greetings, his son rapidly outlined to him the full extent of their
+discoveries, and the force that Earth would have to meet.
+
+"Dad, these Kaxorians have planes capable of far more than a thousand
+miles an hour in the air. For some reason the apparatus they use to
+propel them in space is inoperative in air, but their propellers will
+drive them forward faster than any plane Earth ever saw. You must start
+at once on a fleet of these molecular motion planes--and a lot of the
+gas Wade developed--you know how to make it--the animation suspending
+gas. They don't have it--and I believe it will be useful. I'll try to
+develop some new weapons here. If either of us makes any progress along
+new lines--we'll report to the other. I must stop now--a Lanorian
+delegation is coming." After a few words of farewell, Arcot severed
+connections with the Earth and arose to await the arrival of the
+visitors.
+
+Since the return of the Terrestrians to the _Solarite_, a great crowd of
+Venerians had gathered around it, awaiting a glimpse of the men, for the
+news had spread that this ship had come from Earth. Now, the crowd had
+divided, and a group of men was approaching, clothed in great heavy
+coats that seemed warm enough to wear in Terrestrial arctic regions!
+
+"Why--Arcot--what's the idea of the winter regalia?" asked Fuller in
+surprise.
+
+"Think a moment--they are going to visit a place whose temperature is
+seventy degrees colder than their room temperature. In the bargain,
+Venus never has any seasonal change of temperature, and a heavy bank of
+clouds that eternally cover the planet keeps the temperature as constant
+as a thermocouple arrangement could. The slight change from day to night
+is only appreciable by the nightly rains--see--the crowd is beginning to
+break up now. It's night already, and there is a heavy dew settling.
+Soon it will be rain, and the great amount of moisture in the air will
+supply enough heat, in condensing, to prevent a temperature drop of more
+than two or three degrees. These men are not used to changes in
+temperature as we are and hence they must protect themselves far more
+fully."
+
+Three figures now entered the airlock of the _Solarite_, and muffled in
+heavy garments as they were, large under any conditions, they had to
+come through one at a time.
+
+Much that Arcot showed them was totally new to them. Much he could not
+explain to them at all, for their physics had not yet reached that
+stage.
+
+But there was one thing he could show them, and he did. There were no
+samples of the liquids he wanted, but their chemistry was developed to a
+point that permitted the communication of the necessary data and Arcot
+told them the formula of Wade's gas. Its ability to penetrate any
+material at ordinary temperatures, combined with its anesthetic
+properties, gave it obvious advantages as a weapon for rendering the
+opposing forces defenseless.
+
+Since it was able to penetrate all substances, there was no means of
+storing it. Hence it was made in the form of two liquids which reacted
+spontaneously and produced the gas, which was then projected to the spot
+where needed.
+
+Arcot asked now that the Venerian chemists make him a supply of these
+two liquids; and they promptly agreed. He felt he would have a fighting
+chance in combatting the enemy if he could but capture one of their
+flying forts. It seemed a strange task! Capturing so huge a machine with
+only the tiny _Solarite_--but Arcot felt there was a good possibility of
+his doing it if he but had a supply of that gas.
+
+There was one difficulty--one step in the synthesis required a
+considerable quantity of chlorine. Since chlorine was rare on Venus,
+the men were forced to sacrifice most of their salt supply; but this
+chlorine so generated could be used over and over again.
+
+It was quite late when the Venerians left, to go again into the scalding
+hot rain, rain that seemed to them to be a cold drizzle. After they had
+gone, the Terrestrians turned in for the night, leaving a telephone
+connection with the armed guard outside.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The dull light of the Venerian day was filtering in through the windows
+the next morning when the Terrestrians awoke. It was eight o'clock, New
+York time, but Sonor was working on a twenty-three hour day. It happened
+that Sonor and New York had been in opposition at midnight two nights
+ago, which meant that it was now ten o'clock Sonorian time. The result
+was that Arcot left the car to speak to the officer in charge of the
+guard about the ship.
+
+"We need some pure water--water free of copper salts. I think it would
+be best if you can get me some water that has been distilled. That is,
+for drinking. Also we need about two tons of water of any kind--the
+ship's tanks need recharging. I'd like about a ton of the drinking
+water." Arcot had to translate the Terrestrian measures into the
+corresponding Venerian terms, of course, but still the officer seemed
+puzzled. Such a large amount of water would create a real problem in
+transportation. After apparently conferring by telepathic means with his
+superiors, the officer asked if the _Solarite_ could be moved to some
+more accessible place.
+
+Arcot agreed to have it moved to a spot just outside the city, where the
+water could be procured directly from a stream. The drinking water would
+be ready when he returned to the city.
+
+The _Solarite_ was moved to the bank of the little river and the
+electrolysis apparatus was set up beside it. During the previous day,
+and ever since they had landed on Venus, all their power had been coming
+from the storage cells, but now that the electrolysis apparatus was to
+establish such a heavy and constant drain, Arcot started the generator,
+to both charge the cells, and to do the work needed.
+
+Throughout the day there could be heard the steady hum of the generator,
+and the throb-throb-throb of the oxygen pump, as the gas was pumped into
+the huge tanks. The apparatus they were using produced the gas very
+rapidly, but it was near nightfall before the huge tanks had again been
+filled. Even then there was a bit more room for the atomic hydrogen that
+was simultaneously formed, although twice as much hydrogen as oxygen was
+produced. Its task completed, the _Solarite_ rose again and sped toward
+the distant city.
+
+A soft red glow filled the sky now, for even through the miles of clouds
+the intense sun was able to force some direct rays, and all the city was
+lighted with that warm radiance. The floodlights had not yet been turned
+on, but the great buildings looming high in the ruddy light were
+wonderfully impressive, the effect being heightened by the planned
+construction, for there were no individual spires, only a single mass
+that grew from the ground to tower high in the air, like some man-made
+mountain.
+
+Back at the Capital the _Solarite_ again settled into the broad avenue
+that had been cut off to traffic now, and allotted to it as its resting
+place. Tonlos met them shortly after they had settled into place, and
+with him were five men, each carrying two large bottles.
+
+"Ah-co," as Tonlos pronounced the Terrestrian name, "we have not been
+able to make very much of the materials needed for your gas, but before
+we made any very great amount, we tried it out on an animal, whose blood
+structure is the same as ours, and found it had the same effect, but
+that in our case the iodide of potassium is not as effective in
+awakening the victim as is the sorlus. I do not know whether you have
+tried that on Terrestrial animals or not. Luckily sorlus is the most
+plentiful of the halogen groups; we have far more of it than of
+chlorine, bromine or iodine."
+
+"Sorlus? I do not know of it--it must be one of the other elements that
+we do not have on Earth. What are its properties?"
+
+"It, too, is much like iodine, but heavier. It is a black solid melting
+at 570 degrees; it is a metallic looking element, will conduct
+electricity somewhat, oxidizes in air to form an acidic oxide, and forms
+strong oxygen acids. It is far less active than iodine, except toward
+oxygen. It is very slightly soluble in water. It does not react readily
+with hydrogen, and the acid where formed is not as strong as HI."
+
+"I have seen so many new things here, I wonder if it may not be the
+element that precedes niton. Is it heavier than that?"
+
+"No," replied Tonlos; "it is just lighter than that element you call
+niton. I think you have none of it."
+
+"Then," said Arcot, "it must be the next member of the halogen series,
+Morey. I'll bet they have a number of those heavier elements."
+
+The gas was loaded aboard the _Solarite_ that evening, and when Wade saw
+the quantity that they had said was "rather disappointingly small" he
+laughed heartily.
+
+"Small! They don't know what that gas will do! There's enough stuff
+there to gas this whole city. Why, with that, we can bring down any
+ship! But tell them to go on making it, for we can use it on the other
+ships."
+
+Again that night they spoke with Earth, and Morey, Senior, told them
+that work was already under way on a hundred small ships. They were
+using all their own ships already, while the Government got ready to act
+on the idea of danger. It had been difficult to convince them that
+someone on Venus was getting ready to send a force to Earth to destroy
+them; but the weight of their scientific reputation had turned the
+trick. The ships now under construction would be ready in three weeks.
+They would be unable to go into space, but they would be very fast, and
+capable of carrying large tanks of the gas-producing chemicals.
+
+It was near midnight, Venerian time, when they turned in. The following
+day they planned to start for the Kaxorian construction camp. They had
+learned from Tonlos that there were but five of the giant planes
+completed now, but there were fifteen more under construction, to make
+up the fleet of twenty that was to attack Earth. These fifteen others
+would be ready in a week--or less. When they were ready, the _Solarite_
+would stand small chance. They must capture one of the giants and learn
+its secrets, and then, if possible, with the weapons and knowledge of
+two worlds, defeat them. A large order!
+
+Their opportunity came sooner than they had hoped for--or wanted. It was
+about three o'clock in the morning when the telephone warning hummed
+loudly through the ship. Arcot answered.
+
+Far to the east and south of them the line of scout planes that
+patrolled all the borders of Lanor had been broken. Instantaneously, it
+seemed, out of the dark, its lights obscured, the mighty Kaxorian craft
+had come, striking a tiny scout plane head on, destroying it utterly
+before the scout had a chance to turn from the path of the titanic ship.
+But even as the plane spun downward, the pilot had managed to release a
+magnesium flare, a blindingly brilliant light that floated down on a
+parachute, and in the blaze of the white light it gave off, the other
+scouts at a few miles distance had seen the mighty bulk of the Kaxorian
+plane. At once they had dropped to the ground and then, by telephone
+lines, had sent their report to far off Sonor.
+
+In moments the interior of the _Solarite_ became a scene of swift
+purposeful activity. All day the Terrestrians had been able to do so
+little in preparation for the conflict they knew must come, the battle
+for two worlds. They had wanted action, but they had no weapons except
+their invisibility and the atomic hydrogen. It would not sink a plane.
+It would only break open its armor, and they hoped, paralyze its crew.
+And on this alone they must pin their hopes.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+
+Arcot lifted the _Solarite_ at once high into the air, and started
+toward the point on the border, where the plane had been seen crossing.
+In a short time Wade relieved him at the controls while he dressed.
+
+They had been flying on in silence for about an hour, when suddenly Wade
+made out in the distance the great bulk of the plane, against the dull
+gray of the clouds, a mile or so above them. It seemed some monstrous
+black bat flying there against the sky, but down to the sensitive
+microphone on the side of the _Solarite_ came the drone of the hundred
+mighty propellers as the great plane forged swiftly along.
+
+Just how rapidly these giants moved, Arcot had not appreciated until he
+attempted to overtake this one. It was going over a mile a second now--a
+speed that demanded only that it move its own length in about
+five-eights of a second! It made this tremendous speed by streamlining
+and through sheer power.
+
+The _Solarite_ hovered high above the dark ship at length, the roar of
+the terrific air blast from its propellers below coming up to them as a
+mighty wave of sound that made their own craft tremble! The hundred
+gigantic propellers roaring below, however, would distribute their gas
+perfectly.
+
+"We're going invisible," Arcot exclaimed. "Look out!" There was a click
+as the switch shut, and the _Solarite_ was as transparent as the air
+above it. Arcot drove his ship swiftly, above and ahead of the mighty
+colossus, then released the gas. There was a low hiss from the power
+room, barely detectable despite the vacuum that shut them off from the
+roar of the Kaxorian plane. The microphone had long since been
+disconnected. Out of the gas vent streamed a cloud of purplish gas,
+becoming faintly visible as it left the influence of the invisibility
+apparatus, but only to those who knew where to look for it. The men in
+that mighty plane could not see it as their machine bore down into the
+little cloud of gas.
+
+Tensely the Terrestrians waited. Moments--and the gigantic plane
+wobbled! There was a sudden swerve that ended in a nose dive, straight
+toward Venus seven miles below.
+
+That the ship should crash into the ground below was not at all Arcot's
+plan, and he was greatly relieved when it flattened its dive and started
+to climb, its incalculable mass rapidly absorbing its kinetic energy.
+Down from its seven mile height it glided, controlling itself perfectly
+as Arcot released the last of the first four containers of the liquid
+gas makers, putting to sleep the last man on the ship below.
+
+In a long glide that carried it over many miles, the great ship
+descended. It had sunk far, and gone smoothly, but now there loomed
+ahead of it a range of low hills! It would certainly crash into the
+rocky cliffs ahead! Nearer and nearer drew the barrier while Arcot and
+the others watched with rigid attention. It might skim above those low
+hills at that--just barely escaping.... The watchers cringed as head on,
+at nearly two thousand miles an hour, the machine crashed into the
+rocks. Arcot had snapped the loud speaker into the circuit once more,
+and now as they looked at the sudden crash below, there thundered up to
+them mighty waves of sound!
+
+The giant plane had struck about twenty feet from the top of a nearly
+perpendicular cliff. The terrific crash was felt by seismographs in
+Sonor nearly two thousand miles away! The mighty armored hull plowed
+into the rocks like some gigantic meteor, the hundreds of thousands of
+tons crushing the rocky precipice, grinding it to powder, and shaking
+the entire hill. The cliff seemed to buckle and crack. In moments the
+plane had been brought to rest, but it had plowed through twenty feet of
+rock for nearly an eighth of a mile. For an instant it hung motionless,
+perched perilously in the air, its tail jutting out over the little
+valley, then slowly, majestically it sank, to strike with a
+reverberating crash that shattered the heavy armor plate!
+
+For another instant the great motors continued turning, the roar of the
+propellers like some throbbing background to the rending crashes as the
+titanic wreck came to rest. Suddenly, with a series of roaring
+explosions, the bank of motors in the left wing blew up with awful
+force. There was a flash of indescribable brilliance that momentarily
+blinded the watching Terrestrians; then there came to the microphone
+such waves of sound as it could not reproduce. From the rock on which
+rested the fused mass of metal that they knew had been the wing, rose a
+great cloud of dust. Still the motors on the other side of the ship
+continued roaring and the giant propellers turned. As the blast of air
+blew the dust away, the Terrestrians stared in unbounded amazement. Up
+from the gaping, broken wing lanced a mighty beam of light of such
+dazzling intensity that Arcot swiftly restored them to visibility that
+they might shut it out. There was a terrific hissing, crackling roar.
+The plane seemed to wobble as it lay there, seemingly recoiling from
+that flaming column. Where it touched the cliff there was intense
+incandescence that made the rock glow white hot, then flow down in a
+sluggish rivulet of molten lava! For five minutes longer this terrific
+spectacle lasted, while Arcot withdrew the _Solarite_ to a safer
+distance.
+
+The fifty motors of the remaining wing seemed slowing down now--then
+suddenly there was such a crash and towering flash of light as no human
+being had ever seen before! Up--up into the very clouds it shot its
+mighty flame, a blazing column of light that seemed to reach out into
+space. The _Solarite_ was hurled back end over end, tumbling, falling.
+Even the heavy gyroscopes could not hold it for an instant, but quickly
+the straining motors brought them to rest in air that whirled and whined
+about them. They were more than twenty miles from the scene of the
+explosion, but even at that distance they could see the glow of the
+incandescent rock. Slowly, cautiously they maneuvered the _Solarite_
+back to the spot, and looked down on a sea of seething lava!
+
+Morey broke the awed silence. "Lord--what power that thing carries! No
+wonder they could support it in the air! But--how can they control such
+power? What titanic forces!"
+
+Slowly Arcot sent the _Solarite_ away into the night--into the kindly
+darkness once more. His voice when he spoke at last was oddly
+restrained.
+
+"I wonder what those forces were--they are greater than any man has ever
+before seen! An entire hill fused to molten, incandescent rock, not to
+mention the tons and tons of metal that made up that ship.
+
+"And such awful forces as these are to be released on our Earth!" For an
+interminable period they sat silent as the panorama of hills glided by
+at a slow two-hundred miles an hour. Abruptly Arcot exclaimed, "We
+_must_ capture a ship. We'll try again--we'll either destroy or capture
+it--and either way we're ahead!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Aimlessly they continued their leisurely course across a vast plain.
+There were no great mountains on Venus, for this world had known no such
+violent upheaval as the making of a moon. The men were lost in thought,
+each intent on his own ideas. At length Wade stood up, and walked slowly
+back to the power room.
+
+Suddenly the men in the control room heard his call:
+
+"Arcot--quick--the microphone--and rise a mile!"
+
+The _Solarite_ gave a violent lurch as it shot vertically aloft at
+tremendous acceleration. Arcot reached over swiftly and snapped the
+switch of the microphone. There burst in upon them the familiar roaring
+drone of a hundred huge propellers. No slightest hum of motor, only the
+vast whining roar of the mighty props.
+
+"Another one! They must have been following the first by a few minutes.
+We'll get this one!" Arcot worked swiftly at his switches. "Wade--strap
+yourself in the seat where you are--don't take time to come up here."
+
+They followed the same plan which had worked so well before. Suddenly
+invisible, the _Solarite_ flashed ahead of the great plane. The titanic
+wave of rushing sound engulfed them--then again came the little hiss of
+the gas. Now there were no hills in sight, as far as the eye could see.
+In the dim light that seemed always to filter through these gray clouds
+they could see the distant, level horizon.
+
+Several dragging minutes passed before there was any evident effect; the
+men from Earth were waiting for that great ship to waver, to wobble from
+its course. Suddenly Arcot gave a cry of surprise. Startled amazement
+was written all over his face, as his companions turned in wonderment to
+see that he was partially visible! The _Solarite_, too, had become a
+misty ghost ship about them; they were becoming visible! Then in an
+instant it was gone--and they saw that the huge black bulk behind them
+was wavering, turning; the thunderous roar of the propellers fell to a
+whistling whine; the ship was losing speed! It dipped, and shot down a
+bit--gained speed, then step by step it glided down--down--down to the
+surface below. The engines were idling now, the plane running more and
+more slowly.
+
+They were near the ground now--and the watchers scarcely breathed. Would
+this ship, too, crash? It glided to within a half mile of the
+plain--then it dipped once more, and Arcot breathed his relief as it
+made a perfect landing, the long series of rollers on the base of the
+gigantic hull absorbing the shock of the landing. There were small
+streams in the way--a tree or two, but these were obstacles unnoticed by
+the gargantuan machine. Its mighty propellers still idling slowly, the
+huge plane rolled to a standstill.
+
+Swooping down, the _Solarite_ landed beside it, to be lost in the vast
+shadows of the mighty metal walls.
+
+Arcot had left a small radio receiver with Tonlos in Sonor before he
+started on this trip, and had given him directions on how to tune in on
+the _Solarite_. Now he sent a message to him, telling that the plane had
+been brought down, and asking that a squadron of planes be sent at once.
+
+Wade and Arcot were elected to make the first inspection of the Kaxorian
+plane, and clad in their cooling suits, they stepped from the
+_Solarite_, each carrying, for emergency use, a small hand torch,
+burning atomic hydrogen, capable of melting its way through even the
+heavy armor of the great plane.
+
+As they stood beside it, looking up at the gigantic wall of metal that
+rose sheer beside them hundreds of feet straight up, it seemed
+impossible that this mighty thing could fly, that it could be propelled
+through the air. In awed silence they gazed at its vast bulk.
+
+Then, like pygmies beside some mighty prehistoric monster, they made
+their way along its side, seeking a door. Suddenly Wade stopped short
+and exclaimed: "Arcot, this is senseless--we can't do this! The machine
+is so big that it'll take us half an hour of steady walking to go around
+it. We'll have to use the _Solarite_ to find an entrance!"
+
+It was well that they followed Wade's plan, for the only entrance, as
+they later learned, was from the top. There, on the back of the giant,
+the _Solarite_ landed--its great weight having no slightest effect on
+the Kaxorian craft. They found a trap-door leading down inside. However,
+the apparatus for opening it was evidently within the hull, so they had
+to burn a hole in the door before they could enter.
+
+What a sight there was for these men of Earth. The low rumble of the
+idling engines was barely audible as they descended the long ladder.
+
+There was no resemblance whatever to the interior of a flying machine;
+rather, it suggested some great power house, where the energies of half
+a nation were generated. They entered directly into a vast hall that
+extended for a quarter of a mile back through the great hull, and
+completely across the fuselage. To the extreme nose it ran, and
+throughout there were scattered little globes that gave off an intense
+white light, illuminating all of the interior. Translucent bull's-eyes
+obscured the few windows.
+
+All about, among the machines, lay Venerians. Dead they seemed, the
+illusion intensified by their strangely blue complexions. The two
+Terrestrians knew, however, that they could readily be restored to life.
+The great machines they had been operating were humming softly, almost
+inaudibly. There were two long rows of them, extending to the end of
+the great hall. They suggested mighty generators twenty feet high. From
+their tops projected two-feet-thick cylinders of solid fused quartz.
+From these extended other rods of fused quartz, rods that led down
+through the floor; but these were less bulky, scarcely over eight inches
+thick.
+
+The huge generator-like machines were disc-shaped. From these, too, a
+quartz rod ran down through the floor. The machines on the further row
+were in some way different; those in the front half of the row had the
+tubes leading to the floor below, but had no tubes jutting into the
+ceiling. Instead, there were many slender rods connected with a vast
+switchboard that covered all of one side of the great room. But
+everywhere were the great quartz rods, suggesting some complicated water
+system. Most of them were painted black, though the main rods leading
+from the roof above were as clear as crystal.
+
+Arcot and Wade looked at these gigantic machines in hushed awe. They
+seemed impossibly huge; it was inconceivable that all this was but the
+power room of an airplane!
+
+Without speaking, they descended to the level below, using a quite
+earthly appearing escalator. Despite the motionless figures everywhere,
+they felt no fear of their encountering resistance. They knew the
+effectiveness of Wade's anesthetic.
+
+The hall they entered was evidently the main room of the plane. It was
+as long as the one above, and higher, yet all that vast space was taken
+by one single, titanic coil that stretched from wall to wall! Into it,
+and from it there led two gigantic columns of fused quartz. That these
+were rods, such as those smaller ones above was obvious, but each was
+over eight feet thick!
+
+Short they were, for they led from one mighty generator such as they had
+seen above, but magnified on a scale inconceivable! At the end of it,
+its driving power, its motor, was a great cylindrical case, into which
+led a single quartz bar ten inches thick. This bar was alive with
+pulsing, glowing fires, that changed and maneuvered and died out over
+all its surface and through all its volume. The motor was but five feet
+in diameter and a scant seven feet long, yet obviously it was driving
+the great machine, for there came from it a constant low hum, a deep
+pitched song of awful power. And the huge quartz rod that led from the
+titanic coil-cylinder was alive with the same glowing fires that played
+through the motor rod. From one side of the generator, ran two objects
+that were familiar, copper bus bars. But even these were _three feet
+thick_!
+
+The scores of quartz tubes that come down from the floor above joined,
+coalesced, and ran down to the great generator, and into it.
+
+They descended to another level. Here were other quartz tubes, but these
+led down still further, for this floor contained individual sleeping
+bunks, most of them unoccupied, unready for occupancy, though some were
+made up.
+
+Down another level; again the bunks, the little individual rooms.
+
+At last they reached the bottom level, and here the great quartz tubes
+terminated in a hundred smaller ones, each of these leading into some
+strange mechanism. There were sighting devices on it, and there were
+ports that opened in the floor. This was evidently the bombing room.
+
+With an occasional hushed word, the Terrestrians walked through what
+seemed to be a vast city of the dead, passing sleeping officers, and
+crewmen by the hundreds. On the third level they came at last to the
+control room. Here were switchboards, control panels, and dozens of
+officers, sleeping now, beside their instruments. A sudden dull thudding
+sound spun Arcot and Wade around, nerves taut. They relaxed and
+exchanged apologetic smiles. An automatic relay had adjusted some
+mechanism.
+
+They noted one man stationed apart from the rest. He sat at the very
+bow, protected behind eight-inch coronium plates in which were set
+masses of fused quartz that were nearly as strong as the metal itself.
+These gave him a view in every direction except directly behind him.
+Obviously, here was the pilot.
+
+Returning to the top level, they entered the long passages that led out
+into the titanic wings. Here, as elsewhere, the ship was brightly
+lighted. They came to a small room, another bunk room. There were great
+numbers of these down both sides of the long corridor, and along the two
+parallel corridors down the wing. In the fourth corridor near the back
+edge of the wing, there were bunk rooms on one side, and on the other
+were bombing posts.
+
+As they continued walking down the first corridor, they came to a small
+room, whence issued the low hum of one of the motors. Entering, they
+found the crew sleeping, and the motor idling.
+
+"Good Lord!" Wade exclaimed. "Look at that motor, Arcot! No bigger than
+the trunk of a man's body. Yet a battery of these sends the ship along
+at a mile a second! What power!"
+
+Slowly they proceeded down the long hall. At each of the fifty engine
+mountings they found the same conditions. At the end of the hall there
+was an escalator that led one level higher, into the upper wing. Here
+they found long rows of the bombing posts and the corresponding quartz
+rods.
+
+They returned finally to the control room. Here Arcot spent a long time
+looking over the many instruments, the controls, and the piloting
+apparatus.
+
+"Wade," he said at last, "I think I can see how this is done. I am going
+to stop those engines, start them, then accelerate them till the ship
+rolls a bit!" Arcot stepped quickly over to the pilots seat, lifted the
+sleeping pilot out, and settled in his place.
+
+"Now, you go over to that board there--that one--and when I ask you to,
+please turn on that control--no, the one below--yes--turn it on about
+one notch at a time."
+
+Wade shook his head dubiously, a one-sided grin on his face. "All right,
+Arcot--just as you say--but when I think of the powers you're playing
+with--well, a mistake might be unhealthy!"
+
+"I'm going to stop the motors now," Arcot announced quietly. All the
+time they had been on board, they had been aware of the barely inaudible
+whine of the motors. Now suddenly, it was gone, and the plane was still
+as death!
+
+Arcot's voice sounded unnaturally loud. "I did it without blowing the
+ship up after all! Now we're going to try turning the power on!"
+
+Suddenly there was a throaty hum; then quickly it became the low whine;
+then, as Arcot turned on the throttle before him, he heard the tens of
+thousands of horsepower spring into life--and suddenly the whine was a
+low roar--the mighty propellers out there had became a blur--then with
+majestic slowness the huge machine moved off across the field!
+
+Arcot shut off the motors and rose with a broad, relieved smile, "Easy!"
+he said. They made their way again up through the ship, up through the
+room of the tremendous cylinder coil, and then into the power room. Now
+the machines were quiet, for the motors were no longer working.
+
+"Arcot, you didn't shut off the biggest machine of all down there. How
+come?"
+
+"I couldn't, Wade. It has no shut-off control, and if it did have, I
+wouldn't use it. I will tell you why when we get back to the
+_Solarite_."
+
+At last they left the mighty machine; walked once more across its broad
+metal top. Here and there they now saw the ends of those quartz
+cylinders. Once more they entered the _Solarite_, through the air lock,
+and took off the cumbersome insulating suits.
+
+As quickly as possible Arcot outlined to the two who had stayed with the
+_Solarite_, the things they had seen, and the layout of the great ship.
+
+"I think I can understand the secret of all that power, and it's not so
+different from the _Solarite_, at that. It, too, draws its power from
+the sun, though in a different way, and it stores it within itself,
+which the _Solarite_ does not try to do.
+
+"Light of course, is energy, and therefore, has mass. It exerts
+pressure, the impact of its moving units of energy--photons. We have
+electrons and protons of matter, and photons of light. Now we know that
+the mass of protons and electrons will attract other protons and
+electrons, and hold them near--as in a stone, or in a solar system. The
+new idea here is that the photons will attract each other ever more and
+more powerfully, the closer they get. The Kaxorians have developed a
+method of getting them so close together, that they will, for a while at
+least, hold themselves there, and with a little 'pressure', will stay
+there indefinitely.
+
+"In that huge coil and cylinder we found there we saw the main power
+storage tank. That was full of gaseous light-energy held together by its
+own attraction, plus a little help of the generator!"
+
+"A little help?" Wade exclaimed. "Quite a little! I'll bet that thing
+had a million horsepower in its motor!"
+
+"Yes--but I'll bet they have nearly fifty pounds of light condensed
+there--so why worry about a little thing like a million horsepower? They
+have plenty more where that comes from.
+
+"I think they go up above the clouds in some way and collect the sun's
+energy. Remember that Venus gets twice as much as Earth. They focus it
+on those tubes on the roof there, and they, like all quartz tubes,
+conduct the light down into the condensers where it is first collected.
+Then it is led to the big condenser downstairs, where the final power is
+added, and the condensed light is stored.
+
+"Quartz conducts light just as copper conducts electricity--those are
+bus bars we saw running around there.
+
+"The bombs we've been meeting recently are, of course, little knots of
+this light energy thrown out by that projector mechanism we saw. When
+they hit anything, the object absorbs their energy--and is very promptly
+volatilized by the heat of the absorption.
+
+"Do you remember that column of hissing radiance we saw shooting out of
+the wrecked plane just before it blew up? That was the motor connection,
+broken, and discharging free energy. That would ordinarily have
+supplied all fifty motors at about full speed. Naturally, when it cut
+loose, it was rather violent.
+
+"The main generator had been damaged, no doubt, so it stopped working,
+and the gravitational attraction of the photons wasn't enough, without
+its influence to hold them bound too long. All those floods of energy
+were released instantaneously, of course.
+
+"Look--there come the Lanorians now. I want to go back to Sonor and
+think over this problem. Perhaps we can find something that will release
+all that energy--though honestly, I doubt it."
+
+Arcot seemed depressed, overawed perhaps, by the sheer magnitude of the
+force that lay bound up in the Kaxorian ship. It seemed inconceivable
+that the little _Solarite_ could in any way be effective against the
+incredible machine.
+
+The Lanorian planes were landing almost like a flock of birds, on the
+wings, the fuselage, the ground all about the gigantic ship. Arcot
+dropped into a chair, gazing moodily into emptiness, his thoughts on the
+mighty giant, stricken now, but only sleeping. In its vast hulk lay such
+energies as intelligence had never before controlled; within it he knew
+there were locked the powers of the sun itself. What could the
+_Solarite_ do against it?
+
+"Oh, I almost forgot to mention it." Arcot spoke slowly, dejectedly. "In
+the heat of the attack back there it went practically unnoticed. Our
+only weapon beside the gas is useless now. Do you remember how the ship
+seemed to lose its invisibility for an instant? I learned why when we
+investigated the ship. Those men are physicists of the highest order. We
+must realize the terrible forces, both physical and mental that we are
+to meet. They've solved the secret of our invisibility, and now they can
+neutralize it. They began using it a bit too late this time, but they
+had located the radio-produced interference caused by the ship's
+invisibility apparatus, and they were sending a beam of interfering
+radio energy at us. We are invisible only by reason of the vibration of
+the molecules in response to the radio impressed oscillations. The
+molecules vibrate in tune, at terrific frequency, and the light can pass
+perfectly. What will happen, however, if someone locates the source of
+the radio waves? It'll be simple for them to send out a radio beam and
+touch our invisible ship with it. The two radio waves impressed on us
+now will be out of step and the interference will instantly make us
+visible. We can no longer attack them with our atomic hydrogen blast, or
+with the gas--both are useless unless we can get close to them, and we
+can't come within ten miles of them now. Those bombs of theirs are
+effective at that distance."
+
+Again he fell silent, thinking--hoping for an idea that would once more
+give them a chance to combat the Kaxorians. His three companions,
+equally depressed and without a workable idea, remained silent. Abruptly
+Arcot stood up.
+
+"I'm going to speak with the Commander-in-Field here. Then we can start
+back for Sonor--and maybe we had better head for home. It looks as
+though there is little we can do here."
+
+Briefly he spoke to the young Venerian officer, and told him what he had
+learned about the ship. Perhaps they could fly it to Sonor; or it could
+be left there undestroyed if he would open a certain control just before
+he left. Arcot showed him which one--it would drain out the power of the
+great storage tank, throwing it harmlessly against the clouds above. The
+Kaxorians might destroy the machine if they wanted to--Arcot felt that
+they would not wish to. They would hope, with reason, they might
+recapture it! It would be impossible to move that tremendous machine
+without the power that its "tank" was intended to hold.
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+
+Slowly they cruised back to Sonor, Arcot still engrossed in thought.
+Would it be that Venus would fall before the attack of the mighty
+planes, that they would sweep out across space, to Earth--to Mars--to
+other worlds, a cosmic menace? Would the mighty machines soon be
+circling Earth? Guided missiles with atomic warheads could combat them,
+perhaps, as could the molecular motion machines. Perhaps these could be
+armored with twenty-inch steel walls, and driven into the great
+propellers, or at miles a second, into the ship itself! But these ships
+would require long hours, days, even weeks to build, and in that time
+the Kaxorian fleet would be ready. It would attack Earth within six days
+now! What hope was there to avert incalculable destruction--if not
+outright defeat?
+
+In despair Arcot turned and strode quickly down the long hallway of the
+_Solarite_. Above him he could hear the smooth, even hum of the sweetly
+functioning generator, but it only reminded him of the vastly greater
+energies he had seen controlled that night. The thudding relays in the
+power room, as Wade maneuvered the ship, seemed some diminutive mockery
+of the giant relays he had seen in the power room of the Kaxorian plane.
+
+He sat down in the power room, looking at the stacked apparatus, neatly
+arranged, as it must be, to get all this apparatus in this small space.
+Then at last he began to think more calmly. He concentrated on the
+greatest forces known to man--and there were only two that even occurred
+to him as great! One was the vast energies he had that very night
+learned of; the other was the force of the molecules, the force that
+drove his ship.
+
+He had had no time to work out the mathematics of the light compression,
+mathematics that he now knew would give results. There remained only the
+molecular motion. What could he do with it that he had not done?
+
+He drew out a small black notebook. In it were symbols, formulas, and
+page after page of the intricate calculus that had ended finally in the
+harnessing of this great force that was even now carrying him smoothly
+along.
+
+Half an hour later he was still busy--covering page after page with
+swiftly written formulas. Before him was a great table of multiple
+integers, the only one like it known to exist in the System, for the
+multiple calculus was an invention of Arcot's. At last he found the
+expression he wanted, and carefully he checked his work, excitedly
+though now, with an expression of eager hope--it seemed logical--it
+seemed correct--
+
+"Morey--oh, Morey," he called, holding his enthusiasm in check, "if you
+can come here--I want you to check some math for me. I've done it--and I
+want to see if you get the same result independently!" Morey was a more
+careful mathematician than he, and it was to him Arcot turned for
+verification of any new discovery.
+
+Following the general directions Arcot gave him, Morey went through the
+long series of calculations--and arrived at the same results. Slowly he
+looked up from the brief expression with which he had ended.
+
+It was not the formula that astonished him--it was its physical
+significance.
+
+"Arcot--do you think we can make it?"
+
+There was a new expression in Arcot's eyes, a tightness about his mouth.
+
+"I hope so, Morey. If we don't, Lanor is lost beyond a doubt--and
+probably Earth is, too. Wade--come here a minute, will you? Let Fuller
+take the controls, and tell him to push it. We have to get to work on
+this."
+
+Rapidly Arcot explained their calculations--and the proof he had gotten.
+
+"Our beam of molecular motion-controlling energy directs all molecular
+motion to go at right angles to it. The mechanism so far has been a
+field inside a coil really, but if these figures are right, it means
+that we can project that field to a considerable distance even in air.
+It'll be a beam of power that will cause all molecules in its path to
+move at right angles to it, and in the direction we choose, by reversing
+the power in the projector. That means that no matter how big the thing
+is, we can tear it to pieces; we'll use its own powers, its own
+energies, to rip it, or crush it.
+
+"Imagine what would happen if we directed this against the side of a
+mountain--the entire mass of rock would at once fly off at unimaginable
+speed, crashing ahead with terrific power, as all the molecules suddenly
+moved in the same direction. Nothing in all the Universe could hold
+together against it! It's a disintegration ray of a sort--a ray that
+will tear, or crush, for we can either make one half move away from the
+other--or we can reverse the power, and make one half drive toward the
+other with all the terrific power of its molecules! It is
+omnipotent--hmmm--" Arcot paused, narrowing his eyes in thought.
+
+"It has one limitation. Will it reach far in the air? In vacuum it
+should have an infinite range--in the atmosphere all the molecules of
+the air will be affected, and it will cause a terrific blast of icy
+wind, a gale at temperatures far below zero! This will be even more
+effective here on Venus!
+
+"But we must start designing the thing at once! Take some of the
+Immorpho and give me some, and we can let the sleep accumulate till we
+have more time! Look--we're in Sonor already! Land us, Fuller--right
+where we were, and then come back here. We're going to need you!"
+
+The gorgeous display of a Venerian dawn was already coloring the east as
+the great buildings seemed to rise silently about them. The sky, which
+had been a dull luminous gray, a gray that rapidly grew brighter and
+brighter, was now like molten silver, through which were filtering the
+early rays of the intense sun. As the sun rose above the horizon, though
+invisible for clouds, it still was traceable by the wondrous shell pink
+that began to suffuse the ten mile layer of vapor. The tiny droplets
+were, however, breaking the clear light into a million rainbows, and all
+about the swiftly deepening pink were forming concentric circles of
+blue, of green, orange, and all the colors of the rainbow, repeated time
+after time--a wondrous halo of glowing color, which only the doubly
+intense sun could create.
+
+"It's almost worth missing the sun all day to see their sunrises and
+sunsets," Fuller commented. The men were watching it, despite their
+need for haste. It was a sight the like of which no Earthman had ever
+before seen.
+
+Immediately, then, they plunged into the extremely complex calculation
+of the electrical apparatus to produce the necessary fields. To get the
+effect they wanted, they must have two separate fields of the director
+ray, and a third field of a slightly different nature, which would cause
+the director ray to move in one direction only. It would be
+disconcerting, to say the least, if the director ray, by some mistake,
+should turn upon them!
+
+The work went on more swiftly than they had considered possible, but
+there was still much to be done on the theoretical end of the job alone
+when the streets about them began to fill. They noticed that a large
+crowd was assembling, and shortly after they had finished, after some of
+these people had stood there for more than an hour and a half, the crowd
+had grown to great size.
+
+"From the looks of that collection, I should say we are about to become
+the principals in some kind of a celebration that we know nothing about.
+Well, we're here, and in case they want us, we're ready to come."
+
+The guard that always surrounded the _Solarite_ had been doubled, and
+was maintaining a fairly large clear area about the ship.
+
+Shortly thereafter they saw one of the high officials of Lanor come down
+the walk from the governmental building, walking toward the _Solarite_.
+
+"Time for us to appear--and it may as well be all of us this time. I'll
+tell you what they say afterward, Wade. They've evidently gone to
+considerable trouble to get up this meeting, so let's cooperate. I hate
+to slow up the work, but we'll try to make it short."
+
+The four Terrestrians got into their cooling suits, and stepped outside
+the ship. The Lanorian dignitary left his guard, walked up to the
+quartet from Earth with measured tread, and halted before them.
+
+"Earthmen," he began in a deep, clear voice, "we have gathered here this
+morning to greet you and thank you for the tremendous service you have
+done us. Across the awful void of empty space you have journeyed forty
+million miles to visit us, only to discover that Venerians were making
+ready to attack your world. Twice your intervention has saved our city.
+
+"There is, of course, no adequate reward for this service; we can in no
+way repay you, but in a measure we may show our appreciation. We have
+learned from the greatest psychologist of our nation, Tonlos, that in
+your world aluminum is plentiful, but gold and platinum are rare, and
+that morlus is unknown. I have had a small token made for you, and your
+friends. It is a little plaque, a disc of morlus, and on it there is a
+small map of the Solar System. On the reverse side there is a globe of
+Venus, with one of Earth beside it, as well as our men could copy the
+small globe you have given us. The northern hemisphere of each is
+depicted--America, your nation, and Lanor, ours, thus being shown. We
+want you, and each of your friends, to accept these. They are symbols of
+your wonderful flight across space!" The Venerians turned to each of the
+Terrestrians and presented each with a small metal disc.
+
+Arcot spoke for the Terrestrians.
+
+"On behalf of myself and my friends here, two of whom have not had an
+opportunity to learn your language, I wish to thank you for your great
+help when we most needed it. You, perhaps, have saved more than a
+city--you may have made it possible to save a world--our Earth. But the
+battle here has only begun.
+
+"There are now in the Kaxorian camp eighteen great ships. They have been
+badly defeated in the three encounters they have had with the _Solarite_
+so far. But no longer will they be vulnerable to our earlier methods of
+attack. Your spies report that the first plane, the plane which was
+first attacked by the _Solarite_, is still undergoing repairs. These
+will be completed within two days, and then, when they can leave a base
+guard of two ships, they will attack once more. Furthermore, they will
+attack with a new weapon. They have destroyed the usefulness of our
+weapon, invisibility, and in turn, now have it to use against us! We
+must seek out some new weapon. I hope we are on the right track now, but
+every moment is precious, and we must get back to the work. This address
+must be short. Later, when we have completed our preliminary work, we
+will have to give plans to your workmen, which you will be able to turn
+into metal, for we lack the materials. With this help we may succeed,
+despite our handicap."
+
+The address was terminated at once. The Lanorians were probably
+disappointed, but they fully realized the necessity for haste.
+
+"I wish Terrestrian orators spoke like that," remarked Morey as they
+returned to the ship. "He said all there was to say, but he didn't run
+miles of speech doing it. He was a very forceful speaker, too!"
+
+"People who speak briefly and to the point generally are," Arcot said.
+
+It was nearly noon that day before the theoretical discussion had been
+reduced to practical terms. They were ready to start work at once, but
+they had reason to work cheerfully now. Even through air they had found
+their ray would be able to reach thirty-five miles! They would be well
+out of the danger zone while attacking the gigantic planes of Kaxor.
+
+Morey, Wade and Arcot at once set to work constructing the electrical
+plant that was to give them the necessary power. It was lucky indeed
+that they had brought the great mass of spare apparatus! They had more
+than enough to make all the electrical machinery. The tubes, the coils,
+the condensers, all were there. The generator would easily supply the
+power, for the terrific forces that were to destroy the Kaxorian ships
+were to be generated in the plane itself. It was to destroy itself; the
+_Solarite_ would merely be the detonator to set it off!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+While the physicists were busy on this, Fuller was designing the
+mechanical details of the projector. It must be able to turn through a
+spherical angle of 180 degrees, and was necessarily controlled
+electrically from the inside. The details of the projector were worked
+out by six that evening, and the numerous castings and machined pieces
+that were to be used were to be made in the Venerian machine shops.
+
+One difficulty after another arose and was overcome. Night came on, and
+still they continued work. The Venerian workmen had promised to have the
+apparatus for them by ten o'clock the next morning--or what corresponded
+to ten o'clock.
+
+Shortly after three o'clock that morning they had finished the
+apparatus, had connected all the controls, and had placed the last of
+the projector directors. Except for the projector they were ready, and
+Morey, Wade and Fuller turned in to get what sleep they could. But
+Arcot, telling them there was something he wished to get, took another
+dose of Immorpho and stepped out into the steaming rain.
+
+A few minutes after ten the next morning Arcot came back, followed by
+half a dozen Venerians, each carrying a large metal cylinder in a
+cradle. These were attached to the landing gear of the _Solarite_ in
+such fashion that the fusing of one piece of wire would permit the
+entire thing to drop free.
+
+"So _that's_ what you hatched out, eh? What is it?" asked Wade as he
+entered the ship.
+
+"Just a thing I want to try out--and I'm going to keep it a deep, dark
+secret for a while. I think you'll get quite a surprise when you see
+those bombs in action! They're arranged to be released by turning
+current into the landing lights. We'll have to forgo lights for the
+present, but I needed the bombs more.
+
+"The mechanics have finished working on your projector parts, Fuller,
+and they'll be over here in a short time. Here comes the little gang I
+asked to help us. You can direct them." Arcot paused and scowled with
+annoyance. "Hang it all--when they drill into the outer wall, we'll lose
+the vacuum between the two walls, and all that hot air will come in.
+This place will be roasting in a short time. We have the molecular
+motion coolers, but I'm afraid they won't be much good. Can't use the
+generator--it's cut off from the main room by vacuum wall.
+
+"I think we'd better charge up the gas tanks and the batteries as soon
+as this is done. Then tonight we'll attack the Kaxorian construction
+camp. I've just learned that no spy reports have been coming in, and I'm
+afraid they'll spring a surprise."
+
+Somewhat later came the sound of drills, then the whistling roar as the
+air sucked into the vacuum, told the men inside that the work was under
+way. It soon became uncomfortably hot as, the vacuum destroyed, the heat
+came in through all sides. It was more than the little molecular coolers
+could handle, and the temperature soon rose to about a hundred and
+fifteen. It was not as bad as the Venerian atmosphere, for the air
+seemed exceedingly dry, and the men found it possible to get along
+without cooling suits, if they did not work. Since there was little they
+could do, they simply relaxed.
+
+It was nearly dark before the Lanorians had finished their work, and the
+gas tanks had been recharged. All that time Arcot had spent with Tonlos
+determining the position of the Kaxorian construction camp. Spy reports
+and old maps had helped, but it was impossible to do very accurate work
+by these means.
+
+It was finally decided that the Kaxorian construction camp was about
+10,500 miles to the southwest. The _Solarite_ was to start an hour after
+dark. Travelling westward at their speed, they hoped to reach the camp
+just after nightfall.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+
+The _Solarite_ sped swiftly toward the southwest. The sky slowly grew
+lighter as the miles flashed beneath them. They were catching up with
+the sun. As they saw the rolling ocean beneath them give way to low
+plains, they realized they were over Kaxorian land. The _Solarite_ was
+flying very high, and as they showed no lights, and were not using the
+invisibility apparatus, they were practically undetectable. Suddenly
+they saw the lights of a mighty city looming far off to the east.
+
+"It's Kanor. Pass well to the west of it. That's their capital. We're on
+course." Arcot spoke from his position at the projector, telling Wade
+the directions to follow on his course to the berth of the giant planes.
+
+The city dropped far behind them in moments, followed by another, and
+another. At length, veering southward into the dusk, they entered a
+region of low hills, age-old folds in the crust of the planet, rounded
+by untold millennia of torrential rains.
+
+"Easy, Wade. We are near now." Mile after mile they flashed ahead at
+about a thousand miles an hour--then suddenly they saw far off to the
+east a vast glow that reached into the sky, painting itself on the
+eternal clouds miles above.
+
+"There it is, Wade. Go high, and take it easy!"
+
+Swiftly the _Solarite_ climbed, hovering at last on the very rim of the
+cloud blanket, an invisible mote in a sea of gray mist. Below them they
+saw a tremendous field carved, it seemed, out of the ancient hills. From
+this height all sense of proportion was lost. It seemed but an ordinary
+field, with eighteen ordinary airplanes resting on it. One of these now
+was moving, and in a moment it rose into the air! But there seemed to be
+no men on all the great field. They were invisibly small from this
+height.
+
+Abruptly Arcot gave a great shout. "That's their surprise! They're ready
+far ahead of the time we expected! If all that armada gets in the air,
+we're done! Down, Wade, to within a few hundred feet of the ground, and
+close to the field!"
+
+The _Solarite_ flashed down in a power dive--down with a sickening
+lurch. A sudden tremendous weight seemed to crush them as the ship was
+brought out of the dive not more than two hundred feet from the ground.
+Close to blacking out, Wade nevertheless shot it in as close to the
+field as he dared. Anxiously he called to Arcot, who answered with a
+brief "Okay!" The planes loomed gigantic now, their true proportions
+showing clearly against the brilliant light of the field. A tremendous
+wave of sound burst from the loudspeaker as the planes rolled across the
+ground to leap gracefully into the air--half a million tons of metal!
+
+From the _Solarite_ there darted a pale beam of ghostly light, faintly
+gray, tinged with red and green--the ionized air of the beam. It moved
+in a swift half circle. In an instant the whirr of the hundreds,
+thousands of giant propellers was drowned in a terrific roar of air.
+Great snowflakes fell from the air before them; it was white with the
+solidified water vapor. Then came a titanic roar and the planet itself
+seemed to shake! A crash, a snapping and rending as a mighty fountain of
+soil and rock cascaded skyward, and with it, twisting, turning, hurled
+in a dozen directions at once, twelve titanic ships reeled drunkenly
+into the air!
+
+For a barely perceptible interval there was an oppressive silence as the
+ray was shut off. Then a bedlam of deafening sound burst forth anew, a
+mighty deluge of unbearable noise as the millions of tons of pulverized
+rock, humus and metal fell back. Some of it had ascended for miles; it
+settled amid a howling blizzard--snow that melted as it touched the
+madly churned airfield.
+
+High above there were ten planes flying about uncertainly. Suddenly one
+of these turned, heading for the ground far below, its wings screaming
+their protest as the motors roared, ever faster, with the gravity of the
+planet aiding them. There was a rending, crackling crash as the wings
+suddenly bent back along the sides. An instant later the fuselage tore
+free, rocketing downward; the wings followed more slowly--twisting,
+turning, dipping in mile-long swoops.
+
+The _Solarite_ shot away from the spot at maximum speed--away and up,
+with a force that nailed the occupants to the floor. Before they could
+turn, behind them flared a mighty gout of light that struck to the very
+clouds above, and all the landscape, for miles about, was visible in the
+glare of the released energy.
+
+As they turned, they saw on the plain, below a tremendous crater, in
+its center a spot that glowed white and bubbled like the top of a huge
+cauldron.
+
+Nine great planes were circling in the air; then in an instant they were
+gone, invisible. As swiftly the _Solarite_ darted away with a speed that
+defied the aim of any machine.
+
+High above the planes they went, for with his radar Arcot could trace
+them. They were circling, searching for the _Solarite_.
+
+The tiny machine was invisible in the darkness, but its invisibility was
+not revealed by the Kaxorian's radio detectors. In the momentary lull,
+Fuller asked a question.
+
+"Wade, how is it that those ships can be invisible when they are driven
+by light, and have the light stored in them? They're perfectly
+transparent. Why can't we see the light?"
+
+"They are storing the light. It's bound--it can't escape. You can't see
+light unless it literally hits you in the eye. Their stored light can't
+reach you, for it is held by its own attraction and by the special field
+of the big generators."
+
+They seemed to be above one of the Kaxorian planes now. Arcot caught the
+roar of the invisible propellers.
+
+"To the left, Wade--faster--hold it--left--ah!" Arcot pushed a button.
+
+Down from the _Solarite_ there dropped a little canister, one of the
+bombs that Arcot had prepared the night before. To hit an invisible
+target is ordinarily difficult, but when that target is far larger than
+the proverbial side of a barn, it is not very difficult, at that. But
+now Arcot's companions watched for the crash of the explosion, the flash
+of light. What sort of bomb was it that Arcot hoped would penetrate that
+tremendous armor?
+
+Suddenly they saw a great spot of light, a spot that spread with
+startling rapidity, a patch of light that ran, and moved. It flew
+through the air at terrific speed. It was a pallid light, green and wan
+and ghostly, that seemed to flow and ebb.
+
+For an instant Morey and the others stared in utter surprise. Then
+suddenly Morey burst out laughing.
+
+"Ho--you win, Arcot. That was one they didn't think of, I'll bet!
+Luminous paint--and by the hundred gallon! Radium paint, I suppose, and
+no man has ever found how to stop the glow of radium. That plane sticks
+out like a sore thumb!"
+
+Indeed, the great luminous splotch made the gigantic plane clearly
+evident against the gray clouds. Visible or not, that plane was marked.
+
+Quickly Arcot tried to maneuver the _Solarite_ over another of the great
+ships, for now the danger was only from those he could not see. Suddenly
+he had an idea.
+
+"Morey--go back to the power room and change the adjustment on the
+meteorite avoider to half a mile!" At once Morey understood his plan,
+and hastened to put it into effect.
+
+The illuminated plane was diving, twisting wildly now. The _Solarite_
+flashed toward it with sickening speed, then suddenly the gigantic bulk
+of the plane loomed off to the right of the tiny ship, the great metal
+hull, visible now, rising in awesome might. They were too near; they
+shot away to a greater distance--then again that ghostly beam reached
+out--and for just a fraction of a second it touched the giant plane.
+
+The titanic engine of destruction seemed suddenly to be in the grip of
+some vastly greater Colossus--a clutching hand that closed! The plane
+jumped back with an appalling crash, a roar of rending metal. For an
+instant there came the sound like a mighty buzz-saw as the giant
+propellers of one wing cut into the body of the careening plane. In that
+instant, the great power storage tank split open with an impact like the
+bursting of a world. The _Solarite_ was hurled back by an explosion that
+seemed to rend the very atoms of the air, and all about them was a
+torrid blaze of heat and light that seemed to sear their faces and hands
+with its intensity.
+
+Then in a time so brief that it seemed never to have happened, it was
+gone, and only the distant drone of the other ships' propellers came to
+them. There was no luminous spot. The radium paint had been destroyed
+in the only possible way--it was volatilized through all the atmosphere!
+
+The Terrestrians had known what to expect; had known what would happen;
+and they had not looked at the great ship in that last instant. But the
+Kaxorians had naturally been looking at it. They had never seen the sun
+directly, and now they had been looking at a radiance almost as
+brilliant. They were temporarily blinded; they could only fly a straight
+course in response to the quick order of their squadron commander.
+
+And in that brief moment that they were unable to watch him, Arcot
+dropped two more bombs in quick succession. Two bright spots formed in
+the black night. No longer did these planes feel themselves
+invulnerable, able to meet any foe! In an instant they had put on every
+last trace of power, and at their top speed they were racing west, away
+from their tiny opponent--in the only direction that was open to them.
+
+But it was useless. The _Solarite_ could pick up speed in half the time
+they could, and in an instant Arcot again trained his beam on the mighty
+splotch of light that was a fleeing plane.
+
+Out of the darkness came a ghostly beam, for an instant of time so short
+that before the explosive shells of the other could be trained on it,
+the _Solarite_ had moved. Under that touch the mighty plane began
+crumbling, then it splintered beneath the driving blow of the great
+wing, as it shot toward the main body of the plane at several miles a
+second--driving into and through it! The giant plane twisted and turned
+as it fell swiftly downward into the darkness--and, again there came
+that world-rocking explosion, and the mighty column of light.
+
+Again and yet again the _Solarite_ found and destroyed Kaxorian
+super-planes, protected in the uneven conflict by their diminutive size
+and the speed of their elusive maneuvering.
+
+But to remind the men of the _Solarite_ that they were not alone, there
+came a sudden report just behind them, and they turned to see that one
+of the energy bombs had barely fallen short! In an instant the
+comparative midget shot up at top speed, out of danger. It looped and
+turned, hunting, feeling with its every detector for that other ship.
+The great planes were spread out now. In every direction they could be
+located--and all were leaving the scene of the battle. But one by one
+the _Solarite_ shot after them, and always the speed of the little ship
+was greater.
+
+Two escaped. They turned off their useless invisibility apparatus and
+vanished into the night.
+
+The _Solarite_, supported by her vertical lift units, coasted toward a
+stop. The drone of the fleeing super-planes diminished and was gone, and
+for a time the thrum of the generator and the tap-dance of relays
+adjusting circuits was the only sound aboard.
+
+Wade sighed finally. "Well, gentlemen, now we've got it, what do we do
+with it?"
+
+"What do you mean?" Morey asked.
+
+"Victory. The Jack-pot. Having the devices we just demonstrated, we are
+now the sole owners, by right of conquest, of one highly disturbed
+nation of several million people. With that gadget there, we can pick it
+up and throw it away.
+
+"Personally, I have a feeling that we've just won the largest white
+elephant in history. We don't just walk off and leave it, you know. We
+don't want it. But we've got it.
+
+"Our friends in Sonor are not going to want the problem either; they
+just wanted the Kaxorians combed out of their hair.
+
+"As I say--we've got it, now--but what do we do with it?"
+
+"It's basically their problem, isn't it?" protested Fuller. Morey looked
+somewhat stricken, and thoroughly bewildered. "I hadn't considered that
+aspect very fully; I've been too darned busy trying to stay alive."
+
+Wade shook his head. "Look, Fuller-it was their problem before, too,
+wasn't it? How'd they handle it? If you just let them alone, what do
+you suppose they'll do with the problem this time?"
+
+"The same thing they did before," Arcot groaned. "I'm tired. Let's get
+some sleep first, anyway."
+
+"Sure; that makes good sense," Wade agreed. "Sleep on it, yes. But go to
+sleep on it--well, that's what the not-so-bright Sonorans tried doing.
+
+"And off-hand, I'd say we were elected. The Kaxorians undoubtedly have a
+nice, two thousand year old hatred for the Sonorans who so snobbishly
+ignored them, isolated them, and considered them unfit for association.
+The Sonorans, on the other hand, are now thoroughly scared, and will be
+feeling correspondingly vindictive. They won this time by a fluke--our
+coming. I can just see those two peoples getting together and settling
+any kind of sensible, long-term treaty of mutual cooperation!"
+
+Arcot and Morey both nodded wearily. "That is so annoyingly correct,"
+Morey agreed. "And you know blasted well none of us is going to sleep
+until we have some line of attack on this white elephant disposal
+problem. Anybody any ideas?"
+
+Fuller looked at the other three. "You know, in design when two
+incompatible materials must be structurally united, we tie each to a
+third material that is compatible with both.
+
+"Sonor didn't win this fight. Kaxor didn't win it. Earth--in the
+_persona_ of the _Solarite_--did. Earth isn't mad at anybody, hasn't
+been damaged by anybody, and hasn't been knowingly ignoring anybody.
+
+"The Sonorans want to be let alone; it won't work, but they can learn
+that. I think if we run the United Nations in on this thing, we may be
+able to get them to accept our white elephant for us.
+
+"They'll be making the same mistake Sonor did if they don't--knowingly
+ignoring the existence of a highly intelligent and competent race. It
+doesn't seem to work, judging from history both at home and here."
+
+The four looked at each other, and found agreement.
+
+"That's something more than a problem to sleep on," Morey said. "I'll
+get in touch with Sonor and tell 'em the shooting is over, so they can
+get some sleep too.
+
+"It's obvious a bunch of high-power research teams are going to be
+needed in both countries. Earth has every reason to respect Sonoran
+mental sciences as well as Kaxorian light-engineering. And Earth--as we
+just thoroughly demonstrated--has some science of her own. Obviously,
+the interaction of the three is to the maximum advantage of each--and
+will lead to a healing of the breach that now exists."
+
+Arcot looked up and yawned. "I'm putting this on autopilot at twenty
+miles up, and going to sleep. We can kick this around for a month
+anyway--and this is not the night to start."
+
+"The decision is unanimous," Wade grinned.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK THREE
+
+THE BLACK STAR PASSES
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE
+
+
+Taj Lamor gazed steadily down at the vast dim bulk of the ancient city
+spread out beneath him. In the feeble light of the stars its mighty
+masses of up-flung metal buildings loomed strangely, like the shells of
+some vast race of crustacea, long extinct. Slowly he turned, gazing now
+out across the great plaza, where rested long rows of slender, yet
+mighty ships. Thoughtfully he stared at their dim, half-seen shapes.
+
+Taj Lamor was not human. Though he was humanoid, Earth had never seen
+creatures just like him. His seven foot high figure seemed a bit
+ungainly by Terrestrial standards, and his strangely white, hairless
+flesh, suggesting unbaked dough, somehow gave the impression of
+near-transparency. His eyes were disproportionately large, and the black
+disc of pupil in the white corneas was intensified by contrast. Yet
+perhaps his race better deserved the designation _homo sapiens_ than
+Terrestrians do, for it was wise with the accumulated wisdom of
+uncounted eons.
+
+He turned to the other man in the high, cylindrical, dimly lit tower
+room overlooking the dark metropolis, a man far older than Taj Lamor,
+his narrow shoulders bent, and his features grayed with his years. His
+single short, tight-fitting garment of black plastic marked him as one
+of the Elders. The voice of Taj Lamor was vibrant with feeling:
+
+"Tordos Gar, at last we are ready to seek a new sun. Life for our race!"
+
+A quiet, patient, imperturbable smile appeared on the Elder's face and
+the heavy lids closed over his great eyes.
+
+"Yes," he said sadly, "but at what cost in tranquility! The discord, the
+unrest, the awakening of unnatural ambitions--a dreadful price to pay
+for a questionable gain. Too great a price, I think." His eyes opened,
+and he raised a thin hand to check the younger man's protest. "I know--I
+know--in this we do not see as one. Yet perhaps some day you will learn
+even as I have that to rest is better than to engage in an endless
+struggle. Suns and planets die. Why should races seek to escape the
+inevitable?" Tordos Gar turned slowly away and gazed fixedly into the
+night sky.
+
+Taj Lamor checked an impatient retort and sighed resignedly. It was this
+attitude that had made his task so difficult. Decadence. A race on an
+ages-long decline from vast heights of philosophical and scientific
+learning. Their last external enemy had been defeated millennia in the
+past; and through easy forgetfulness and lack of strife, ambition had
+died. Adventure had become a meaningless word.
+
+Strangely, during the last century a few men had felt the stirrings of
+long-buried emotion, of ambition, of a craving for adventure. These were
+throwbacks to those ancestors of the race whose science had built their
+world. These men, a comparative handful, had been drawn to each other by
+the unnatural ferment within them; and Taj Lamor had become their
+leader. They had begun a mighty struggle against the inertia of ages of
+slow decay, had begun a search for the lost secrets of a
+hundred-million-year-old science.
+
+Taj Lamor raised his eyes to the horizon. Through the leaping curve of
+the crystal clear roof of their world glowed a blazing spot of yellow
+fire. A star--the brightest object in a sky whose sun had lost its
+light. A point of radiance that held the last hopes of an incredibly
+ancient race.
+
+The quiet voice of Tordos Gar came through the semidarkness of the
+room, a pensive, dreamlike quality in its tones.
+
+"You, Taj Lamor, and those young men who have joined you in this futile
+expedition do not think deeply enough. Your vision is too narrow. You
+lack perspective. In your youth you cannot think on a cosmic scale." He
+paused as though in thought, and when he continued, it seemed almost as
+though he were speaking to himself.
+
+"In the far, dim past fifteen planets circled about a small, red sun.
+They were dead worlds--or rather, worlds that had not yet lived. Perhaps
+a million years passed before there moved about on three of them the
+beginnings of life. Then a hundred million years passed, and those
+first, crawling protoplasmic masses had become animals, and plants, and
+intermediate growths. And they fought endlessly for survival. Then more
+millions of years passed, and there appeared a creature which slowly
+gained ascendancy over the other struggling life forms that fought for
+the warmth of rays of the hot, red sun.
+
+"That sun had been old, even as the age of a star is counted, before its
+planets had been born, and many, many millions of years had passed
+before those planets cooled, and then more eons sped by before life
+appeared. Now, as life slowly forced its way upward, that sun was nearly
+burned out. The animals fought, and bathed in the luxury of its rays,
+for many millennia were required to produce any noticeable change in its
+life-giving radiations.
+
+"At last one animal gained the ascendancy. Our race. But though one
+species now ruled, there was no peace. Age followed age while
+semi-barbaric peoples fought among themselves. But even as they fought,
+they learned.
+
+"They moved from caves into structures of wood and stone--and
+engineering had its beginning. With the buildings came little chemical
+engines to destroy them; warfare was developing. Then came the first
+crude flying-machines, using clumsy, inefficient engines. Chemical
+engines! Engines so crude that one could watch the flow of their fuel!
+One part in one hundred thousand million of the energy of their
+propellents they released to run the engines, and they carried fuel in
+such vast quantities that they staggered under its load as they left the
+ground! And warfare became world-wide. After flight came other machines
+and other ages. Other scientists began to have visions of the realms
+beyond, and they sought to tap the vast reservoirs of Nature's energies,
+the energies of matter.
+
+"Other ages saw it done--a few thousand years later there passed out
+into space a machine that forced its way across the void to another
+planet! And the races of the three living worlds became as one--but
+there was no peace.
+
+"Swiftly now, science grew upon itself, building with ever faster steps,
+like a crystal which, once started, forms with incalculable speed.
+
+"And while that science grew swiftly greater, other changes took place,
+changes in our universe itself. Ten million years passed before the
+first of those changes became important. But slowly, steadily our
+atmosphere was drifting into space. Through ages this gradually became
+apparent. Our worlds were losing their air and their water. One planet,
+less favored than another, fought for its life, and space itself was
+ablaze with the struggles of wars for survival.
+
+"Again science helped us. Thousands of years before, men had learned how
+to change the mass of matter into energy, but now at last the process
+was reversed, and those ancestors of ours could change energy into
+matter, any kind of matter they wished. Rock they took, and changed it
+to energy, then that energy they transmuted to air, to water, to the
+necessary metals. Their planets took a new lease of life!
+
+"But even this could not continue forever. They must stop that loss of
+air. The process they had developed for reformation of matter admitted
+of a new use. Creation! They were now able to make new elements,
+elements that had never existed in nature! They designed atoms as, long
+before, their fathers had designed molecules. At last their problem was
+solved. They made a new form of matter that was clearer than any
+crystal, and yet stronger and tougher than any metal known. Since it
+held out none of the sun's radiations, they could roof their worlds with
+it and keep their air within!
+
+"This was a task that could not be done in a year, nor a decade, but all
+time stretched out unending before them. One by one the three planets
+became tremendous, roofed-in cities. Only their vast powers, their
+mighty machines made the task possible, but it was done."
+
+The droning voice of Tordos Gar ceased. Taj Lamor, who had listened with
+a mixture of amusement and impatience to the recital of a history he
+knew as well as the aged, garrulous narrator, waited out of the inborn
+respect which every man held for the Elders. At length he exclaimed: "I
+see no point--"
+
+"But you will when I finish--or, at least, I hope you will." Tordos
+Gar's words and tone were gently reproving. He continued quietly:
+
+"Slowly the ages drifted on, each marked by greater and greater triumphs
+of science. But again and again there were wars. Some there were in
+which the population of a world was halved, and all space for a billion
+miles about was a vast cauldron of incandescent energy in which
+tremendous fleets of space ships swirled and fused like ingredients in
+some cosmic brew. Forces were loosed on the three planets that sent even
+their mighty masses reeling drunkenly out of their orbits, and space
+itself seemed to be torn by the awful play of energies.
+
+"Always peace followed--a futile peace. A few brief centuries or a few
+millennia, and again war would flame. It would end, and life would
+continue.
+
+"But slowly there crept into the struggle a new factor, a darkening
+cloud, a change that came so gradually that only the records of
+instruments, made during a period of thousands of years, could show it.
+Our sun had changed from bright red to a deep, sullen crimson, and ever
+less and less heat poured from it. It was waning!
+
+"As the fires of life died down, the people of the three worlds joined
+in a conflict with the common menace, death from the creeping cold of
+space. There was no need for great haste; a sun dies slowly. Our
+ancestors laid their plans and carried them out. The fifteen worlds were
+encased in shells of crystal. Those that had no atmosphere were given
+one. Mighty heating plants were built--furnaces that burned matter,
+designed to warm a world! At last a state of stability had been reached,
+for never could conditions change--it seemed. All external heat and
+light came from far-off stars, the thousands of millions of suns that
+would never fail.
+
+"Under stress of the Great Change one scarcely noticed, yet almost
+incredible, transformation had occurred. We had learned to live with
+each other. We had learned to think, and enjoy thinking. As a species we
+had passed from youth into maturity. Advancement did not stop; we went
+on steadily toward the goal of all knowledge. At first there was an
+underlying hope that we might some day, somehow, escape from these
+darkened, artificial worlds of ours, but with the passing centuries this
+grew very dim and at length was forgotten.
+
+"Gradually as millennia passed, much ancient knowledge was also
+forgotten. It was not needed. The world was unchanging, there was no
+strife, and no need of strife. The fifteen worlds were warm, and
+pleasant, and safe. Without fully realizing it, we had entered a period
+of rest. And so the ages passed; and there were museums and libraries
+and laboratories; and the machines of our ancestors did all necessary
+work. So it was--until less than a generation ago. Our long lives were
+pleasant, and death, when it came, was a sleep. And then--"
+
+"And then," Taj Lamor interrupted, a sharp edge of impatience in his
+tone, "some of us awakened from our stupor!"
+
+The Elder sighed resignedly. "You cannot see--you cannot see. You would
+start that struggle all over again!" His voice continued in what Taj
+Lamor thought of as a senile drone, but the younger man paid scant
+attention. His eyes and thoughts were centered on that brilliant yellow
+star, the brightest object in the heavens. It was that star, noticeably
+brighter within a few centuries, that had awakened a few men from their
+mental slumbers.
+
+They were throwbacks, men who had the divine gift of curiosity; and
+sparked by their will to know, they had gone to the museums and looked
+carefully at the ancient directions for the use of the telectroscope,
+the mighty electrically amplified vision machine, had gazed through it.
+They had seen a great sun that seemed to fill all the field of the
+apparatus with blazing fire. A sun to envy! Further observation had
+revealed that there circled about the sun a series of planets, five,
+definitely; two more, probably; and possibly two others.
+
+Taj Lamor had been with that group, a young man then, scarcely more than
+forty, but they had found him a leader and they had followed him as he
+set about his investigation of the ancient books on astronomy.
+
+How many, many hours had he studied those ancient works! How many times
+had he despaired of ever learning their truths, and gone out to the roof
+of the museum to stand in silent thought looking out across the awful
+void to the steady flame of the yellow star! Then quietly he had
+returned to his self-set task.
+
+With him as teacher, others had learned, and before he was seventy there
+were many men who had become true scientists, astronomers. There was
+much of the ancient knowledge that these men could not understand, for
+the science of a million centuries is not to be learned in a few brief
+decades, but they mastered a vast amount of the forgotten lore.
+
+They knew now that the young, live sun, out there in space, was speeding
+toward them, their combined velocities equalling more than 100 miles
+each second. And they knew that there were not seven, but nine planets
+circling about that sun. There were other facts they discovered; they
+found that the new sun was far larger than theirs had ever been; indeed,
+it was a sun well above average in size and brilliance. There were
+planets, a hot sun--a home! Could they get there?
+
+When their ancestors had tried to solve the problem of escape they had
+concentrated their work on the problem of going at speeds greater than
+that of light. This should be an impossibility, but the fact that the
+ancients had tried it, seemed proof enough to their descendants that it
+was possible, at least in theory. In the distant past they had needed
+speeds exceeding that of light, for they must travel light years; but
+now this sun was coming toward them, and already was less than two
+hundred and fifty billion miles away!
+
+They would pass that other star in about seventy years. That was
+scarcely more than a third of a man's lifetime. They could make the
+journey with conceivable speeds--but in that brief period they must
+prepare to move!
+
+The swift agitation for action had met with terrific resistance. They
+were satisfied; why move?
+
+But, while some men had devoted their time to arousing the people to
+help, others had begun doing work that had not been done for a long,
+long time. The laboratories were reopened, and workshops began humming
+again. They were making things that were new once more, not merely
+copying old designs.
+
+Their search had been divided into sections, search for weapons with
+which to defend themselves in case they were attacked, and search for
+the basic principles underlying the operation of their space ships. They
+had machines which they could imitate, but they did not understand them.
+Success had been theirs on these quests. The third section had been less
+successful. They had also been searching for secrets of the apparatus
+their forefathers had used to swing the planets in their orbits, to move
+worlds about at will. They had wanted to be able to take not only their
+space ships, but their planets as well, when they went to settle on
+these other worlds and in this other solar system.
+
+But the search for this secret had remained unrewarded. The secret of
+the spaceships they learned readily, and Taj Lamor had designed these
+mighty ships below there with that knowledge. Their search for weapons
+had been satisfied; they had found one weapon, one of the deadliest that
+their ancestors had ever invented. But the one secret in which they were
+most interested, the mighty force barrage that could swing a world in
+its flight through space, was lost. They could not find it.
+
+They knew the principles of the driving apparatus of their ships, and it
+would seem but a matter of enlargement to drive a planet as a ship, but
+they knew this was impossible; the terrific forces needed would easily
+be produced by their apparatus, but there was no way to apply them to a
+world. If applied in any spot, the planet would be torn asunder by the
+incalculable strain. They must apply the force equally to the entire
+planet. Their problem was one of application of power. The rotation of
+the planet made it impossible to use a series of driving apparatus, even
+could these be anchored, but again the sheer immensity of the task made
+it impossible.
+
+Taj Lamor gazed down again at the great ships in the plaza below. Their
+mighty bulks seemed to dwarf even the huge buildings about them. Yet
+these ships were his--for he had learned their secrets and designed
+them, and now he was to command them as they flew out across space in
+that flight to the distant star.
+
+He turned briefly to the Elder, Tordos Gar. "Soon we leave," he said, a
+faint edge of triumph in his voice. "We will prove that our way is
+right."
+
+The old man shook his head. "You will learn--" he began, but Taj Lamor
+did not want to hear.
+
+He turned, passed through a doorway, and stepped into a little
+torpedo-shaped car that rested on the metal roof behind him. A moment
+later the little ship rose, and then slanted smoothly down over the edge
+of the roof, straight for the largest of the ships below. This was the
+flagship. Nearly a hundred feet greater was its diameter, and its mile
+and a quarter length of gleaming metal hull gave it nearly three hundred
+feet greater length than that of the ships of the line.
+
+This expedition was an expedition of exploration. They were prepared to
+meet any conditions on those other worlds--no atmosphere, no water, no
+heat, or even an atmosphere of poisonous gases they could rectify, for
+their transmutation apparatus would permit them to change those gases,
+or modify them; they knew well how to supply heat, but they knew too,
+that that sun would warm some of its planets sufficiently for their
+purposes.
+
+Taj Lamor sent his little machine darting through the great airlock in
+the side of the gigantic interstellar ship and lowered it gently to the
+floor. A man stepped forward, opened the door for the leader, saluting
+him briskly as he stepped out; then the car was run swiftly aside, to be
+placed with thousands of others like it. Each of these cars was to be
+used by a separate investigator when they reached those other worlds,
+and there were men aboard who would use them.
+
+Taj Lamor made his way to a door in the side of a great metal tube that
+threaded the length of the huge ship. Opening the door he sat down in
+another little car that shot swiftly forward as the double door shut
+softly, with a low hiss of escaping air. For moments the car sped
+through the tube, then gently it slowed and came to rest opposite
+another door. Again came the hissing of gas as the twin doors opened,
+and Taj Lamor stepped out, now well up in the nose of the cruiser. As he
+stepped out of the car the outer and inner doors closed, and, ready now
+for other calls, the car remained at this station. On a ship so long,
+some means of communication faster than walking was essential. This
+little pneumatic railway was the solution.
+
+As Taj Lamor stepped out of the tube, a half-dozen men, who had been
+talking among themselves, snapped quickly to attention. Following the
+plans of the long-gone armies of their ancestors, the men of the
+expedition had been trained to strict discipline; and Taj Lamor was
+their technical leader and the nominal Commander-in-Chief, although
+another man, Kornal Sorul, was their actual commander.
+
+Taj Lamor proceeded at once to the Staff Cabin in the very nose of the
+great ship. Just above him there was another room, walled on all sides
+by that clear, glass-like material, the control cabin. Here the pilot
+sat, directing the motions of the mighty ship of space.
+
+Taj Lamor pushed a small button on his desk and in a moment a gray disc
+before him glowed dimly, then flashed into life and full, natural color.
+As though looking through a glass porthole, Taj Lamor saw the interior
+of the Communications Room. The Communications Officer was gazing at a
+similar disc in which Taj Lamor's features appeared.
+
+"Have they reported from Ohmur, Lorsand, and Throlus, yet, Morlus Tal?"
+asked the commander.
+
+"They are reporting now, Taj Lamor, and we will be ready within two and
+one half minutes. The plans are as before; we are to proceed directly
+toward the Yellow Star, meeting at Point 71?"
+
+"The plans are as before. Start when ready."
+
+The disc faded, the colors died, and it was gray again. Taj Lamor pulled
+another small lever on the panel before him, and the disc changed,
+glowed, and was steady; and now he saw the preparations for departure,
+as from an eye on the top of the great ship. Men streamed swiftly in
+ordered columns all about and into the huge vessels. In an incredibly
+short time they were in, and the great doors closed behind them.
+Suddenly there came a low, dull hum through the disc, and the sound
+mounted quickly, till all the world seemed humming to that dull note.
+The warning!
+
+Abruptly the city around him seemed to blaze in a riot of colored light!
+The mighty towering bulks of the huge metal buildings were polished and
+bright, and now, as the millions of lights, every color of the spectrum,
+flashed over all the city from small machines in the air, on the ground,
+in windows, their great metal walls glistening with a riot of flowing
+color. Then there was a trembling through all the frame of the mighty
+ship. In a moment it was gone, and the titanic mass of glistening metal
+rose smoothly, quickly to the great roof of their world above them. On
+an even keel it climbed straight up, then suddenly it leaped forward
+like some great bird of prey sighting its victim. The ground beneath
+sped swiftly away, and behind it there came a long line of ships,
+quickly finding their position in the formation. They were heading
+toward the giant airlock that would let them out into space. There was
+but one lock large enough to permit so huge a ship to pass out, and they
+must circle half their world to reach it.
+
+On three other worlds there were other giant ships racing thus to meet
+beyond their solar system. There were fifty ships coming from each
+planet; two hundred mighty ships in all made up this Armada of Space,
+two hundred gargantuan interstellar cruisers.
+
+One by one the giant ships passed through the airlock and out into
+space. Here they quickly reformed as they moved off together, each ship
+falling into its place in the mighty cone formation, with the flagship
+of Taj Lamor at the head. On they rushed through space, their speed ever
+mounting. Suddenly there seemed to leap out of nowhere another mass of
+shining machines that flew swiftly beside them. Like some strange,
+shining ghosts, these ships seemed to materialize instantly beside and
+behind their fleet. They fell in quickly in their allotted position
+behind the Flagship's squadron. One--two more fleets appeared thus
+suddenly in the dark, and together the ships were flashing on through
+space to their goal of glowing fire ahead!
+
+Hour after hour, day after day the ships flashed on through the awful
+void, the utter silence relieved by the communications between
+themselves and the slowly weakening communications from the far-off home
+planets.
+
+But as those signals from home grew steadily weaker, the sun before them
+grew steadily larger. At last the men began to feel the heat of those
+rays, to realize the energy that that mighty sea of flame poured forth
+into space, and steadily they watched it grow nearer.
+
+Then came a day when they could make out clearly the dim bulk of a
+planet before them, and for long hours they slowed down the flying speed
+of the ships. They had mapped the system they were approaching; there
+were nine planets of varying sizes, some on the near and some on the
+far side of the sun. There were but three on the near side; one that
+seemed the outermost of the planets, about 35,000 miles in diameter, was
+directly in their path, while there were two more much nearer the sun,
+about 100,000,000 and 70,000,000 miles distant from it, each about seven
+to eight thousand miles in diameter, but they were on opposite sides of
+the sun. These more inviting and more accessible worlds were numbers two
+and three of the planetary system. It was decided to split the
+expedition into two parts; one part was to go to planet two, and the
+other to three. Taj Lamor was to lead his group of a hundred ships to
+the nearer planet at once.
+
+In a very brief time the great ships slanted down over what seemed to be
+a mighty globe of water. They were well in the northern hemisphere, and
+they had come near the planet first over a vast stretch of rolling
+ocean. The men had looked in wonder at such vast quantities of the
+fluid. To them it was a precious liquid, that must be made artificially,
+and was to be conserved, yet here they saw such vast quantities of
+natural water as seemed impossible. Still, their ancient books had told
+of such things, and of other strange things, things that must have been
+wondrously beautiful, though they were so old now, these records, that
+they were regarded largely as myths.
+
+Yet here were the strange proofs! They saw great masses of fleecy water
+vapor, huge billowy things that seemed solid, but were blown lightly in
+the wind. And natural air! The atmosphere extended for hundreds of miles
+off into space; and now, as they came closer to the surface of this
+world the air was dense, and the sky above them was a beautiful blue,
+not black, even where there were stars. The great sun, so brilliantly
+incandescent when seen from space, and now a glowing globe of
+reddish-yellow.
+
+And as they came near land, they looked in wonder at mighty masses of
+rock and soil that threw their shaggy heads high above the surrounding
+terrain, huge masses that rose high, like waves in the water, till they
+towered in solemn grandeur miles into the air! What a sight for these
+men of a world so old that age long erosion had washed away the last
+traces of hills, and filled in all of the valleys!
+
+In awe they looked down at the mighty rock masses, as they swung low
+over the mountains, gazing in wonder at the green masses of the strange
+vegetation; strange, indeed, for they for uncounted ages had grown only
+mushroom-like cellulose products, and these mainly for ornament, for all
+their food was artificially made in huge factories.
+
+Then they came over a little mountain lake, a body of water scarcely
+large enough to berth one of their huge ships, but high in the clear air
+of the mountains, fed by the melting of eternal snows. It was a
+magnificent sapphire in a setting green as emerald, a sparkling lake of
+clear water, deep as the sea, high in a cleft in the mountains.
+
+In wonder the men looked down at these strange sights. What a marvelous
+home!
+
+Steadily the great machines proceeded, and at last the end of the giant
+mountain was reached, and they came to a great plain. But that plain was
+strangely marked off with squares, as regularly as though plotted with a
+draftsman's square. This world must be inhabited by intelligent beings!
+
+Suddenly Taj Lamor saw strange specks off in the far horizon to the
+south, specks that seemed to grow in size with terrific velocity; these
+must be ships, the ships of these people, coming to defend their home.
+The strangely pallid face of Taj Lamor tightened into lines of grim
+resolution. This was a moment he had foreseen and had dreaded. Was he to
+withdraw and leave these people unmolested, or was he to stand and fight
+for this world, this wonderfully beautiful home, a home that his race
+could live in for millions of years to come? He had debated this
+question many times before in his mind, and he had decided. There would
+never, never be another chance for his people to gain a new home. They
+must fight.
+
+Swiftly he gave his orders. If resistance came, if an attack were made,
+they were to fight back at once, with every weapon at their disposal.
+
+The strangers' ships had grown swiftly larger to the eye, but still,
+though near now, they seemed too small to be dangerous. These giant
+interstellar cruisers were certainly invulnerable to ships so small;
+their mere size would give them protection! These ships were scarcely as
+long as the diameter of the smaller of the interstellar ships--a bare
+two hundred and fifty feet for the largest.
+
+The interstellar cruisers halted in their course, and waited for the
+little ships to approach. They were fast, for they drew alongside
+quickly, and raced to the front of the flagship. There was one small one
+that was painted white, and on it there was a large white banner,
+flapping in the wind of its passage. The rest of the ships drew off as
+this came forward, and stopped, hanging motionless before the control
+room of the giant machine. There were men inside--three strange men,
+short and oddly pink-skinned--but they were gesturing now, motioning
+that the giant machine settle to the ground beneath. Taj Lamor was
+considering whether or not to thus parley with the strangers, when
+suddenly there leaped from the white craft a beam of clear white--a beam
+that was directed toward the ground, then swung up toward the great
+cruiser in a swift arc!
+
+As one, a dozen swift beams of pale red flared out from the giant and
+bathed the pigmy craft. As they reached it, the white ray that had been
+sweeping up suddenly vanished, and for an instant the ship hung poised
+in the air; then it began to swing crazily, like the pendulum of a
+clock--swung completely over--and with a sickening lurch sped swiftly
+for the plain nearly five miles below. In moments there came a brief
+flare, then there remained only a little crater in the soft soil.
+
+But the red beams had not stopped with the little ship; they had darted
+out to the other machines, trying to reach them before they could bring
+those strange white rays into play. The cruisers obviously must win, for
+they carried dozens of projectors, but they might be damaged, their
+flight delayed. They must defeat those strangers quickly. The rays of
+Taj Lamor's ship lashed out swiftly, but almost before they had
+started, all the other ships, a full hundred, were in action, and the
+flagship was darting swiftly up and away from the battle. Below, those
+pale red rays were taking a swift toll of the little ships, and nearly
+twenty of them rolled suddenly over, and dashed to destruction far
+below.
+
+But now the little ships were in swift darting motion. Because of their
+small size, they were able to avoid the rays of the larger interstellar
+cruisers, and as their torpedo-shaped hulls flashed about with
+bewildering speed, they began to fight back. They had been taken utterly
+by surprise, but now they went into action with an abandon and swiftness
+that took the initiative away from the gigantic interstellar liners.
+They were in a dozen places at once, dodging and twisting, unharmed, out
+of the way of the deadly red beams, and were as hard to hit as so many
+dancing feathers suspended over an air jet.
+
+And if the pilots were skillful in avoiding enemy rays, their ray men
+were as accurate in placing theirs. But then, with a target of such vast
+size, not so much skill was necessary.
+
+These smaller vessels were the ships of Earth. The people of the dark
+star had entered the solar system quite unannounced, except that they
+had been seen in passing the orbit of Mars, for a ship had been out
+there in space, moving steadily out toward Neptune, and the great
+interstellar cruisers, flashing in across space, away from that frigid
+planet, had not seen the tiny wanderer. But he had seen those mighty
+hulks, and had sent his message of danger out on the ether, warning the
+men of Earth. They had relayed it to Venus, and the ships that had gone
+there had received an equally warm reception, and were even now finding
+their time fully occupied trying to beat off the Interplanetary Patrol.
+
+The battle ended as swiftly as it began, for Taj Lamor, in his machine
+high above, saw that they were outclassed, and ordered them to withdraw
+at once. Scarcely ten minutes had elapsed, yet they had lost twenty-two
+of their giant ships.
+
+The expedition that had gone to Venus reported a similarly active
+greeting. It was decided at once that they should proceed cautiously to
+the other planets, to determine which were inhabited and which were not,
+and to determine the chemical and physical conditions on each.
+
+The ships formed again out in space, on the other side of the sun,
+however, and started at once in compact formation for Mercury.
+
+Their observations were completed without further mishap, and they set
+out for their distant home, their number depleted by forty-one ships,
+for nineteen had fallen on Venus.
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+
+The Terrestrian and Venerian governments had met in conference, a grim,
+businesslike discussion with few wasted words. Obviously, this was to be
+a war of science, a war on a scale never before known on either world.
+Agreements were immediately drawn up between the two worlds for a
+concerted, cooperative effort. A fleet of new and vastly more powerful
+ships must be constructed--but first they must have a complete report on
+the huge invading craft that had fallen in western Canada, and on Venus,
+for they might conceivably make their secrets their own.
+
+They called for the scientists whose work had made possible their
+successful resistance of the marauders: Arcot, Morey and Wade. They
+found them working in the Arcot Laboratories.
+
+"Wade," called Arcot tensely as he snapped the switch of the
+televisophone, "bring Morey and meet me at the machine on the roof at
+once. That was a call from Washington. I'll explain as soon as you get
+there."
+
+On the roof Arcot opened the hangar doors, and entered the
+five-passenger molecular motion ship inside. Its sleek, streamlined
+sides spoke of power and speed. This was a special research model,
+designed for their experiments, and carrying mechanisms not found in
+commercial crafts. Among these were automatic controls still in the
+laboratory stage, but permitting higher speed, for no human being could
+control the ship as accurately as these.
+
+It took the trio a little less than a quarter of an hour to make the
+5,000 mile trip from New York to the battlefield of Canada. As they sped
+through the air, Arcot told them what had transpired. The three were
+passed through the lines at once, and they settled to the ground beside
+one of the huge ships that lay half buried in the ground. The force of
+the impact had splashed the solid soil as a stone will splash soft mud,
+and around the ship there was a massive ridge of earth. Arcot looked at
+the titanic proportions of this ship from space, and turned to his
+friends:
+
+"We can investigate that wreck on foot, but I think it'll be far more
+sensible to see what we can do with the car. This monster is certainly a
+mile or more long, and we'd spend more time in walking than in
+investigation. I suggest, we see if there isn't room for the car inside.
+This beats even those huge Kaxorian planes for size." Arcot paused, then
+grinned. "I sure would have liked to mix in the fight they must have had
+here--nice little things to play with, aren't they?"
+
+"It would make a nice toy," agreed Wade as he looked at the rows of
+wicked-looking projectors along the sides of the metal hull, "and I
+wonder if there might not be some of the crew alive in there? If there
+are, the size of the ship would prevent their showing themselves very
+quickly, and since they can't move the ship, it seems to me that they'll
+let us know shortly that they're around. Probably, with the engines
+stopped, their main weapons are useless, but they would doubtless have
+some sort of guns. I'm highly in favor of using the car. We carry a
+molecular director ray, so if the way is blocked, we can make a new
+one."
+
+Wade's attention was caught by a sudden flare of light a few miles
+across the plain. "Look over there--that ship is still flaming--reddish,
+but almost colorless. Looks like a gas flame, with a bit of calcium in
+it. Almost as if the air in the ship were combustible. If we should do
+any exploring in this baby, I suggest we use altitude suits--they can't
+do any harm in any case."
+
+Three or four of the great wrecks, spread over a wide area, were burning
+now, hurling forth long tongues of colorless, intensely hot flame.
+Several of the ships had been only slightly damaged; one had been
+brought down by a beam that had torn free the entire tail of the ship,
+leaving the bow in good condition. Apparently this machine had not
+fallen far; perhaps the pilot had retained partial control of the ship,
+his power failing when he was only a comparatively short distance from
+Earth. This was rather well to one side of the plain, however, and they
+decided to investigate it later.
+
+The ship nearest them had crashed nose first, the point being crushed
+and shattered. Arcot maneuvered his craft cautiously toward the great
+hole at the nose of the ship, and they entered the mighty vessel slowly,
+a powerful spotlight illuminating the interior. Tremendous girders,
+twisted and broken by the force of impact, thrust up about them. It soon
+became evident that there was little to fear from any living enemies,
+and they proceeded more rapidly. Certainly no creature could live after
+the shock that had broken these huge girders! Several times metal beams
+blocked their path, and they were forced to use the molecular director
+ray to bend them out of the way.
+
+"Man," said Arcot as they stopped a moment to clear away a huge member
+that was bent across their path, "but those beams do look as if they
+were built permanently! I'd hate to ram into one of them! Look at that
+one--if that has anywhere near the strength of steel, just think of the
+force it took to bend it!"
+
+At last they had penetrated to the long tube that led through the length
+of the ship, the communication tube. This admitted the small ship
+easily, and they moved swiftly along till they came to what they
+believed to be about the center of the invader. Here Arcot proposed that
+they step out and see what there was to be seen.
+
+The others agreed, and they at once put on their altitude suits of heavy
+rubberized canvas, designed to be worn outside the ship when at high
+altitude, or even in space. They were supplied with oxygen tanks that
+would keep the wearer alive for about six hours. Unless the atmosphere
+remaining in the alien ship was excessively corrosive, they would be
+safe. After a brief discussion, they decided that all would go, for if
+they met opposition, there would be strength in numbers.
+
+They met their first difficulty in opening the door leading out of the
+communication tube. It was an automatic door, and resisted their every
+effort--until finally they were forced to tear it out with a ray. It was
+impossible to move it in any other way. The door was in what was now the
+floor, since the ship seemed to have landed on one side rather than on
+its keel.
+
+They let themselves through the narrow opening one at a time, and landed
+on the sloping wall of the corridor beyond.
+
+"Lucky this wasn't a big room, or we'd have had a nice drop to the far
+wall!" commented Wade. The suits were equipped with a thin vibrating
+diaphragm that made speech easy, but Wade's voice came through with a
+queerly metallic ring.
+
+Arcot agreed somewhat absently, his attention directed toward their
+surroundings. His hand light pierced the blackness, finally halting at a
+gaping opening, apparently the entrance to a corridor. As they examined
+it, they saw that it slanted steeply downward.
+
+"It seems to be quite a drop," said Wade as he turned his light into it,
+"but the surface seems to be rather rough. I think we can do it. I
+notice that you brought a rope, Morey; I think it'll help. I'll go
+first, unless someone else wants the honor."
+
+"You go first?" Arcot hesitated briefly. "But I don't know--if we're
+all going, I guess you had better, at that. It would take two ordinary
+men to lower a big bulk like you. On the other hand, if anybody is going
+to stay, you're delegated as elevator boy!
+
+"Hold everything," continued Arcot. "I have an idea. I think none of us
+will need to hold the weight of the others with the rope. Wade, will you
+get three fairly good-sized pieces of metal, something we can tie a rope
+to? I think we can get down here without the help of anyone else. Morey,
+will you cut the rope in three equal pieces while I help Wade tear loose
+that girder?"
+
+Arcot refused to reveal his idea till his preparations were complete,
+but worked quickly and efficiently. With the aid of Wade, he soon had
+three short members, and taking the rope that Morey had prepared, he
+tied lengths of cord to the pieces of metal, leaving twenty foot lengths
+hanging from each. Now he carefully tested his handiwork to make sure
+the knots would not slip.
+
+"Now, let's see what we can do." Arcot put a small loop in one end of a
+cord, thrust his left wrist through this, and grasped the rope firmly
+with his hand. Then he drew his ray pistol, and adjusted it carefully
+for direction of action. The trigger gave him control over power.
+Finally he turned the ray on the block of metal at the other end of the
+rope. At once the metal pulled vigorously, drawing the rope taut, and as
+Arcot increased the power, he was dragged slowly across the floor.
+
+"Ah--it works." He grinned broadly over his shoulder. "Come on, boys,
+hitch your wagon to a star, and we'll go on with the investigation. This
+is a new, double action parachute. It lets you down easy, and pulls you
+up easier! I think we can go where we want now." After a pause he added,
+"I don't have to tell you that too much power will be very bad!"
+
+With Arcot's simple brake, they lowered themselves into the corridor
+below, descending one at a time, to avoid any contact with the ray,
+since the touch of the beam was fatal.
+
+The scene that lay before them was one of colossal destruction. They had
+evidently stumbled upon the engine room. They could not hope to
+illuminate its vast expanse with their little hand lights, but they
+could gain some idea of its magnitude, and of its original layout. The
+floor, now tilted at a steep angle, was torn up in many places, showing
+great, massive beams, buckled and twisted like so many wires, while the
+heavy floor plates were crumpled like so much foil. Everywhere the room
+seemed covered with a film of white silvery metal; it was silver, they
+decided after a brief examination, spattered broadcast over the walls of
+the room.
+
+Suddenly Morey pointed ceilingward with his light. "That's where the
+silver came from!" he exclaimed. A network of heavy bars ran across the
+roof, great bars of solid silver fully three feet thick. In one section
+gaped a ragged hole, suggesting the work of a disintegration ray, a hole
+that went into the metal roof above, one which had plainly been fused,
+as had the great silver bars.
+
+Arcot looked in wonder at the heavy metal bars. "Lord--bus bars three
+feet thick! What engines they must have! Look at the way those were
+blown out! They were short circuited by the crash, just before the
+generator went out, and they were volatilized! Some juice!"
+
+With the aid of their improvised elevators, the three men attempted to
+explore the tremendous chamber. They had scarcely begun, when Wade
+exclaimed:
+
+"Bodies!"
+
+They crowded around his gruesome find and caught their first glimpse of
+the invaders from space. Anatomical details could not be distinguished
+since the bodies had been caught under a rain of crushing beams, but
+they saw that they were not too different from both Terrestrians and
+Venerians--though their blood seemed strangely pallid, and their skin
+was of a ghastly whiteness. Evidently they had been assembled before an
+unfamiliar sort of instrument panel when catastrophe struck; Morey
+indicated the dials and keys.
+
+"Nice to know what you're fighting," Arcot observed. "I've a hunch that
+we'll see some of these critters alive--but not in this ship!"
+
+They turned away and resumed their examination of the shattered
+mechanisms.
+
+A careful examination was impossible; they were wrecks, but Arcot did
+see that they seemed mainly to be giant electrical machines of standard
+types, though on a gargantuan scale. There were titanic masses of
+wrecked metal, iron and silver, for with these men silver seemed to
+replace copper, though nothing could replace iron and its magnetic uses.
+
+"They are just electrical machines, I guess," said Arcot at last. "But
+what size! Have you seen anything really revolutionary, Wade?"
+
+Wade frowned and answered. "There are just two things that bother me.
+Come here." As Arcot jumped over, nearly suspended by his ray pistol,
+Wade directed his light on a small machine that had fallen in between
+the cracks in the giant mass of broken generators. It was a little
+thing, apparently housed in a glass case. There was only one objection
+to that assumption. The base of a large generator lay on it, metal fully
+two feet thick, and that metal was cracked where it rested on the case,
+and the case, made of material an inch and a half thick, was not dented!
+
+"Whewww--that's a nice kind of glass to have!" Morey commented. "I'd
+like to have a specimen for examination. Oh--I wonder--yes, it must be!
+There's a window in the side up there toward what was the bow that
+seemed to me to be the same stuff. It's buried about three feet in solid
+earth, so I imagine it must be."
+
+The three made their way at once to where they had seen the window. The
+frame appeared to be steel, or some such alloy, and it was twisted and
+bent under the blow, for this was evidently the outer wall, and the
+impact of landing had flattened the rounded side. But that "glass"
+window was quite undisturbed! There was, as a further proof, a large
+granite boulder lying against it on the outside--or what had been a
+boulder, though it had been shattered by the impact.
+
+"Say--that's some building material!" Arcot indicated the transparent
+sheet. "Just look at that granite rock--smashed into sand! Yet the
+window isn't even scratched! Look how the frame that held it is
+torn--just torn, not broken. I wonder if we can tear it loose
+altogether?" He stepped forward, raising his pistol. There was a thud as
+his metal bar crashed down when the ray was shut off. Then, as the
+others got out of the way, he stepped toward the window and directed his
+beam toward it. Gradually he increased the power, till suddenly there
+was a rending crash, and they saw only a leaping column of earth and
+sand and broken granite flying up through the hole in the steel shell.
+There was a sudden violent crash, then a moment later a second equally
+violent crash as the window, having flown up to the ceiling, came
+thumping back to the floor.
+
+After the dust had settled they came forward, looking for the window.
+They found it, somewhat buried by the rubbish, lying off to one side.
+Arcot bent down to tilt it and sweep off the dirt; he grasped it with
+one hand, and pulled. The window remained where it was. He grasped it
+with both hands and pulled harder. The window remained where it was.
+
+"Uh--say, lend a hand will you, Wade." Together the two men pulled, but
+without results. That window was about three feet by two feet by one
+inch, making the total volume about one-half a cubic foot, but it
+certainly was heavy. They could not begin to move it. An equal volume of
+lead would have weighed about four hundred pounds, but this was
+decidedly more than four hundred pounds. Indeed, the combined strength
+of the three men did not do more than rock it.
+
+"Well--it certainly is no kind of matter we know of!" observed Morey.
+"Osmium, the heaviest known metal, has a density of twenty-two and a
+half, which would weigh about 730 pounds. I think we could lift that, so
+this is heavier than anything we know. At least that's proof of a new
+system. Between Venus and Earth we have found every element that occurs
+in the sun. These people must have come from another star!"
+
+"Either that," returned Arcot, "or proof of an amazing degree of
+technological advancement. It's only a guess, of course--but I have an
+idea where this kind of matter exists in the solar system. I think you
+have already seen it--in the gaseous state. You remember, of course,
+that the Kaxorians had great reservoirs for storing light-energy in a
+bound state in their giant planes. They had bound light, light held by
+the gravitational attraction for itself, after condensing it in their
+apparatus, but they had what amounted to a gas--gaseous light. Now
+suppose that someone makes a light condenser even more powerful than the
+one the Kaxorians used, a condenser that forces the light so close to
+itself, increases its density, till the photons hold each other
+permanently, and the substance becomes solid. It will be matter, matter
+made of light--light matter--and let us call it a metal. You know that
+ordinary matter is electricity matter, and electricity matter metals
+conduct electricity readily. Now why shouldn't our 'light matter' metal
+conduct light? It would be a wonderful substance for windows."
+
+"But now comes the question of moving it," Wade interposed. "We can't
+lift it, and we certainly want to examine it. That means we must take it
+to the laboratory. I believe we're about through here--the place is
+clearly quite permanently demolished. I think we had better return to
+the ship and start to that other machine we saw that didn't appear to be
+so badly damaged. But--how can we move this?"
+
+"I think a ray may do the trick." Arcot drew his ray pistol, and stepped
+back a bit, holding the weapon so the ray would direct the plate
+straight up. Slowly he applied the power, and as he gradually increased
+it, the plate stirred, then moved into the air.
+
+"It works! Now you can use your pistol, Morey, and direct it toward the
+corridor. I'll send it up, and let it fall outside, where we can pick it
+up later." Morey stepped forward, and while Arcot held it in the air
+with his ray, Morey propelled it slowly with his, till it was directly
+under the corridor leading upward. Then Arcot gave a sudden increase in
+power, and the plate moved swiftly upward, sailing out of sight. Arcot
+shut off his ray, and there came to their ears a sudden crash as the
+plate fell to the floor above.
+
+The three men regained their ropes and "double action parachutes" as
+Arcot called them, and floated up to the next floor. Again they started
+the process of moving the plate. All went well till they came to the
+little car itself. They could not use the ray on the car, for fear of
+damaging the machinery. They had to use some purely mechanical method of
+hoisting it in.
+
+Finally they solved the problem by using the molecular director ray to
+swing a heavy beam into the air, then one man pulled on the far end of
+it with a rope, and swung it till it was resting on the door of the ship
+on one end, and the other rested in a hole they had torn in the lining
+of the tube.
+
+Now they maneuvered the heavy plate till it was resting on that beam;
+then they released the plate, and watched it slide down the incline,
+shooting through the open doorway of the car. In moments the job was
+done. The plate at last safely stowed, the three men climbed into the
+car, and prepared to leave.
+
+The little machine glided swiftly down the tube through the mighty ship,
+finally coming out through the opening that had admitted them. They rose
+quickly into the air, and headed for the headquarters of the government
+ships.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+
+A great number of scientists and military men were already gathered
+about the headquarters ship. As Arcot's party arrived, they learned that
+each of the wrecks was being assigned to one group. They further learned
+that because of their scientific importance, they were to go to the
+nearly perfect ship lying off to the west. Two Air Patrolmen were to
+accompany them.
+
+"Lieutenant Wright and Lieutenant Greer will go with you," said the
+Colonel. "In the event of trouble from possible--though
+unlikely--survivors, they may be able to help. Is there anything further
+we can do?"
+
+"These men are armed with the standard sidearms, aren't they?" Arcot
+asked. "I think we'll all be better off if I arm them with some of the
+new director-ray pistols. I have several in my boat. It will be all
+right, I suppose?"
+
+"Certainly, Dr. Arcot. They are under your command."
+
+The party, increased to five now, returned to the ship, where Arcot
+showed the men the details of the ray pistols, and how to use them. The
+control for direction of operation was rather intricate in these early
+models, and required considerable explanation. The theoretical range of
+even these small hand weapons was infinity in space, but in the
+atmosphere the energy was rather rapidly absorbed by ionization of the
+air, and the dispersion of the beam made it ineffective in space over a
+range of more than thirty-five miles.
+
+Again entering the little molecular motion car, they went at once to the
+great hull of the fallen ship. They inspected it cautiously from
+overhead before going too close, for the dreadnought, obviously, had
+landed without the terrific concussion that the others had experienced,
+and there was a possibility that some of the crew had survived the
+crash. The entire stern of the huge vessel had been torn off, and
+evidently the ship was unable to rise, but there were lights glowing
+through the portholes on the side, indicating that power had not failed
+completely.
+
+"I think we'd better treat that monster with respect," remarked Wade,
+looking down at the lighted windows. "They have power, and the hull is
+scarcely dented except where the stern was caught by a beam. It's lucky
+we had those ray projector ships! They've been in service only about
+four months, haven't they, Lieutenant?"
+
+"Just about that, sir," the Air Patrolman replied. "They hadn't gotten
+the hand weapons out in sufficient quantities to be issued to us as
+yet."
+
+Morey scowled at the invader. "I don't like this at all. I wonder why
+they didn't greet us with some of their beams," he said in worried
+tones. It did seem that there should be some of the rays in action now.
+They were less than a mile from the fallen giant, and moving rather
+slowly.
+
+"I've been puzzled about that myself," commented Arcot, "and I've come
+to the conclusion that either the ray projectors are fed by a separate
+system of power distribution, which has been destroyed, or that the
+creatures from space are all dead."
+
+They were to learn later, in their exploration of the ship, that the
+invaders' ray projectors were fed from a separate generator, which
+produced a special form of alternating current wave for them. This
+generator had been damaged beyond use.
+
+The little machine was well toward the stern of the giant now, and they
+lowered it till it was on a level with the torn metal. It was plain that
+the ship had been subjected to some terrific tension. The great girders
+were stretched and broken, and the huge ribs were bent and twisted. The
+central tube, which ran the length of the ship, had been drawn down to
+about three quarters of its original diameter, making it necessary for
+them to use their ray to enter. In moments their speedster glided into
+the dark tunnel. The searchlight reaching ahead filled the metal tunnel
+with a myriad deceptive reflections. The tube was lighted up far ahead
+of them, and seemed empty. Cautiously they advanced, with Arcot at the
+controls.
+
+"Wade--Morey--where will we stop first?" he asked. "The engines? They'll
+probably be of prime importance. We know their location. What do you
+say?"
+
+"I agree," replied Wade, and Morey nodded his approval.
+
+They ran their craft down the long tube till they reached the door they
+knew must be the engine room landing, and stepped out, each wearing an
+altitude suit. This ship had landed level, and progress would be much
+easier than in the other one. They waited a moment before opening the
+door into the engine room, for this led into a narrow corridor where
+only one could pass. Caution was definitely in order. The Air Patrolmen
+insisted on leading the way. They had been sent along for the express
+purpose of protecting the scientists, and it was their duty to lead.
+After a brief argument Arcot agreed.
+
+The two officers stepped to the door, and standing off to one side, tore
+it open with a ray from their pistols. It fell with a clatter to the
+rounded metal floor of the tube, and lay there vibrating noisily, but no
+rays of death lanced out from beyond it. Cautiously they peered around
+the corner of the long corridor, then seeing nothing, entered. Wade came
+next, then Arcot, followed by Morey.
+
+The corridor was approximately thirty feet long, opening into the great
+engine room. Already the men could hear the smooth hum of powerful
+machines, and could see the rounded backs of vast mechanisms. But there
+was no sign of life, human or otherwise. They halted finally at the
+threshold of the engine room.
+
+"Well," Arcot said softly. "We haven't seen anyone so far, and I hope no
+one has seen us. The invaders may be behind one of those big engines,
+quite unaware of us. _If_ they're there, and they see us, they'll be
+ready to fight. Now remember, those weapons you have will tear loose
+anything they hit, so take it easy. You know something about the power
+of those engines, so don't put them out of commission, and have them
+splash us all over the landscape.
+
+"But look out for the crew, and get them if they try to get you!"
+
+Cautiously but quickly they stepped out into the great room, forming a
+rough half circle, pistols ready for action. They walked forward
+stealthily, glancing about them--and simultaneously the enemies caught
+sight of each other. There were six of the invaders, each about seven
+feet tall, and surprisingly humanoid. They somewhat resembled
+Venerians, but they weren't Venerians, for their skin was a strange
+gray-white, suggesting raw dough. It seemed to Arcot that these strange,
+pale creatures were advancing at a slow walk, and that he stood still
+watching them as they slowly raised strange hand weapons. He seemed to
+notice every detail: their short, tight-fitting suits of some elastic
+material that didn't hamper their movements, and their strange flesh,
+which just seemed to escape being transparent. Their eyes were strangely
+large, and the black spot of the pupil in their white corneas created an
+unnatural effect.
+
+Then abruptly their weapons came up--and Arcot responded with a sudden
+flick of his ray, as he flung himself to one side. Simultaneously his
+four companions let their beams fly toward the invaders. They glowed
+strangely red here, but they were still effective. The six beings were
+suddenly gone--but not before they had released their own beams. And
+they had taken toll. Lieutenant Wright lay motionless upon the floor.
+
+The Terrestrians scarcely had a chance to notice this, for immediately
+there was a terrific rending crash, and clean daylight came pouring in
+through a wide opening in the wall of the ship. The five rays had not
+stopped on contact with the enemy, but had touched the wall behind them.
+An irregular opening now gaped in the smooth metal.
+
+Suddenly there came a second jarring thud, a dull explosion; then a
+great sheet of flame filled the hole--a wall of ruddy flame swept
+rapidly in. Arcot swung up his ray pistol, pointing it at the mass of
+flaming gas. A mighty column of air came through the narrow corridor
+from the tube, rushing toward the outside, and taking the flame with it.
+A roaring mass of gas hovered outside of the ship.
+
+"Lieutenant," said Arcot, swiftly, "turn your ray on that hole, and keep
+it there, blowing that flame outside with it. You'll find you can't put
+the fire out, but if you keep it outside the ship, I believe we'll be
+reasonably safe." The Patrolman obeyed instantly, relieving Arcot.
+
+Wade and Morey were already bending over the fallen man.
+
+"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for him," the latter said grimly,
+"and every moment here is dangerous. Let's continue our investigation
+and carry him back to the ship when we leave." Arcot nodded silently.
+
+Solemnly they turned away from the motionless figure on the floor and
+set out on their investigation.
+
+"Arcot," began Morey after a moment, "why is that gas burning like that?
+Can't we put it out?"
+
+"Let's get through with this job first," replied Arcot somewhat tersely.
+"The discussion comes after."
+
+The bodies of the invaders were gone, so they could not examine them
+now. That was a matter for the doctors and biologists, anyway. The
+engines were their main interest, huge things which overshadowed
+everything about them.
+
+It must have been the concealment afforded by the engines that permitted
+three of the enemy to get so close. The only warning the Terrestrians
+had was a faint pink haze as they stepped around the corner of an
+engine; and a sudden feeling of faintness swept over them. They leaped
+back, out of sight, peering around the corner with nerves and muscles
+tensed. There was no sign of movement.
+
+As they watched, they saw a pallid hand reaching out with a ray gun; and
+Wade swiftly pointed his own weapon. There came a sudden crash of metal,
+a groan and quiet. Two other aliens leaped from behind the great engine
+just as the Terrestrians dodged further back; as swiftly, they too found
+concealment.
+
+Arcot swung his ray up, and was about to pull the trigger that would
+send the huge engine toppling over upon them, when he saw that it was
+running. He thought of the unknown energies in the machine, the
+potential destruction, and he shook his head. Cautiously he looked
+around the edge of the towering mass, waiting--his beam flashed out, and
+there was a snapping sound as the ray caught a reaching hand and hurled
+its owner against a mighty transformer of some sort. For an instant the
+huge mass tottered, then was still. In the low concentration of power
+that Arcot had used, only a small portion had been touched, and the
+molecules of this portion had not been enough to tip over its tremendous
+weight.
+
+Only one enemy remained; and Arcot learned swiftly that he was still in
+action, for before he could dodge back there came that now-familiar pink
+haziness. It touched Arcot's hand, outstretched as it had been when he
+fired, and a sudden numbness came over it. His pistol hand seemed to
+lose all feeling of warmth or cold. It was there; he could still feel
+the weapon's deadened weight. Reflex action hurled him back, his hand
+out of range of the ray. In seconds feeling began to return, and in less
+than ten his hand was normal again.
+
+He turned to the others with a wry grin. "Whew--that was a narrow
+squeak! I must say their ray is a gentlemenly sort of thing. It either
+kills you, or doesn't injure you at all. There it goes again!"
+
+A shaft of pink radiance reached the end of the engine, just grazing it,
+evidently absorbed by its mass. "Pinning us down," Wade grated. They
+certainly couldn't step out into the open space--but they couldn't stay
+where they were indefinitely, either. Reinforcements might arrive!
+
+"Look," Wade pointed with his pistol, "he's under that big metal bar--up
+there in the roof--see it? I'll pull it down; he may get nervous and
+come into sight." Swiftly Arcot sprang forward and caught his arm.
+
+"Lord--don't do that, Wade--there's too much stuff here that we don't
+know anything about. Too much chance of your smashing us with him. I'm
+going to try to get around to the other side of this machine and see
+what I can do, while you fellows keep him occupied."
+
+Arcot disappeared around the black humming giant. Interminably the
+others waited for something to happen; then suddenly the beam that had
+been playing at irregular intervals across the end of the machine, swung
+quickly to the other side; and simultaneously another ray seemed to leap
+from the machine itself. They met and crossed. There came a momentary
+crashing arc, then both went dead, as the apparatus that generated them
+blew out under terrific overload.
+
+The invader evidently carried a spare, for the watchers saw him dart
+from concealment, clawing at his pocket pouch. They turned their rays on
+him, and just as his projector came free, a ray hurled him violently to
+the left. He crashed into a huge motor, and the result was not nice.
+
+The projector had been jerked from his hand and lay off to the side.
+Arcot ran to it and picked it up just as they heard the Lieutenant call
+an alarmed inquiry.
+
+"I think we're okay now," Arcot answered. "I hope there are no more--but
+by all means stay where you are, and use as little power as possible in
+blowing that flame outside. It uses up the atmosphere of the ship, and
+though we don't need it, I think we'd better take things easy. Call us
+if anything looks odd to you."
+
+For several minutes the three scientists looked about them in awe-struck
+wonder. They were the first men of Earth to see the driving equipment of
+one of the tremendous Kaxorian planes, and they felt tiny beside its
+great bulk; but now, as they examined this engine room, they realized
+that even the huge plane shrank into insignificance beside this
+interstellar cruiser.
+
+All about them loomed the great rounded backs of giant electric
+motor-generators of some sort. Across the roof ran a network of gigantic
+metal bars, apparently conductors, but so large that they suggested
+heavy structural members. The machines they ran into loomed fully thirty
+feet into the air; they were longer than cylinders, thirty feet in
+diameter, and there was a group of four main machines fully a hundred
+twenty feet long! There were many smaller mechanisms--yet these smaller
+ones would easily have constituted a complete power supply for the
+average big city. Along each wall ran a bank of transformers, cast in
+the same heroic mold. These seemed connected with the smaller machines,
+there being four conductors leading into each of the minor units, two
+intake, and two, apparently, output leads, suggesting rotary converters.
+The multiple units and the various types and sizes of transformers made
+it obvious that many different frequencies were needed. Some of the
+transformers had air cores, and led to machines surrounded with a
+silvery white metal instead of the usual iron. These, apparently, were
+generating current at an extremely high frequency.
+
+"Well," Morey commented, "they ought to have power enough. But do you
+notice that those four main units have their leads radiating in
+different directions? The one on the left there seems to lead to that
+big power board at the front--or better, bow. I think it would be worth
+investigating."
+
+Arcot nodded. "I had the same idea. You notice that two of the main
+power units are still working, but that those other two have stopped?
+Probably the two dead ones have something to do with the motion of the
+ship. But there's one point I think is of even greater interest. All the
+machines we have seen, all the conspicuous ones, are secondary power
+sources. There are no primary sources visible. Notice that those two
+main conduits lead over to the right, and toward the bow. Let's check
+where they go to."
+
+As they talked they followed the huge conductors back to their point of
+convergence. Suddenly they rounded one of the huge main power units, and
+saw before them, at the center of square formed by these machines, a low
+platform of transparent light-metal. At the exact center of this
+platform, which was twenty feet in diameter, there was a table, about
+seven feet across and raised about five feet above the level of the
+platform on stout light-metal legs. On the table were two huge cubes of
+solid silver, and into these cubes ran all the conductors they had seen.
+
+In the space of about six inches left between the blocks of metal, there
+was a small box constructed of some strange new material. It was the
+most perfect reflecting surface that any of the men had ever imagined.
+Indeed, it was so perfect a reflector that they were unable to see it,
+but could detect its presence only by the mirror images, and the fact
+that it blotted out objects behind it.
+
+Now they noticed that through the huge blocks of metal there were two
+small holes, and two thin wires of this same reflecting material led
+into those holes. The wires led directly up to the roof, and, suspended
+on three-foot hangers of the light-metal, continued on toward the bow.
+
+Could this be the source of power for the entire ship? It seemed
+impossible, yet there were many other seeming impossible things here,
+among them that strangely reflecting matter.
+
+There was a low railing about the central platform, apparently intended
+to keep observers at a safe distance, so they decided against any more
+detailed investigation. As they were about to discuss their unusual
+find, the Lieutenant called that he heard sounds behind him.
+
+At once the three ran rapidly toward the narrow corridor that had given
+them entrance. The flaming gas was still shooting through the hole in
+the wall of the ship, and the rush of air through the corridor made it
+difficult to hear any sounds there, and exceedingly difficult to walk.
+
+"Turn on more power, Lieutenant, and see if we can't draw out the
+enemy," suggested Arcot, while they braced themselves around the tube
+exit.
+
+As the Patrolman increased the power of his beam, the moan of the air
+through the corridor increased suddenly to a terrific roar, and a
+cyclonic gale swept through. But none of the invaders were drawn out.
+
+After the Lieutenant had shut off the blast from his pistol at Arcot's
+signal, the latter said: "I don't think anything less than a war tank
+could stand that pressure. It's probable that we'll be attacked if we
+stay here much longer, though--and we may not be able to get out at all.
+I think, Lieutenant, I'll ask you to stay here while we go out and get
+the ship ready to leave." He paused, grinning. "Be sure to keep that
+flame outside. You'll be in the position of Hercules after Atlas left
+him holding the skies on his shoulders. You can't shut off the ray for
+long or we'll have a first-rate explosion. We'll signal when we're ready
+by firing a revolver, and you make it to the ship as fast as you can
+travel."
+
+Arcot's expression became solemn. "We'll have to carry Wright back to
+the ship. He was a brave man, and he certainly deserves burial in the
+soil of his own world. And, Morey, we'll have to look up his family.
+Your father's company will have to take care of them if they need help."
+
+Slowly the men forced their way back toward their ship, fighting against
+the roaring column of air, their burden hindering them somewhat; but at
+last they reached the open tunnel. Even here the air was in violent
+motion.
+
+They got into their boat as quickly as possible, and set the controls
+for reverse flight. Then Wade fired the signal shot. In moments they saw
+Lieutenant Greer bucking against the current of air, continuing under
+its own momentum.
+
+By the time he was in the ship an ominous calm had fallen. Swiftly they
+sped down the corridor, and had almost reached the open air, when
+suddenly there was a dull rumble behind them, and they were caught on a
+wave of pressure that hurled them along at terrific speed. In a flash
+they sped into the open air, the great tunnel with its thick walls and
+flared opening acting like a gigantic blunderbus, with the ship as its
+bullet. Arcot made no attempt to slow down the little craft, but pressed
+his foot heavily on the vertical accelerator. The ship rocketed up with
+terrific speed, and the acceleration pinned the men down to their seats
+with tripled weight.
+
+Anxiously they watched the huge invader as they sped away from it. At
+Arcot's direction Morey signaled the other groups of scientists to get
+out of danger with all speed, warning of the impending blow-up. As the
+moments sped by the tension mounted. Arcot stared fixedly into the
+screen before him, keeping the giant space ship in focus. As they sped
+mile upon miles away from it, he began to relax a bit.
+
+Not a word was spoken as they watched and waited. Actually, very little
+time passed before the explosion, but to the watchers the seconds
+dragged endlessly. Then at twenty-seven miles, the screen flared into a
+sheet of blinding white radiance. There was a timeless instant--then a
+tremendous wave of sound, a roaring, stunning concussion smote the ship,
+shaking it with unrestrained fury--to cease as abruptly as it came.
+
+Immediately they realized the reason. They were rushing away from the
+explosion faster than the sound it made, hence could not hear it. After
+the first intolerable flash, details became visible. The great ship
+seemed to leap into countless tremendous fragments, each rushing away
+from the point of the blow-up. They did not go far; the force was not
+sustained long enough, nor was it great enough to overcome the inertia
+of so vast a mass for more than moments. Huge masses rained to earth, to
+bury themselves in the soil.
+
+There came a momentary lull. Then suddenly, from the mass which
+evidently held the wrecked engine room, there shot out a beam of intense
+white light that swept around in a wide, erratic arc. Whatever it
+touched fused instantly into a brilliantly glowing mass of liquid
+incandescence. The field itself, fragments of the wreckage, fused and
+mingled under its fury. The beam began to swing, faster and faster, as
+the support that was holding it melted; then abruptly it turned upon
+itself. There came a sudden blast of brilliance to rival that of the
+sun--and the entire region became a molten lake. Eyes streaming,
+temporarily blinded, the men turned away from the screen.
+
+"That," said Arcot ruefully, "is that! It seems that our visitors don't
+want to leave any of their secrets lying around for us to investigate.
+I've an idea that all the other wrecks will go like this one did." He
+scowled. "You know, we really didn't learn much. Guess we'd better call
+the headquarters ship and ask for further instructions. Will you attend
+to it, Lieutenant Greer?"
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+
+Swiftly Arcot's sleek cruiser sped toward New York and the Arcot
+Laboratories. They had halted briefly at the headquarters ship of the
+Earth-Venus forces to report on their experience; and alone again, the
+three scientists were on their way home.
+
+With their course set, Arcot spoke to the others. "Well, fellows, what
+are your opinions on--what we've seen? Wade, you're a chemist--tell us
+what you think of the explosion of the ship, and of the strange color of
+our molecular ray in their air."
+
+Wade shook his head doubtfully. "I've been trying to figure it out, and
+I can't quite believe my results. Still, I can't see any other
+explanation. That reddish glow looked like hydrogen ions in the air. The
+atmosphere was certainly combustible when it met ours, which makes it
+impossible for me to believe that their air contained any noticeable
+amount of oxygen, for anything above twenty per cent oxygen and the rest
+hydrogen would be violently explosive. Apparently the gas had to mix
+liberally with our air to reach that proportion. That it didn't explode
+when ionized, showed the absence of hydro-oxygen mixture.
+
+"All the observed facts except one seem to point to an atmosphere
+composed largely of hydrogen. That one--there are beings living in it! I
+can understand how the Venerians might adapt to a different climate, but
+I can't see how anything approaching human life can live in an
+atmosphere like that."
+
+Arcot nodded. "I have come to similar conclusions. But I don't see too
+much objection to the thought of beings living in an atmosphere of
+hydrogen. It's all a question of organic chemistry. Remember that our
+bodies are just chemical furnaces. We take in fuel and oxidize it, using
+the heat as our source of power. The invaders live in an atmosphere of
+hydrogen. They eat oxidizing fuels, and breathe a reducing atmosphere;
+they have the two fuel components together again, but in a way different
+from our method. Evidently, it's just as effective. I'm sure that's the
+secret of the whole thing."
+
+"Sounds fairly logical." Wade agreed. "But now I have a question for
+you. Where under the sun did these beings come from?"
+
+Arcot's reply came slowly. "I've been wondering the same thing. And the
+more I wonder, the less I believe they did come from--under our sun.
+Let's eliminate all the solar planets--we can do that at one fell swoop.
+It's perfectly obvious that those ships are by no means the first crude
+attempts of this race to fly through space. We're dealing with an
+advanced technology. If they have had those ships even as far away as
+Pluto, we should certainly have heard from them by now.
+
+"Hence, we've got to go out into interstellar space. You'll probably
+want to ram some of my arguments down my throat--I know there is no star
+near enough for the journey to be made in anything less than a couple of
+generations by all that's logical; and they'd freeze in the interstellar
+cold doing it. There is no _known_ star close enough--but how about
+unknowns?"
+
+"What have they been doing with the star?" Morey snorted. "Hiding it
+behind a sun-shade?"
+
+Arcot grinned. "Yes. A shade of old age. You know a sun can't radiate
+forever; eventually they die. And a dead sun would be quite black, I'm
+sure."
+
+"And the planets that circle about them are apt to become a wee bit cool
+too, you know."
+
+"Agreed," said Arcot, "and we wouldn't be able to do much about it. But
+give these beings credit for a little higher order of intelligence. We
+saw machines in that space ship that certainly are beyond us! They are
+undoubtedly heating their planets with the same source of energy with
+which they are running their ships.
+
+"I believe I have confirmation of that statement in two things. They are
+absolutely colorless; they don't even have an opaque white skin. Any
+living creature exposed to the rays of a sun, which is certain to emit
+some chemical rays, is subject to coloration as a protection against
+those rays. The whites, who have always lived where sunlight is weakest,
+have developed a skin only slightly opaque. The Orientals, who live in
+more tropical countries, where less clothes and more sun is the motto,
+have slightly darker skins. In the extreme tropics Nature has found it
+necessary to use a regular blanket of color to stop the rays. Now
+extrapolating the other way, were there no such rays, the people would
+become a pigmentless race. Since most proteins are rather translucent,
+at least when wet, they would appear much as these beings do. Remember,
+there are very few colored proteins. Hemoglobin, such as in our blood,
+and hemocyanin, like that in the blue blood of the Venerians, are
+practically unique in that respect. For hydrogen absorption, I imagine
+the blood of these creatures contains a fair proportion of some highly
+saturated compound, which readily takes on the element, and gives it up
+later.
+
+"But we can kick this around some more in the lab."
+
+Before starting for New York, Arcot had convinced the officer in charge
+that it would be wise to destroy the more complete of the invaders'
+ships at once, lest one of them manage to escape. The fact that none of
+them had any rays in operation was easily explained; they would have
+been destroyed by the Patrol if they had made any show of weapons. But
+they might be getting some ready, to be used in possible escape
+attempts. The scientists were through with their preliminary
+investigations. And the dismembered sections would remain for study,
+anyway.
+
+The ships had finally been rayed apart, and when the three had left,
+their burning atmosphere had been sending mighty tongues of flame a mile
+or more into the air. The light gas of the alien atmosphere tended to
+rise in a great globular cloud, a ball that quickly burned itself out.
+It had not taken long for the last of the machines to disintegrate under
+the rays. There would be no more trouble from them, at any rate!
+
+Now Morey asked Arcot if he thought that they had learned all they could
+from the ships; would it not have been wiser to save them, and
+investigate more fully later, taking a chance on stopping any sudden
+attack by surviving marauders by keeping a patrol of Air Guards there.
+
+To which Arcot replied, "I thought quite a bit before I suggested their
+destruction, and I conferred for a few moments with Forsyth, who's just
+about tops in biology and bacteriology. He said that they had by no
+means learned as much as they wished to, but they'd been forced to leave
+in any event. Remember that pure hydrogen, the atmosphere we were
+actually living in while on the ship, is quite as inert as pure
+oxygen--when alone. But the two get very rough when mixed together. The
+longer those ships lay there the more dangerously explosive they became.
+If we hadn't destroyed them, they would have wrecked themselves. I still
+think we followed the only logical course.
+
+"Dr. Forsyth mentioned the danger of disease. There's a remote
+possibility that we might be susceptible to their germs. I don't believe
+we would be, for our chemical constitution is so vastly different. For
+instance, the Venerians and Terrestrians can visit each other with
+perfect freedom. The Venerians have diseases, and so do we, of course;
+but there are things in the blood of Venerians that are absolutely
+deadly to any Terrestrian organism. We have a similar deadly effect on
+Venerian germs. It isn't immunity--it's simply that our respective
+constitutions are so different that we don't need immunity. Similarly,
+Forsyth thinks we would be completely resistant to all diseases brought
+by the invaders. However, it's safer to remove the danger, if any,
+first, and check afterward."
+
+The three men sped rapidly back to New York, flying nearly sixty miles
+above the surface of the Earth, where there would be no interfering
+traffic, till at length they were above the big city, and dropping
+swiftly in a vertical traffic lane.
+
+Shortly thereafter they settled lightly in the landing cradle at the
+Arcot Laboratories. Arcot's father, and Morey's, were there, anxiously
+awaiting their return. The elder Arcot had for many years held the
+reputation of being the nation's greatest physicist, but recently he had
+lost it--to his son. Morey Senior was the president and chief
+stockholder in the Transcontinental Air Lines. The Arcots, father and
+son, had turned all their inventions over to their close friends, the
+Moreys. For many years the success of the great air lines had been
+dependent in large part on the inventions of the Arcots; these new
+discoveries enabled them to keep one step ahead of competition, and as
+they also made the huge transport machines for other companies, they
+drew tremendous profits from these mechanisms. The mutual interest,
+which had begun as a purely financial relationship, had long since
+become a close personal friendship.
+
+As Arcot stepped from his speedster, he called immediately to his
+father, telling of their find, the light-matter plate.
+
+"I'll need a handling machine to move it. I'll be right back." He ran to
+the elevator and dropped quickly to the heavy machinery lab on the lower
+floor. In a short time he returned with a tractor-like machine equipped
+with a small derrick, designed to get its power from the electric mains.
+He ran the machine over to the ship. The others looked up as they heard
+the rumble and hum of its powerful motor. From the crane dangled a
+strong electro-magnet.
+
+"What's that for?" asked Wade, pointing to the magnet. "You don't expect
+this to be magnetic, do you?"
+
+"Wait and see!" laughed Arcot, maneuvering the handling machine into
+position. One of the others made contact with the power line, and the
+crane reached into the ship, lowering the magnet to the plate of
+crystal. Then Arcot turned the power into the lifting motor. The hum
+rose swiftly in volume and pitch till the full load began to strain the
+cables. The motor whined with full power, the cables vibrating under the
+tension. The machine pulled steadily, until, to Arcot's surprise, the
+rear end of the machine rose abruptly from the floor, tipping forward.
+
+"Well--it _was_ magnetic, but how did you know?" asked the surprised
+Wade. Since the ship was made of the Venerian metal, coronium, which was
+only slightly magnetic, the plate was obviously the magnet's only load.
+
+"Never mind. I'll tell you later. Get an I-beam, say about twenty feet
+long, and see if you can't help lift that crazy mass. I think we ought
+to manage it that way."
+
+And so it proved. With two of them straddling the I-beam, the leverage
+was great enough to pull the plate out. Running it over to the elevator,
+they lowered the heavy mass, disconnected the cable, and rode down to
+Arcot's laboratory. Again the I-beam and handling machine were brought
+into play, and the plate was unloaded from the car. The five men
+gathered around the amazing souvenir from another world.
+
+"I'm with Wade in wondering how you knew the plate was magnetic, son,"
+commented the elder Arcot. "I can accept your explanation that the stuff
+is a kind of matter made of light, but I know you too well to think it
+was just a lucky guess. How did you know?"
+
+"It really was pretty much of a guess, Dad, though there was some logic
+behind the thought. You ought to be able to trace down the idea! How
+about you, Morey?" Arcot smiled at his friend.
+
+"I've kept discreetly quiet," replied Morey, "feeling that in silence I
+could not betray my ignorance, but since you ask me, I can guess too. I
+seem to recall that light is affected by a powerful magnet, and I can
+imagine that that was the basis for your guess. It has been known for
+many years, as far back as Clerk Maxwell, that polarized light can be
+rotated by a powerful magnet."
+
+"That's it! And now we may as well go over the whole story, and tell Dad
+and your father all that happened. Perhaps in the telling, we can
+straighten out our own ideas a bit."
+
+For the next hour the three men talked, each telling his story, and
+trying to explain the whys and wherefores of what he had seen. In the
+end all agreed on one point: if they were to fight this enemy, they
+_must_ have ships that could travel though space with speed to match
+that of the invaders, ships with a self-contained source of power.
+
+During a brief lull in the conversation, Morey commented rather
+sarcastically: "I wonder if Arcot will now kindly explain his famous
+invisible light, or the lost star?" He was a bit nettled by his own
+failure to remember that a star could go black. "I can't see what
+connection this has with their sudden attack. If they were there, they
+must have developed when the star was bright, and as a star requires
+millions of years to cool down, I can't see how they could suddenly
+appear in space."
+
+Before answering, Arcot reached into a drawer of his desk and pulled out
+an old blackened briar pipe. Methodically he filled it, a thoughtful
+frown on his face; then carefully lighting it, he leaned back, puffing
+out a thin column of gray smoke.
+
+"Those creatures must have developed on their planets before the sun
+cooled." He puffed slowly. "They are, then, a race millions of years
+old--or so I believe. I can't give any scientific reason for this
+feeling; it's merely a hunch. I just have a feeling that the invaders
+are old, older than our very planet! This little globe is just about two
+billion years old. I feel that that race is so very ancient they may
+well have counted the revolutions of our galaxy as, once every twenty or
+thirty million years, it swung about its center.
+
+"When I looked at those great machines, and those comparatively little
+beings as they handled their projectors, they seemed out of place. Why?"
+He shrugged. "Again, just a hunch, an impression." He paused again, and
+the slow smoke drifted upward.
+
+"If I'm granted the premise that a black, dead star is approaching the
+Solar System, then my theorizing may seem more logical. You agree?" The
+listeners nodded and Arcot continued. "Well--I had an idea--and when I
+went downstairs for the handling machine, I called the Lunar
+Observatory." He couldn't quite keep a note of triumph out of his voice.
+"Gentlemen--some of the planets have been misbehaving! The outermost
+planets, and even some of those closer to the sun have not been moving
+as they should. A celestial body of appreciable mass _is_ approaching
+the System; though thus far nothing has been seen of the visitor!"
+
+A hubbub of excited comment followed this startling revelation. Arcot
+quieted them with an upraised hand. "The only reason you and the world
+at large haven't heard about this as yet is the fact that the
+perturbation of the planets is so very slight that the astronomers
+figured they might have made an error in calculation. They're
+rechecking now for mistakes.
+
+"To get back to my visualization--It must have been many millions of
+years ago that life developed on the planets of the black star, a warm
+sun then, for it was much younger. It was probably rather dim as suns go
+even its younger days. Remember, our own sun is well above average in
+brilliance and heat radiation.
+
+"In those long-gone ages I can imagine a race much like ours developing,
+differing chemically, in their atmosphere of hydrogen; but the chemical
+body is not what makes the race, it's the thought process. They must
+have developed, and then as their science grew, their sun waned. Dimmer
+and dimmer it became, until their planets could not maintain life
+naturally. Then they had to heat them artificially. There is no question
+as to their source of power; they had to use the energy of matter--so
+called atomic energy--for no other source would be great enough to do
+what had to be done. It is probable that their science had developed
+this long before their great need arose.
+
+"With this must also have come the process of transmutation, and the
+process they use in driving their interstellar cruisers. I am sure those
+machines are driven by material energy.
+
+"But at last their star was black, a closed star, and their cold, black
+planets must circle a hot, black sun forever! They were trapped for
+eternity unless they found a way to escape to some other stellar system.
+They could not travel as fast as light, and they could escape only if
+they found some near-by solar system. Their star was dead--black. Let's
+call it Nigra--the Black One--since like every other star it should have
+a name. Any objection?"
+
+There was none, so Arcot continued:
+
+"Now we come to an impossibly rare coincidence. That two suns in their
+motion should approach each other is beyond the point of logic. That
+both suns have a retinue of planets approaches the height of the
+ridiculous. Yet that is what is happening right now. And the Nigrans--if
+that's the correct term--have every intention of taking advantage of
+the coincidence. Since our sun has been visible to them for a long, long
+time, and the approaching proximity of the suns evident, they had lots
+of time to prepare.
+
+"I believe this expedition was just an exploratory one; and if they can
+send such huge machines and so many of them, for mere exploration, I'm
+sure they must have quite a fleet to fight with.
+
+"We know little about their weapons. They have that death ray, but it's
+not quite as deadly as we might have feared, solely because our ships
+could outmaneuver them. Next time, logically, they'll bring with them a
+fleet of little ships, carried in the bellies of those giants, and
+they'll be a real enemy. We'll have to anticipate their moves and build
+to circumvent them.
+
+"As for their ray, I believe I have an idea how it works. You're all
+familiar with the catalytic effects of light. Hydrogen and chlorine will
+stand very peacefully in the same jar for a long time, but let a strong
+light fall on them, and they combine with terrific violence. This is the
+catalytic effect of a vibration, a wave motion. Then there is such a
+thing as negative catalysis. In a certain reaction, if a third element
+or compound is introduced, all reaction is stopped. I believe that's the
+principle of the Nigran death ray; it's a catalyst that simply stops the
+chemical reactions of a living body, and these are so delicately
+balanced that the least resistance will upset them."
+
+Arcot halted, and sat puffing furiously for a moment. During his
+discourse the pipe had died to an ember; with vigorous puffing he tried
+to restore it. At last he had it going and continued.
+
+"What other weapons they have we cannot say. The secret of invisibility
+must be very old to them. But we'll guard against the possibility by
+equipping our ships against it. The only reason the patrol ships aren't
+equipped already is that invisibility is useless with modern criminals;
+they all know the secret and how to fight it."
+
+Morey interrupted with a question.
+
+"Arcot, it's obvious that we have to get out into space to meet the
+enemy--and we'll have to have freedom of movement there. How are we
+going to do it? I was wondering if we could use Wade's system of storing
+the atomic hydrogen in solution. That yields about 100,000 calories for
+every two grams, and since this is a method of storing heat energy, and
+your molecular motion director is a method of converting heat into
+mechanical work with 100 per cent efficiency, why not use that? All we
+need, really, is a method of storing heat energy for use while we're in
+space."
+
+Arcot exhaled slowly before answering, watching the column of smoke
+vanish into the air.
+
+"I thought of that, and I've been trying to think of other, and if
+possible, better, cheaper, and quicker ways of getting the necessary
+power.
+
+"Let's eliminate the known sources one by one. The usual ones, the ones
+men have been using for centuries, go out at once. The atomic hydrogen
+reaction stores more energy per gram than any other chemical reaction
+known. Such things as the storage battery, the electro-static condenser,
+the induction coil, or plain heat storage, are worthless to us. The only
+other method of storing energy we know of is the method used by the
+Kaxorians in driving their huge planes.
+
+"They use condensed light-energy. This is efficient to the ultimate
+maximum, something no other method can hope to attain. Yet they need
+huge reservoirs to store it. The result is still ineffective for our
+purpose; we want something we can put in a small space; we want to
+condense the light still further. That will be the ideal form of energy
+storage, for then we will be able to release it directly as a heat ray,
+and so use it with utmost efficiency. I think we can absorb the released
+energy in the usual cavity radiator."
+
+A queer little smile appeared on Arcot's face. "Remember--what we want
+is light in a more condensed form, a form that is naturally stable, and
+that does not need to be held in a bound state, but actually requires
+urging to bring about the release of energy. For example--"
+
+A shout from Wade interrupted him. "That's really rare! _Whoo_--I have
+to hand it to you! That takes all the prizes!" He laughed delightedly.
+In puzzled wonder Morey and the two older men looked at him, and at
+Arcot who was grinning broadly now.
+
+"Well, I suppose it must be funny," Morey began, then hesitated. "Oh--I
+see--say, that _is_ good!" He turned to his father. "I see now what he's
+been driving at. It's been right here under our noses all the time.
+
+"The light-matter windows we found in the wrecked enemy ships contain
+enough bound light-energy to run all the planes we could make in the
+next ten years! We're going to have the enemy supply us with power we
+can't get in any other way. I can't decide, Arcot, whether you deserve a
+prize for ingenuity, or whether we should receive booby-prizes for our
+stupidity."
+
+Arcot Senior smiled at first, then looked dubiously at his son.
+
+"There's definitely plenty of the right kind of energy stored there--but
+as you suggested, the energy will need encouragement to break free. Any
+ideas?"
+
+"A couple. I don't know how they'll work, of course; but we can try."
+Arcot puffed at his pipe, serious now as he thought of the problems
+ahead.
+
+Wade interposed a question. "How do you suppose they condense that light
+energy in the first place, and, their sun being dead, whence all the
+light? Back to the atom, I suppose."
+
+"You know as much as I do, of course, but I'm sure they must break up
+matter for its energy. As for the condensation problem, I think I have a
+possible solution of that too--it's the key to the problem of release.
+There's a lot we don't know now--but we'll have a bigger store of
+knowledge before this war is over--if we have anything at all!" he added
+grimly. "It's possible that man may lose knowledge, life, his planets
+and sun--but there's still plenty of hope. We're not finished yet."
+
+"How do you think they got their energy loose?" asked
+
+Wade. "Do you think those big blocks of what appeared to be silver were
+involved in the energy release?"
+
+"Yes, I do. Those blocks were probably designed to carry away the power
+once it was released. How the release was accomplished, though, I don't
+know. They couldn't use material apparatus to start their release of
+material energy; the material of the apparatus might 'catch fire' too.
+They had to have the disintegrating matter held apart from all other
+matter. This was quite impossible, if you are going to get the energy
+away by any method other than by the use of fields of force. I don't
+think that is the method. My guess is that a terrific current of
+electricity would accomplish it if anything would.
+
+"How then are we going to get the current to it? The wires will be
+subject to the same currents. Whatever they do to the matter involved,
+the currents will do to the apparatus--except in one case. If that
+apparatus is made of _some other kind of matter_, then it wouldn't be
+affected. The solution is obvious. Use some of the light-matter. What
+will destroy light-matter, won't destroy electricity-matter, and what
+will destroy electricity-matter, won't disturb light-matter.
+
+"Do you remember the platform of light-metal, clear as crystal? It must
+have been an insulating platform. What we started as our assumptions in
+the case of the light-metal, we can now carry further. We said that
+electricity-metals carried electricity, so light-metals would carry or
+conduct light. Now we know that there is no substance which is
+transparent to light, that will carry electricity by metallic
+conduction. I mean, of course, that there is no substance transparent to
+light, and at the same time capable of carrying electricity by
+electronic transmission. True, we have things like NaCl solutions in
+ordinary H_{2}O which will carry electricity, but here it's ionic
+conduction. Even glass will carry electricity very well when hot; when
+red hot, glass will carry enough electricity to melt it very quickly.
+But again, glass is not a solid, but a viscous liquid, and it is again
+carried by ionic conduction. Iron, copper, sodium, silver, lead--all
+metals carry the current by means of electron drift through the solid
+material. In such cases we can see that no transparent substance
+conducts electricity.
+
+"Similarly, the reverse is true. No substance capable of carrying
+electricity by metallic conduction is transparent. All are opaque, if in
+any thickness. Of course, gold is transparent when in leaf form--but
+when it's that thin it won't conduct very much! The peculiar condition
+we reach in the case of the invisible ship is different. There the
+effects are brought about by the high frequency impressed. But you get
+my point.
+
+"Do you remember those wires that we saw leading to that little box of
+the reflecting material? So perfectly reflecting it was that we didn't
+see it. We only saw where it must be; we saw the light it reflected.
+That was no doubt light-matter, a non-metal, and as such, non-conductive
+to light. Like sulphur, an electric non-metal, it reflected the base of
+which it was formed. Sulphur reflects the base of which it was formed.
+Sulphur reflects electricity and--in the crystalline form--passes light.
+This light-non-metal did the same sort of thing; it reflected light and
+passed electricity. It was a conductor.
+
+"Now we have the things we need, the matter to disintegrate, and the
+matter to hold the disintegrating material in. We have two different
+types of matter. The rest is obvious--but decidedly not easy. They have
+done it, though; and after the war is over, there should be many of
+their machines drifting about in space waiting to give up their
+secrets."
+
+Arcot Senior clapped his son on the back. "A fair foundation on which to
+start, anyway. But I think it's time now that you got working on your
+problem; and since I'm officially retired, I'm going downstairs. You
+know I'm working in my lab on a method to increase the range and power
+of your projector for the molecular motion field. Young Norris is
+helping me, and he really has ideas. I'll show you our math later."
+
+The party broke up, the three younger men staying in their own labs, the
+older men leaving.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+
+The three immediately set to work. At Arcot's suggestion, Wade and Morey
+attacked the plate of crystal in an attempt to tear off a small piece,
+on which they might work. Arcot himself went into the televisophone room
+and put through a second call to the Tychos Observatory, the great
+observatory that had so recently been established on the frigid surface
+of the Moon. The huge mirror, twenty feet in diameter, allowed an
+immense magnification, and stellar observations were greatly
+facilitated, for no one bothered them, and the "seeing" was always
+perfect.
+
+However, the great distance was rather a handicap to the ordinary
+televisophone stations, and all calls put through to the astronomers had
+to be made through the powerful sending station in St. Louis, where all
+interplanetary messages were sent and received, while that side of the
+Earth was facing the station; and from Constantinople, when that city
+faced the satellite. These stations could bridge the distance readily
+and clearly.
+
+For several minutes Arcot waited while connections were being made with
+the Moon; then for many more minutes he talked earnestly with the
+observer in this distant station, and at last satisfied, he hung up.
+
+He had outlined his ideas concerning the black star, based upon the
+perturbation of the planets; then he had asked them to investigate the
+possibilities, and see if they could find any blotting out of stars by a
+lightless mass.
+
+Finally he returned to Morey and Wade who had been working on the
+crystal plate. Wade had an expression of exasperation on his face, and
+Morey was grinning broadly.
+
+"Hello, Arcot--you missed all the fun! You should have seen Wade's
+struggle with that plate!" The plate, during his absence, had been
+twisted and bent, showing that it had undergone some terrific stresses.
+Now Wade began to make a series of highly forceful comments about the
+properties of the plate in language that was not exactly scientific. It
+had value, though, in that it seemed to relieve his pent-up wrath.
+
+"Why, Wade, you don't seem to like that stuff. Maybe the difficulty lies
+in your treatment, rather than in the material itself. What have you
+tried?"
+
+"Everything! I took a coronium hack saw that will eat through molybdenum
+steel like so much cheese, and it just wore its teeth off. I tried some
+of those diamond rotary saws you have, attached to an electric motor,
+and it wore out the diamonds. That got my goat, so I tried using a
+little force. I put it in the tension testing machine, and clamped
+it--the clamp was good for 10,000,000 pounds--but it began to bend, so I
+had to quit. Then Morey held it with a molecular beam, and I tried
+twisting it. Believe me, it gave me real pleasure to see that thing
+yield under the pressure. But it's not brittle; it merely bends.
+
+"And I can't cut it, or even get some shavings off the darned thing. You
+said you wanted to make a Jolly balance determination of the specific
+gravity, but the stuff is so dense you'd need only a tiny scrap--and I
+can't break it loose!" Wade looked at the plate in thorough disgust.
+
+Arcot smiled sympathetically; he could understand his feelings, for the
+stuff certainly was stubborn. "I'm sorry I didn't warn you fellows about
+what you'd run into, but I was so anxious to get that call through to
+the Moon that I forgot to tell you how I expected to make it workable.
+Now, Wade, if you'll get another of those diamond-tooth rotary saws,
+I'll get something that may help. Put the saw on the air motor. Use the
+one made of coronium."
+
+Wade looked after the rapidly disappearing Arcot with raised eyebrows,
+then, scratching his head, he turned and did as Arcot had asked.
+
+Arcot returned in about five minutes with a small handling machine, and
+a huge magnet. It must have weighed nearly half a ton. This he quickly
+connected to the heavy duty power lines of the lab. Now, running the
+handling machine into position, he quickly hoisted the bent and twisted
+plate to the poles of the magnet, with the aid of the derrick. Then
+backing the handling machine out of the way, he returned briskly to his
+waiting associates.
+
+"Now we'll see what we will see!" With a confident smile Arcot switched
+on the current of the big magnet. At once a terrific magnetic flux was
+set up through the light-metal. He took the little compressed-air saw,
+and applied it to the crystal plate. The smooth hiss of the air deepened
+to a harsh whine as the load came on it, then the saw made contact with
+the refractory plate.
+
+Unbelievingly Wade saw the little diamond-edge saw bite its way slowly
+but steadily into the plate. In a moment it had cut off a little corner
+of the light-matter, and this fell with a heavy thud to the magnet pole,
+drawn down by the attraction of the magnet and by gravity.
+
+Shutting off the magnet, Arcot picked up a pair of pliers and gripped
+the little fragment.
+
+"Whew--light-metal certainly isn't light metal! I'll bet this little
+scrap weights ten pounds! We'll have to reduce it considerably before we
+can use it. But that shouldn't be too difficult."
+
+By using the magnet and several large diamond faceplates they were able
+to work the tough material down to a thin sheet; then with a heavy
+press, they cut some very small fragments, and with these, determined
+the specific gravity.
+
+"Arcot," Wade asked finally, "just how does the magnet make that stuff
+tractable? I'm not physicist enough to figure out what takes place
+inside the material."
+
+"Magnetism worked as it did," Arcot explained, "because in this
+light-matter every photon is affected by the magnetism, and every photon
+is given a new motion. That stuff can be made to go with the speed of
+light, you know. It's the only solid that could be so affected. This
+stuff should be able, with the aid of a molecular motion beam, which
+will make all the photons move in parallel paths, to move at the full
+speed of each photon--186,000 miles a second. The tremendous speed of
+these individual photons is what makes the material so hard. Their
+kinetic impulse is rather considerable! It's the kinetic blow that the
+molecules of a metal give that keeps other metal from penetrating it.
+This simply gives such powerful impulse that even diamonds wouldn't cut
+it.
+
+"You know that an iron saw will cut platinum readily, yet if both are
+heated to say, 1600 degrees, the iron is a liquid, and the platinum very
+soft--but now the platinum cuts through the iron!
+
+"Heat probably won't have any effect on this stuff, but the action of
+the magnet on the individual photons corresponds to the effect of the
+heat on the individual atoms and molecules. The mass is softened, and we
+can work it. At least, that's the way I figure it out.
+
+"But now, Wade, I wish you'd see if you can determine the density of the
+stuff. You're more used to those determinations and that type of
+manipulation than we are. When you get through, we may be able to show
+you some interesting results ourselves!"
+
+Wade picked up a tiny chip of the light-metal and headed for his own
+laboratory. Here he set up his Jolly balance, and began to work on the
+fragment. His results were so amazing that he checked and rechecked his
+work, but always with the same answer. Finally he returned to the main
+lab where Arcot and Morey were busy at the construction of a large and
+complicated electro-static apparatus.
+
+"What did you find?" called out Arcot, as he saw Wade reenter the room.
+"Hold your report a second and give us a hand here, will you? I have a
+laboratory scale apparatus of the type the Kaxorians used in the storage
+of light. They've known, ever since they began working with them, that
+their machines would release the energy with more than normal violence,
+if certain changes were made in them. That is, the light condenser, the
+device that stored the photons so close to each other, would also serve
+to urge them apart. I've made the necessary changes, and now I'm trying
+to set up the apparatus to work on solid light-matter. It was developed
+for gaseous material, and it's a rather tricky thing to change it over.
+But I think we've almost got it.
+
+"Wade, will you connect that to the high frequency oscillator
+there--no--through that counterbalanced condenser. We may have to change
+the oscillator frequency quite a bit, but a variable condenser will do
+that.
+
+"Now, what results did you get?"
+
+Wade shook his head doubtfully. "We all know it's amazing stuff--and of
+course, it must be heavy--but still--well, anyway, I got a density of
+103.5!"
+
+"Whewww--103.5! Lord! That's almost five times as heavy as the heaviest
+metal hitherto known. There's about half a cubic foot of the material;
+that would mean about 4000 pounds for the whole mass, or two tons. No
+wonder we couldn't lift the plate!"
+
+They stopped their work on the Kaxorian apparatus to discuss the amazing
+results of the density test, but now they fell to again, rapidly
+assembling the device, for each was a trained experimenter. With all but
+the final details completed, Arcot stood back and surveyed their
+handiwork.
+
+"I think we'll have enough urge to cause disintegration right here," he
+said, "but I want to make sure, and so, before we set up the case over
+it, I think we may as well put that big magnet in place, and have it
+there to help in the work of disintegration, if need be."
+
+At last the complete apparatus was set up, and the tiny bit of
+light-matter they were to work on was placed on the table of a powerful
+Atchinson projector microscope, the field of view being in the exact
+center of the field of both the magnet and the coil. Carefully, then,
+step by step, Arcot, Morey and Wade went over their work, checking and
+rechecking.
+
+"Well, we're ready," said Arcot finally, as he placed the projector
+screen in position and dimmed the lights in the room. A touch of the
+switch, and the projection screen was illuminated with the greatly
+enlarged image of the tiny scrap of light-metal.
+
+With his hand on the switch, Arcot spoke to the other two. "I won't say
+there's _no_ danger, since we haven't done this before; and if all the
+energy should be released at once, it'll blow the top out of the
+building. But I'm reasonably sure that it will work safely. Any
+objections?"
+
+Wade shook his head, and Morey said: "I can't see any flaws in our
+work."
+
+Arcot nodded, and unconsciously tensing, he closed the switch. This put
+the powerful Arcot oscillator tubes into action, and the power was ready
+for application.
+
+Slowly he closed the rheostat and put the power into the coil. The
+little sliver of metal on the slide seemed to throb a bit, and its
+outline grew hazy; but at last, with full power on, the release was so
+slow as to be imperceptible.
+
+"Guess we need the magnet after all; I'll put it on this time."
+
+He opened the coil circuit and closed the magnet circuit at half
+voltage, then again he increased the current through the rheostat. This
+time the plate throbbed quite violently, it took the appearance of a bit
+of iodine. Dense vapors began pouring from it, and instantly those
+vapors became a blindingly brilliant flood of light. Arcot had snapped
+open the switch the moment he saw this display start, and it had had
+little time to act, for the instant the circuit was opened, it subsided.
+But even in that brief time, the light aluminum screen had suddenly
+become limp and slumped down, molten! The room was unbearably hot, and
+the men were half blinded by the intensity of the light.
+
+"It works!" yelled Wade. "It works! That sure was hot, too--it's
+roasting in here." He flung open a window. "Let's have some air."
+
+Arcot and Morey gripped hands with a broad grin. That display meant that
+Earth and Venus would have space ships with which to fight space ships.
+Reason enough for their joy.
+
+Though they had made an unusual amount of progress already, there was
+still a great deal of development work to be done. Fuller was needed,
+Arcot decided, so he called the elder Morey and requested his services
+if he could be spared from his present work. He could, and would arrive
+later that day.
+
+When Fuller appeared about mid-afternoon, he found the three friends
+already at work on the development of a more compact apparatus than the
+makeshift hookup used in making that first release mechanism.
+
+"And so you can see," said Arcot as he finished his summary of their
+work to that point, "we still have quite a job ahead of us. I'm now
+trying to find some data for you to work on, but I can tell you this:
+We'll need a ship that has plenty of strength and plenty of speed. There
+will be the usual power plant, of course; the generators, the power-tube
+board, and the electro-magnetic relays for the regular molecular motion
+controls. Then, in addition, we must have controls for the ray
+projector, though that must wait a while, for Dad is working on a method
+of doubling our range.... Oh yes, the driving units will be inside the
+ship now, for all our power will come from the energy of the
+light-matter."
+
+They spent the next hour in discussing the manifold details involved in
+the design of their space ship: the mechanism involved in transferring
+the light-energy to the drivers; a means of warming the ship in
+interstellar space; a main horizontal drive for forward and backward
+motion as well as braking; three smaller vertical power units to give
+them freedom of direction in climb or descent; other smaller horizontal
+power units for turning and moving sideways.
+
+The ships, they decided, must be capable of six or seven thousand miles
+a second. They would need three types of ships: a small single-man
+speedster, without bunk or living quarters, simply a little power plant
+and weapon. Designed for speed and mobility, it would be very hard to
+hit, and because of its own offensive power would be dangerous to the
+enemy. They would need a fleet of mother ships--ships that would hold
+both the speedsters and their pilots--say thirty to a cruiser. There
+would also be some ten-man scouts, operating in the same manner as the
+larger cruisers, but with a smaller fleet of speedsters dependent on
+them.
+
+"For defense," Arcot concluded, "we'll have to depend on armor as heavy
+as we can make and still remain within the bounds of practical
+construction. I don't believe we'll be able to build up enough mass to
+insulate against their negative catalysis ray. We'll have to depend on
+mobility and offense.
+
+"But now let's get back to work. I think, Fuller, that you might call in
+the engineers of all the big aircraft and machine tool manufacturers and
+fabricators, and have them ready to start work at once when the plans
+are finally drawn up. You'd better get in touch with the Venerian
+producers, too. Those new works in Sorthol, Kaxor, will certainly be
+able to help a lot.
+
+"I suppose the Interplanetary Patrol men will have something to say, so
+they better be called in. Likewise the Venerian Council. Morey, maybe
+your dad can handle some of this."
+
+As one they arose and set to work on their respective tasks--the
+planning and building of the Earth-Venus war fleet.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+
+Despite their utmost endeavor and the hard work of the industrial might
+of two worlds, it was nearly six weeks before the fleet had grown to a
+thing of importance. The tests to which they subjected the tiny
+speedsters had been more than satisfactory. They behaved wonderfully,
+shooting about at terrific speed, and with all the acceleration a pilot
+could stand. These speedsters were literally piloted projectiles, and
+their amazing mobility made them a powerful arm of offense.
+
+There came into being a special corp dubbed, oddly enough, the "Rocket
+Squad", a group of men who could stand plenty of "G's". This "Rocket
+Squad" was composed solely of Terrestrians, for they were accustomed to
+the gravity of Earth and could stand greater acceleration strains than
+could the Venerians. The pick of the Air Patrol formed the nucleus of
+this new military organization; and in short order, so great is the
+appeal of the new and novel, the cream of the young men of the planet
+were competing for a place among the Rocketeers.
+
+Each ship, both speedster and mother craft, was equipped with an
+invisibility locator, a sensitive short-wave directional receiver, that
+would permit the operator to direct his rays at invisible targets. The
+ships themselves could not be made invisible, since they depended in
+their very principle on the absorption of light-energy. If the walls of
+every part of the ship were perfectly transparent, they could absorb no
+energy at all, and they would still be plainly visible--even more so
+than before! They must remain visible, but they could also force the
+enemy to remain visible.
+
+Each ten-man ship carried an old-fashioned cannon that was equipped to
+hurl cannisters carrying the luminous paint. They decided that these
+would have advantages, even if the invaders did not use invisibility,
+for in space a ship is visible only because it reflects or emits light.
+For this reason the ships were not equipped with any portholes except in
+the pilot room and at the observation posts. No light could escape. To
+reduce the reflection to the absolute minimum, the ships had each been
+painted with a 99% absorptive black. In space they would be exceedingly
+difficult targets.
+
+The heating effect of the sun on the black pigment when near the great
+star was rather disagreeably intense, and to cool the speedsters they
+had installed molecular director power units, which absorbed the heat
+and used the energy to drive the ship. Heaters offset the radiation loss
+of the black surface when too far from the sun.
+
+Each of the speedsters was equipped with a small machine-gun shooting
+luminous paint bullets. One of these, landing on another craft, made it
+visible for at least two hours, and since they could cover an area of
+about thirty feet, they were decidedly effective.
+
+It was found that ray practice was rather complicated. The government
+had ranges set up in great mountain districts away from any valuable
+property, but they soon found that spatial warplay could not be carried
+on on Earth. The rays very quickly demolished the targets, and in a
+short time made good progress toward demolishing the mountains as well.
+The problem was solved by using the barren surface of the moon and the
+asteroid belt beyond Mars as a proving ground.
+
+The ships were sent out in squadrons as fast as they could be finished
+and the men could be brought together and trained. They were
+establishing a great shield of ships across all that section of the
+system whence the Nigrans had appeared, and they hoped to intercept the
+next attack before it reached Earth, for they were certain the next
+attack would be in full force.
+
+Arcot had gone to the conference held on Venus with the other men who
+had investigated the great wrecks, and each scientist had related his
+view of things and had offered suggestions. Arcot's idea of the black
+star was not very favorably received. As he later told Wade and Morey,
+who had not gone, there was good reason for their objection to his idea.
+Though the scientists were willing to admit that the invaders must have
+come from a great distance, and they agreed that they lived in an
+atmosphere of hydrogen, and judging from their pale skins, that they
+were not used to the rays of a sun, they still insisted on the theory of
+an outer planet of Sol.
+
+"You remember," explained Arcot, "several years ago there was
+considerable discussion about the existence of a planet still further
+out from the sun than Pluto. It is well known that there are a number of
+irregularities in the orbits of Neptune and Pluto that can't be caused
+by known planets, and an outer planet could have the necessary mass and
+orbit to account for them.
+
+"This attack from outer space was immediately taken as proof of that
+theory, and it was very easily supported, too. My one good point that
+stood for any length of time under their attacks was the fact that those
+ships weren't developed in a year, nor a century, and that the chemical
+constitution of the men was so different. There were no new elements
+discovered, except the light-matter, but they are rather wondering about
+the great difference of earthly chemical constitution and the
+constitution of these invaders.
+
+"They had one argument that was just about enough to throw mine out,
+though they pointed to the odds against the thing happening. You know,
+of course, how planets are formed? They are the results of tidal action
+on two passing suns.
+
+"You can imagine two mighty stars careening through space and then
+drawing slowly nearer, till at last they come within a few billion miles
+of each other, and their gigantic masses reach out and bind them with a
+mighty chain of gravity. Their titanic masses swing about each other,
+each trying to pull free, and continue its path about the center of the
+galactic system. But as their huge bulks come nearer, the chains that
+bind them become stronger and stronger, and the tremendous pull of the
+one gargantuan fire ball on the other raises titanic tides of flame.
+Great streamers of gas shoot out, and all the space about is lighted by
+the flaming suns. The pull of gravity becomes more and more intense, and
+as the one circles the other, the tide is pulled up, and the mighty ball
+of fire, which, for all its existence has been practically motionless as
+far as rotation goes, begins to acquire a greater and greater rotational
+speed as the tidal drag urges it on. The flames begin to reach higher
+and higher, and the tides, now urged from the sun by centrifugal force,
+rise into an ever greater crest, and as the swinging suns struggle to
+break loose, the flaming gas is pulled up and up, and becomes a mighty
+column of fire, a column that reaches out across three--four--a dozen
+millions of miles of space and joins the two stars at last, as
+stalactites and stalagmites grow together. A flaming tie of matter joins
+them, two titanic suns, and a mighty rope of fire binds them, while far
+mightier chains of gravity hold them together.
+
+"But now their original velocity reasserts itself, and having spiraled
+about each other for who can say how long--a year--a million years
+seems more probable--but still only an instant in the life of a
+star--they begin to draw apart, and the flaming column is stretched out,
+and ever thinner it grows, and the two stars at last separate. But now
+the gas will never fall back into the sun. Like some giant flaming cigar
+it reaches out into space and it will stay thus, for it has been set in
+rotation about the sun at such a speed as is needed to form an orbit.
+The giant mass of gas is, however, too cool to continue to develop
+energy from matter, for it was only the surface of the sun, and cool. As
+it cools still further, there appear in it definite condensations, and
+the beginnings of the planets are there. The great filament that
+stretched from the sun to sun was cigar-shaped, and so the matter is
+more plentiful toward the center, and larger planets develop. Thus
+Jupiter and Saturn are far larger than any of the others. The two ends
+are tapering, thus Earth is larger than Venus, which is larger than
+Mercury, and Uranus and Neptune are both smaller than Saturn, Pluto
+being smaller than either.
+
+"Mars and the asteroids are hard to explain. Perhaps it is easier to
+understand when we remember that the planets thus formed must
+necessarily have been rotating in eccentric orbits when they were first
+born, and these planets came too near the sun while gaseous, or nearly
+so, and Mars lost much of its matter, while the other, which now exists
+only as the asteroids, broke up.
+
+"But now that other flaming star has retired, wandering on through
+space. The star has left its traces, for behind it there are planets
+where none existed before. But remember that it, too, must have planets
+now.
+
+"All this happened some 2,000 million years ago.
+
+"But in order that it might happen, it requires that two stars pass
+within the relatively short distance of a few billion miles of each
+other. Space is not overcrowded with matter, you know. The density of
+the stars has been compared with twenty tennis balls roaming about
+8,000-mile sphere that the Earth fills up--twenty tennis balls in some
+270 billion cubic miles of space. Now imagine two of those tennis
+balls--with plenty of room to wander in--passing within a few yards of
+each other. The chances are about as good as the chances of two stars
+passing close enough to make planets.
+
+"Now let us consider another possibility.
+
+"The Black Star, as I told you, has planets. That means that it must
+have thus passed close to another star. Now we have it coming close to
+another sun that has been similarly afflicted. The chances of that
+happening are inconceivably small. It is one chance in billions that the
+planets will form. Two stars must pass close to each other, when they
+have all space to wander about in. Then those afflicted stars separate,
+and one of them passes close by a new star, which has thus been
+similarly afflicted with that one chance in billions--well, that is then
+a chance in billions of billions.
+
+"So my theory was called impossible. I don't know but what it is.
+Besides, I thought of an argument the other men didn't throw at me. I'm
+surprised they didn't, too--the explanation of the strange chemical
+constitution of these men of a solar system planet would not be so
+impossible. It is quite possible that they live on a planet revolving
+about the sun which is, nevertheless, a planet of another star. It is
+quite conceivable to me that the chemical constitution of Neptune and
+Pluto will be found to be quite different from that of the rest of our
+planets. The two filaments drawn out from the suns may not have mingled,
+though I think they did, but it is quite conceivable that, just before
+parting, our sun tore one planet, or even two or three, from the other
+star.
+
+"And that would explain these strange beings.
+
+"My other ideas were accepted. The agreed-on plan for the release of
+energy, and the source of the power." Arcot puffed on his pipe
+meditatively for several moments, then stood up and stretched.
+
+"Ho--I wish they'd let me go on active duty with the space fleet! A
+scientific reputation can be an awful handicap at times," he grinned. He
+had been rejected very emphatically when he had tried to enlist. The
+Interplanetary governments had stated flatly that he was too important
+as a scientist to be risked as a pilot of a space ship.
+
+On two worlds the great construction plants were humming with activity.
+Civilian production of all but the barest essentials had been put aside
+for the duration of the emergency. Space ships were being turned out at
+top speed, getting their fuel from the wrecks of the invaders' cruisers.
+Each ship needed only a small amount of the light-metal, for the energy
+content was tremendous. And those ships had been gigantic.
+
+Already there was a fleet of speedsters and mother ships out there in
+space, and with every passing hour others left the home planets, always
+adding to the fighting force that was to engage the attackers deep in
+space, where no stray ships might filter through to destroy the cities
+of Earth or Venus. Assembly lines were now turning out ships so rapidly
+that the training of their operators was the most serious problem. This
+difficulty had finally been overcome by a very abbreviated training
+course in the actual manipulation of the controls on the home planets,
+and subsequent training as the squadrons raced on their outward courses.
+
+It was soon decided that there must be another service beside that of
+the ordinary ships. One plant was devoted to making huge interstellar
+liners. These giants, made on Venus, were nearly a quarter of a mile
+long, and though diminutive in comparison with the giant Nigran ships,
+they were still decidedly large. Twelve of these could be completed
+within the next month, it was found; and one was immediately set aside
+as an officers' headquarters ship. It was recognized that the officers
+must be within a few hundred thousand miles of the actual engagements,
+for decisions would have to be made without too much loss of time in the
+transmission of reports.
+
+The ship must not be brought too near the front lest the officers be
+endangered and the entire engagement lost for want of the organizing
+central headquarters. The final solution had been the huge central
+control ship.
+
+The other large vessels were to be used to carry food and supplies. They
+were not to enter the engagement, for their huge size would make them as
+vulnerable to the tiny darting mites of space as the Nigran ships had
+been to the Interplanetary Patrol. The little ships could not
+conveniently stock for more than a week of engagement, then drop back to
+these warehouses of space, and go forward again for action.
+
+Throughout the long wait the officers of the Solarian forces organized
+their forces to the limit of their ability, planning each move of their
+attack. Space had been marked off into a great three-dimensional map,
+and each ship carried a small replica, the planets moving as they did in
+their orbits. The space between the planets was divided off into
+definite points in a series of Cartesian co-ordinates, the sun being the
+origin, and the plane of the elliptic being the X-Y plane.
+
+The OX line was taken pointing toward one of the brightest of the fixed
+stars that was in the plane of the elliptic. The entire solar system was
+thus marked off as had been the planets long ages before, into a system
+of three dimensional latitude and longitude. This was imperative, in
+order to assure the easy location of the point of first attack, and to
+permit the entire fleet to come into position there. A scattered guard
+was to remain free, to avoid any false attacks and a later attack from a
+point millions of miles distant. Earth and Venus were each equipped with
+gigantic ray projectors, mighty weapons that could destroy anything,
+even a body as large as the Moon, at a distance of ten thousand miles.
+Still, a ship might get through, and with the death ray--what fearful
+toll might be exacted from a vast city such as Chicago--with its thirty
+millions! Or Karos, on Venus, with its fifteen and one half millions!
+
+The tension became greater and greater as with each passing day the
+populace of two worlds awaited the call from the far-flung guard. The
+main bulk of the fleet had been concentrated in the center of their
+great spherical shell of ships. They could only wait--and watch--and
+prepare! Hundreds of miles apart, yet near enough so that no ship
+except perhaps a one-man craft could pass them undetected; and behind
+them were ships with delicate apparatus that could detect any foreign
+body of any size whatever within a hundred thousand miles of them.
+
+The Solar System was prepared to repel boarders from the vast sea of
+space!
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+
+Taj Lamor gazed down at the tremendous field below him. In it lay close
+packed a great mass of ships, a concourse of Titans of Space,
+dreadnoughts that were soon to set out to win--not a nation, not even a
+world, but to conquer a solar system, and to win for their owners a vast
+new sun, a sun that would light them and heat them for long ages to
+come.
+
+Momentarily Taj Lamor's gaze followed the retreating figure of Tordos
+Gar, the Elder; a figure with stooped shoulders and bowed head. His
+quiet yet vibrant parting words still resounded in his ears:
+
+"Taj Lamor, remember what I tell you. If you win this awful war--you
+lose. As will our race. Only if you lose will you win."
+
+With a frown Taj Lamor stared down at the vast metal hulls glistening
+softly in the dull light of far-off stars, the single brightly beaming
+star that was their goal, and the dim artificial lighting system. From
+the distance came to him the tapping and humming of the working machines
+below as they strove to put the finishing touches to the great ships.
+
+He raised his eyes toward the far-off horizon, where a great yellow star
+flamed brilliantly against the black velvet of space. He thought of that
+planet where the sky had been blue--an atmosphere of such intensity that
+it colored the sky!
+
+Thoughtfully he gazed at the flaming yellow point.
+
+He had much to consider now. They had met a new race, barbarians in
+some ways, yet they had not forgotten the lessons they had learned; they
+were not decadent. Between his eon-old people and their new home stood
+these strange beings, a race so young that its age could readily be
+counted in millennia, but withal a strong, intelligent form of life. And
+to a race that had not known war for so many untold ages, it was an
+unthinkable thing that they must kill other living, intelligent beings
+in order that they might live.
+
+They had no need of moving, Tordos Gar and many others had argued; they
+could stay where they were forever, and never find any need for leaving
+their planet. This was the voice of decadence, Taj Lamor told himself;
+and he had grown to hate that voice.
+
+There were other men, men who had gone to that other solar system, men
+who had seen vast oceans of sparkling water, showering from their
+ruffled surfaces the brilliant light of a great, hot sun. They had seen
+towering masses of mountains that reached high into the blue sky of a
+natural atmosphere, their mighty flanks clothed with green growth;
+natural plants in abundance.
+
+And best of all, they had fought and seen action, such as no member of
+their race had known in untold ages. They knew Adventure and Excitement,
+and they had learned things that no member of their ancient race had
+known for millennia. They had learned the meaning of advancement and
+change. They had a new ardor, a new strength, a new emotion to drive
+them, and those who would have held them back became enthusiasts
+themselves. Enthusiasm may be contagious, but the spirit of their
+decadence was rapidly failing before this new urge. Here was their last
+chance and they must take it; they would!
+
+They had lost many men in that battle on the strange world, but their
+race was intelligent; they learned quickly, the small ships had been
+very hard targets, while their big ships were too easy to strike. They
+must have small ships, yet they must have large ships for cargo, and for
+the high speed driving apparatus. The small ships were not able to
+accelerate to the terrific speed needed. Once their velocity had been
+brought up to the desired value, it was easy to maintain it with the
+infinitely small friction of space as the only retarding force; one atom
+per cubic inch was all they must meet. This would not hold them up, but
+the great amount of fuel and the power equipment needed to accelerate to
+the desired speed could not be packed into the small ship. Into the vast
+holds of the huge ships the smaller ones were packed, long shining rows
+of little metal projectiles. Tiny they were, but they could dart and
+twist and turn as swiftly as could the ships they had met on that other
+world--tiny ships that flashed about with incredible suddenness, a
+target that seemed impossible to hit. These ships would be a match for
+those flashing motes of the Yellow Sun. Now it might be that their great
+transport and battle ships could settle down to those worlds and arrange
+them for their own people!
+
+And they had discovered new weapons, too. One of their mightiest was a
+very old apparatus, one that had been forgotten for countless ages. A
+model of it was in existence in some forgotten museum on a deserted
+planet, and with it long forgotten tomes that told of its principles,
+and of its consequences. Invisibility was now at their command. It was
+an ancient weapon, but might be exceedingly effective!
+
+And one other. They had developed a new thing! They had not learned of
+it in books, it was their invention! They did not doubt that there were
+other machines like it in their museums, but the idea was original with
+them. It was a beam of electrical oscillatory waves, projected with
+tremendous energy, and it would be absorbed by any conductor. They could
+melt a ship with this!
+
+And thus that great field had been filled with Giants of Space! And in
+each of these thousand great warships there nestled three thousand tiny
+one-man ships.
+
+Here was a sight to inspire any race!
+
+Taj Lamor watched as the last of the working machines dragged its slow
+way out of the great ships. They were finished! The men were already in
+them, waiting to start, and now there was an enthusiasm and an activity
+that had not been before; now the men were anxious to get that long
+journey completed and to be there, in that other system!
+
+Taj Lamor entered his little special car and shot swiftly down to the
+giant cruisers. He stepped out of his little craft and walked over to
+the tube conveyor ready for the trip to the nose of the great vessel.
+Behind him attendants quickly moved his car to a locked cradle berth
+beside long rows of similar vehicles.
+
+A short while later those who were to remain on the dark planet saw the
+first of the monsters of space rise slowly from the ground and leap
+swiftly forward; then as methodically as though released by automatic
+machinery, the others leaped in swift pursuit, rushing across half a
+world to the tremendous space lock that would let them out into the
+void. In a long, swift column they rushed on. Then one at a time they
+passed out into the mighty sea of space. In space they quickly formed
+and set out.
+
+As though by magic, far to the left of their flight, there suddenly
+appeared a similar flight of giant ships, and then to the right, and
+above them, another seemed to leap out of nothingness as the ships of
+other planets came into sight. Quickly they formed a vast cone about
+their leader's ship, a protecting screen, yet a powerful offensive
+formation.
+
+Endlessly, it seemed, they sped on through the darkness. Then as the
+yellow star flamed brighter and brighter before them, they slowed their
+ships till the small fliers could safely be released into space.
+
+Like a swarm of insects flying about giant birds of space the little
+ships circled the mighty masses of the battle cruisers. So huge were
+they, that in the combined mass of the fleet there rested sufficient
+gravitational attraction to force the little fliers to form orbits about
+them. And so they sped on through the void, the vast conical fleet with
+its slowly circling belt of little ships. A fleet whose counterpart had
+never entered the Solar System.
+
+It was well beyond the orbit of Pluto that the first of the Solarian
+scouts detected the approaching invasion fleet. The tension that had
+gripped Earth and Venus and their guardian ships for so long a time
+suddenly snapped; and like a great machine set into sudden motion, or a
+huge boulder, balanced, given the last push that sends it spinning with
+destructive violence down a slope, the fleet went into action.
+
+It was merely a little scout, a ten-man cruiser, that sent in the
+message of attack, and then, upon receiving headquarters' permission,
+went into action. Some of the tacticians had wanted to try to get the
+entire fleet into battle range for a surprise attack in power; but
+others felt that this could not possibly succeed. Most important, they
+decided, was the opportunity of learning if the invaders had any new
+weapons.
+
+The Nigrans had no warning, for a ten-man cruiser was invisible to them,
+though the vast bulk of their own ships stood out plainly, lighted by a
+blazing sun. No need here to make the sun stand still while the battle
+was finished! There was no change out here in all time! The first
+intimation of attack that the Nigrans had was the sudden splitting and
+destruction of the leading ship. Then, before they could realize what
+was happening, thirty-five other destructive molecular motion beams were
+tearing through space to meet them! The little ten-man cruiser and its
+flight of speedsters was in action! Twenty-one great ships crumpled and
+burst noiselessly in the void, their gases belching out into space in a
+great shining halo of light as the sun's light struck it.
+
+Unable to see their tiny enemies, who now were striking as swiftly, as
+desperately as possible, knowing that death was practically certain,
+hoping only to destroy a more equal number of the giants, they played
+their beams of death about them, taking care to miss their own ships as
+much as possible.
+
+Another ship silently crumpled, and suddenly one cruiser right in the
+line of the flight was brought to a sudden halt as all its molecules
+were reversed. The ships behind it, unable to stop so suddenly, piled
+up on it in chaotic wreckage! A vast halo of shining gas spread out
+fifty thousand miles about, blinding further the other ships, the
+radiance about them making it impossible to see their tiny enemies.
+
+Now other of the Solarian ships were coming swiftly to the attack.
+Suddenly a combination of three of the ten-man cruisers stopped another
+of the great ships instantaneously. There was another soundless crash,
+and the giant mass of wreckage that heaped suddenly up glowed dully red
+from the energy of impact.
+
+But now the little ships of the invaders got into action. They had been
+delayed by the desperate attempts of the dreadnaughts to wipe out their
+enemies with the death rays, and they could not cover the great
+distances without some delay.
+
+When a battle spreads itself out through a ten-thousand mile cube of
+space--through a thousand billion cubic miles of space--it is impossible
+to cover it instantaneously with any machine.
+
+Already nearly a hundred and fifty of the giant liners had gone into
+making that colossal mass of junk in space. They must protect the
+remaining cruisers! And it was that flight of small ships that did
+protect them. Many of the Solarians went down to death under their rays.
+The death rays were exceedingly effective, but the heat rays were not
+able to get quite as long a range, and they were easily detected by the
+invisibility locators, which meant certain destruction, for a molecular
+motion ray would be there in moments, once they had been located.
+
+The main fleet of the Solar System was already on its way, and every
+moment drew closer to this running battle, for the great ships of the
+Nigrans had, although they were entering the system cautiously, been
+going at a very high speed, as interplanetary speeds are measured. The
+entire battle had been a running encounter between the two forces. The
+Solarian force, invisible because of its small size, was certainly
+getting the better of the encounter thus far, but now that the odds were
+changing, now that the small ships had come into the fray, engaging
+them at close range, they were not having so easy time of it.
+
+It would be many hours before the full strength of the Solarian fleet
+could be brought to bear on the enemy. They were not able to retire and
+await their arrival, for they _must_ delay the Nigran fleet. If even one
+of those great ships should safely reach the two planets behind them--!
+
+But within a half hour of the original signal, the Rocket Squad had
+thrown itself into the battle with a fervor and abandon that has given
+that famous division a name that will last forever.
+
+The small fliers of the Nigrans were beginning to take an appalling toll
+in the thinning ranks of the Solarians. The coming of the Rocket Squad
+was welcome indeed! They were able to maneuver as swiftly as the enemy;
+the speedsters were harder to spot than the Solarian ten-man and
+thirty-man boats. The Solarian speedsters were even smaller than the
+comparable Nigran craft, and some of these did a tremendous amount of
+damage. The heat ray was quite ineffective against the ten-man ships,
+even when working at full capacity, when produced by the small
+generators of the Nigran one-man boats. The cruisers could absorb the
+heat and turn it into power faster than the enemy could supply it. Beams
+from the monster interstellar liners were another matter, of course.
+
+But the one-man speedsters had a truly deadly plan of attack against the
+liners. The plan was officially frowned upon because of the great risks
+the pilots must take. They directed their boats at one of the monster
+ships, all the power units on at full drive. As close to target as
+possible the man jumped from his ship, clothed, of course, in an
+altitude suit equipped with a radio transmitter and receiver.
+
+Death rays could not stop the speedsters, and with their momentum, the
+invaders could not make it less deadly with their heat beam, for,
+molten, it was still effective. A projectile weighing twenty-two tons,
+moving a hundred miles a second, can destroy anything man can lift off a
+planet! Their very speed made it impossible to dodge them, and usually
+they found their mark. As for the risk, if the Solarian forces were
+victorious, the pilots could be picked up later, provided too long a
+time had not elapsed!
+
+In the midst of the battle, the Solarians began to wonder why the Nigran
+fleet was decreasing so rapidly--certainly they had not caused all that
+damage! Then suddenly they found the answer. One of their ships--then
+another--and another fell victim to a pale red ray that showed up like a
+ghostly pillar of luminosity coming from nowhere and going nowhere! The
+answer? The invaders' ships were becoming invisible! The invisibility
+detectors were being overloaded now, and the hunt was hard, while the
+Nigrans were slipping past them and silently destroying Solarian ships!
+The molecular motion rays were quite effective on an invisible
+ship--once it had been found. They were destroying the Nigrans as
+rapidly as they were being destroyed, but they were letting some of them
+slip past! The luminous paint bombs and bullets were now called into
+play. All enemy ships were shot at with these missiles, and invisibility
+was forestalled.
+
+At long last the dark bulk of the main fleet approached, a scarcely
+visible cloud of tiny darting metal ships. The battle so far had been a
+preliminary engagement. The huge ships of the Nigrans were forced to
+stop their attack, and releasing the last of the fliers, to retire to a
+distance, protected by a screen of small ships, for they were helpless
+against the Solarian speedsters. Invisibility fell into disfavor, too,
+now that there were plenty of Solarian ships, for the Nigrans were more
+conspicuous when invisible than when visible. The radio detector could
+pick them out at once.
+
+The entire Nigran fleet was beginning to reveal the disorder and
+uncertainty that arose from desperation, for they were cornered in the
+most undesirable position possible. They were outside the Solarian
+fleet, and their ships were lighted by the glare of the sun. The
+defenders, on the other hand, were in such a position that the enemy
+could see only the "night" side of them--the shadowed side--and, as
+there was no air to diffuse the light, they were exceedingly hard to
+find. In the bargain, the radium paint was making life for the Nigrans a
+brief and flitting thing!
+
+The invaders began to pay an awful toll in this their first real
+engagement. They lacked the necessary power to cover the entire Solarian
+fleet with their death rays, and their heat weapons were of little help.
+The power of the small ships did not count for much--and the big liners
+could not use their weapons effectively for their small fliers must be
+between them and their adversary. Despite this, however, the Nigrans so
+greatly outnumbered the Earth-Venus forces that it looked as though a
+long and costly war lay ahead.
+
+At last the Solarian generals tried a ruse, a ruse they hoped would work
+on these beings; but they who never before had to plan a war in space,
+were not sure that their opponents had not had experience in the art.
+True, the Nigrans hadn't revealed any especially striking
+generalship--had, in fact, committed some inexcusable blunders--but they
+couldn't be sure. Though they didn't know it, the Solarians had the
+advantage of thousands of years of planetary warfare to rely on. This
+stood them in good stead now.
+
+The Nigrans were rallying rapidly. To their surprise, the forces of the
+Solarians were dwindling, and no matter how desperately this remnant
+fought, they could not hold back the entire force of the Nigran fliers.
+At last it appeared certain that the small ships could completely engage
+the Solarian fleet!
+
+Quickly the giant cruisers formed a great dense cone of attack, and at a
+given signal, the fliers cleared a hole for them through the great
+disc-shaped shield of the defenders. And with all their rays fanned out
+in a 100% overlap ahead of them, the Nigran fleet plunged through the
+disc of ships at close to four hundred miles per second. They broke
+through--were on their way to the unprotected planets!
+
+The Solarian ships closed the gap behind them, and eighteen of the giant
+ships burst into wreckage as powerful beams found them, but for the most
+part the remnant of the defending forces were far too busy with the
+fliers to attack the large ships. Now, as the monster engines of
+destruction raced on toward the planets still approximately two billion
+miles away, they knew that, far behind them, their fliers were engaging
+the Solarians. They had left their guard--but the guard was keeping the
+enemy occupied while they were free to drive in!
+
+Then from nowhere came the counterattack! Nearly five thousand
+thirty-man ships of Earth and Venus, invisible in the darkness of space,
+suddenly leaped into action as the dreadnoughts sped past. Their
+destroying rays played over the nigh-helpless giants, and the huge ships
+were crumbling into colossal derelicts. With the last of their guard
+stripped from them, they fell easy prey to the attackers. Faster than
+they could keep count they were losing their warships of space!
+
+The ruse had worked perfectly! Nearly all of the ten-man and one-man
+ships had been left behind them in the original disc, while all the
+thirty-man light cruisers, and a few hundred each of the ten-man and
+one-man crafts sped away to form a great ring twenty thousand miles
+farther back. The Nigran fleet had flown blindly into the ambush.
+
+There was only one thing left for them to do. They were defeated. They
+must return to their far-off black star and leave the Solarians in
+possession of their worlds. For all battle purposes their great force
+was nearly wiped out, only the fliers remained in force; and these could
+no longer be carried in the remnant of the great liners. Swiftly they
+fell back, passing again through the disc, losing thirty more vessels,
+then raced swiftly away from the fleet of their enemies.
+
+The Solarians, however, were not content. Their ships were forming in a
+giant hollow cylinder, and as the sphere of the Nigrans retreated, their
+beams playing behind them, the cylinder moved forward until it
+surrounded them, and they raced together toward the distant lightless
+sun. The Solar end of the cylinder swiftly closed, blocked by a group of
+huge ships which had taken no visible part in the battle. The Nigrans
+had stopped using their rays; and the Solarians followed in armed
+readiness, not molesting as long as they were not molested.
+
+Many days this strange flight lasted, till at last the great yellow sun,
+Sol, had faded in the distance to an unusually brilliant star. Then,
+suddenly visible out of the darkness, a strange black world loomed
+ahead, and the Nigran ships settled swiftly toward it. Through the
+airlocks the great liners settled to their planet. No action was taken
+so long as the Solarian ships were not menaced, but for eight long
+months the darting ships hung above the four englobed worlds of Nigra.
+
+Then at last the astronomers of Earth and Venus sent through the
+billions of miles of ether their message of safety. The guard could
+return home, for the sun they had been guarding would soon be too far
+from Earth or Venus to make any attack logical. Despite this, for years
+to come the fleet would guard the rim of the System, just to be sure;
+but it appeared that the suns had passed, never again to meet.
+
+A strange thing had happened during the passing of the stars. Pluto no
+longer circled Sol; it had been captured by Nigra! The great fleet
+returned to a changed Solar system. Sol was still at its center, but
+there were now ten planets, including two new ones that the sun had
+captured from Nigra in return for Pluto; and all the planets had shifted
+a bit in their orbits.
+
+What the ultimate effect on the planets will be, we cannot say as yet.
+The change thus far is certainly not very great, though a somewhat
+warmer climate exists now on Earth, and it is a bit cooler on Venus. The
+long-range difference, however, will be exceedingly interesting.
+
+The Solar System has just passed through an experience which is probably
+unique in all the history of the mighty nebula of which our sun is an
+infinitesimal part. The chances that one star, surrounded by a system of
+planets, should pass within a hundred billion miles of another star,
+similarly accompanied, was one in billions of billions. That both
+systems should have been inhabited by intelligent races--
+
+It is easy to understand why the scientists could not believe Arcot's
+theory of attack from another sun until they had actually seen those
+other worlds.
+
+In that war between two solar systems we learned much and lost much.
+Yet, in all probability we gained more than we lost, for those two
+new-old planets will mean tremendous things to us. Already scientists
+are at work in the vast museums and ancient laboratories that are on
+them, and every day new things are being discovered. We lost many men,
+but we saved our worlds, and we learned many invaluable secrets from the
+invaders. In addition, we have but scratched the surface of a science
+that is at least a thousand million years old!
+
+
+
+
+EPILOGUE
+
+
+Taj Lamor looked out across the void of space toward a fading point of
+yellow light. Far in the distance it glowed, and every second moved it
+many more miles farther from him. They had lost their struggle for life
+and a new sun, he had thought when he turned back, defeated, from that
+distant sun. But time had brought new hope.
+
+They had lost many men in that struggle, and their dwindling resources
+had been strained to the limit, but now there was hope, for a new spirit
+had been born in their race. They had fought, and lost, but they had
+gained a spirit of adventure that had been dormant for millions of
+years.
+
+Below him, in the great dim mass that was their city, he knew that many
+laboratories were in the full swing of active work. Knowledge and its
+application were being discovered and rediscovered. New uses were being
+found for old things, and their daily life was changing. It was again a
+race awake, rejuvenated by a change!
+
+As the great sea of yellow fire that was that strange sun had faded
+behind their fleeing ships, leaving their dead planets still circling a
+dead sun, he had thought their last chance was gone forever. But hope
+had reawakened, with the birth of new ideas, new ways of doing things.
+
+Tordos Gar had been right! They had lost--but in the losing, they had
+won!
+
+Taj Lamor shifted his gaze to a blazing point of light, where a titanic
+sea of flame was burning with a brilliance and power that, despite the
+greater distance, made the remote yellow sun seem pale and dim. The
+blue-white glow told of a monster star, a star far brighter than the one
+they had just left. It had become the brightest star in their heavens.
+On their ancient star charts it was listed as a red giant, named
+Tongsil-239-e, which meant it was of the fifth magnitude and very
+distant. But in the long ages that had passed since it was classified,
+it had become a mighty sun--a star in its prime.
+
+How were they to reach it? It was eight and one half light years away!
+
+Their search for the force that would swing a world from its orbit had
+at last been successful. The knowledge had come too late to aid them in
+their fight for the yellow sun, but they might yet use it--they might
+even tear their planets from their orbits, and drive them as free bodies
+across the void. It would take ages to make the trip--but long ages had
+already passed as their dark planet swung through the void. What
+difference would it make if they were or were not accompanied by a dead
+star?
+
+True, the star that was now their goal was a double star; their planets
+could not find orbits about it, but they might remedy that--they could
+tear one star free and hurl it into space, making the remaining sun
+suitable for their use.
+
+But they _would_ escape this dead sun.
+
+
+
+
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+End of Project Gutenberg's The Black Star Passes, by John W Campbell
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Black Star Passes, by John W. Campbell
+</title>
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Black Star Passes, by John W Campbell
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Black Star Passes
+
+Author: John W Campbell
+
+Illustrator: Jerome Podwil
+
+Release Date: February 27, 2007 [EBook #20707]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLACK STAR PASSES ***
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+Produced by V. L. Simpson, Greg Weeks and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
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+</pre>
+
+
+
+<p><img class="centered" src="images/cover.jpg" alt=""></p>
+
+<div class="titlepage">
+
+<h1 class="title">THE BLACK STAR PASSES</h1>
+
+<p class="author">JOHN W. CAMPBELL</p>
+
+<div class="publisher">
+ACE BOOKS, INC.
+1120 Avenue of the Americas
+New York, N.Y. 10036
+</div>
+
+<div class="copyright">
+<p>THE BLACK STAR PASSES</p>
+
+<p>Copyright, 1953, by John W. Campbell, Jr.</p>
+
+<p>Copyright, 1930, by Experimenter Publications, Inc.</p>
+
+<p>An Ace Book, by arrangement with the author.</p>
+
+<p><i>Cover art by Jerome Podwil.</i></p>
+
+<p>Printed in U.S.A.</p>
+</div>
+</div><!-- end titlepage -->
+
+<div class="indent">
+
+<h2>THREE AGAINST THE STARS</h2>
+
+<p>A sky pirate armed with superior weapons of his own invention....</p>
+
+<p>First contact with an alien race dangerous enough to threaten the
+safety of two planets....</p>
+
+<p>The arrival of an unseen dark sun whose attendant marauders aimed at
+the very end of civilization in this Solar System....</p>
+
+<p>These were the three challenges that tested the skill and minds of
+the brilliant team of scientist-astronauts Arcot, Wade, and Morey. Their
+initial adventures are a classic of science-fiction which first brought
+the name of their author, John W. Campbell, into prominence as a master
+of the inventive imagination.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="indent">
+<p><b>JOHN W. CAMPBELL</b> first started writing in 1930 when his first
+short story, <i>When the Atoms Failed</i>, was accepted by a
+science-fiction magazine. At that time he was twenty years old and still
+a student at college. As the title of the story indicates, he was even
+at that time occupied with the significance of atomic energy and nuclear
+physics.</p>
+
+<p>For the next seven years, Campbell, bolstered by a scientific
+background that ran from childhood experiments, to study at Duke
+University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote and sold
+science-fiction, achieving for himself an enviable reputation in the
+field.</p>
+
+<p>In 1937 he became the editor of <i>Astounding Stories</i> magazine
+and applied himself at once to the task of bettering the magazine and
+the field of s-f writing in general. His influence on science-fiction
+since then cannot be underestimated. Today he still remains as the
+editor of that magazine's evolved and redesigned
+successor, <i>Analog</i>.</p>
+</div>
+
+<h2 style="margin:15% 0 0">Contents</h2>
+
+<div class="toc">
+<dl>
+<dt><a href="#intro">Introduction 7</a></dt>
+
+<dt><a href="#book1">BOOK ONE</a></dt>
+<dd>Piracy Preferred 11</dd>
+
+<dt><a href="#book2">BOOK TWO</a></dt>
+<dd>Solarite 71</dd>
+
+<dt><a href="#book3">BOOK THREE</a></dt>
+<dd>The Black Star Passes 145</dd>
+</dl>
+</div>
+
+<hr>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 7]</span></p>
+
+<p><img class="centered" src="images/fig1.png" alt=""></p>
+
+<div class="indent">
+
+<h2><a name="intro" id="intro"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2>
+
+<p>These stories were written nearly a quarter of a century ago, for the
+old <i>Amazing Stories</i> magazine. The essence of any magazine is not
+its name, but its philosophy, its purpose. That old <i>Amazing
+Stories</i> is long since gone; the magazine of the same name today is
+as different as the times today are different from the world of
+1930.</p>
+
+<p>Science-fiction was new, in 1930; atomic energy was a dream we
+believed in, and space-travel was something we tried to understand
+better. Today, science-fiction has become a broad field, atomic
+energy&mdash;despite the feelings of many present adults!&mdash;is no
+dream. (Nor is it a nightmare; it is simply a fact, and calling it a
+nightmare is another form of effort to push it out of reality.)</p>
+
+<p>In 1930, the only audience for science-fiction was among those who
+were still young enough in spirit to be willing to hope and speculate on
+a new and wider future&mdash;and in 1930 that meant almost nothing but
+teen-agers. It meant the brightest group of teen-agers, youngsters who
+were willing to <i>play</i> with ideas and understandings of physics and
+chemistry and astronomy that most of their contemporaries considered
+&#8220;too hard work.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 8]</span></p>
+
+<p>I grew up with that group; the stories I wrote over the years, and,
+later, the stories I bought for <i>Astounding Science Fiction</i>
+changed and grew more mature too. <i>Astounding Science Fiction</i>
+today has many of the audience that read those early stories; they're
+not high school and college students any more, of course, but
+professional engineers, technologists and researchers now. Naturally,
+for them we need a totally different kind of story. In growing with
+them, I and my work had to lose much of the enthusiastic scope that went
+with the earlier science fiction.</p>
+
+<p>When a young man goes to college, he is apt to say, &#8220;I want to
+be a scientist,&#8221; or &#8220;I want to be an engineer,&#8221; but
+his concepts are broad and generalized. Most major technical schools,
+well knowing this, have the first year course for <i>all</i> students
+the same. Only in the second and subsequent years does specialization
+start.</p>
+
+<p>By the sophomore year, a student may say, &#8220;I want to be a
+<i>chemical</i> engineer.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At graduation, he may say, &#8220;I'm going into chemical
+engineering <i>construction</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ten years later he may explain that he's a chemical engineer
+specializing in the construction of corrosion-resistant structures, such
+as electroplating baths and pickling tanks for stainless steel.</p>
+
+<p>Year by year, his knowledge has become more specialized, and much
+deeper. He's better and better able to do the important work the world
+needs done, but in learning to do it, he's necessarily lost some of the
+broad and enthusiastic scope he once had.</p>
+
+<p>These are early stories of the early days of science-fiction. Radar
+hadn't been invented; we missed that idea. But while these stories don't
+have the finesse of later work&mdash;they have a bounding enthusiasm
+that belongs with a young field, designed for and built by young men.
+Most of the writers of those early stories were, like myself, college
+students. (<i>Piracy Preferred</i> was written while I was a sophomore
+at M.I.T.)</p>
+
+<p>For old-timers in science-fiction&mdash;these are typical of the
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 9]</span>
+days when the field was starting. They've got a fine flavor
+of our own younger enthusiasm.</p>
+
+<p>For new readers of science-fiction&mdash;these have the stuff that
+laid the groundwork of today's work, they're the stories that were meant
+for young imaginations, for people who wanted to think about the world
+they had to build in the years to come.</p>
+
+<p>Along about sixteen to nineteen, a young man has to decide what is,
+for him, the Job That Needs Doing&mdash;and get ready to get in and
+pitch. If he selects well, selects with understanding and foresight,
+he'll pick a job that <i>does</i> need doing, one that will return
+rewards in satisfaction as well as money. No other man can pick that for
+him; he must choose the Job that <i>he</i> feels fitting.</p>
+
+<p>Crystal balls can be bought fairly reasonably&mdash;but they don't
+work well. History books can be bought even more cheaply, and they're
+moderately reliable. (Though necessarily filtered through the cultural
+attitudes of the man who wrote them.) But they don't work well as
+predicting machines, because the world is changing too rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>The world today, for instance, needs engineers desperately. There a
+lot of jobs that the Nation would like to get done that can't even be
+started; not enough engineers available.</p>
+
+<p>Fifty years ago the engineering student was a sort of Second Class
+Citizen of the college campus. Today the Liberal Arts are fighting for a
+come-back, the pendulum having swung considerably too far in the other
+direction.</p>
+
+<p>So science-fiction has a very real function to the teen-agers; it
+presents varying ideas of what the world in which he will live his adult
+life will be interested in.</p>
+
+<p>This is 1953. My son will graduate in 1955. The period of his peak
+earning power should be when he's about forty to sixty&mdash;about 1970,
+say, to 1990. With the progress being made in understanding of health
+and physical vigor, it's apt to run beyond 2000 A.D., however.</p>
+
+<p>Anyone want to bet that people will be living in
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 10]</span>the same general
+circumstances then? That the same general social and cultural and
+material standards will apply?</p>
+
+<p>I have a hunch that the history books are a poor way of planning a
+life today&mdash;and that science-fiction comes a lot closer.</p>
+
+<p>There's another thing about science-fiction yarns that is quite
+conspicuous; it's so difficult to pick out the villains. It might have
+made quite a change in history if the ballads and tales of the old days
+had been a little less sure of who the villains were. Read the standard
+boy's literature of forty years ago; tales of Crusaders who were always
+right, and Saracens who were always wrong. (The same Saracens who taught
+the Christians to respect the philosophy of the Greeks, and introduced
+them to the basic ideas of straight, self-disciplined thinking!)</p>
+
+<p>Life's much simpler in a thatched cottage than in a dome on the
+airless Moon, easier to understand when the Villains are all pure
+black-hearted villains, and the Heroes are all pure White Souled Heroes.
+Just look how simple history is compared with science-fiction! It's
+simple&mdash;but is it good?</p>
+
+<p>These early science-fiction tales explored the Universe; they were
+probings, speculations, as to where we <i>could</i> go. What we
+<i>could</i> do.</p>
+
+<p>They had a sweep and reach and exuberance that belonged.</p>
+
+<p>They <i>were</i> fun, too....</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">John W. Campbell, Jr.</span><br>
+Mountainside,N.J.<br>
+April, 1953</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 11]</span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="book1" id="book1"></a>BOOK ONE</h2>
+
+<h3>PIRACY PREFERRED</h3>
+
+<h4>PROLOGUE</h4>
+
+<p>High in the deep blue of the afternoon sky rode a tiny speck of
+glistening metal, scarcely visible in the glare of the sun. The workers
+on the machines below glanced up for a moment, then back to their work,
+though little enough it was on these automatic cultivators. Even this
+minor diversion was of interest in the dull monotony of green. These
+endless fields of castor bean plants had to be cultivated, but with the
+great machines that did the work it required but a few dozen men to
+cultivate an entire county.</p>
+
+<p>The passengers in the huge plane high above them gave little thought
+to what passed below, engrossed with their papers or books, or engaged
+in casual conversation. This monotonous trip was boring to most of them.
+It seemed a waste of time to spend six good hours in a short 3,500 mile
+trip. There was nothing to do, nothing to see, except a slowly passing
+landscape ten miles below. No details could be distinguished, and the
+steady low throb of the engines, the whirring of the giant propellers,
+the muffled roar of the air, as it rushed by, combined to form a
+soothing lullaby of power. It was all right for pleasure seekers and
+vacationists, but business men were in a hurry.</p>
+
+<p>The pilot of the machine glanced briefly at the
+instru<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 12]</span>ments, wondered vaguely why he
+had to be there at all, then turned, and leaving the pilot room in
+charge of his assistant, went down to talk with the chief engineer.</p>
+
+<p>His vacation began the first of July, and as this was the last of
+June, he wondered what would have happened if he had done as he had been
+half inclined to do&mdash;quit the trip and let the assistant take her
+through. It would have been simple&mdash;just a few levers to
+manipulate, a few controls to set, and the instruments would have taken
+her up to ten or eleven miles, swung her into the great westward air
+current, and leveled her off at five hundred and sixty or so an hour
+toward 'Frisco'. They would hold her on the radio beam better than he
+ever could. Even the landing would have been easy. The assistant had
+never landed a big plane, but he knew the routine, and the instruments
+would have done the work. Even if he hadn't been there, ten minutes
+after they had reached destination, it would land automatically&mdash;if
+an emergency pilot didn't come up by that time in answer to an automatic
+signal.</p>
+
+<p>He yawned and sauntered down the hall. He yawned again, wondering
+what made him so sleepy.</p>
+
+<p>He slumped limply to the floor and lay there breathing ever more and
+more slowly.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p>The officials of the San Francisco terminus of The Transcontinental
+Airways company were worried. The great Transcontinental express had
+come to the field, following the radio beam, and now it was circling the
+field with its instruments set on the automatic signal for an emergency
+pilot. They were worried and with good reason, for this flight carried
+over 900,000 dollars worth of negotiable securities. But what could
+attack one of those giant ships? It would take a small army to overcome
+the crew of seventy and the three thousand passengers!</p>
+
+<p>The great ship was landing gently now, brought in by the emergency
+pilot. The small field car sped over to the plane rapidly. Already the
+elevator was in place beside it, and as the officials in the car drew up
+under the giant wing,<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 13]</span> they could
+see the tiny figure of the emergency pilot beckoning to them. Swiftly
+the portable elevator carried them up to the fourth level of the
+ship.</p>
+
+<p>What a sight met their eyes as they entered the main salon! At first
+glance it appeared that all the passengers lay sleeping in their chairs.
+On closer examination it became evident that they were not breathing!
+The ear could detect no heartbeat. The members of the crew lay at their
+posts, as inert as the passengers! The assistant pilot sprawled on the
+floor beside the instrument panel&mdash;apparently he had been watching
+the record of the flight. There was no one conscious&mdash;or apparently
+living&mdash;on board!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dead! Over three thousand people!&#8221; The field manager's
+voice was hoarse, incredulous. &#8220;It's impossible&mdash;how could they
+have done it? Gas, maybe, drawn in through the ventilator pumps and
+circulated through the ship. But I can't conceive of any man being
+willing to kill three thousand people for a mere million! Did you call a
+doctor by radio, Pilot?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir. He is on his way. There's his car now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course they will have opened the safe&mdash;but let's check
+anyway. I can only think some madman has done this&mdash;no sane man
+would be willing to take so many lives for so little.&#8221; Wearily the men
+descended the stairs to the mail room in the hold.</p>
+
+<p>The door was closed, but the lock of the door was gone, the
+magnesium-beryllium alloy burned away. They opened the door and entered.
+The room seemed in perfect order. The guard lay motionless in the steel
+guard chamber at one side; the thick, bullet-proof glass made his
+outlines a little blurred, and the color of his face was green&mdash;but
+they knew there too must be that same pallor they had seen on the other
+faces. The delicate instruments had brought in the great ship perfectly,
+but it was freighted with a cargo of dead!</p>
+
+<p>They entered the room and proceeded to the safe, but it was opened as
+they had expected. The six-inch tungsto-iridium wall had been melted
+through. Even this un<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 14]</span>believable
+fact no longer surprised them. They only glanced at the metal, still too
+hot to touch, and looked about the room. The bonds had been taken. But
+now they noticed that over the mail-clerk's desk there had been fastened
+a small envelope. On it was printed:</p>
+
+<p>To the Officials of the San Francisco Airport</p>
+
+<p>Inside was a short message, printed in the same sharp, black
+letters:</p>
+
+<div class="indent">
+<p>Gentlemen:</p>
+
+<p>This plane should land safely. If it doesn't, it is your fault, not
+mine, for the instruments that it carries should permit it. The
+passengers are NOT dead! They have been put in a temporary state of
+suspended animation. Any doctor can readily revive them by the injection
+of seven c.c. of decinormal potassium iodide solution for every 100
+pounds of weight. Do NOT use higher concentrations. Lower concentrations
+will act more slowly.</p>
+
+<p>You will find that any tendency toward leprosy or cancer will have
+been destroyed. It will kill any existing cancer, and cure it in about
+one week. I have not experimented with leprosy beyond knowing that it is
+cured very quickly.</p>
+
+<p>This is an outside job. Don't annoy the passengers with
+questions.</p>
+
+<p>The gas used cannot be stopped by any material I know of. You can try
+it with any mask&mdash;but don't use the C-32L. It will react with the
+gas to kill. I would advise that you try it on an animal to convince
+yourselves.</p>
+
+<p>I have left stock in my new company to replace the bonds I have
+taken.</p>
+
+<p>Piracy Incorporated is incorporated under my own laws.</p>
+
+<p>The Pirate</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 15]</span></p>
+
+<p>On the desk beneath the note was a small package which contained a
+number of stock certificates. They totalled $900,000 face value of
+&#8220;Piracy Preferred&#8221;, the preferred stock of a corporation,
+&#8220;Piracy, Inc.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Piracy! Pirates in the air!&#8221; The field manager forced an
+unnatural laugh. &#8220;In 2126 we have pirates attacking our air
+lines. <i>Piracy Preferred!</i> I think I'd prefer the bonds myself. But
+thank God he did not kill all those people. Doctor, you look worried!
+Cheer up. If what this pirate says is true, we can resuscitate them, and
+they'll be better off for the experience!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The doctor shook his head. &#8220;I've been examining your passengers. I'm
+afraid that you'll never be able to bring these people back to life
+again, sir. I can't detect any heart action even with the amplifier.
+Ordinary heart action sounds like a cataract through this instrument. I
+can see nothing wrong with the blood; it has not coagulated as I
+expected, nor is there any pronounced hydrolysis as yet. But I'm afraid
+I'll have to write out the death warrants for all these men and women.
+One of the people on that ship was coming to see me. That's how I
+happened to be on the field. For her, at least, it may be better so. The
+poor woman was suffering from an incurable cancer.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In this case, Doctor, I hope and believe you are wrong. Read this
+note!&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p>It was two hours before the work of reviving the passengers could be
+started. Despite all the laws of physics, their body temperature had
+remained constant after it had reached seventy-four, showing that some
+form of very slow metabolism was going on. One by one they were put into
+large electric blankets, and each was given the correct dose of the
+salt. The men waited anxiously for results&mdash;and within ten minutes
+of the injection the first had regained consciousness!</p>
+
+<p>The work went forward steadily and successfully. Every one of the
+passengers and crew was revived. And the Pirate had spoken the truth.
+The woman who had been suffer<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 16]</span>ing
+from cancer was free from pain for the first time in many months. Later,
+careful examination proved she was cured!</p>
+
+<p>The papers were issuing extras within five minutes of the time the
+great plane had landed, and the radio news service was broadcasting the
+first &#8220;break&#8221; in a particularly dead month. During all of
+June the news had been dead, and now July had begun with a bang!</p>
+
+<p>With time to think and investigate, the airport officials went over
+the ship with the Air Guard, using a fine-tooth comb. It was soon
+evident that the job had been done from the outside, as the Pirate had
+said. The emergency pilot testified that when he entered the ship, he
+found a small piece of wire securing the air lock from the outside. This
+had certainly been put on while the ship was in flight, and that meant
+that whoever had done this, had landed on the great ship with a small
+plane, had somehow anchored it, then had entered the plane through the
+air lock at the ten mile height. He had probably flown across the path
+of the plane, leaving a trail of gas in its way to be drawn in through
+the ventilator pumps. It had been washed out by the incoming good air
+later, for the emergency pilot had not been affected.</p>
+
+<p>Now the investigation led them to the mail-room. Despite the
+refractory nature of the metal, the door had been opened by melting or
+burning out the lock. And an opening had been burned into the safe
+itself! Opened by melting it through!</p>
+
+<p>A bond shipment was due the next day, and the airline officials
+planned to be on the watch for it. It would get through safely, they
+were sure, for men were put on board in steel chambers hermetically
+welded behind them, with oxygen tanks and automatic apparatus sealed
+within to supply them with clean air. The front of the tanks were
+equipped with bullet-proof glass windows, and by means of electrically
+operated controls the men inside could fire machine guns. Thus they were
+protected from the Pirate's gas and able to use their weapons.</p>
+
+<p>The ship was accompanied by a patrol of Air Guardsmen.
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 17]</span> Yet, despite, this, cancer cases
+were aboard with the hope of being gassed.</p>
+
+<p>When the plane reached the neighborhood of San Francisco, there had
+been no sign of an attack. The Pirate might well retire permanently on a
+million, if he were alone, as the singular signature indicated; but it
+seemed much more probable that he would attempt another attack in any
+case. Well, that just meant watching all the planes from now on, a
+tremendous job for the Air Guard to handle.</p>
+
+<p>The leader of the patrol turned in an easy bank to descend the ten
+miles to Earth, and his planes followed him. Then suddenly through the
+communicator came an unmistakable sound. <i>The plane automatically
+signaling for an emergency pilot!</i> That could only mean that the
+plane had been gassed under the very eyes of his men!</p>
+
+<p>The bonds were gone and the passengers gassed, and incredibly, the
+men in the steel tanks were as thoroughly gassed as the rest.</p>
+
+<p>The note was brief, and as much to the point as was the absence of
+the bonds.</p>
+
+<div class="indent">
+<p>To the Officials of the Airport:</p>
+
+<p>Restore as usual. The men in the tanks are asleep also&mdash;I said
+the gas would penetrate <i>any</i> material. It does. A mask obviously
+won't do any good. Don't try that C-32L mask. I warn you it will be
+fatal. My gas reacts to produce a virulent poison when in contact with
+the chemicals in the C-32L.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Pirate</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 18]</span></p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 19]</span></p>
+
+<h4>I</h4>
+
+<p>On the thirty-ninth floor of a large New York apartment two young men
+were lounging about after a strenuous game of tennis. The blue tendrils
+of smoke from their pipes rose slowly, to be drawn away by the efficient
+ventilating system. The taller of the two seemed to be doing most of the
+talking. In the positions they had assumed it would have been rather
+difficult to be sure of which was the taller, but Robert Morey was a
+good four inches taller than Richard Arcot. Arcot had to suffer under
+the stigma of &#8220;runt&#8221; with Morey around&mdash;he was only six
+feet tall.</p>
+
+<p>The chosen occupation of each was physical research, and in that
+field Arcot could well have called Morey &#8220;runt&#8221;, for Arcot
+had only one competitor&mdash;his father. In this case it had been &#8220;like
+father, like son&#8221;. For many years Robert Arcot had been known as the
+greatest American physicist, and probably the world's greatest. More
+recently he had been known as the father of the world's greatest
+physicist. Arcot junior was probably one of the most brilliant men the
+world had ever seen, and he was aided in all his work by two men who
+could help him in a way that amplified his powers a thousand fold. His
+father and his best friend, Morey, were the complimentary and balancing
+minds to his great intelligence. His father had learned through years of
+work the easiest and best ways of performing the many difficult feats of
+laboratory experimentation. Morey could<span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+20]</span> develop the mathematical theory of a hypothesis far more
+readily than Arcot could. Morey's mind was more methodical and exact
+than Arcot's, but Arcot could grasp the broad details of a problem and
+get the general method of solution developed with a speed that made it
+utterly impossible for his friend even to follow the steps he
+suggested.</p>
+
+<p>Since Arcot junior's invention of the multiple calculus, many new
+ramifications of old theories had been attained, and many developments
+had become possible.</p>
+
+<p>But the factor that made Arcot so amazingly successful in his line of
+work was his ability to see practical uses for things, an ability that
+is unfortunately lacking in so many great physicists. Had he collected
+the royalties his inventions merited, he would have been a billionaire
+twice or thrice over. Instead he had made contracts on the basis that
+the laboratories he owned be kept in condition, and that he be paid a
+salary that should be whatever he happened to need. Since he had sold
+all his inventions to Transcontinental Airways, he had been able to
+devote all his time to science, leaving them to manage his finances.
+Perhaps it was the fact that he did sell these inventions to
+Transcontinental that made these lines so successful; but at any rate,
+President Arthur Morey was duly grateful, and when his son was able to
+enter the laboratories he was as delighted as Arcot.</p>
+
+<p>The two had become boon companions. They worked, played, lived, and
+thought together.</p>
+
+<p>Just now they were talking about the Pirate. This was the seventh day
+of his discovery, and he had been growing steadily more menacing. It was
+the great Transcontinental Airways that had suffered most repeatedly.
+Sometimes it was the San Francisco Flyer that went on without a pilot,
+sometimes the New York-St. Louis expresses that would come over the
+field broadcasting the emergency signal. But always the people were
+revived with little difficulty, and each time more of the stock of
+&#8220;Piracy, Inc.&#8221; was accumulated. The Air Guard seemed
+helpless. Time and time again the Pirate slipped in undetected. Each
+time he convinced
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 21]</span> them that it was an outside job,
+for the door was always sealed from the outside.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dick, how do you suppose he gets away with the things he does right
+under the eyes of those Air Guardsmen? He must have some system; he does
+it every time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have a vague idea,&#8221; Arcot answered. &#8220;I was going to
+ask you today, if your father would let us take passage on the next
+liner carrying any money. I understand the insurance rates have been
+boosted so high that they don't dare to send any cash by air any more.
+They've resorted to the slow land routes. Is there any money shipment in
+sight?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Morey shook his head. &#8220;No, but I have something that's just as good,
+if not better, for our purpose. The other day several men came into
+Dad's office, to charter a plane to San Francisco, and Dad naturally
+wondered why they had been referred to the president of the company. It
+seems the difficulty was that they wanted to hire the ship so they could
+be robbed! A large group of medical men and cancer victims were going
+for the 'treatment'. Each one of the twenty-five hundred going was to
+bring along one hundred dollars. That meant a total of a quarter of a
+million dollars, which is to be left on the table. They hoped the Pirate
+would gas them and thus cure them! Dad couldn't officially do this, but
+told them that if there were too many people for the San Francisco
+express, two sections would be necessary. I believe they are going on
+that second section. Only one hundred dollars! A low price for cancer
+cure!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Another thing: Dad asked me to tell you that he'd appreciate your
+help in stopping this ultra-modern pirate. If you go down to see him in
+the morning, you'll doubtless be able to make the necessary
+arrangements.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I'll do so gladly. I wonder, though, if you know more about this
+than I do. Did they try that C-32L mask on an animal?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The Pirate was telling the truth. They tried it on a dog and he went
+to sleep forever. But do you have any idea how that gas does all it
+does?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 22]</span></p>
+
+<p>Now Arcot shook his head. &#8220;I don't know what the gas is, but have a
+lead on how it works. You may know that carbon monoxide will seep
+through a solid plate of red-hot steel. That has been known for some
+three hundred years now, and I have to hand it to this Pirate for making
+use of it. Even in the war of 2075 they didn't find any practical
+application for the principle. He has just found some gas that induces
+sleep in very low concentrations, and at the same time is able to
+penetrate to an even greater extent than carbon monoxide.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I was wondering how he stores that stuff,&#8221; Morey
+commented. &#8220;But I suppose he makes it as fast as he uses it, by allowing
+two or more constituents to react. It might well be simple enough to
+store them separately, and the air-stream blowing past him would carry
+the gas behind him, permitting him to lay a stream of it in front of the
+big plane. Is that about it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That was about what I had figured. One of the things I want to do
+when I go with that Invalid Special tomorrow is to get some samples for
+analysis.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That's a pretty big order, isn't it, Dick? How are you going to
+handle it, or even get it into your apparatus?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Easily enough as far as getting the sample goes. I have already had
+some sample bottles made. I have one of them in the lab&mdash;excuse me
+a moment.&#8221; Arcot left the room, to return a few minutes later with a
+large aluminum bottle, tightly closed. &#8220;This bottle has been pumped out
+to a very good vacuum. I then swept it out with helium gas. Then it was
+pumped out again. I hope to take this into some gas-filled region, where
+the gas will be able to leak in, but the air won't. When it comes to
+going out again, the gas will have to fight air pressure, and will
+probably stay in.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hope it works. It would help if we knew what we were
+bucking.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p>The next morning Arcot had a long conference with President Morey. At
+the end of it, he left the office, ascended to the roof, and climbed
+into his small helicopter. He<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 23]</span> rose
+to the local traffic level, and waiting his chance, broke into the
+stream of planes bound for the great airfields over in the Jersey
+district. A few minutes later he landed on the roof of the
+Transcontinental Airways shops, entered them, and went to the office of
+the Designing Engineer, John Fuller, an old schoolmate. They had been
+able to help each other before, for Fuller had not paid as much
+attention to theoretical physics as he might have, and though he was
+probably one of the outstanding aeronautical designers, he often
+consulted Arcot on the few theoretical details that he needed. Probably
+it was Arcot who derived the greatest benefit from this association, for
+the ability of the designer had many times brought his theoretical
+successes to practical commercial production. Now, however, he was
+consulting Fuller, because the plane he was to take that afternoon for
+San Francisco was to be slightly changed for him.</p>
+
+<p>He stayed in Fuller's office for the better part of an hour, then
+returned to the roof and thence to his own roof, where Morey junior was
+waiting for him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hello, Dick! I heard from Dad that you were going this afternoon,
+and came over here. I got your note and I have the things fixed up here.
+The plane leaves at one, and it's ten-thirty now. Let's eat lunch and
+then start.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was half-past eleven when they reached the flying field. They went
+directly to the private office which had been assigned to them aboard
+the huge plane. It was right next to the mail-room, and through the wall
+between the two a small hole had been cut. Directly beneath this hole
+was a table, on which the two men now set up a small moving picture
+camera they had brought with them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How many of the gas sample bottles did you bring, Bob?&#8221;
+asked Arcot.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Jackson had only four ready, so I brought those. I think that will
+be enough. Have we got that camera properly placed?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Everything's O.K., I believe. Nothing to do now but
+wait.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Time passed&mdash;then they heard a faint whir; the
+venti<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 24]</span>lator machinery had started.
+This drew air in from outside, and pumped it up to the necessary
+pressure for breathing in the ship, no matter what the external pressure
+might be. There was a larger pump attached similarly to each of the
+engines to supply it with the necessary oxygen. Any loss in power by
+pumping the air in was made up by the lower back pressure on the
+exhaust. Now the engines were starting&mdash;they could feel the
+momentary vibration&mdash;vibration that would cease as they got under
+way. They could visualize the airtight door being closed; the portable
+elevator backing off, returning to the field house.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot glanced at his watch. &#8220;One o'clock. The starting signal is
+due.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Morey sank back into a comfortable chair. &#8220;Well, now we have a nice
+long wait till we get to San Francisco and back, Dick, but you'll have
+something to talk about then!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hope so, Bob, and I hope we can return on the midnight plane from
+San Francisco, which will get us in at nine o'clock tomorrow morning,
+New York time. I wish you'd go right to your father's office and ask him
+over to our place for supper, and see if Fuller can come too. I think
+we'll be able to use that molecular controller on this job; it's almost
+finished, and with it we'll need a good designing engineer. Then our
+little movie show will no doubt be of interest!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a low rumble that quickly mounted to a staccato roar as the
+great propellers began whirling and the engines took up the load. The
+ground began to flash behind them; then suddenly, as flying speed was
+reached, there was a slight start, the roaring bark of the engine took
+on a deeper tone, the rocking stopped and the ground dropped away. Like
+some mighty wild bird, the plane was in the air, a graceful, sentient
+thing, wheeling in a great circle as it headed for San Francisco. Now
+the plane climbed steadily in a long bank; up, up, up she went, and
+gradually the terrific roar of the engine died to a low throbbing hum as
+the low pressure of the air silenced the noise.</p>
+
+<p>Below them the giant city contracted as the great
+ship<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 25]</span> rode higher. The tiny private
+helicops were darting about below them like streams of nigh invisible
+individuals, creeping black lines among the buildings of the city. The
+towering buildings shone in the noon sun in riotous hues as the colored
+tile facing reflected the brilliant sunlight with glowing warmth of
+color.</p>
+
+<p>It was a city of indescribable beauty now. It was one of the things
+that made this trip worthwhile.</p>
+
+<p>Now the shining city dropped behind them, and only the soft green of
+the Jersey hills, and the deep purple-black of the sky above were
+visible. The sun blazed high in the nigh-black heavens, and in the
+rarefied air, there was so little diffusion that the corona was readily
+visible with the aid of a smoked glass. Around the sun, long banners in
+space, the Zodiacal light gleamed dimly. Here and there some of the
+brighter stars winked in the dark sky.</p>
+
+<p>Below them the landscape swung slowly by. Even to these men who had
+made the trip dozens of times, the sight was fascinating, inspiring. It
+was a spectacle which had never been visible before the development of
+these super-planes. Whole flying observatories had been made that had
+taken photographs at heights of fifteen miles, where the air was so
+rarefied that the plane had to travel close to eight hundred miles an
+hour to remain aloft.</p>
+
+<p>Already ahead of them Arcot and Morey could see the great splotch of
+color that was Chicago, the mightiest city of Earth. Situated as it was
+in the heart of the North American continent, with great water and
+ground landing facilities and broad plains about it, it made a perfect
+airport. The sea no longer meant much, for it was now only a source of
+power, recreation and food. Ships were no longer needed. Planes were
+faster and more economical; hence seacoast cities had declined in
+importance. With its already great start toward ascendancy, Chicago had
+rapidly forged ahead, as the air lines developed with the great
+super-planes. The European planes docked here, and it was the starting
+point of the South American lines. But now, as they swung high above it,
+the glistening walls of soft-colored<span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+26]</span> tiles made it a great mass of changing, flashing color
+beneath them. Now they could see a great air liner, twice the size of
+their plane, taking off for Japan, its six giant propellers visible only
+as flashing blurs as it climbed up toward them. Then it was out of
+sight.</p>
+
+<p>It was over the green plains of Nebraska that the Pirate usually
+worked, so there the men became more and more alert, waiting for the
+first sign of abnormal drowsiness. They sat quietly, not talking,
+listening intently for some new note, but knowing all the while that any
+sound the Pirate might make would be concealed by the whirring roar of
+the air sweeping past the giant airfoils of the plane.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Arcot realized he was unbearably sleepy. He glanced drowsily
+toward Morey who was already lying down. He found it a tremendous effort
+of the will to make himself reach up and close the switch that started
+the little camera whirring almost noiselessly. It seemed he never pulled
+his arm back&mdash;he just&mdash;lay there&mdash;and&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>A white uniformed man was bending over him as he opened his eyes. To
+one side of him he saw Morey smiling down at him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You're a fine guard, Arcot. I thought you were going to stay awake
+and watch them!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no, I left a much more efficient watchman! <i>It</i> didn't go
+to sleep&mdash;I'm willing to bet!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, it may not have gone to sleep, but the doctor here tells me it
+has gone somewhere else. It wasn't found in our room when we woke up. I
+think the Pirate found it and confiscated it. All our luggage, including
+the gas sample bottles, is gone.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That's all right. I arranged for that. The ship was brought down by
+an emergency pilot and he had instructions from father. He took care of
+the luggage so that no member of the pirate's gang could steal it. There
+might have been some of them in the ground crew. They'll be turned over
+to us as soon as we see the emergency man. I don't have to lie here any
+longer, do I, doctor?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, Dr. Arcot, you're all right now. I would
+suggest<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 27]</span> that for the next hour or
+so you take it easy to let your heart get used to beating again. It
+stopped for some two hours, you know. You'll be all right, however.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h4>II</h4>
+
+<p>Five men were seated about the Morey library, discussing the results
+of the last raid, in particular as related to Arcot and Morey. Fuller,
+and President Morey, as well as Dr. Arcot, senior, and the two young men
+themselves, were there. They had consistently refused to tell what their
+trip had revealed, saying that pictures would speak for them. Now they
+turned their attention to a motion picture projector and screen that
+Arcot junior had just set up. At his direction the room was darkened;
+and he started the projector. At once they were looking at the three
+dimensional image of the mail-room aboard the air liner.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot commented: &#8220;I have cut out a lot of useless film, and confined
+the picture to essentials. We will now watch the pirate at work.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Even as he spoke they saw the door of the mail-room open a bit, and
+then, to their intense surprise, it remained open for a few seconds,
+then closed. It went through all the motions of opening to admit
+someone, yet no one entered!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your demonstration doesn't seem to show much yet, son. In fact, it
+shows much less than I had expected,&#8221; said the senior Arcot. &#8220;But that
+door seemed to open easily. I thought they locked them!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They did, but the pirate just burned holes in them, so to save
+property they leave 'em unlocked.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Now the scene seemed to swing a bit as the plane hit an unusually bad
+air bump, and through the window they caught a glimpse of one of the
+circling Air Guardsmen. Then suddenly there appeared in the air within
+the room a point of flame. It hung in the air above the safe for an
+instant, described a strangely complicated set of curves; then, as it
+hung for an instant in mid-air, it became a great flare. In
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 28]</span> an instant this condensed to a
+point of intensely brilliant crimson fire. This described a complex
+series of curves and touched the top of the safe. In an inconceivably
+short time, the eight-inch thickness of tungsto-iridium alloy flared
+incandescently and began to flow sluggishly. A large circle of the red
+flame sprang out to surround the point of brilliance, and this blew the
+molten metal to one side, in a cascade of sparks.</p>
+
+<p>In moments, the torch had cut a large disc of metal nearly free;
+seemingly on the verge of dropping into the safe. Now the flame left the
+safe, again retracting itself in that uncanny manner, no force seeming
+either to supply it with fuel or to support it thus, though it burned
+steadily, and worked rapidly and efficiently. Now, in mid-air, it hung
+for a second.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I'm going to work the projector for a few moments by hand so that
+you may see this next bit of film.&#8221; Arcot moved a small switch and the
+machine blinked, giving a strange appearance to the seemingly solid
+images that were thrown on the screen.</p>
+
+<p>The pictures seemed to show the flame slowly descending till it again
+touched the metal. The tungsto-iridium glowed briefly; then, as suddenly
+as the extinguishing of a light, the safe was gone! It had disappeared
+into thin air! Only the incandescence of the metal and the flame itself
+were visible.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It seems the pirate has solved the secret of invisibility. No wonder
+the Air Guardsmen couldn't find him!&#8221; exclaimed Arcot, senior.</p>
+
+<p>The projector had been stopped exactly on the first frame, showing
+the invisibility of the safe. Then Arcot backed it up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;True, Dad,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but pay special attention to this
+next frame.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again there appeared a picture of the room, the window beyond, the
+mail clerk asleep at his desk, everything as before, except that where
+the safe had been, <i>there was a shadowy, half visible safe</i>, the
+metal glowing brightly. Be<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 29]</span>side it
+there was visible a shadowy man, holding the safe with a shadowy bar of
+some sort. And through both of them the frame of the window was
+perfectly visible, and, ironically, an Air Guardsman plane.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It seems that for an instant his invisibility failed here. Probably
+it was the contact with the safe that caused it. What do you think,
+Dad?&#8221; asked Arcot, junior.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It does seem reasonable. I can't see off-hand how his invisibility
+is even theoretically possible. Have you any ideas?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, Dad, I have, but I want to wait till tomorrow night to
+demonstrate them. Let's adjourn this meeting, if you can all come
+tomorrow.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p>The next evening, however, it seemed that it was Arcot himself who
+could not be there. He asked Morey, junior, to tell them he would be
+there later, when he had finished in the lab.</p>
+
+<p>Dinner was over now, and the men were waiting rather impatiently for
+Arcot to come. They heard some noise in the corridor, and looked up, but
+no one entered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Morey,&#8221; asked Fuller, &#8220;what did you learn about that gas
+the pirate was using? I remember Arcot said he would have some samples
+to analyze.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As to the gas, Dick found out but little more than we had already
+known. It is a typical organic compound, one of the metal radical type,
+and contains one atom of thorium. This is a bit radioactive, as you
+know, and Dick thinks that this may account in part for its ability to
+suspend animation. However, since it was impossible to determine the
+molecular weight, he could not say what the gas was, save that the
+empirical formula was C<sub>62</sub>TH
+H<sub>39</sub>O<sub>27</sub>N<sub>5</sub>. It broke down at a
+temperature of only 89&deg; centigrade. The gases left consisted largely
+of methane, nitrogen, and methyl ether. Dick is still in the dark as to
+what the gas is.&#8221; He paused, then exclaimed: &#8220;Look over there!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The men turned with one accord toward the opposite end of the room,
+looked, and seeing nothing particularly unusual, glanced back rather
+puzzled. What they then saw,<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 30]</span> or
+better, failed to see, puzzled them still more. Morey had
+disappeared!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why&mdash;why where&mdash;ohhh! Quick work, Dick!&#8221; The
+senior Arcot began laughing heartily, and as his astonished and curious
+companions looked toward him, he stopped and called out, &#8220;Come on, Dick!
+We want to see you now. And tell us how it's done! I rather think Mr.
+Morey here&mdash;I mean the visible one&mdash;is still a bit
+puzzled.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a short laugh from the air&mdash;certainly there could be
+nothing else there&mdash;then a low but distinct click, and both Morey
+and Arcot were miraculously present, coming instantaneously from
+nowhere, if one's senses could be relied on. On Arcot's back there was
+strapped a large and rather hastily wired mechanism&mdash;one long wire
+extending from it out into the laboratory. He was carrying a second
+piece of apparatus, similarly wired. Morey was touching a short metal
+bar that Arcot held extended in his hand, using a table knife as a
+connector, lest they get radio frequency burns on making contact.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I've been busy getting the last connection of this portable
+apparatus rigged up. I have the thing in working order, as you
+see&mdash;or rather, didn't see. This other outfit here is the thing
+that is more important to us. It's a bit heavy, so if you'll clear a
+space, I'll set it down. Look out for my power supply there&mdash;that
+wire is carrying a rather dangerously high E.M.F. I had to connect with
+the lab power supply to do this, and I had no time to rig up a little
+mechanism like the one the pirate must have.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have duplicated his experiment. He has simply made use of a
+principle known for some time, but as there was no need for it, it
+hasn't been used. It was found back in the early days of radio, as early
+as the first quarter of the twentieth century, that very short
+wavelengths effected peculiar changes in metals. It was shown that the
+plates of tubes working on very short waves became nearly transparent.
+The waves were so short, however, that they were economically useless.
+They would not travel in usable paths, so they were never developed.
+Furthermore, existing ap<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 31]</span>paratus
+could not be made to handle them. In the last war they tried to apply
+the idea for making airplanes invisible, but they could not get their
+tubes to handle the power needed, so they had to drop it. However, with
+the tube I recently got out on the market, it is possible to get down
+there. Our friend the pirate has developed this thing to a point were he
+could use it. You can see that invisibility, while interesting, and a
+good thing for a stage and television entertainment, is not very much of
+a commercial need. No one wants to be invisible in any honest
+occupation. Invisibility is a tremendous weapon in war, so the pirate
+just started a little private war, the only way he could make any money
+on his invention. His gas, too, made the thing attractive. The two
+together made a perfect combination for criminal operations.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The whole thing looks to me to be the work of a slightly unbalanced
+mind. He is not violently insane; probably just has this one particular
+obsession. His scientific bump certainly shows no sign of weakness. He
+might even be some new type of kleptomaniac. He steals things, and he
+has already stolen far more than any man could ever have any need of,
+and he leaves in its place a 'stock' certificate in his own company. He
+is not violent, for hasn't he carefully warned the men not to use the
+C-32L mask? You'll remember his careful instructions as to how to revive
+the people!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He has developed this machine for invisibility, and naturally he can
+fly in and out of the air guard, without their knowing he's there,
+provided their microphonic detectors don't locate him. I believe he uses
+some form of glider. He can't use an internal combustion engine, for the
+explosions in the cylinders would be as visible as though the cylinders
+were made of clear quartz. He cannot have an electric motor, for the
+storage cells would weigh too much. Furthermore, if he were using any
+sort of prop, or a jet engine, the noise would give him away. If he used
+a glider, the noise of the big plane so near would be more than enough
+to kill the slight sounds. The glider could hang above the ship, then
+dive down upon it as it passed beneath. He has a
+very<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 32]</span> simple system of anchoring the
+thing, as I discovered to my sorrow. It's a powerful electro-magnet
+which he turns on when he lands. The landing deck of the big plane was
+right above our office aboard, and I found my watch was doing all sorts
+of antics today. It lost an hour this morning, and this afternoon it
+gained two. I found it was very highly magnetized&mdash;I could pick up
+needles with the balance wheel. I demagnetized it; now it runs all
+right.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But to get back, he anchors his ship, then, leaving it invisible, he
+goes to the air lock, and enters. He wears a high altitude suit, and on
+his back he has a portable invisibility set and the fuel for his torch.
+The gas has already put everyone to sleep, so he goes into the ship,
+still invisible, and melts open the safe.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;His power supply for the invisibility machine seems to be somewhat
+of a problem, but I think I would use a cylinder of liquid air, and have
+a small air turbine to run a high voltage generator. He probably uses
+the same system on a larger scale to run his big machine on the ship. He
+can't use an engine for that either.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That torch of his is interesting, too. We have had atomic hydrogen
+welding for some time, and atomic hydrogen releases some 100,000
+calories per mole of molecular hydrogen; two grains of gas give one
+hundred thousand calories. Oxygen has not been prepared in any
+commercial quantity in the atomic state. From watching that man's torch,
+from the color of the flame and other indications, I gather that he uses
+a flame of atomic oxygen-atomic hydrogen for melting, and surrounds it
+with a preheating jacket of atomic hydrogen. The center flame probably
+develops a temperature of some 4000&deg; centigrade, and will naturally
+make that tungsten alloy run like water.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As to the machine here&mdash;it is, as I said, a machine which
+impresses very high frequencies on the body it is connected with. This
+puts the molecules in vibration at a frequency approaching that of
+light, and when the light impinges upon it, it can pass through readily.
+You know that metals transmit light for short distances, but in order
+that the light<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 33]</span> pass, the molecules
+of metal must be set in harmonic vibration at a rate approaching the
+frequency of light. If we can impress such a vibration on a piece of
+matter, it will then transmit light very freely. If we impress this
+vibration on the matter, say the body, electrically, we get the same
+effect and the body becomes perfectly transparent. Now, since it is the
+vibration of the molecules that makes the light pass through the
+material, it must be stopped if we wish to see the machine. Obviously it
+is much easier to detect me here among solid surroundings, than in the
+plane high in the sky. What chance has one to detect a machine that is
+perfectly transparent when there is nothing but perfectly transparent
+air around it? It is a curious property of this vibrational system of
+invisibility that the index of refraction is made very low. It is not
+the same as that of air, but the difference is so slight that it is
+practically within the limits of observation error; so small is the
+difference that there is no 'rainbow' effect. The difference of
+temperature of the air would give equal effect.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, since this vibration is induced by radio impulse, is it not
+possible to impress another, opposing radio impulse, that will overcome
+this tendency and bring the invisible object into the field of the
+visible once more? It is; and this machine on the table is designed to
+do exactly that. It is practically a beam radio set, projecting a beam
+of a wavelength that alone would tend to produce invisibility. But in
+this case it will make me visible. I'm going to stand right here, and
+Bob can operate that set.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot strode to the middle of the room, and then Morey turned the
+reflector of the beam set on him. There was a low snap as Arcot turned
+on his set, then he was gone, as suddenly as the coming of darkness when
+a lamp is extinguished. He was there one moment, then they were staring
+at the chair behind him, knowing that the man was standing between them
+and it and knowing that they were looking through his body. It gave them
+a strange feeling, an uncomfortable tingling along the spine. Then the
+voice&mdash;it seem<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 34]</span>ed to come from
+the air, or some disembodied ghost as the invisible man called to
+Morey.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right, Bob, turn her on slowly.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was another snap as the switch of the disrupter beam was turned
+on. At once there was a noticeable fogginess in the air where Arcot had
+been. As more and more power was turned into the machine, they saw the
+man materialize out of thin air. First he was a mere shadowy outline
+that was never fully above the level of conscious vision. Then slowly
+the outlines of the objects behind became dimmer and dimmer, as the body
+of the man was slowly darkened, till at last there was only a wavering
+aura about him. With a snap Morey shut off his machine and Arcot was
+gone again. A second snap and he was solid before them. He had shut off
+his apparatus too.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You can see now how we intend to locate our invisible pirate. Of
+course we will depend on directional radio disturbance locating devices
+to determine the direction for the invisibility disrupter ray. But you
+are probably marvelling at the greatness of the genius who can design
+and construct this apparatus all in one day. I will explain the miracle.
+I have been working on short wave phenomena for some time. In fact, I
+had actually made an invisibility machine, as Morey will testify, but I
+realized that it had no commercial benefits, so I didn't experiment with
+it beyond the laboratory stunt stage. I published some of the theory in
+the Journal of the International Physical Society&mdash;and I wouldn't
+be surprised to learn that the pirate based his discovery on my
+report.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am still working on a somewhat different piece of apparatus that I
+believe we will find very relevant to this business. I'll ask you to
+adjourn after tonight's meeting for another twenty-four hours till I can
+finish the apparatus I am working on. It is very important that you be
+here, Fuller. I am going to need you in the work to follow. It will be
+another problem of design if this works out, as I hope it will.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 35]</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I'll certainly make every effort to be here, Arcot,&#8221;
+Fuller assured him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can promise you a tough problem as well as an interesting
+one.&#8221; Arcot smiled. &#8220;If the thing works, as I expect it to, you'll
+have a job that will certainly be a feather for your cap. Also it will
+be a change.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, with that inducement, I'll certainly be here. But I think that
+pirate could give us some hints on design. How does he get his glider
+ten miles up? They've done some high-altitude gliding already. The
+distance record took someone across the Atlantic in 2009, didn't it? But
+it seems that ten miles straight up is a bit too steep for a glider.
+There are no vertical air currents at that height.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I meant to say that his machine is not a true glider, but a
+semi-glider. He probably goes up ten miles or more with the aid of a
+small engine, one so small it probably takes him half a day to get
+there. And it would be easy for a plane to pass through the lower
+traffic lanes, then, being invisible, mount high and wait for the air
+liner. He can't use a very large engine, for it would drag him down, but
+one of the new hundred horsepower jobs would weigh only about fifty
+pounds. I think we can draw a pretty good picture of his plane from
+scientific logic. It probably has a tremendous wingspread and a very
+high angle of incidence to make it possible to glide at that height, and
+the engine and prop will be almost laughably small.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p>The next evening the men got together for dinner, and there was
+considerable speculation as to the nature of the discovery that Arcot
+was going to announce, for even his father had no knowledge of what it
+was. The two men worked in separate laboratories, except when either had
+a particularly difficult problem that might be solved by the other. All
+knew that the new development lay in the field of short wave research,
+but they could not find out in what way it concerned the problem in
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>At last the meal was over, and Arcot was ready to demonstrate.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 36]</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dad, I believe that you have been trying to develop a successful
+solar engine. One that could be placed in the wings of a plane to
+generate power from the light falling on that surface. In all solar
+engines what is the greatest problem to be solved?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, the more I investigate the thing, the more I wonder which is
+the greatest. There are a surprising number of annoying problems to be
+met. I should say, though, that the one big trouble with all solar
+engines, eliminating the obvious restriction that they decidedly aren't
+dependable for night work, is the difficulty of getting an area to
+absorb the energy. If I could get enough area, I could use a very low
+efficiency and still have cheap power, for the power is absolutely free.
+The area problem is the greatest difficulty, no doubt.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; Arcot junior said quietly, &#8220;I think you have a
+fairly good area to use, if you can only harness the energy it absorbs.
+I have really developed a very efficient solar engine. The engine itself
+requires no absorbing area, as I want to use it; it takes advantage of
+the fact that the Earth is absorbing quintillions of horsepower. I have
+merely tapped the power that the Earth has already absorbed for me. Come
+here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He led the way down the corridor to his laboratory, and switched on
+the lights. On the main laboratory bench was set up a complicated
+apparatus of many tubes and heavy bus bar connectors. From the final
+tube two thin wires ran to a long tubular coil. To the left of this coil
+was a large relay switch, and a rheostat control.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Turn on the relay, Dad, then slowly rotate the controller to the
+left. And remember that it is rather powerful; I know this doesn't look
+like a solar engine, and nine o'clock at night seems a peculiar hour to
+demonstrate such a thing, but I'll guarantee results&mdash;probably more
+than you expect.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Arcot stepped up to the controls and closed the switch. The
+lights dimmed a bit, but immediately brightened again, and from the
+other end of the room came a low, steady hum as the big transformer took
+up the load.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 37]</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, from the sound of that ten K.W. transformer there, if this
+engine is very efficient we ought to get a terrific amount of power out
+of it.&#8221; Dr. Arcot was smiling amusedly at his son. &#8220;I can't very well
+control this except by standing directly in front of it, but I suppose
+you know what you're doing.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, this is a laboratory model, and I haven't gotten the thing into
+shape really. Look at the conductors that lead to the coil; they
+certainly aren't carrying ten K.W.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Arcot slowly rotated the rheostat. There was a faint hum from the
+coil; then it was gone. There seemed to be no other result. He rotated
+it a bit more; a slight draught sprang up within the room. He waited,
+but when nothing more startling occurred, he gave the rheostat a sharp
+turn. This time there was absolutely no doubt as to the result. There
+was a roar like a fifty-foot wind tunnel, and a mighty blast of cold air
+swept out of that coil like a six-inch model of a Kansas cyclone. Every
+loose piece of paper in the laboratory came suddenly alive and whirled
+madly before the blast of air that had suddenly leaped out. Dr. Arcot
+was forced back as by a giant hand; in his backward motion his hand was
+lifted from the relay switch, and with a thud the circuit opened. In an
+instant the roar of sound was cut off, and only a soft whisper of air
+told of the furious blast that had been there a moment before.</p>
+
+<p>The astonished physicist came forward and looked at the device a
+moment in silence, while each of the other men watched him. Finally he
+turned to his son, who was smiling at him with a twinkle in his eye.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dick, I think you have 'loaded the dice' in a way that is even more
+lucrative than any other method ever invented! If the principle of this
+machine is what I think it is, you have certainly solved the secret of a
+sufficiently absorbing area for a solar engine.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; remarked the elderly Morey, shivering a bit in
+the chill air of the room, &#8220;loaded dice have long been noted for their
+ability to make money, but I don't see how that explains that working
+model of an Arctic tornado. <i>Burr</i>&#8212;<span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+38]</span>it's still too cold in here. I think he'll need considerable
+area for heat absorption from the sun, for that engine certainly does
+cool things down! What's the secret?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The principle is easy enough, but I had considerable difficulty with
+the application. I think it is going to be rather important
+though&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Rather important,&#8221; broke in the inventor's father, with
+a rare display of excitement. &#8220;It will be considerably more than that.
+It's the biggest thing since the electric dynamo! It puts airplanes in
+the junk heap! It means a new era in power generation. Why, we'll never
+have to worry about power! It will make interplanetary travel not only
+possible, but commercially economical.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot junior grinned broadly. &#8220;Dad seems to think the machine has
+possibilities! Seriously, I believe it will antiquate all types of
+airplanes, prop or jet. It's a direct utilization of the energy that the
+sun is kindly supplying. For a good many years now men have been trying
+to find out how to control the energy of atoms for air travel, or to
+release the energy of the constitution of matter.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But why do it at all? The sun is doing it already, and on a scale so
+gargantuan that we could never hope nor desire to approach it. Three
+million tons of matter go into that colossal furnace every second of
+time, and out of that comes two and a half decillion ergs of energy.
+With a total of two and a half million billion billion billions of ergs
+to draw on, man will have nothing to worry about for a good many years
+to come! That represents a flood of power vaster than man could
+comprehend. Why try to release any more energy? We have more than we can
+use; we may as well tap that vast ocean of power.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is one thing that prevents us getting it out, the law of
+probability. That's why Dad mentioned loaded dice, for dice, as you
+know, are the classical example of probability when they aren't loaded.
+Once they are loaded, the law still holds, but the conditions are now so
+changed that it will make the problem quite different.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot paused, frowning, then resumed half
+apologetic<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 39]</span>ally, &#8220;Excuse the
+lecture&mdash;but I don't know how else to get the thought across. You
+are familiar with the conditions in a liter of helium gas in a
+container&mdash;a tremendous number of molecules, each dashing along at
+several miles a second, and an equal number dashing in the opposite
+direction at an equal speed. They are so thickly packed in there, that
+none of them can go very far before it runs into another molecule and
+bounces off in a new direction. How good is the chance that all the
+molecules should happen to move in the same direction at the same time?
+One of the old physicists of Einstein's time, a man named Eddington,
+expressed it very well:</p>
+
+<div class="indent">
+<p>'If an army of monkeys were playing on typewriters they might write
+all the books in the British Museum. The chance of their doing so is
+decidedly more favorable than the chance that all the molecules in a
+liter of gas should move in the same direction at the same time.'</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The very improbability of this chance is the thing that is making our
+problem appear impossible.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But similarly it would be improbable&mdash;impossible according to
+the law of chance&mdash;to throw a string of aces indefinitely. It is
+impossible&mdash;unless some other force influences the happening. If
+the dice have bits of iridium stuck under the six spots, they will throw
+aces. Chance makes it impossible to have all the molecules of gas move
+in the same direction at the same time&mdash;unless we stack the
+chances. If we can find some way to influence them, they may do so.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What would happen to a metal bar if all the molecules in it decided
+to move in the same direction at the same time? Their heat motion is
+normally carrying them about at a rate of several miles a second, and if
+now we have them all go in one way, the entire bar must move in that
+direction, and it will start off at a velocity as great as the velocity
+of the individual molecules. But now, if we attach the bar to a heavy
+car, it will try to start off, but will be forced to drag the car with
+it, and so will not be able to <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 40]</span>have
+its molecules moving at the same rate. They will be slowed down in
+starting the mass of the car. But slowly moving molecules have a
+definite physical significance. Molecules move because of temperature,
+and lack of motion means lack of heat. These molecules that have been
+slowed down are then cold; they will absorb heat from the air about
+them, and since the molecule of hydrogen gas at room temperature is
+moving at about seven miles a second, when the molecules of the confined
+gas in our car, or the molecules of the metal bar are slowed down to but
+a few hundred miles an hour, their temperature drops to some hundreds of
+degrees below zero, and they absorb energy very rapidly, for the greater
+the difference in temperature, the greater the rate of heat
+absorption.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I believe we will be able to accelerate the car rapidly to a speed
+of several miles a second at very high altitudes, and as we will be able
+to use a perfectly enclosed streamlined car, we should get tremendous
+speeds. We'll need no wings, of course, for with a small unit pointed
+vertically, we'll be able to support the car in the air. It will make
+possible a machine that will be able to fly in reverse and so come to a
+quick stop. It will steer us or it will supply us with electrical power,
+for we merely have to put a series of small metal bars about the
+circumference of the generator, and get a tremendously powerful
+engine.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For our present need, it means a tremendously powerful
+engine&mdash;and one that we can make invisible.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I believe you can guess the source of that breeze we had there? It
+would make a wonderful air-conditioning unit.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dick Arcot,&#8221; began Morey, his voice tight with
+suppressed excitement, &#8220;I would like to be able to use this invention. I
+know enough of the economics of the thing, if not its science, to know
+that the apparatus before us is absolutely invaluable. I couldn't afford
+to buy the rights on it, but I want to use it if you'll let me. It means
+a new era in transcontinental air travel!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He turned sharply to Fuller. &#8220;Fuller, I want you to
+help <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 41]</span>Arcot with the ship to chase the
+Pirate. You'll get the contract to design the new airliners. Hang the
+cost. It'll run into billions&mdash;but there will be no more fuel
+bills, no oil bills, and the cost of operation will be negligible.
+Nothing but the Arcot short wave tubes to buy&mdash;and each one good
+for twenty-five thousand hours service!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You'll get the rights on this if you want them, of
+course,&#8221; said Arcot quietly. &#8220;You're maintaining these
+laboratories for me, and your son helped me work it out. But if Fuller
+can move over here tomorrow, it will help things a lot. Also I'd like to
+have some of your best mechanics to make the necessary machines, and to
+start the power units.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It's done,&#8221; Morey snapped.</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h4>III</h4>
+
+<p>Early the next morning Fuller moved his equipment over to the
+laboratory and set up his table for work. There Arcot and Morey joined
+him, and the designing of the new machine was started.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;First, let's get some idea of the most advisable shape,&#8221;
+Fuller began methodically. &#8220;We'll want it streamlined, of course;
+roughly speaking, a cylinder modified to fit the special uses to which
+it will be put. But you probably have a general plan in mind, Arcot.
+Suppose you sketch it for us.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The big physicist frowned thoughtfully. &#8220;Well, we don't know much
+about this yet, so we'll have to work it out. You'll have plenty of fun
+figuring out strains in this machine, so let's be safe and use a factor
+of safety of five. Let's see what we'll need.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In the first place, our machine must be proof against the Pirate's
+gas, for we won't be riding a beam with instruments to guide us safely,
+if we pass out. I've thought that over, and I think that the best system
+is just what we used in the sample bottles&mdash;a vacuum. His gas is
+stopped by nothing, so to speak, but there is no substance that will
+stop it! It will no doubt penetrate the outer shell, but on
+reaching <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 42]</span>the vacuum, it will tend to
+stay there, between the inner and outer walls. Here it will collect,
+since it will be fighting air pressure in going either in or out. The
+pressure inside will force it back, and the pressure outside will force
+it in. If we did not pump it out, it would soon build up pressure enough
+to penetrate the interior wall. Now, since the stuff can leak through
+any material, what kind of a pump shall we use? It won't be pushed by a
+piston, for it will leak through either the cylinder walls or the
+piston. A centrifugal pump would be equally ineffective. A mercury vapor
+pump will take it out, of course, and keep a high vacuum, but we'd never
+make any progress.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Our new machine gives us the answer. With it we can just have a
+number of openings in the wall of the outer shell, and set in them one
+of these molecular motion directors, and direct the molecules into the
+outside air. They can't come in through it, and they will go out!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But,&#8221; Morey objected, &#8220;the vacuum that keeps out the gas
+will also keep out heat, as well! Since our generator is to run on heat
+energy, it will be rather chilly inside if we don't remedy that. Of
+course, our power units could be placed outside, where the blast of air
+will warm them, but we really won't have a very good streamline effect
+if we hang a big electric generator outside.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I've thought of that too,&#8221; Arcot answered. &#8220;The solution
+is obvious&mdash;if we can't bring the generator to the air, we must
+bring the air to it.&#8221; He began sketching rapidly on the pad before him,
+&#8220;We'll have all the power equipment in this room here in the back, and
+the control room up in front, here. The relays for controlling will be
+back here, so we can control electrically the operation of the power
+equipment from our warm, gas-tight room. If it gets too warm in there,
+we can cool it by using a little of the heat to help accelerate the
+ship. If it is too cold, we can turn on an electric heater run by the
+generator. The air for the generator can come in through a small sort of
+scoop on top, and leave through a small opening in the rear. The vacuum
+at the tail will assure us a very rapid
+circulation, <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 43]</span>even if the centrifugal
+pump action of the enclosed generator isn't enough.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>His thoughts began moving more rapidly than his words. &#8220;We'll want
+the generator greatly over power to run tests over a greater range.
+Won't need more than one hundred kilowatts altogether, but should
+install about a thousand&mdash;A.C., of course. Batteries in the keel
+for starting the generator.... Self-supporting when it's rolling....</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But let's set down some actual figures on this.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>For the rest of the day the three men were working on the general
+plan of the new ship, calculating the strengths needed, supplementing
+mathematics with actual experiments with the machines on hand. The
+calculating machines were busy continuously, for there were few rules
+that experience could give them. They were developing something entirely
+new, and though they were a designing staff of three of the foremost
+mathematicians in the world, it was a problem that tested their
+ingenuity to the utmost.</p>
+
+<p>By the evening of the first day, however, they had been able to give
+the finished designs for the power units to the mechanics who were to
+make them. The order for the storage battery and the standard electrical
+equipment had been placed at once. By the time they had completed the
+drawings for the mail casting, the materials were already being
+assembled in a little private camp that Morey owned, up in the hills of
+Vermont. The giant freight helicopters could land readily in the wide
+field that had been cleared on the small plateau, in the center of which
+nestled a little blue lake and a winding trout brook.</p>
+
+<p>The mechanics and electrical engineers had been sent up there
+already&mdash;officially on vacation. The entire program could be
+carried out without attracting the least attention, for such orders from
+the great Transcontinental lines were so frequent that no importance was
+attached to them.</p>
+
+<p>Four days after the final plans had been completed the last of the
+supplies were being assembled in the portable metal shed that was to
+house the completed machine. The shining tungsto-steel alloy frame
+members were rapidly bei<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 44]</span>ng welded in
+place by cathode ray welding torches in the hands of skilled
+artisans.</p>
+
+<p>Already at the other end of the shop the generator had been arranged
+for use with the molecular motion power units. The many power units to
+drive and support the ship were finished and awaiting installation as
+the crew quit work on the fourth evening. They would be installed on the
+frame in the morning, and the generator would be hoisted into place with
+the small portable crane. The storage batteries were connected, and in
+place in the hull. The great fused quartz windows rested in their cases
+along one wall, awaiting the complete application of the steel alloy
+plates. They were to be over an inch thick, an unnecessary thickness,
+perhaps, but they had no need to economize weight, as witnessed by their
+choice of steel instead of light metal alloys throughout the
+construction.</p>
+
+<p>The three men had arrived late that afternoon in a small helicopter,
+and had gone directly to the shops to see what progress had been made.
+They had been forced to remain in New York to superintend the shipment
+of the necessary supplies to the camp site, and since no trouble was
+anticipated in the making of the steel framework, they had not felt it
+necessary to come. But now they would be needed to superintend the more
+delicate work.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She's shaping up nicely, isn't she?&#8221; Arcot gazed at the
+rapidly rounding frame with a critical eye. Unhindered as they were by
+the traditional shapes, by wings or other protuberances, they had been
+able to design a machine of striking beauty. The ship was to retain its
+natural metallic sheen, the only protection being a coat of &#8220;passivity
+paint&#8221;&mdash;a liquid chemical that could be brushed or sprayed on iron,
+chromium, nickel or cobalt alloys, rendering them passive to practically
+all chemical agents. The new &#8220;paint&#8221; left the iron or steel
+as brilliantly glossy as ever, but overcast with a beautiful
+iridescence, and immune to the most powerful reagents.</p>
+
+<p>The three men walked around the rapidly growing hull, and looked with
+excited interest at the heavy welded joints <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+45]</span>and the great beams. The ship seemed capable of withstanding a
+fall of several hundred feet with little damage. The location of the
+power units was plainly visible and easily recognized, for at each point
+there came together four or five great beams, welded into one great mass
+of tough metal, and in it there were set heavy tungsten bolts that would
+hold the units in place.</p>
+
+<p>They inspected each joint minutely for signs of flaws, using a small
+portable X-ray fluoroscope to see the interior of the metal. Each joint
+seemed perfect. They retired, satisfied that everything was ready for
+the work of the next day.</p>
+
+<p>The morning began early with a long swim in the lake, and a hearty
+breakfast of country cured ham and eggs. Then the work on the great
+framework was continued, and that day saw the power units bolted in
+place, removable if change was thought advisable. Each power unit was
+equipped with long streamlined copper fins lying close to the rounded
+hull, that they might absorb heat more rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>Day by day the structure drew nearer completion, and, with the large
+crew of highly skilled workers, the craft was practically complete
+within a week. Only the instruments remained to be installed. Then at
+last even these had been put in place, and with the aid of Fuller, Morey
+junior, and his own father, Arcot had connected their many complicated
+circuits.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Son,&#8221; remarked Arcot senior, looking critically at the
+great switchboard, with its maze of connections, its many rheostats and
+controls, and its heavy bus bar connectors behind it, &#8220;no one man can
+keep an eye on all those instruments. I certainly hope you have a
+good-sized crew to operate your controls! We've spent two days getting
+all those circuits together, and I'll admit that some of them still have
+me beat. I don't see how you intend to watch all those instruments, and
+at the same time have any idea what's going on outside.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; laughed Arcot junior, &#8220;these aren't intended for
+constant watching. They're merely helps in a lot of tests I want to
+make. I want to use this as a flying laboratory
+so <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 46]</span>I can determine the necessary
+powers and the lowest factor of safety to use in building other
+machines. The machine is very nearly completed now. All we need is the
+seats&mdash;they are to be special air-inflated gyroscopically
+controlled seats, to make it impossible for a sudden twist of the ship
+to put the strain in the wrong direction. Of course the main gyroscopes
+will balance the ship laterally, horizontally, and vertically, but each
+chair will have a separate gyroscopic mounting for safety.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;When do you expect to start after the Pirate?&#8221; Fuller
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I plan to practice the manipulation of the machine for at least four
+days,&#8221; Arcot replied, &#8220;before I try to chase the Pirate. I'd ordinarily
+recommend the greatest haste, but the man has stolen close to ten
+million already, and he's still at it. That would not be done by anyone
+in his right mind. I suppose you've heard, the War Department considers
+his new gas so important that they've obtained a pardon for him on
+condition they be permitted to have the secret of it. They demand the
+return of the money, and I have no doubt he has it. I am firmly
+convinced that he is a kleptomaniac. I doubt greatly if he will stop
+taking money before he is caught. Therefore it will be safe to wait
+until we can be sure of our ability to operate the machine smoothly. Any
+other course would be suicidal. Also, I am having some of those
+tool-makers make up a special type of molecular motion machine for use
+as a machine gun. The bullets are steel, about three inches long, and as
+thick as my thumb. They will be perfectly streamlined, except for a
+little stabilizer at the tail, to guide 'em. They won't spin as a rifle
+bullet does, and so there will be no gyroscopic effect to hold them nose
+on, but the streamlining and the stabilizer will keep them on their
+course. I expect them to be able to zip right through many inches of
+armour plate, since they will have a velocity of over four miles a
+second.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They'll be fed in at the rate of about two hundred a
+minute&mdash;faster if I wish, and started by a small spring. They will
+instantly come into the field of a powerful
+molecular <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 47]</span>motion director, and will
+be shot out with terrific speed. It will be the first rifle ever made
+that could shoot bullets absolutely parallel to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But that is all we can do today. The guns will be mounted outside,
+and controlled electrically, and the charts will be installed tomorrow.
+By the day after tomorrow at eight A.M. I plan to take off!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The work the next day was rushed to completion far earlier than Arcot
+had dared to hope. All the men had been kept isolated at the farm, lest
+they accidentally spread the news of the new machine. It was with
+excited interest that they helped the machine to completion. The guns
+had not been mounted as yet, but that could wait. Mid-afternoon found
+the machine resting in the great construction shed, completely equipped
+and ready to fly!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dick,&#8221; said Morey as he strode up to him after testing
+the last of the gyroscopic seats, &#8220;she's ready! I certainly want to get
+her going&mdash;it's only three-thirty, and we can go around to the
+sunlight part of the world when it gets dark at the speeds we can
+travel. Let's test her now!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I'm just as anxious to start as you are, Bob. I've sent for a U.S.
+Air Inspector. As soon as he comes we can start. I'll have to put an 'X'
+license indication on her now. He'll go with us to test it&mdash;I hope.
+There will be room for three other people aboard, and I think you and
+Dad and I will be the logical passengers.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He pointed excitedly. &#8220;Look, there's a government helicopter coming.
+Tell the men to get the blocks from under her and tow her out. Two power
+trucks should do it. Get her at least ten feet beyond the end of the
+hangar. We'll start straight up, and climb to at least a five mile
+height, where we can make mistakes safely. While you're tending to that,
+I'll see if I can induce the Air Inspector to take a trip with us.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Half an hour later the machine had been rolled entirely out of the
+shed, on the new concrete runway.</p>
+
+<p>The great craft was a thing of beauty shimmering in the bright
+sunlight The four men who were to ride in it on
+its <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 48]</span>maiden voyage stood off to one
+side gazing at the great gleaming metal hull. The long sweeping lines of
+the sides told a story of perfect streamlining, and implied high speed,
+even at rest. The bright, slightly iridescent steel hull shone in
+silvery contrast to the gleaming copper of the power units'
+heat-absorption fins. The great clear windows in the nose and the low,
+streamlined air intake for the generator seemed only to accentuate the
+graceful lines of the machine.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lord, she's a beauty, isn't she, Dick!&#8221; exclaimed Morey,
+a broad smile of pleasure on his face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, she did shape up nicely on paper, too, didn't she. Oh, Fuller,
+congratulations on your masterpiece. It's even better looking than we
+thought, now the copper has added color to it. Doesn't she look fast? I
+wish we didn't need physicists so badly on this trip, so you could go on
+the first ride with us.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that's all right, Dick, I know the number of instruments in
+there, and I realize they will mean a lot of work this trip. I wish you
+all luck. The honor of having designed the first ship like that, the
+first heavier-than-air ship that ever flew without wings, jets, or
+props&mdash;that is something to remember. And I think it's one of the
+most beautiful that ever flew, too.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, Dick,&#8221; said his father quietly, &#8220;let's get under
+way. It should fly&mdash;but we don't really know that it will!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The four men entered the ship and strapped themselves in the
+gyroscopic seats. One by one they reported ready.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Captain Mason,&#8221; Arcot explained to the Air Inspector,
+&#8220;these seats may seem to be a bit more active than one generally expects
+a seat to be, but in this experimental machine, I have provided all the
+safety devices I could think of. The ship itself won't fall, of that I
+am sure, but the power is so great it might well prove fatal to us if we
+are not in a position to resist the forces. You know all too well the
+effect of sharp turns at high speed and the results of the centrifugal
+force. This machine can develop such tremendous power that I have to
+make provision for it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You notice that my controls and the instruments
+are <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 49]</span>mounted on the arm of the chair
+really; that permits me to maintain complete control of the ship at all
+times, and still permits my chair to remain perpendicular to the forces.
+The gyroscopes in the base here cause the entire chair to remain stable
+if the ship rolls, but the chair can continue to revolve about this
+bearing here so that we will not be forced out of our seats. I'm
+confident that you'll find the machine safe enough for a license. Shall
+we start?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right, Dr. Arcot,&#8221; replied the Air Inspector. &#8220;If
+you and your father are willing to try it, I am.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ready, Engineer?&#8221; asked Arcot.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ready, Pilot!&#8221; replied Morey.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right&mdash;just keep your eye on the meters, Dad, as I turn on
+the system. If the instruments back there don't take care of everything,
+and you see one flash over the red mark&mdash;yank open the main
+circuit. I'll call out what to watch as I turn them on.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ready son.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Main gyroscopes!&#8221; There was a low snap, a clicking of
+relays in the rear compartment, and then a low hum that quickly ran up
+the scale. &#8220;Main generators!&#8221; Again the clicking switch, and
+the relays thudding into action, again the rising hum.
+&#8220;Seat-gyroscopes.&#8221; The low click was succeeded by a quick
+shrilling sound that rose in moments above the range of hearing as the
+separate seat-gyroscopes took up their work. &#8220;Main power tube
+bank!&#8221; The low hum of the generator changed to a momentary roar as
+the relays threw on full load. In a moment the automatic controls had
+brought it up to speed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Everything is working perfectly so far. Are we ready to start now,
+son?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Main vertical power units!&#8221; The great ship trembled
+throughout its length as the lift of the power units started. A special
+instrument had been set up on the floor beside Arcot, that he might be
+able to judge the lift of his power units; it registered the apparent
+weight of the ship. It had read two hundred tons. Now all eyes were
+fixed on it, as the pointer dropped quickly to
+150-100-75-50-40-20-10&mdash;<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 50]</span>there
+was a click and the instrument flopped back to 300&mdash;it was
+registering in pounds now! Then the needle moved to zero, and the mighty
+structure floated into the air, slowly moving down the field as a breeze
+carried it along the ground.</p>
+
+<p>The men outside saw it rise swiftly into the sky, straight toward the
+blue vault of heaven. In two or three minutes it was disappearing. The
+glistening ship shrank to a tiny point of light; then it was gone! It
+must have been rising at fully three hundred miles an hour!</p>
+
+<p>To the men in the car there had been a tremendous increase in weight
+that had forced them into the air cushions like leaden masses. Then the
+ground fell away with a speed that made them look in amazement. The
+house, the construction shed, the lake, all seemed contracting beneath
+them. So quickly were they rising that they had not time to adjust their
+mental attitude. To them all the world seemed shrinking about them.</p>
+
+<p>Now they were at a tremendous height; over twenty miles they had
+risen into the atmosphere; the air about them was so thin that the sky
+seemed black, the stars blazed out in cold, unwinking glory, while the
+great fires of the sun seemed reaching out into space like mighty arms
+seeking to draw back to the parent body the masses of the wheeling
+planets. About it, in far flung streamers of cold fire shone the mighty
+zodiacal light, an Aurora on a titanic scale. For a moment they hung
+there, while they made readings of the meters.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot was the first to speak and there was awe in his voice. &#8220;I never
+began to let out the power of this thing! What a ship! When these are
+made commercially, we'll have to use about one horsepower generators in
+them, or people will kill themselves trying to see how fast they can
+go.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Methodically the machine was tried out at this height, testing
+various settings of the instruments. It was definitely proven that the
+values that Arcot and Morey had assigned from purely theoretical
+calculations were correct to within <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+51]</span>one-tenth of one percent. The power absorbed by the machine they
+knew and had calculated, but the terrific power of the driving units was
+far beyond their expectations.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, now we're off for some horizontal maneuvers,&#8221;
+Arcot announced. &#8220;I'm sure we agree the machine can climb and can hold
+itself in the air. The air pressure controls seem to be working
+perfectly. Now we'll test her speed.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the seats swung beneath them; then as the ship shot forward
+with ever greater speed, ever greater acceleration, it seemed that it
+turned and headed upward, although they knew that the main stabilizing
+gyroscopes were holding it level. In a moment the ship was headed out
+over the Atlantic at a speed no rifle bullet had ever known. The radio
+speedometer needle pushed farther and farther over as the speed
+increased to unheard of values. Before they left the North American
+shoreline they were traveling faster than a mile a second. They were in
+the middle of the Atlantic before Arcot gradually shut off the
+acceleration, letting the seats drop back into position.</p>
+
+<p>A hubbub of excited comments rose from the four men. Momentarily,
+with the full realization of the historical importance of this flight,
+no one paid any attention to anyone else. Finally a question of the Air
+Inspector reached Arcot's ears.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What speed did we attain, Dr. Arcot? Look&mdash;there's the coast of
+Europe! How fast are we going now?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We were traveling at the rate of three miles a second at the
+peak.&#8221; Arcot answered. &#8220;Now it has fallen to two and a
+half.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again Arcot turned his attention to his controls. &#8220;I'm going to try
+to see what the ultimate ceiling of this machine is. It must have a
+ceiling, since it depends on the operation of the generator to operate
+the power-units. This, in turn, depends on the heat of the air, helped
+somewhat by the sun's rays. Up we go!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The ship was put into a vertical climb, and steadily the great
+machine rose. Soon, however, the generator began to slow down. The
+readings of the instruments were <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+52]</span>dropping rapidly. The temperature of the exceedingly tenuous air
+outside was so close to absolute zero that it provided very little
+energy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Get up some forward speed,&#8221; Morey suggested, &#8220;so that
+you'll have the aid of the air scoop to force the air in faster.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Right, Morey.&#8221; Arcot slowly applied the power to the
+forward propulsion units. As they took hold, the ship began to move
+forward. The increase in power was apparent at once. The machine started
+rising again. But at last, at a height of fifty-one miles, her ceiling
+had been reached.</p>
+
+<p>The cold of the cabin became unbearable, for every kilowatt of power
+that the generator could get from the air outside was needed to run the
+power units. The air, too, became foul and heavy, for the pumps could
+not replace it with a fresh supply from the near-vacuum outside. Oxygen
+tanks had not been carried on this trip. As the power of the generator
+was being used to warm the cabin once more, they began to fall. Though
+the machine was held stable by the gyroscopes, she was dropping freely;
+but they had fifty miles to fall, and as the resistance of the denser
+air mounted, they could begin to feel the sense of weight return.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You've passed, but for the maneuvers, Dr. Arcot!&#8221; The
+Air Inspector was decidedly impressed. &#8220;The required altitude was passed
+so long ago&mdash;why we are still some miles above it, I guess! How
+fast are we falling?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can't tell unless I point the nose of the ship down, for the
+apparatus works only in the direction in which the ship is pointed. Hold
+on, everyone, I am going to start using some power to stop us.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was night when they returned to the little field in Vermont. They
+had established a new record in every form of aeronautical achievement
+except endurance! The altitude record, the speed record, the speed of
+climb, the acceleration record&mdash;all that Arcot could think of had
+been passed. Now the ship was coming to dock for the night. In the
+morning it would be out again. But now Arcot was
+sufficient<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 53]</span>ly expert with the controls
+to maneuver the ship safely on the ground. They finally solved the wind
+difficulty by decreasing the weight of the ship to about fifty pounds,
+thus enabling the three men to carry it into the hangar!</p>
+
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p>The next two days were devoted to careful tests of the power factors
+of the machine, the best operating frequency, the most efficient
+altitude of operation, and as many other tests as they had time for.
+Each of the three younger men took turns operating, but so great were
+the strains of the sudden acceleration, that Arcot senior decided it
+would be wisest for him to stay on the ground and watch.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime reports of the Pirate became fewer and fewer as less
+and less money was shipped by air.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot spent four days practicing the manipulation of the machine, for
+though it handled far more readily than any other craft he had ever
+controlled, there was always the danger of turning on too much power
+under the stress of sudden excitement.</p>
+
+<p>The night before, Arcot had sailed the ship down and alighted on the
+roof of Morey senior's apartment, leaving enough power on to reduce the
+weight to but ten tons, lest it fall through the roof, while he went
+down to see the President of the Lines about some &#8220;bait&#8221; for
+the Pirate.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Send some cash along,&#8221; said Arcot, when he saw Morey
+senior, &#8220;say a quarter of a million. Make it more or less public
+knowledge, and talk it up so that the Pirate may there's a real haul on
+board. I am going to accompany the plane at a height of about a quarter
+of a mile above. I will try to locate him from there by means of radar,
+and if I have my apparatus on, I naturally can't locate him. I hope he
+won't be scared away&mdash;but I rather believe he won't. At any rate,
+you won't lose on the try!&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h4>IV</h4>
+
+<p>Again Morey and Arcot were looking at the great Jersey aerodrome, out
+on the fields that had been broad marshes <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+54]</span>centuries before. Now they had been filled in, and stretched for
+miles, a great landing field, close to the great city across the
+river.</p>
+
+<p>The men in the car above were watching the field, hanging inert, a
+point of glistening metal, high in the deep velvet of the purple sky,
+for fifteen miles of air separated them from the Transcontinental
+machine below. Now they saw through their field glasses that the great
+plane was lumbering slowly across the field, gaining momentum as it
+headed westward into the breeze. Then it seemed to be barely clearing
+the great skyscrapers that towered twenty-four hundred feet into the
+air, arching over four or five city blocks. From this height they were
+toys made of colored paper, soft colors glistening in the hot noon
+sunlight, and around and about them wove lines of flashing, moving
+helicopters, the individual lost in the mass of the million or so
+swiftly moving machines. Only the higher, steadily moving levels of
+traffic were visible to them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Just look at that traffic! Thousands and thousands coming back into
+the city after going home to lunch&mdash;and every day the number of
+helicopters is increasing! If it hadn't been for your invention of this
+machine, conditions would soon be impossible. The airblast in the cities
+is unbearable now, and getting worse all the time. Many machines can't
+get enough power to hold themselves up at the middle levels; there is a
+down current over one hundred miles an hour at the 400-foot level in
+downtown New York. It takes a racer to climb fast there!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If it were not for gyroscopic stabilizers, they could never live in
+that huge airpocket. I have to drive in through there. I'm always afraid
+that somebody with an old worn-out bus will have stabilizer failure and
+will really smash things.&#8221; Morey was a skillful pilot, and realized, as
+few others did, the dangers of that downward airblast that the countless
+whirring blades maintained in a constant roar of air. The office
+buildings now had double walls, with thick layers of sound absorbing
+materials, to stop the roar of the <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+55]</span>cyclonic blast that continued almost unabated twelve hours a
+day.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I don't know about that, Morey,&#8221; replied Arcot.
+&#8220;This thing has some drawbacks. Remember that if we had about ten
+million of these machines hung in the air of New York City, there would
+be a noticeable drop in the temperature. We'd probably have an Arctic
+climate year in and year out. You know, though, how unbearably hot it
+gets in the city by noon, even on the coldest winter days, due to the
+heating effect of the air friction of all those thousands of blades. I
+have known the temperature of the air to go up fifty degrees. There
+probably will have to be a sort of balance between the two types of
+machines. It will be a terrific economic problem, but at the same time
+it will solve the difficulties of the great companies who have been
+fermenting grain residues for alcohol. The castor bean growers are also
+going to bring down their prices a lot when this machine kills the
+market. They will also be more anxious to extract the carbon from the
+cornstalks for reducing ores of iron and of other metals.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>As the ship flew high above the Transcontinental plane, the men
+discussed the economic values of the different applications of Arcot's
+discoveries from the huge power stations they could make, to the cooling
+and ventilating of houses.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dick, you mentioned the cooling effect on New York City; with the
+millions on millions of these machines that there will be, with huge
+power plants, with a thousand other different applications in use, won't
+the terrific drain of energy from the air cause the whole world to
+become a little cooler?&#8221; asked Fuller.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I doubt it, Bob,&#8221; said Arcot slowly. &#8220;I've thought of
+that myself. Remember that most of the energy we use eventually ends up
+as heat anyway. And just remember the decillions of ergs of energy that
+the sun is giving off! True, we only get an infinitesimal portion of
+that energy&mdash;but what we do get is more than enough for us. Power
+houses can be established very conveniently in the tropics, where
+they <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 56]</span>will cool the air, and the
+energy can be used to refine metals. That means that the surplus heat of
+the tropics will find a use. Weather control will also be possible by
+the direction-control of great winds. We could set huge director tubes
+on the tops of mountains, and blow the winds in whatever direction best
+suited us. Not the blown wind itself, but the vast volume of air it
+carried with it, would be able to cool the temperate zones in the summer
+from the cold of the poles, and warm it in winter with the heat of the
+tropics.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>After a thoughtful silence, Arcot continued, &#8220;And there is another
+thing it may make possible in the future&mdash;a thing that may be hard
+to accept as a commercial proposition. We have a practically
+inexhaustible source of energy now, but we have no sources of minerals
+that will last indefinitely. Copper is becoming more and more rare. Had
+it not been for the discoveries of the great copper fields of the Sahara
+and in Alaska, we wouldn't have any now. Platinum is exhausted, and even
+iron is becoming more and more valuable. We are facing a shortage of
+metals. Do you realize that within the next two centuries we will be
+unable to maintain this civilization unless we get new sources of
+certain basic raw materials?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But we have one other chance now. The solution is&mdash;there are
+nine planets in this solar system! Neptune and Uranus are each far
+vaster than Earth; they are utterly impossible for life as we know it,
+but a small colony might be established there to refine metals for the
+distant Earth. We might be able to build domed and sealed cities. But
+first we could try the nearer planets&mdash;Mars, Venus, or some
+satellites such as our Moon. I certainly hope that this machine will
+make it possible.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>For some time they sat in silence as they sped along, high above the
+green plains of Indiana. Chicago lay like some tremendous jewel far off
+on the horizon to the right and ahead. Five miles below them the huge
+bulk of the Transcontinental <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 57]</span>plane
+seemed a toy as it swung slowly across the fields&mdash;actually
+traveling over six hundred miles an hour. At last Morey spoke.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You're right, Arcot. We'll have to think of the interplanetary
+aspects of this some day. Oh, there's Chicago! We'd better start the
+vacuum gas protector. And the radar. We may soon see some action.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The three men immediately forgot the somewhat distant danger of the
+metal shortage. There were a number of adjustments to be made, and these
+were quickly completed, while the machine forged evenly, steadily ahead.
+The generator was adjusted to maximum efficiency, and the various tubes
+were tested separately, for though they were all new, and each good for
+twenty-five thousand hours, it would be inconvenient, to say the least,
+if one failed while they were in action. Each tested perfect; and they
+knew from the smooth functioning of the various relays that governed the
+generator, as the loads on it varied, that it must be working perfectly,
+at something less than one-half maximum rating.</p>
+
+<p>Steadily they flew on, waiting tensely for the first sign of a glow
+from the tiny neon tube indicator on the panel before Morey.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This looks familiar, Dick,&#8221; said Morey, looking about at
+the fields and the low line of the blue mountains far off on the western
+horizon. &#8220;I think it was about here that we took our little nap in the
+'Flying Wheel chair', as the papers called it. It would be about here
+th&mdash; LOOK! It is about here! Get ready for action, Fuller. You're
+taking the machine gun, I'll work the invisibility disrupter, and Arcot
+will run the ship. Let's go!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>On the board before him the tiny neon tube flickered dully, glowed
+briefly like a piece of red-hot iron, then went out. In a moment it was
+glowing again, and then quickly its brilliance mounted till it was a
+line of crimson. Morey snapped the switch from the general radar to the
+beam receiver, that he might locate the machine exactly. It was fully a
+minute before the neon tube flashed into life once more. The pirate was
+flying just ahead of the big plane, <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+58]</span>very likely gassing them. All around him were the Air Guardsmen,
+unaware that the enemy was so near. As the disrupter beam could be
+projected only about a mile, they would have to dive down on the enemy
+at once; an instant later the great plane beneath them seemed to be
+rushing upward at a terrific speed.</p>
+
+<p>The two radar beams were kept focused constantly on the Pirate's
+craft. When they were about two miles from the two planes, the neon tube
+blazed brilliantly with a clash of opposing energy. The Pirate was
+trying to maintain his invisibility, while the rapidly growing strength
+of the machine above strove to batter it down. In moments the ammeter
+connected with the disrupter beam began to rise so rapidly that Morey
+watched it with some concern. Despite the ten-kilowatt set being used to
+project the beam, the resistance of the apparatus on board the pirate
+ship was amazing.</p>
+
+<p>Abruptly the three became aware of a rapidly solidifying cloud before
+them. The interference of the beam Morey was sending had begun breaking
+down the molecular oscillation that permitted the light to pass freely
+through the pirate's craft. Suddenly there was a circle of blue light
+about the shadow form, and a moment later the ionized air relapsed into
+normal condition as the pirate's apparatus broke down under the strain.
+At once Morey shut off his apparatus, convinced by the sudden change
+that the pirate's apparatus had blown out. He glanced up quickly as
+Arcot called to him, &#8220;Morey&mdash;look at him go!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Too late. Already the plane had shot off with terrific speed. It had
+flashed up and to their left, at a rate of climb that seemed
+unbelievable&mdash;except that the long trail of flaming gas told the
+story! The plane was propelled by rockets! The terrific acceleration
+carried it out of their range of vision in an instant, and as Arcot
+swung the ship to bring him again within sight of the windows, they
+gasped, for already he was many miles away.</p>
+
+<p>There was a terrific wrench as Arcot threw on all the power he dared,
+then quickly leveled the machine, follow<span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+59]</span>ing the pirate at lightning speed. He increased the acceleration
+further as the men grew accustomed to the force that weighed them down.
+Ahead of them the pirate was racing along, but quickly now they were
+overhauling him, for his machine had wings of a sort! They produced a
+tremendous amount of head resistance at their present velocity, for
+already the needle of the radio speedometer had moved over to one mile a
+second. They were following the fleet plane ahead at the rate of 3600
+miles an hour. The roar of the air outside was a tremendous wave of
+sound, yet to them, protected by the vacuum of the double walls, it was
+detectable only by the vibration of the car.</p>
+
+<p>Rapidly the pirate's lead was cut down. It seemed but a moment before
+he would be within range of their machine gun. Suddenly he nosed down
+and shot for the ground, ten miles below, in a power dive. Instantly
+Arcot swung his machine in a loop that held him close to the tail of the
+pirate. The swift maneuvers at this speed were a terrific strain on both
+men and machines&mdash;the acceleration seemed crushing them with the
+weight of four men, as Arcot followed the pirate in a wide loop to the
+right that ended in a straight climb, the rocket ship standing on its
+tail, the rocket blast roaring out behind a stream of fire a half mile
+long.</p>
+
+<p>The pirate was climbing at a speed that would have distanced any
+other machine the world had ever seen, but the tenacious opponent behind
+him clung ever tighter to the tiny darting thing. He had released great
+clouds of his animation suspending gas. To his utter surprise, the ship
+behind him had driven right through it, entirely unaffected! He, who
+knew most about the gas, had been unable to devise a material to stop
+it, a mask or a tank to store it, yet in some way these men had
+succeeded! And that hurtling, bullet-shaped machine behind! Like some
+miniature airship it was, but with a speed and an acceleration that put
+even his ship to shame! It could twist, turn, dive, rise and shoot off
+on the straight-away with more flashing speed than anything aloft. Time
+and again he tried complicated maneu<span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+60]</span>vers that strained him to the utmost, yet that machine always
+followed after him!</p>
+
+<p>There was one more thing to do. In outer space his rockets would
+support him. In a straight climb he shot up to the blazing sun above,
+out into space, while the sky around him grew black, and the stars shone
+in solemn splendor around him. But he had eyes for only one thing, the
+shining car that was rising with more than equal speed behind him. He
+knew he must be climbing over two thousand miles an hour, yet the
+tracker came ever closer. Just out of sighting range for the machine gun
+now ... in a moment ... but, she was faltering!</p>
+
+<p>The men in the machine behind sat white-lipped, tense, as the
+whirling shocks of sudden turns at terrific speed twisted the gyroscopic
+seats around like peas in a rolling ball. Up, down, left, right, the
+darting machine ahead was twisting with unbelievable speed. Then
+suddenly the nose was pointed for the zenith again, and with a great
+column of flame shooting out behind him, he was heading straight toward
+space!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If he gets there, I lose him, Morey!&#8221; said Arcot. The
+terrific acceleration of the climb seemed to press them to their seats
+with a deadly weight. It was labor to talk&mdash;but still the car ahead
+shot on&mdash;slowly they seemed to be overhauling him. Now that the
+velocities were perforce lowered by the effects of gravity, and the air
+resistance of the atmosphere was well nigh gone, only the acceleration
+that the human body could stand was considered. The man ahead was
+pushing his plane ahead with an acceleration that would have killed many
+men!</p>
+
+<p>Slowly the acceleration of the machine was falling. Arcot pushed the
+control over to the last ampere, and felt the slight surge, as greater
+power rushed through the coils momentarily. Soon this was gone too, as
+the generator behind faltered. The driving power of the atmospheric heat
+was gone. More than sixty miles below them they could see the Earth as a
+greenish brown surface, slightly convex, and far to the east they could
+distinguish a silvery line of water! But <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+61]</span>they had no eyes but for the column of shooting flame that
+represented the fleeing raider! Out in airless space now, he was safe
+from them. They could not follow. Arcot turned the plane once more,
+parallel to the Earth, watching the plane above through the roof window.
+Slowly the machine sank to the fifty-mile level, where there was just
+sufficient air to maintain it in efficient operation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, he beat us! But there is only one thing for us, to do. He must
+hang there on his rockets till we leave, and we can hang here
+indefinitely, if we can only keep this cabin decently warm. He has no
+air to cool him, and he has the sun to warm him. The only thing that is
+worrying him right now is the heat of his rockets. But he can throw most
+of that out with the gases. Lord, that's some machine! But eventually
+his rockets will give out, and down he will come, so we'll just hang
+here beneath him and&mdash;whoa&mdash;not so fast&mdash;he isn't going
+to stay there, it seems; he is angling his ship off a bit, and shooting
+along, so that, besides, holding himself up, he is making a little
+forward progress. We'll have to follow! He's going to do some speeding,
+it seems! Well, we can keep up with him, at our level.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dick, no plane ever made before would have stood the terrific pulls
+and yanks that his plane got. He was steering and twisting on the
+standard type air rudders, and what strains he had! The unique type of
+plane must be extremely strong. I never saw one shaped like his before,
+though&mdash;it is the obvious shape at that! It was just a huge
+triangular arrowhead! Did you ever see one like it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Something like it, yes, and so have you. Don't you recognize that as
+the development of the old paper gliders you used to throw around as a
+kid? It has the same shape, the triangular wings with the point in the
+lead, except that he undoubtedly had a slight curve to the wings to
+increase the efficiency. Something like the flying wings of fifty years
+ago. I hope that man is only a kleptomaniac, because he can be cured of
+that, and I may then have a new laboratory partner. He has some
+exceedingly intelligent ideas!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He's an ingenious man, but I wish he didn't store quite
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 62]</span>so much fuel in his rocket tubes!
+It's unbearably cold in here, and I can't sacrifice any power just for
+comfort. The rocket ship up there seems to be getting more and more
+acceleration in the level. He has me dropping steadily to get air to run
+the generator. He is going fast enough!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They followed beneath the pirate, faster and faster as the rockets of
+the ship began to push it forward more and more.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dick, why is it he didn't use all his rockets at first instead of
+gradually increasing the power this way?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you were operating the ship, Morey, you'd understand. Look at the
+speedometer a moment and see if you can figure it out.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hmmm&mdash;4.5 miles per second&mdash;buzzing right along&mdash;but
+I don't see what that&mdash;good Lord! We never will get him at this
+rate! How do you expect to get him?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have no idea&mdash;yet. But you missed the important point. He is
+going 4.5 miles a second. When he reaches 5 miles a second he will never
+come down from his hundred and fifty mile high perch! He will establish
+an orbit! He has so much centrifugal force already that he has very
+little weight. We are staying right beneath him, so we don't have much
+either. Well, there he goes in a last spurt. We are falling behind
+pretty fast&mdash;there we are catching up now&mdash;no&mdash;we are
+just holding parallel! He's done it! Look!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot pulled out his watch and let go of it. It floated motionless in
+the air for a moment, then slowly drifted back toward the rear of the
+room. &#8220;I am using a bit of acceleration&mdash;a bit more than we need to
+maintain our speed. We are up high enough to make the air resistance
+almost nothing, even at this velocity, but we still require some power.
+I don't know&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a low buzz, repeated twice. Instantly Morey turned the
+dials of the radio receiving set&mdash;again the call signal sounded. In
+a moment a voice came in&mdash;low, but distinct. The power seemed
+fading rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I'm Wade&mdash;the Pirate&mdash;help if you can. Can you get outside
+the atmosphere? Exceed orbital speed and fall
+out? <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 63]</span>Am in an orbit and can't get
+out. Fuel reserve gage stuck, and used all my rockets. No more power.
+Can not slow down and fall. I am running out of compressed air and the
+generator for this set is going&mdash;will take animation suspending
+gas&mdash;will you be able to reach me before entering night?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Quick, Morey&mdash;answer that we will.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We will try, Pirate&mdash;think we can make it!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;O.K.&mdash;power about gone&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The last of his power had failed! The pirate was marooned in space!
+They had seen his rockets go out, leaving the exhaust tube glowing for a
+moment before it, too, was dark, and only the sun shining on the silvery
+ship made it visible.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We have to hurry if we want to do anything before he reaches night!
+Radio the San Francisco fields that we will be coming in soon, and we
+need a large electro-magnet&mdash;one designed to work on about 500
+volts D.C., and some good sized storage cells; how many will have to be
+decided later, depending on the room we will have for them. I'll start
+decelerating now so we can make the turn and circle back. We are
+somewhere west of Hawaii, I believe, but we ought to be able to do the
+trick if we use all the power we can.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Morey at once set to work with the radio set to raise San Francisco
+airport. He was soon in communication with them, and told them that he
+would be there in about an hour. They promised all the necessary
+materials; also that they would get ready to receive the pirate once he
+was finally brought in to them.</p>
+
+<p>It was nearer an hour and a quarter later that the machine fell to
+the great San Francisco landing field, where the mechanics at once set
+to work bolting a huge electro-magnet on the landing skids on the bottom
+of the machine. The most serious problem was connecting the terminals
+electrically without making holes in the hull of the ship. Finally one
+terminal was grounded, and the radio aerial used as the other. Fuller
+was left behind on this trip, and a large number of cells were installed
+in every possible position. In the power room, a hastily arranged motor
+generator set <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 64]</span>was arranged, making it
+possible to run the entire ship from the batteries. Scarcely had these
+been battened down to prevent sliding under the accelerations necessary,
+than Arcot and Morey were off. The entire operation had required but
+fifteen minutes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How are you going to catch him, Arcot?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I'll overtake him going west. If I went the other way I'd meet him
+going at over 10 miles a second in relation to his machine. He had the
+right idea. He told me to fall out to him at a greater than orbital
+speed. I will go just within the Earth's atmosphere till I get just
+under him, holding myself in the air by means of a downward acceleration
+on the part of the regular lifting power units. I am going to try to
+reach eight miles a second. We will be overhauling him at three a
+second, and the ship will slow down to the right speed while falling out
+to him. We must reach him before he gets into the shadow of the Earth,
+though, for if he reaches 'night' he will be without heat, and he'll die
+of cold. I think we can reach him, Dick!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hope so. Those spare cells are all right, aren't they? We'll need
+them! If they don't function when we get out there, we'll fall clear off
+into space! At eight miles a second, we would leave Earth forever!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The ship was accelerating steadily at the highest value the men
+aboard could stand. The needle of the speedometer crept steadily across
+the dial. They were flying at a height of forty miles that they might
+have enough air and still not be too greatly hindered by air resistance.
+The black sky above them was spotted with points of glowing light, the
+blazing stars of space. But as they flew along, the sensation of weight
+was lost; they had reached orbital speed, and as the car steadily
+increased its velocity, there came a strange sensation! The Earth loomed
+gigantic above them! Below them shone the sun! The direction of up and
+down was changed by the terrific speed! The needle of the speedometer
+was wavering at 7.8 miles a second. Now it held steady!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I thought you were going to take it up to eight miles a second,
+Dick?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 65]</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Air resistance is too great! I'll have to go
+higher!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At a height of fifty miles they continued at 8.1 miles a second. It
+seemed hours before they reached the spot where the pirate's machine
+should be flying directly above them, and they searched the black sky
+for some sign of the shining dot of light. With the aid of field glasses
+they found it, far ahead, and nearly one hundred miles above.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, here we go! I'm going to fall up the hundred miles or so, till
+we're right in his path; the work done against gravity will slow us down
+a little, so I'll have to use the power units somewhat. Did you notice
+what I did to them?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, they're painted a dull black. What's the idea?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We'll have no air from which to get heat for power out here, so
+we'll have to depend on the sunlight they can absorb. I'm using it now
+to slow us down as much as possible.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At last the tiny silver dot had grown till it became recognizable as
+the pirate plane. They were drawing up to it now, slowly, but steadily.
+At last the little machine was directly beneath them, and a scant
+hundred yards away. They had long since been forced to run the machine
+on the storage batteries, and now they applied a little power to the
+vertical power units. Sluggishly, as they absorbed the sun's heat, the
+machine was forced lower, nearer to the machine below. At last a scant
+ten feet separated them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right, Morey.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a snap, as the temporary switch was closed, and the current
+surged into the big magnet on the keel. At once they felt the ship jump
+a little under the impulse of the magnet's pull on the smaller machine.
+In a moment the little plane had drifted up to the now idle magnet,
+touched it and was about to bounce off, when Morey again snapped the
+switch shut and the two machines were locked firmly together!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I've got him, Dick!&#8221; Morey exclaimed. &#8220;Now slow down
+till it falls. Then we can go and wait for it. Being a glider, it ought
+to be quite manageable!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Now the energy of the power units on the roof of
+the <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 66]</span>machine began to slow down the
+two machines, the magnet grinding slightly as the momentum of the plane
+was thrust upon it. They watched the speedometer drop. The speed was
+sinking very slowly, for the area of the absorbing fins was not designed
+to absorb the sun's heat directly, and was very inefficient. The sun was
+indeed sinking below their horizon; they were just beginning to watch
+that curious phenomenon of seeing dawn backward, when they first struck
+air dense enough to operate the power units noticeably. Quickly the
+power was applied till the machines sank rapidly to the warmer levels,
+the only governing factor being the tendency of the glider to break
+loose from the grip of the magnet.</p>
+
+<p>At fifty miles the generator was started, and the heaters in the car
+at once became more active. There was no heat in the car below, but that
+was unavoidable. They would try to bring it down to warm levels
+quickly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Whew, I'm glad we reached the air again, Dick. I didn't tell you
+sooner, for it wouldn't have done any good, but that battery was about
+gone! We had something like twenty amp-hours left! I'm giving the
+recharge generator all she will take. We seem to have plenty of power
+now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I knew the cells were low, but I had no idea they were as low as
+that! I noticed that the magnet was weakening, but thought it was due to
+the added air strain. I am going to put the thing into a nose dive and
+let the glider go down itself. I know it would land correctly if it had
+a chance. I am going to follow it, of course, and since we are over the
+middle of Siberia we'd better start back.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The return trip was necessarily in the lower level of the atmosphere,
+that the glider might be kept reasonably warm. At a height of but two
+miles, in the turbulent atmosphere, the glider was brought slowly home.
+It took them nearly twenty hours to go the short distance of twelve
+thousand miles to San Francisco, the two men taking turns at the
+controls. The air resistance of the glider forced them to go slowly;
+they could not average much better than six
+hun<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 67]</span>dred an hour despite the fact that
+the speed of either machine alone was over twelve hundred miles an
+hour.</p>
+
+<p>At last the great skyscrapers of San Francisco appeared on their
+horizon, and thousands of private planes started out to meet them.
+Frantically Arcot warned them away, lest the air blast from their props
+tear the glider from the magnet. At last, however, the Air Guard was
+able to force them to a safe distance and clear a lane through one of
+the lower levels of the city traffic. The great field of the
+Transcontinental lines was packed with excited men and women, waiting to
+catch a glimpse of two of the greatest things the country had heard of
+in the century&mdash;Arcot's molecular motion machine and the Air
+Pirate!</p>
+
+<p>The landing was made safely in the circle of Air Guardsmen. There was
+a small hospital plane standing beside it in a moment, and as Arcot's
+ship released it, and then hung motionless, soundless above it, the
+people watched it in wonder and excitement. They wanted to see Arcot
+perform; they clamored to see the wonderful powers of this ship in
+operation. Air Guardsmen who had witnessed the flying game of tag
+between these two super-air machines had told of it through the press
+and over the radio.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p>Two weeks later, Arcot stepped into the office of Mr. Morey,
+senior.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Busy?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come on in; you know I'm busy&mdash;but not <i>too</i> busy for you.
+What's on your mind?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wade&mdash;the pirate.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh&mdash;hmm. I saw the reports on his lab out on the Rockies, and
+also the psychomedical reports on him. And most particularly, I saw the
+request for his employment you sent through channels. What's your
+opinion on him? You talked with him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot frowned slightly. &#8220;When I talked to him he was still two
+different identities dancing around in one body. Dr. Ridgely says the
+problem's settling down; I believe him. Ridgely's no more of a fool in
+his line than you and Dad <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 68]</span>are in your
+own lines, and Ridgely's business is healing mental wounds. We agreed
+some while back that the Pirate must be insane, even before we met
+him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We also agreed that he had a tremendously competent and creative
+mind. As a personality in civilization, he'd evidently slipped several
+cogs. Ridgely says that is reparable.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You know, Newton was off the beam for about two years. Faraday was
+in a complete breakdown for nearly five years&mdash;and after his
+breakdown, came back to do some monumental work.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And those men didn't have the help of modern psychomedical
+techniques.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think we'd be grade A fools ourselves to pass up the chance to get
+Wade's help. The man&mdash;insane or not&mdash;figured out a way of
+stabilizing and storing atomic hydrogen for his rockets. If he could do
+that in the shape he was then in...!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I'd say we'd be smart to keep the competition in the
+family.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Morey leaned back in his chair and smiled up at Arcot. &#8220;You've
+got a good case there. I'll buy it. When Dr. Ridgely says Wade's got
+those slipped cogs replaced&mdash;offer him a job in your lab staff.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I'm a bit older than you are; you've grown up in a world where the
+psychomedical techniques really work. When I was growing up,
+psychomedical techniques were strictly rule of thumb&mdash;and the
+doctors were all thumbs.&#8221; Mr. Morey sighed. Then, &#8220;In this matter, I
+think your judgment is better than mine.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I'll see him again, and offer him the job. I'm pretty sure he'll
+take it, as I said. I have a suspicion that, within six months, he'll be
+a lot saner than most people around. The ordinary man doesn't realize
+what a job of rechecking present techniques can do&mdash;and Wade is,
+naturally, getting a very thorough overhaul.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Somewhat like a man going in for treatment of a broken arm; in any
+decent hospital they'll also check for any <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+69]</span>other medical problems, and he'll come out healthier than if he
+had never had the broken arm.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wade seems to have had a mind that made friends with molecules, and
+talked their language. After Ridgely shows him how to make friends with
+people&mdash;I think he'll be quite a man on our team!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 70]</span></p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 71]</span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="book2" id="book2"></a>BOOK TWO</h2>
+
+<h3>SOLARITE</h3>
+
+<h4>I</h4>
+
+<p>The lights of great Transcontinental Airport were blazing in cheering
+splendor. Out there in the center of the broad field a dozen men were
+silhouetted in the white brilliance, looking up at the sky, where the
+stars winked cold and clear on the jet background of the frosty night. A
+slim crescent of moon gleamed in the west, a sickle of light that in no
+way dimmed the cold flame of the brilliant stars.</p>
+
+<p>One point of light now moved across the motionless field of far-off
+suns, flashing toward the airport in a long, swift curve. The men on the
+field murmured and pointed up at it as it swept low over the blazing
+lights of New York. Lower it swooped, the towering city behind it. Half
+a mile into the air the buildings rose in shining glory of colored tile
+that shone brightly in the sweeping play of floodlights.</p>
+
+<p>One of them picked out the descending machine, and it suddenly leaped
+out of the darkness as a shining, streamlined cylinder, a cylinder with
+a great halo of blue fire, as the beam of the searchlight set it off
+from the jet black night.</p>
+
+<p>In moments the ship was vast before the eyes of the waiting men; it
+had landed gently on the field, was floating smoothly, gracefully toward
+them.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 72]</span></p>
+
+<p>Twenty-four men climbed from the great ship, shivering in the icy
+blast that swept across the field, spoke a moment with the group
+awaiting their arrival, then climbed quickly into the grateful warmth of
+a field car. In a moment they were speeding toward the lights of the
+field house, half a mile off.</p>
+
+<p>Behind them the huge ship leaped into the sky, then suddenly pointed
+its nose up at an angle of thirty degrees and shot high into the air at
+an unbelievable speed. In an instant it was gone.</p>
+
+<p>At the field house the party broke up almost immediately.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We want to thank you, Mr. Morey, for your demonstration of the new
+ship tonight, and you, Dr. Arcot, for answering our many questions about
+it. I am sure we all appreciate the kindness you have shown the press.&#8221;
+The reporters filed out quickly, anxious to get the news into the
+morning editions, for it was after one o'clock now. Each received a
+small slip of paper from the attendant standing at the exit, the
+official statement of the company. At last all had left but the six men
+who were responsible for the new machine.</p>
+
+<p>This night had witnessed the official demonstration of the first of
+the Arcot-Morey molecular motion ships. Small as she was, compared to
+those that were to come, yet she could carry over three thousand
+passengers, as many as could any existing winged plane, and her speed
+was immensely greater. The trip from the west coast to the eastern had
+been made in less than one hour. At a speed close to one mile a second
+the great ship had shot through the thin air, twenty-five miles above
+the Earth.</p>
+
+<p>In this vessel a huge bar of metal could be affected by an
+ultra-high-frequency generator. When so affected, its molecules all
+moved forward, taking the ship with them. Thus, a molecular motion drive
+vessel could, theoretically, approach the velocity of light as a
+limit.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Arcot,&#8221; said Morey, Senior, after the pressmen had left
+the room, &#8220;as president of this company I certainly want to thank you
+for the tremendous thing you have given us to use. You have 'sold' us
+this machine&mdash;but how can we re<span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+73]</span>pay you? Before this, time and time again, you have sold us your
+inventions, the ideas that have made it possible for Transcontinental to
+attain its present high position in world transportation. All you have
+ever accepted is the laboratory you use, its upkeep, and a small annual
+income. What can we do to show our appreciation this time?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why,&#8221; answered Arcot smiling, &#8220;you haven't stated the
+terms correctly. Actually, I have a fully equipped lab to putter around
+in, all the time I want for my own amusement, and all the money I want.
+What more could I ask?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I suppose that's all true&mdash;but you draw only about six thousand
+a year for personal expenses&mdash;a good clerk could get that&mdash;and
+you, admittedly the most brilliant physicist of the Earth, are
+satisfied! I don't feel we're paying you properly!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot's expression became suddenly serious. &#8220;You can repay me this
+time,&#8221; he said, &#8220;for this latest discovery has made a new thing
+possible. I've always wanted to be able to visit other planets&mdash;as
+has many a scientist for the last three centuries. This machine has made
+it possible. If you are willing&mdash;we could start by the spring of
+2117. I'm quite serious about this. With your permission, I want to
+start work on the first interplanetary ship. I'll need Fuller's help, of
+course. The proposition will be expensive, and that's where I must ask
+you to help me. I think, however, that it may be a paying proposition,
+at that, for there will certainly be something of commercial value on
+the other planets.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They had walked out to the shed where Arcot's private molecular
+motion car stood, the first machine ever built that used the heat of the
+sun to drive it. Thoughtfully the president of the great
+Transcontinental Lines looked at it. It was small compared with the
+great machine that had just brought them east, but of the same swift
+type. It was a thing of graceful beauty even on the ground, its long
+curving streamlines giving it wonderful symmetry. They stood in
+thoughtful silence for a minute&mdash;the young men eager to hear the
+verdict of their prospective backer. Morey, <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+74]</span>always rather slow of speech, took an unusually long time to
+answer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If it were only money you asked for, Arcot, I'd gladly give you
+double the sum, but that isn't the case. I know perfectly well that if
+you do go, my son will go with you, and Fuller and Wade will naturally
+go too.&#8221; He looked at each in turn. &#8220;Each of you has come to mean a lot
+to me. You and Fuller have known Bob since college days. I've known Wade
+only three months, but every day I grow to like him more. There's no
+denying the fact that any such trip is a terrifically dangerous
+proposition. But if you were lost, there would be more than my personal
+loss. We would lose some of the most brilliant men on Earth. You, for
+instance, are conceded as being the world's most brilliant physicist;
+Fuller is one of the greatest designing engineers; Wade is rapidly
+rising into prominence as a chemist and as a physicist; and my son is
+certainly a good mathematician.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He paused, frowning, weighing the situation. &#8220;But you men should know
+how to get out of scrapes just that much better. Certainly there are few
+men on Earth who would not be willing to back such a group of
+men&mdash;or any one of you, for that matter! I'll back your trip!&#8221; His
+words became more facetious. &#8220;I know that Arcot and you, Bob, can handle
+a gun fairly well, I don't know so much about Wade and Fuller. What
+experience have you two had?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Fuller shook his head. &#8220;I think I'll fit best in the galley on the
+trip, Mr. Morey. I've done the cooking on a number of camping trips, and
+food is an important factor in the success of any expedition. I can
+shoot a bit, too.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Wade spoke rather hesitantly. &#8220;I come from the west, and have had a
+good bit of fun with a gun in the Rockies; there are still some mountain
+lions and some deer there, you know. I also have a sneaking acquaintance
+with the new gun, which Arcot developed in connection with his molecular
+motion. But there is so little you know about me&mdash;and most of it
+bad&mdash;I don't see how I really get in on this
+opportunity&mdash;but,&#8221; he added hastily, &#8220;I certainly don't
+in<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 75]</span>tend to keep the old boy
+knocking&mdash;I'm with you, since I'm invited!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot smiled. &#8220;Then you'll definitely support us?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I will,&#8221; replied Morey, Senior, seriously, &#8220;for I
+think it's worth doing.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The four young men climbed into the ship, to start for their
+apartment. Arcot was piloting, and under his sure touch the ship sped
+out into the cold night air, then up through the atmosphere, till they
+hung poised at a height of fifty miles on the upper edge of the airy
+blanket. They looked out in silent thought at the magnificent blazing
+stars of space. Here, where the dust-laden air could no longer mask
+their true colors, the stars shone unwinkingly, steadily, and in a glory
+that earth-bound men had never seen before. They shone in a wonderous
+riot of color, as varied and as beautiful as the display of colored
+floodlights in some great city. They were tiny pinpoints of radiance,
+red, green, orange, and yellow, shining with intense brilliance.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly Arcot let the machine settle to the blazing city miles
+below.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I love to come out here and look at those cold, pinpoint lights;
+they seem to draw me&mdash;the lure of other worlds. I've always had a
+sense of unfulfilled longing&mdash;the desire to go out there&mdash;and
+it's always been so hopeless. Now&mdash;I'll be out there by next
+spring!&#8221; Arcot paused and looked up at the mighty field of stars that
+arched over his head to be lost on either horizon. A wonderful
+night!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where shall we go first, Dick?&#8221; asked Wade softly as he
+gazed out at the far-off suns of space, his voice unconsciously hushed
+by the grandeur of the spectacle.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I've thought of that for the last four months, and now that we are
+definitely going to go, we'll have to make a decision. Actually, it won't
+be too hard to decide. Of course we can't leave the solar system. And
+the outer planets are so far away that I think we had better wait till
+later trips. That leaves the choice really between Mars, Venus, and
+Mercury. Mercury isn't practical since it's so close to the sun. We know
+a fair bit about Mars from telescopic obser<span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+76]</span>vation, while Venus, wrapped in perpetual cloud, is a mystery.
+What do you vote?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Morey, &#8220;it seems to me it's more fun to
+explore a completely unknown planet than one that can be observed
+telescopically. I vote Venus.&#8221; Each of the others agreed with Morey that
+Venus was the logical choice.</p>
+
+<p>By this time the machine had sunk to the roof of their apartment, and
+the men disembarked and entered. The next day they were to start the
+actual work of designing the space ship.</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h4>II</h4>
+
+<p>&#8220;When we start this work,&#8221; Arcot began next morning, &#8220;we
+obviously want to design the ship for the conditions we expect to meet,
+and for maximum convenience and safety. I believe I've thought about
+this trip longer than the rest of you, so I'll present my ideas
+first.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We don't actually <i>know</i> anything about conditions on Venus,
+since no one has actually been there. Venus is probably a younger planet
+than Earth. It's far nearer the sun than we are, and it gets twice the
+heat we do. In the long-gone time when the planets were cooling I
+believe Venus required far longer than Earth, for the inpouring heat
+would retard its cooling. The surface temperature is probably about 150
+degrees Fahrenheit.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is little land, probably, for with the cloud-mass covering
+Venus as it does, it's logical to visualize tremendous seas. What life
+has developed must be largely aquatic, and the land is probably far
+behind us in evolution. Of course, Venus is the planet of
+mystery&mdash;we don't know; we can only guess. But we do know what
+things we are going to need to cross space.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Obviously, the main driving force will be the power units. These
+will get their energy from the rays of the sun by absorbing them in
+copper discs about twelve feet in diameter&mdash;the ship will have to
+be more of a disc than a <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 77]</span>cylinder. I
+think a ship a hundred and eighty feet long, fifty feet wide, and twenty
+feet deep will be about the best dimensions. The power units will be
+strung along the top of the ship in double rows&mdash;one down each side
+of the hull. In the middle will be a series of fused quartz windows,
+opening into a large room just under the outer shell. We'll obviously
+need some source of power to activate the power tubes that run the
+molecular motion power units. We'll have a generator run by molecular
+motion power units in here, absorbing its heat from the atmosphere in
+this room. The air will be heated by the rays of the sun, of course, and
+in this way we'll get all our power from the sun itself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Since this absorption of energy might result in making the ship too
+cool, due to the radiation of the side away from the sun, we'll polish
+it, and thus reduce the unlighted side's radiation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The power units will not be able to steer us in space, due to their
+position, and those on the sides, which will steer us in the atmosphere
+by the usual method, will be unable to get the sun's power; they'll be
+shaded. For steering in space, we'll use atomic hydrogen rockets,
+storing the atomic gas by the Wade method in tanks in the hold. We'll
+also have a battery down there for starting the generator and for
+emergencies.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For protection against meteors, we'll use radar. If anything comes
+within a dozen miles of us, the radar unit covering that sector will at
+once set automatic machinery in operation, and the rockets will shoot
+the ship out of the path of the meteor.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>All that day Arcot and the others discussed the various pieces of
+apparatus they would need, and toward evening Fuller began to draw rough
+sketches of the different mechanisms that had been agreed upon.</p>
+
+<p>The next day, by late afternoon, they had planned the rough details
+of the ship and had begun the greater task of calculating the stresses
+and the power factors.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We won't need any tremendous strength for the ship while it is in
+space,&#8221; Arcot commented, &#8220;for then there will <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+78]</span>be little strain on it. It will be weightless from the start,
+and the gentle acceleration will not strain it in the least, but we must
+have strength, so that it can maneuver in the atmosphere.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We'll leave Earth by centrifugal force, for I can make much better
+speed in the atmosphere where there is plenty of power to draw on;
+outside I must depend solely on sunlight. We'll circle the Earth,
+forming an orbit just within the atmosphere, at five miles a second.
+We'll gradually increase the speed to about ten miles a second, at which
+point the ship would normally fly off into space under its own
+centrifugal force. With the power units we'll prevent its release until
+the proper moment. When we release it, it will be entirely free of
+Earth, and no more work will be needed to overcome Earth's pull.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The planning continued with exasperating slowness. The details of the
+work were complex, for all the machines were totally new. Several weeks
+passed before even the power units could be ordered and the first work
+on the ship started. After that orders for materials left the office
+daily. Still, it was late in November before the last order was sent
+out.</p>
+
+<p>Now they must begin work on other phases of the expedition&mdash;food
+supplies and the standard parts of the equipment.</p>
+
+<p>In the interval Arcot had decided to make a special ventilated suit
+for use on Venus. This was to make use of a small molecular
+motion director apparatus to cool the air, and blow it through the suit.
+The apparatus consisted of a small compressed air-driven generator and a
+power tube bank that could be carried on the back.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Arcot,&#8221; Wade said when he saw the apparatus completed
+and the testing machine ready, &#8220;I've just noticed how similar this is to
+the portable invisibility apparatus I developed as the Pirate. I wonder
+if it might not be handy at times to be invisible&mdash;we could
+incorporate that with a slight change. It wouldn't add more than five
+pounds, and those tubes you are using I'm sure are easily strong enough
+to carry the extra load.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 79]</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Great idea, Wade,&#8221; said Arcot. &#8220;It might be very useful
+if we met hostile natives. The disappearance stunt might make us gods or
+something to primitive beings. And now that you mention it, I think we
+can install the apparatus in the ship. It will require almost no power,
+and might save our lives some time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The work went forward steadily at the great Transcontinental Shops
+where the space ship was being built. Its construction was being kept as
+much of a secret as possible, for Arcot feared the interference of the
+crowds that would be sure to collect if the facts were known, and since
+the shops directly joined the airfield, it meant that there would be
+helicopters buzzing about the Transatlantic and Transcontinental
+planes.</p>
+
+<p>The work to be done required the most careful manipulation and
+workmanship, for one defect could mean death. They calculated six weeks
+for the trip, and in the time before they could reach either planet,
+much might happen to a crippled ship.</p>
+
+<p>To the men who were making the trip, the waiting seemed most
+exasperating, and they spent the days before they could begin the
+installation of the electrical apparatus in purchasing the necessary
+standard equipment; the standard coils, tubes, condensers, the canned
+food supplies, clothes, everything that they could imagine as of
+possible utility. They were making the ship with a great deal of empty
+storage space, for Arcot hoped the trip would be a financial success,
+particularly supplying much-needed metals. Many vital elements were
+already excessively scarce, and no satisfactory substitutes had been
+found.</p>
+
+<p>On the outward trip some of this space would be filled with the many
+things they would consume en route. In addition they were carrying a
+great many spare parts, spare tubes, spare power units, spare
+condensers&mdash;a thousand and one odd parts. Arcot intended that they
+should be able to make an entire new power switchboard and
+motion director unit if anything should go wrong, and he certainly had
+all the apparatus.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 80]</span></p>
+
+<p>At last came the day when the final connection had been soldered, and
+the last joint welded. The atomic hydrogen tanks were full, and under
+the ship's own power the oxygen tanks were filled and the batteries
+charged. They were ready for a test flight!</p>
+
+<p>The great ship rested on the floor of the shed now, awaiting the
+start.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh fellows&mdash;come here a minute!&#8221; Arcot called to
+the other members of the party. &#8220;I want to show you
+something.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The three walked quickly to the bow where Arcot stood, and following
+the line of his vision, looked in wonder to see that everything was
+right. They watched curiously as he drew from his coat a large glass
+bottle, tightly sealed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What's that for?&#8221; asked Wade curiously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We're about to start on the first cruise, and I've been wondering if
+it isn't time we gave the ship a name.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Great&mdash;I'd been thinking of that too&mdash;what are we going to
+name her?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Arcot, &#8220;I had been thinking of
+Alexander&mdash;he longed for other worlds to conquer!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not bad,&#8221; Morey commented. &#8220;I have been thinking of
+naming it too&mdash;I guess we all have&mdash;but I was thinking of
+Santa Maria&mdash;the first ship to discover the New World.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I was think more of its home,&#8221; said Wade. &#8220;How about
+calling it Terrestrian?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well&mdash;it's your turn, Fuller&mdash;you designed it. What do you
+suggest for your masterpiece?&#8221; asked Arcot.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I was thinking also of its home&mdash;the home it will never leave.
+I like to think that we might find people on Venus, and I would like to
+have a name on it that might be translatable into more friendly and less
+foreign terms&mdash;why not call it Solarite?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Solarite&mdash;a member of the solar system&mdash;it will be that,
+always. It will be a world unto itself when it makes its trips&mdash;it
+will take up an orbit about the sun&mdash;a true member of the solar
+system. I like it!&#8221; Arcot turned to the others. &#8220;How about it?&#8221; It was
+agreed upon unanimously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I'm still curious about that glass bottle, so
+care<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 81]</span>fully sealed.&#8221; Morey
+commented with a puzzled smile. &#8220;What's in it? Some kind of gas?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wrong&mdash;no gas&mdash;practically nothing at all, in fact. What
+more appropriate for christening a space ship than a bottle of hard
+vacuum?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We can't have a pretty girl christen this ship, that's sure. A
+flying bachelor's apartment christened by a mere woman? Never! We will
+have the foreman of the works here do that. Since we can't have the ship
+slide down the ways or anything, we will get inside and move it when he
+smashes the bottle. But in the meantime, let's have a symbol set in
+contrasting metal on the bow. We can have a blazing sun, with nine
+planets circling it, the Earth indicated conspicuously; and below it the
+word SOLARITE.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h4>III</h4>
+
+<p>It was shortly after noon when the newly christened <i>Solarite</i>
+left on its first trip into space. The sun was a great ball of fire low
+in the west when they returned, dropping plummet-like from the depths of
+space, the rush of the air about the hull, a long scream that mounted
+from a half-heard sound in the outer limits of the Earth's atmosphere,
+to a roar of tortured air as the ship dropped swiftly to the field and
+shot into the hangar. Instantly the crew darted to the side of the great
+cylinder as the door of the ship opened.</p>
+
+<p>Fuller appeared in the opening, and at the first glimpse of his face,
+the hangar crew knew something was wrong. &#8220;Hey, Jackson,&#8221;
+Fuller called, &#8220;get the field doctor&mdash;Arcot had a little accident
+out there in space!&#8221; In moments the man designated returned with the
+doctor, leading him swiftly down the long metal corridor of
+the <i>Solarite</i> to Arcot's room aboard.</p>
+
+<p>There was a mean-looking cut in Arcot's scalp, but a quick, sure
+examination by the doctor revealed that there appeared to be no serious
+injury. He had been knocked unconscious by the blow that made the cut,
+and he had not yet recovered his senses.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 82]</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How did this happen?&#8221; asked the doctor as he bathed the
+cut and deftly bandaged it.</p>
+
+<p>Morey explained: &#8220;There's a device aboard whose job it is to get us
+out of the way of stray meteors, and it works automatically. Arcot and I
+were just changing places at the controls. While neither of us was
+strapped into our seats, a meteor came within range and the rocket tubes
+shot the car out of the way. We both went tumbling head over heels and
+Arcot landed on his ear. I was luckier, and was able to break my fall
+with my hands, but it was a mean fall&mdash;at our speed we had about
+double weight, so, though it was only about seven feet, we might as well
+have fallen fourteen. We took turns piloting the ship, and Arcot was
+about to bring us back when that shock just about shook us all over the
+ship. We will have to make some changes. It does its job&mdash;but we
+need warning enough to grab hold.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The doctor was through now, and he began to revive his patient. In a
+moment he stirred and raised his hand to feel the sore spot. In ten
+minutes he was conversing with his friends, apparently none the worse
+except for a very severe headache. The doctor gave him a mild opiate,
+and sent him to bed to sleep off the effects of the blow.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p>With the ship fully equipped, tested and checked in every possible
+way, the time for leaving was set for the following Saturday, three days
+off. Great supplies of stores had to be carried aboard in the meantime.
+Care had to be exercised in this work, lest the cargo slip free under
+varying acceleration of the <i>Solarite</i>, and batter itself to bits,
+or even wreck some vital part of the ship. At noon on the day chosen,
+the first ship ever to leave the bounds of the Earth's gravity was ready
+to start!</p>
+
+<p>Gently the heavily laden <i>Solarite</i> rose from the hangar floor,
+and slowly floated out into the bright sunshine of the early February
+day. Beside it rode the little ship that Arcot had first built, piloted
+by the father of the inventor. With him rode the elder Morey and a dozen
+newsmen. The little ship was badly crowded now as they rose slowly, high
+into <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 83]</span>the upper reaches of the Earth's
+atmosphere. The sky about them was growing dark&mdash;they were going
+into space!</p>
+
+<p>At last they reached the absolute ceiling of the smaller ship, and it
+hung there while the <i>Solarite</i> went a few miles higher; then
+slowly, but ever faster and faster they were plunging ahead, gathering
+speed.</p>
+
+<p>They watched the radio speedometer creep
+up&mdash;1-2-3-4-5-6&mdash;steadily it rose as the acceleration pressed
+them hard against the back of the seats&mdash;8-9&mdash;still it rose as
+the hum of the generator became a low snarl&mdash;10-11-12&mdash;they
+were rocketing at twelve miles a second, the tenuous air about the ship
+shrieking in a thin scream of protest as it parted on the streamlined
+bow.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly the speed rose&mdash;reached fifteen miles a second. The sun's
+pull became steadily more powerful; they were falling toward the fiery
+sphere, away from the Earth. A microphone recessed in the outer wall
+brought them the fading whisper of air from outside. Arcot shouted a
+sudden warning:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hold on&mdash;we're going to lose all weight&mdash;out into
+space!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a click, and the angry snarl of the overworked generator
+died in an instant as the thudding relays cut it out of the circuit.
+Simultaneously the air scoop which had carried air to the generator
+switched off, transferring to solar heat as a source of power. They
+seemed to be falling with terrific and ever-increasing speed. They
+looked down&mdash;saw the Earth shrinking visibly as they shot away at
+more than five miles a second; they were traveling fifteen miles a
+second ahead and five a second straight up.</p>
+
+<p>The men watched with intensest interest as the heavens opened up
+before them&mdash;they could see stars now a scant degree from the sun
+itself, for no air diffused its blinding glory. The heat of the rays
+seemed to burn them; there was a prickling pleasantness to it now, as
+they looked at the mighty sea of flame through smoked glasses. The vast
+arms of the corona reached out like the tentacles of some fiery octopus
+through thousands of miles of space&mdash;huge arms of flaming gas that
+writhed out as though to reach <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 84]</span>and
+drag back the whirling planets to the parent body. All about the mighty
+sphere, stretching far into space, a wan glow seemed to ebb and flow, a
+kaleidoscope of swiftly changing color. It was the zodiacal light, an
+aurora borealis on a scale inconceivable!</p>
+
+<p>Arcot worked rapidly with the controls, the absence of weight that
+gave that continued sense of an unending fall, aiding him and his
+assistants in their rapid setting of the controls.</p>
+
+<p>At last the work was done and the ship flashed on its way under the
+control of the instruments that would guide it across all the millions
+of miles of space and land it on Venus with unerring certainty. The
+photo-electric telescopic eye watched the planet constantly, keeping the
+ship surely and accurately on the course that would get them to the
+distant planet in the shortest possible time.</p>
+
+<p>Work thereafter became routine requiring a minimum of effort, and the
+men could rest and use their time to observe the beauties of the skies
+as no man had ever seen them during all the billions of years of time
+that this solar system has existed. The lack of atmosphere made it
+possible to use a power of magnification that no terrestrial telescope
+may use. The blurred outlines produced by the shifting air prohibits
+magnifications of more than a few hundred diameters, but here in space
+they could use the greatest power of their telescope. With it they could
+look at Mars and see it more clearly than any other man had ever seen
+it, despite the fact that it was now over two hundred million miles
+away.</p>
+
+<p>But though they spent much time taking photographs of the planets and
+of the moon, and in making spectrum analyses of the sun, time passed
+very slowly. Day after day they saw measured on the clocks, but they
+stayed awake, finding they needed little sleep, for they wasted no
+physical energy. Their weightlessness eliminated fatigue. However, they
+determined that during the twelve hours before reaching Venus they must
+be thoroughly alert, so they tried to sleep in pairs. Arcot and Morey
+were the first to seek slumber&mdash;but Morpheus seemed to be a mundane
+god, for he <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 85]</span>did not reward them. At
+last it became necessary for them to take a mild opiate, for their
+muscles refused to permit their tired brains to sleep. It was twelve
+hours later when they awoke, to relieve Wade and Fuller.</p>
+
+<p>They spent most of the twelve hours of their routine watch in playing
+games of chess. There was little to be done. The silver globe before
+them seemed unchanging, for they were still so far away it seemed little
+larger than the moon does when seen from Earth.</p>
+
+<p>But at last it was time for the effects of the mild drug to wear off,
+and for Wade and Fuller to awaken from their sleep.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Morey&mdash;I've an idea!&#8221; There was an expression of
+perfect innocence on Arcot's face&mdash;but a twinkle of humor in his
+eyes. &#8220;I wonder if it might not be interesting to observe the reactions
+of a man waking suddenly from sleep to find himself alone in space?&#8221; He
+stared thoughtfully at the control that would make the ship perfectly
+transparent, perfectly invisible.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wonder if it would?&#8221; said Morey grasping Arcot's idea.
+&#8220;What do you say we try it?&#8221; Arcot turned the little switch&mdash;and
+where there had been the ship, it was no more&mdash;it was gone!</p>
+
+<p>Fuller stirred uneasily in his bed, tightly strapped as he was. The
+effects of the drug were wearing off. Sleepily he
+yawned&mdash;stretched, and blindly, his heavy eyes still closed,
+released the straps that held him in bed. Yawning widely he opened his
+eyes&mdash;with a sudden start sat upright&mdash;then, with an excellent
+imitation of an Indian on the warpath, he leaped from his bed, and
+started to run wildly across the floor. His eyes were raised to the
+place where the ceiling should have been&mdash;he called lustily in
+alarm&mdash;then suddenly he was flying up&mdash;and crashed heavily
+against the invisible ceiling! His face was a picture of utter
+astonishment as he fell lightly to the floor&mdash;then slowly it
+changed, and took on a chagrined smile&mdash;he understood!</p>
+
+<p>He spun around as loud cries suddenly resounded from Wade's room
+across the hall&mdash;then there was a dull thud,
+as <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 86]</span>he too, forgetting the
+weightlessness, jumped and hit the ceiling. Then the cries were gone,
+like the snuffing of a candle. From the control room there rose loud
+laughter&mdash;and a moment later they felt more normal, as they again
+saw the four strong walls about them.</p>
+
+<p>Wade sighed heavily and shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>They were approaching the planet visibly now. In the twelve hours
+that had passed they had covered a million miles, for now they were
+falling toward the planet under its attraction. It glowed before them
+now in wonderous splendour, a mighty disc of molten silver.</p>
+
+<p>For the last twenty-four hours they had been reducing their speed
+relative to Venus, to insure their forming an orbit about the planet,
+rather than shoot around it and back into space. Their velocity had been
+over a hundred miles a second part of the way, but now it had been
+reduced to ten. The gravity of the planet was urging them forward at
+ever increasing speed, and their problem became more acute moment by
+moment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We'll never make it on the power units alone, out here in
+space,&#8221; said Arcot seriously. &#8220;We'll just shoot around the planet.
+I'll tell you how we can do it, though. We'll circle around it, entering
+its atmosphere on the daylight side, and shoot into the upper limits of
+its atmosphere. There the power units can find some heat to work on, and
+we can really slow down. But we'll have to use the rocket tubes to get
+the acceleration we'll need to drive the ship into the air.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a sudden clanging of a bell, and everyone dived for a hold,
+and held on tightly. An instant later there was a terrific wrench as the
+rocket jets threw the plane out of the way of a meteor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We're getting near a planet. This is the third meteor we've met
+since we were more than a million miles from Earth. Venus and Earth and
+all the planets act like giant vacuum cleaners of space, pulling into
+themselves all the space debris and meteors within millions of miles by
+their gravitational attraction.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 87]</span></p>
+
+<p>Swiftly the planet expanded below them&mdash;growing vaster with each
+passing moment. It had changed from a disc to a globe, and now, as the
+molten silver of its surface seemed swiftly clouding, it turned grey;
+then they saw its true appearance, a vast field of rolling, billowing
+clouds!</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Solarite</i> was shooting around the planet now at ten miles a
+second, far more than enough to carry them away from the planet again,
+out into space once more if their speed was not checked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hold on everybody,&#8221; Arcot called. &#8220;We're going to turn
+toward the planet now!&#8221; He depressed a small lever&mdash;there was a
+sudden shock, and all the space about them seemed to burst into huge,
+deep-red atomic hydrogen flames.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Solarite</i> reeled under the sudden pressure, but the heavy
+gyroscopic stabilizers caught it, held it, and the ship remained on an
+even keel. Then suddenly there came to the ears of the men a long drawn
+whine, faint&mdash;almost inaudible&mdash;and the ship began slowing
+down. The <i>Solarite</i> had entered the atmosphere of Venus&mdash;the
+first man-made machine to thus penetrate the air of another world!</p>
+
+<p>Quickly Arcot snapped open the control that had kept the rockets
+flaming, turning the ship to the planet&mdash;driving it into the
+atmosphere. Now they could get their power from the air that each
+instant grew more dense about them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wade&mdash;in the power room&mdash;emergency control
+post&mdash;Morey&mdash;control board there&mdash;hang on, for we'll have
+to use some husky accelerations.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Instantly the two men sprang for their posts&mdash;literally diving,
+for they were still almost weightless.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot pulled another lever&mdash;there was a dull snap as a relay in
+the power room responded&mdash;the lights
+wavered&mdash;dimmed&mdash;then the generator was once more humming
+smoothly&mdash;working on the atmosphere of Venus! In a moment the power
+units were again operating, and now as they sucked a plentitude of power
+from the surrounding air, they produced a force that made the men cling
+to their holds with almost frantic force. Around them the rapidly
+increasing density of the air made the whine grow to a roar; the
+tem<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 88]</span>perature within the ship rose
+slowly, warmed by friction with the air, despite the extreme cold at
+this altitude, more than seventy-five miles above the surface of the
+planet.</p>
+
+<p>They began dropping rapidly now&mdash;their radio-speedometer had
+fallen from ten to nine&mdash;then slowly, but faster and faster as more
+heat could be extracted from the air, it had fallen
+8&mdash;7&mdash;6&mdash;5&mdash;4. Now they were well below orbital
+speed, falling under the influence of the planet. The struggle was
+over&mdash;the men relaxed. The ship ran quietly now, the smooth hum of
+the air rushing over the great power units coming softly through the
+speaker to their ears, a humming melody&mdash;the song of a new
+world.</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h4>IV</h4>
+
+<p>Suddenly the blazing sun was gone and they were floating in a vast
+world of rolling mists&mdash;mists that brushed the car with tiny
+clicks, which, with the millions of particles that struck
+simultaneously, merged into a steady roar.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ice&mdash;ice clouds!&#8221; Morey exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot nodded. &#8220;We'll drop below the clouds; they're probably miles
+deep. Look, already they're changing&mdash;snow now&mdash;in a moment it
+will be water&mdash;then it'll clear away and we'll actually see
+Venus!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>For ten miles&mdash;an endless distance it seemed&mdash;they dropped
+through clouds utterly impenetrable to the eye. Then gradually the
+clouds thinned; there appeared brief clear spots, spots into which they
+could see short distances&mdash;then here and there they caught glimpses
+of green below. Was it water&mdash;or land?</p>
+
+<p>With a suddenness that startled them, they were out of the clouds,
+shooting smoothly and swiftly above a broad plain. It seemed to stretch
+for endless miles across the globe, to be lost in the far distance to
+east and west; but to the north they saw a low range of hills that rose
+blue and misty in the distance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Venus! We made it!&#8221; Morey cried jubilantly. &#8220;The first
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 89]</span>men ever to leave Earth&mdash;I'm
+going to start the old sender and radio back home! Man&mdash;look at
+that stretch of plain!&#8221; He jumped to his feet and started across the
+control room. &#8220;Lord&mdash;I feel like a ton of lead now&mdash;I sure am
+out of condition for walking after all that time just floating!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot raised a restraining hand. &#8220;Whoa&mdash;wait a minute there,
+Morey&mdash;you won't get anything through to them now. The Earth is on
+the other side of Venus&mdash;it's on the night side, remember&mdash;and
+we're on the day side. In about twelve hours we'll be able to send a
+message. In the meantime, take the controls while I make a test of the
+air here, will you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Relieved of the controls, Arcot rose and walked down the corridor to
+the power room where the chemical laboratory had been set up. Wade had
+already collected a dozen samples of air, and was working on them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How is it&mdash;what have you tested for so far?&#8221; asked
+Arcot.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oxygen and CO<sub>2</sub>. The oxygen is about twenty-two per cent,
+or considering the slightly lower air pressure here, we will have just
+about the right amount of oxygen. The CO<sub>2</sub> is about one-tenth
+of one per cent. The atmosphere is O.K. for terrestrial life apparently;
+that mouse there is living quite happily. Whatever the other
+seventy-five per cent or so of diluting gas is, I don't know, but it
+isn't nitrogen.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Briefly Arcot and Wade discussed the unusual atmosphere, finally
+deciding that the inert gas was argon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No great amount of nitrogen,&#8221; Arcot concluded. &#8220;That
+means that life will have a sweet time extracting it from the
+air&mdash;but wherever there is life, it finds a way to do the
+impossible. Test it more accurately, will you&mdash;you try for nitrogen
+and I'll try the component inert gasses.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They ran the analyses rapidly, and in a very short time&mdash;less
+than an hour&mdash;their results stood at 23 per cent oxygen, .1 per
+cent carbon dioxide, 68 per cent argon, 6 per cent nitrogen, 2 per cent
+helium, 5 per cent neon, .05 per cent hydrogen, and the rest krypton and
+xenon apparently. The analyses of these inert gasses had to be done
+rather <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 90]</span>roughly in this short time,
+but it was sufficient to balance fairly accurately.</p>
+
+<p>The two chemists reported back to the control cabin.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, we'll be able to breathe the atmosphere of Venus with ease. I
+believe we can go on now. I have been surprised to see no water in
+sight, but I think I see my mistake now. You know the Mississippi has
+its mouth further from the center of the Earth than its source; it flows
+up hill! The answer is, of course, that the centrifugal force of the
+Earth's spin impels it to flow that way. Similarly, I am sure now that
+we will find that Venus has a vast belt of water about the middle, and
+to the north and south there will be two great caps of dry land. We are
+on the northern cap.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We have the microphone turned way down. Let's step up the power a
+bit and see if there are any sounds outside,&#8221; said Arcot and walked over
+to the power control switch. An instant later a low hum came from the
+loudspeaker. There was a light breeze blowing. In the distance, forming
+a dull background for the hum, there came a low rumbling that seemed
+punctuated now and then by a greater sound.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Must be a long way off,&#8221; said Arcot, a puzzled frown on
+his face. &#8220;Swing the ship around so we can see in what direction the
+sound is loudest,&#8221; he suggested.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly Morey swung the ship around on its vertical axis. Without a
+doubt, something off in the direction of the hills was making a
+considerable noise.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Arcot, if that's a fight between two animals&mdash;two of those
+giant animals that you said might be here&mdash;I don't care to get near
+them!&#8221; Fuller's narrowed eyes strove to penetrate the haze that screened
+the low hills in the blue distance.</p>
+
+<p>The microphone was shut off while the <i>Solarite</i> shot swiftly
+forward toward the source of the sound. Quickly the hills grew, the blue
+mistiness disappearing, and the jagged mounds revealing themselves as
+bleak harsh rock. As they drew nearer they saw beyond the hills,
+intermittent flashes of brilliant light, heard shattering blasts of
+sound.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A thunderstorm!&#8221; Wade began, but Arcot interrupted.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 91]</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not so fast, Wade&mdash;Fuller's animal <i>is</i> there&mdash;the
+only animal in all creation that can make a noise like that! Look
+through the telescope&mdash;see those dots wheeling about there above
+the flashing lights? The only animal that can make that racket is man!
+There are men over there&mdash;and they aren't in a playful mood! Turn
+on the invisibility while we can, Morey&mdash;and let's get nearer!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Look out&mdash;here we go!&#8221; Morey began to close a tiny
+switch set in one side of the instrument panel&mdash;then, before the
+relay below could move, he had flipped it back.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Here, you take it, Arcot&mdash;you always think about two steps
+ahead of me&mdash;you're quicker and know the machine better
+anyway.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Quickly the two men exchanged places.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don't know about that, Morey,&#8221; said a voice from
+vacancy, for Arcot had at once thrown the ship into invisibility. &#8220;The
+longer we're here, the more mistakes I see we made in our calculations.
+I see what put me off so badly on my estimate of the intelligence of
+life found here! The sun gives it a double dose of heat&mdash;but also a
+double dose of other radiations&mdash;some of which evidently speed up
+evolution. Anyway, we may be able to find friends here more quickly if
+we aid one side or the other in the very lively battle going on there.
+Before we go any further, what's our decision?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think it is a fine idea,&#8221; said Fuller. &#8220;But which side
+are we to aid&mdash;and what are the sides? We haven't even seen them
+yet. Let's go nearer and take a good look.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes&mdash;but are we going to join either side after
+looking?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that's unanimous!&#8221; said Wade, excitedly.</p>
+
+<p>The invisible ship darted forward. They sped past the barrier of low
+hills, and were again high above a broad plain. With a startled gasp,
+Arcot cut their speed. There, floating high in the air, above a
+magnificent city, was a machine such as no man had ever before seen! It
+was a titanic airplane&mdash;monstrous, gargantuan, and every other word
+that denoted immensity. Fully three-quarters of a mile the huge metal
+wings stretched out in the dull light of the
+cloudy <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 92]</span>Venerian day; a machine that
+seemed to dwarf even the vast city beneath it. The roar of its mighty
+propellers was a rumbling thunder to the men in the <i>Solarite</i>.
+From it came the flashing bursts of flame.</p>
+
+<p>On closer inspection, the watchers saw what seemed to be a swarm of
+tiny gnats flying about the mighty plane. They appeared to be attacking
+the giant as vainly as gnats might attack an eagle, for they could not
+damage the giant machine. The flashing bombs burst in blasts of yellow
+flame as harmlessly as so many firecrackers.</p>
+
+<p>All that mighty plane was covered with heavy metal plates, fully ten
+inches thick, and of metal so tough that when the powerful bombs hit it
+they made no impression, though they blasted tremendous craters in the
+soil below. From it poured a steady stream of bombs that burst with a
+great flash of heat and light, and in an instant the tiny planes they
+struck streaked down as incandescent masses of metal.</p>
+
+<p>Yet the giant seemed unable to approach the city&mdash;or was it
+defending it? No, for it was from the city that the vainly courageous
+little ships poured out. But certainly it was not these ships that kept
+the titanic battleship of the air at bay!</p>
+
+<p>Tensely the men watched the uneven conflict. The rain of bombs
+continued, though all fell short of the city. But slowly around the
+metropolis there appeared an area of flaring, molten lava, and steadily
+this moved toward the beautiful buildings. Suddenly the battleship
+turned toward the city and made a short dash inward on its circling
+path. As though awaiting this maneuver, a battery of hissing, flaming
+swords of white light flashed upward, a few hundred feet from the ring
+of molten rock. As the titanic plane rolled, side-slipped out of the
+way, they passed, harmlessly, barely missing a monstrous wing.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Which?&#8221; Arcot demanded. &#8220;I say the city. No one should
+destroy anything so magnificent.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Not a dissenting voice was raised, so Arcot sent the <i>Solarite</i>
+nearer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But what in the world can we do to that huge
+thing?&#8221; <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 93]</span>Fuller's voice came
+eerily out of the emptiness. &#8220;It has perfect invulnerability through
+size alone.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was sudden silence among the Terrestrials as one of the tiny
+planes darted forward and dove at full speed directly toward one of the
+giant's propellers. There were fifty of these strung along each great
+wing. If enough of them could be destroyed, the plane must crash. There
+came a terrific crash&mdash;a flare of light&mdash;and splintered
+fragments of flaming wreckage plummeted down. Yet the mighty blades
+continued whirling as smoothly as ever!</p>
+
+<p>What could the <i>Solarite</i> do against the giant monoplane?
+Evidently Arcot had a plan. Under his touch their machine darted high
+into the sky above the great plane. There was a full mile between them
+when he released the sustaining force of the <i>Solarite</i> and let it
+drop, straight toward the source of the battle&mdash;falling freely,
+ever more and more rapidly. They were rushing at the mighty plane below
+at a pace that made their hearts seem to pause&mdash;then suddenly Arcot
+cried out, &#8220;Hold on&mdash;here we stop!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They seemed a scant hundred feet from the broad metal wings of the
+unsuspecting plane, when suddenly there was a tremendous jerk, and each
+man felt himself pressed to the floor beneath a terrific weight that
+made their backs crack with the load. Doggedly they fought to retain
+their senses; the blackness receded.</p>
+
+<p>Below them they saw only a mighty sea of roaring red flames&mdash;a
+hell of blazing gas that roared like a score of bombs set off at once.
+The <i>Solarite</i> was sitting down on her rocket jets! All six of the
+rocket tubes in the base of the ship had been opened wide, and streaming
+from them in a furious blast of incandescent gas, the atomic hydrogen
+shot out in a mighty column of gas at 3500 degrees centigrade. Where the
+gas touched it, the great plane flared to incandescence; and in an
+immeasurable interval the fall of the <i>Solarite</i> ended, and it
+rebounded high into the air. Arcot, struggling against the weight of six
+gravities, pulled shut the little control that had sent those mighty
+tor<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 94]</span>ches blasting out. An instant
+later they sped away lest the plane shoot toward the gas columns.</p>
+
+<p>From a safe distance they looked back at their work. No longer was
+the mighty plane unscathed, invulnerable, for now in its top gaped six
+great craters of incandescent metal that almost touched and coalesced.
+The great plane itself reeled, staggering, plunging downward; but long
+before it reached the hard soil below, it was brought into level flight,
+and despite many dead engines, it circled and fled toward the south. The
+horde of small planes followed, dropping a rain of bombs into the
+glowing pits in the ship, releasing their fury in its interior. In
+moments the beings manning the marauder had to a large extent recovered
+from the shock of the attack and were fighting back. In a
+moment&mdash;just before the ship passed over the horizon and out of
+sight&mdash;the Terrestrians saw the great props that had been idle,
+suddenly leap into motion, and in an instant the giant had left its
+attackers behind&mdash;fleeing from its invisible foe.</p>
+
+<p>Under Arcot's guidance the ship from Earth, still invisible, returned
+to the approximate spot where they had destroyed the invulnerability of
+the Giant. Then suddenly, out of nothing, the <i>Solarite</i> appeared.
+In an instant a dozen of the tiny two-man planes darted toward it. Just
+that they might recognize it, Arcot shot it up a bit higher with the aid
+of the keel rockets at one-third power. The typical reddish flame of
+atomic hydrogen, he knew, would be instantaneously recognizable.</p>
+
+<p>Little these planes were, but shaped like darts, and swifter than any
+plane of Earth. They shot along at 1000 miles an hour readily, as Arcot
+soon found out. It was not a minute before they had formed a long line
+that circled the <i>Solarite</i> at minimum speed, then started off in
+the direction of the city. On impulse Arcot followed after them, and
+instantly the planes increased their velocity, swiftly reaching 1000
+miles per hour.</p>
+
+<p>The city they were approaching was an inspiring sight. Mighty towers
+swept graceful lines a half mile in the air, their brightly colored
+walls gleaming in rainbow hues, giv<span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+95]</span>ing the entire city the aspect of a gigantic jewel&mdash;a
+single architectural unit. Here was symmetry and order, with every unit
+in the city built around the gigantic central edifice that rose, a
+tremendous tower of black and gold, a full half mile in the air.</p>
+
+<p>The outer parts of the city were evidently the residential districts,
+the low buildings and the wide streets with the little green lawns
+showing the care of the individual owner. Then came the apartment houses
+and the small stores; these rose in gentle slopes, higher and higher,
+merging at last with the mighty central pinnacle of beauty. The city was
+designed as a whole, not in a multitude of individually beautiful, but
+inharmonious units, like some wild mixture of melodies, each in itself
+beautiful, but mutually discordant.</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h4>V</h4>
+
+<p>The Terrestrians followed their escort high above these great
+buildings, heading toward the great central tower. In a moment they were
+above it, and in perfect order the ships of the Venerians shot down to
+land smoothly, but at high speed. On the roof of the building they
+slowed with startling rapidity, held back by electromagnets under the
+top dressing of the roof landing, as Arcot learned later.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We can't land on that&mdash;this thing weighs too much&mdash;we'd
+probably sink right through it! The street looks wide enough for us to
+land there.&#8221; Arcot maneuvered the <i>Solarite</i> over the edge of the
+roof, and dropped it swiftly down the half mile to the ground below.
+Just above the street, he leveled off, and descended slowly, giving the
+hurrying crowds plenty of time to get from beneath it.</p>
+
+<p>Landing finally, he looked curiously at the mass of Venerians who had
+gathered in the busy street, coming out of buildings where they
+evidently had sought shelter during the raid. The crowd grew rapidly as
+the Terrestrians watched them&mdash;people of a new world.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why,&#8221; exclaimed Fuller in startled surprise, &#8220;they look
+almost like us!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 96]</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not?&#8221; laughed Arcot. &#8220;Is there any particular reason
+why they shouldn't look like us? Venus and Earth are very nearly the
+same size, and are planets of the same parent sun. Physical conditions
+here appear to be very similar to conditions back home, and if there's
+anything to Svend Arrehenius' theory of life spores being sent from
+world to world by sunlight, there's no reason why humanoid races cannot
+be found throughout the universe. On worlds, that is, suitable for the
+development of such life forms.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Look at the size of 'em,&#8221; Fuller commented.</p>
+
+<p>Their size was certainly worth noting, for in all that crowd only the
+obviously young were less than six feet tall. The average seemed to be
+seven feet&mdash;well-built men and women with unusually large chests,
+who would have seemed very human indeed, but for a ghastly, death-like
+blue tinge to their skin. Even their lips were as bright a blue as man's
+lips are red. The teeth seemed to be as white as any human's, but their
+mouths were blue.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They look as if they'd all been eating blueberries!&#8221;
+laughed Wade. &#8220;I wonder what makes their blood blue? I've heard of
+blue-blooded families, but these are the first I've ever seen!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think I can answer that,&#8221; said Morey slowly. &#8220;It seems
+odd to us&mdash;but those people evidently have their blood based on
+hemocyanin. In us, the oxygen is carried to the tissues, and the carbon
+dioxide carried away by an iron compound, hemoglobin, but in many
+animals of Earth, the same function is performed by a copper compound,
+hemocyanin, which is an intense blue. I am sure that that is the
+explanation for these strange people. By the way, did you notice their
+hands?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I had. They strike me as having one too many fingers&mdash;look
+there&mdash;that fellow is pointing&mdash;why&mdash;his hand hasn't too
+many fingers, but too many thumbs! He has one on each side of his palm!
+Say, that would be handy in placing nuts and bolts, and such fine work,
+wouldn't it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly a lane opened in the crowd, and from the great black and
+gold building there came a file of men in <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+97]</span>tight-fitting green uniforms; a file of seven-foot giants.
+Obviously they were soldiers of some particular branch, for in the crowd
+there were a number of men dressed in similar uniforms of deep blue.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think they want one or more of us to accompany them,&#8221;
+Arcot said. &#8220;Let's flip a coin to decide who goes&mdash;two better stay
+here, and two go. If we don't come back inside of a reasonable period of
+time, one of you might start making inquiries; the other can send a
+message to Earth, and get out of harm's way till help can come. I
+imagine these people are friendly now, however&mdash;else I wouldn't
+go.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The leader of the troop stepped up to the door of
+the <i>Solarite</i>, and coming to what was obviously a position of
+attention, put his left hand over his right breast in an equally obvious
+salute, and waited.</p>
+
+<p>The coin was flipped with due ceremony&mdash;it would decide which of
+them were to have the distinction of being the first Terrestrians to set
+foot on Venus. Arcot and Morey won, and they quickly put on the
+loose-fitting ventilated cooling suits that they might live comfortably
+in the hot air outside&mdash;for the thermometer registered
+150&deg;!</p>
+
+<p>The two men quickly walked over to the airlock, entered, closed it
+behind them, and opened the outer door. There was a slight rush of air,
+as the pressure outside was a bit lower than that inside. There was a
+singing in their ears, and they had to swallow several times to equalize
+the pressure.</p>
+
+<p>The guards at once fell into a double row on either side of them, and
+the young officer strode ahead. He himself had curbed his curiosity
+after the single startled glance he had given these strange men. Only
+their hands were visible, for the cooling suits covered them almost
+completely, but the strange pink color must indeed have been startling
+to the eyes; also their dwarf stature, and the strange suits they wore.
+The men of his little troop, however, as well as the people in the crowd
+about them, were not so disinterested. They were looking in eager
+amazement at these <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 98]</span>men who had just
+saved their city, these strange small men with their queer pink skin.
+And most surprising of all, perhaps, the inner thumb was missing from
+each hand!</p>
+
+<p>But soon they had passed beyond the sight of the crowd, which was
+held in check by a handful of the deep blue uniformed men.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Those fellows would never hold such a Terrestrial crowd back if
+visitors from another planet landed!&#8221; remarked Morey wonderingly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How do they know we are visitors from another planet?&#8221;
+Arcot objected. &#8220;We suddenly appeared out of nowhere&mdash;they don't
+even know our direction of approach. We might be some strange race of
+Venerians as far as they know.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They walked briskly up to the massive gold and black entrance, and
+passed through the great doors that seemed made of solid copper, painted
+with some clear coating that kept the metal lustrous, the rich color
+shining magnificently. They stood open wide now, as indeed they always
+were. Even the giant Venerians were dwarfed by these mighty doors as
+they passed through into an equally vast hall, a tremendous room that
+must have filled all the front half of the ground floor of the gigantic
+building, a hall of graceful columns that hid the great supporting
+members. The stone, they knew, must serve the Venerians as marble serves
+us, but it was a far more handsome stone. It was a rich green, like the
+green of thick, heavy grass in summer when the rain is plentiful. The
+color was very pleasing to the eye, and restful too. There was a
+checker-board floor of this green stone, alternated with another, a
+stone of intense blue. They were hard, and the colors made a very
+striking pattern, pleasingly different from what they had been
+accustomed to, but common to Venus, as they later learned.</p>
+
+<p>At last the party had crossed the great hall, and stopped beside a
+large doorway. The officer halted for a moment, and gestured toward two
+of his men, who remained, while the others walked quickly away. The
+diminished party stepped through the doorway into a small room whose
+walls were lined with copper, and an instant later, as the officer
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 99]</span>pushed a small button, there was a
+low hiss of escaping air, and a copper grating sprang quickly up across
+the opening of the elevator. He touched another button, and there was
+the familiar sinking feeling as the car rose, a low hum seeming to come
+from its base.</p>
+
+<p>The elevator rose swiftly through a very considerable
+distance&mdash;up&mdash;up, endlessly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They must have some wonderfully strong cables here on
+Venus!&#8221; Morey exclaimed. &#8220;The engineers of Terrestrial buildings
+have been wondering for some time how to get around the difficulty of
+shifting elevators. The idea of changing cars doesn't appeal to me,
+either&mdash;but we must have risen a long way!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I should say so&mdash;I wonder how they do it. We've been rising for
+a minute and a half at a very fair clip&mdash;there we are; end of the
+line&mdash;I want to look at this car!&#8221; Arcot stepped over to the
+control board, looked at it closely, then stepped out and peered down
+between the car and the shaft as the copper grating fell, simultaneously
+pulling down with it the door that had blocked off the hallway.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come here, Morey&mdash;simple system at that! It would be so, of
+course. Look&mdash;they have tracks, and a regular trolley system, with
+cog rails alongside, and the car just winds itself up! They have a motor
+underneath, I'll bet, and just run it up in that way. They have never
+done that on Earth because of the cost of running the car up without too
+much power. I think I see the solution&mdash;the car has
+electro-dynamical brakes, and descending, just slows itself down by
+pumping power into the line to haul some other car up. This is a mighty
+clever scheme!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>As Arcot straightened, the officer beckoned to him to follow, and
+started down the long corridor which was lined on either side with large
+doorways, much like a very exotic earthly office building. Passing
+through a long series of branching corridors they at last reached one
+that terminated in a large office, into which the young officer led
+them. Snapping to attention, he spoke briefly and rapidly, saluted and
+retired with his two men.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 100]</span></p>
+
+<p>The man before whom the Terrestrians stood was a tall, kindly-faced
+old gentleman. His straight black hair was tinged with bluish gray, and
+the kindly face bore the lines of age, but the smiling eyes, and the air
+of sincere interest gave his countenance an amazingly youthful air. It
+was warm and friendly despite its disconcerting blueness. He looked
+curiously, questioningly at the two men before him, looked at their
+hands, his eyes widening in surprise; then he stepped quickly forward,
+and extended his hand, at the same time looking toward Arcot.</p>
+
+<p>Smiling, Arcot extended his own. The Venerian grasped it&mdash;then
+with an exclamation on the part of each, they mutually released each
+other, Arcot feeling an uncomfortable sensation of heat, just as the
+Venerian felt a flash of intense cold! Each stared from his hand to the
+hand of the other in surprise, then a smile curved the blue lips of the
+Venerian as he very emphatically put his hand at his side. Arcot smiled
+in turn, and said to Morey in an animated tone:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They have a body temperature of at least 170&deg; Fahrenheit. It
+would naturally be above room temperature, which is 150&deg; here, so
+that they are most unpleasantly hot to us. Marvelous how nature adapts
+herself to her surroundings!&#8221; He chuckled. &#8220;I hope these fellows don't
+have fevers. They'd be apt to boil over!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The Venerian had picked up a small rectangle of black material,
+smooth and solid. He drew quickly upon it with what appeared to be a
+pencil of copper. In a moment he handed the tablet to Arcot, who reached
+out for it, then changed his mind, and motioned that he didn't want to
+burn his fingers. The old Venerian held it where Arcot could see it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, Morey, look here&mdash;I didn't think they had developed
+astronomy to any degree, because of the constant clouds, but look at
+this. He has a nice little map of the solar system, with Mercury, Venus,
+Earth, the Moon, Mars, and all the rest on it. He has drawn in several
+of the satellites of Jupiter and of Saturn too.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The Venerian pointed to Mars and looked
+inquisitively <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 101]</span>at them. Arcot shook
+his head and pointed quickly to Earth. The Venetian seemed a bit
+surprised at this, then thought a moment and nodded in satisfaction. He
+looked at Arcot intently. Then to the latter's amazement, there seemed
+to form in his mind a thought&mdash;at first vague, then quickly taking
+definite form.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Man of Earth,&#8221; it seemed to say, &#8220;we thank you&mdash;you
+have saved our nation. We want to thank you for your quick response to
+our signals. We had not thought that you could answer us so soon.&#8221; The
+Venerian seemed to relax as the message was finished. It obviously had
+required great mental effort.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot looked steadily into his eyes now, and tried to concentrate on
+a message&mdash;on a series of ideas. To him, trained though he was in
+deep concentration on one idea, the process of visualizing a series of
+ideas was new, and very difficult. But he soon saw that he was making
+some progress.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We came in response to no signals&mdash;exploration only&mdash;we
+saw the battle&mdash;and aided because your city seemed doomed, and
+because it seemed too beautiful to be destroyed.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What's it all about, Arcot?&#8221; asked Morey wonderingly, as
+he watched them staring at each other.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mental telepathy,&#8221; Arcot answered briefly. &#8220;I'm terribly
+thick from his point of view, but I just learned that they sent signals
+to Earth&mdash;why, I haven't learned&mdash;but I'm making progress. If
+I don't crack under the strain, I'll find out sooner or later&mdash;so
+wait and see.&#8221; He turned again to the Venerian.</p>
+
+<p>The latter was frowning at him rather dubiously. With sudden decision
+he turned to his desk, and pulled down a small lever. Then again he
+looked intently at Arcot.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come with me&mdash;the strain of this conversation is too
+great&mdash;I see you do not have thought transference on your
+world.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come along, Morey&mdash;we're going somewhere. He
+says <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 102]</span>this thought transference is too
+much for us. I wonder what he is going to do?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Out into the maze of halls they went again, now led by the kindly
+seven-foot Venerian. After walking through a long series of halls, they
+reached a large auditorium, where already there had gathered in the
+semi-circle of seats a hundred or so of the tall, blue-tinged Venerians.
+Before them, on a low platform, were two large, deeply-cushioned chairs.
+To these chairs the two Terrestrians were led.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We will try to teach you our language telepathically. We can give
+you the ideas&mdash;you must learn the pronunciation, but this will be
+very much quicker. Seat yourselves in these chairs and relax.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The chairs had been designed for the seven-footers. These men were
+six feet and six feet six, respectively, yet it seemed to them, as they
+sank into the cushions, that never had they felt such comfortable
+chairs. They were designed to put every muscle and every nerve at rest.
+Luxuriously, almost in spite of themselves, they relaxed.</p>
+
+<p>Dimly Arcot felt a wave of sleepiness sweep over him; he yawned
+prodigiously. There was no conscious awareness of his sinking into a
+deep slumber. It seemed that suddenly visions began to fill his
+mind&mdash;visions that developed with a returning
+consciousness&mdash;up from the dark, into a dream world. He saw a
+mighty fleet whose individual planes were a mile long, with
+three-quarters of a mile wingspread&mdash;titanic monoplanes, whose
+droning thunder seemed to roar through all space. Then suddenly they
+were above him, and from each there spurted a great stream of dazzling
+brilliance, an intense glow that reached down, and touched the city. An
+awful concussion blasted his ears. All the world about him erupted in
+unimaginable brilliance; then darkness fell.</p>
+
+<p>Another vision filled his mind&mdash;a vision of the same fleet
+hanging over a giant crater of molten rock, a crater that gaped angrily
+in a plain beside low green hills&mdash;a crater that had been a city.
+The giants of the air circled, turned, and sped over the horizon. Again
+he was with them&mdash;and again <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 103]</span>he
+saw a great city fuse in a blazing flash of blinding light&mdash;again
+and yet again&mdash;until around all that world he saw smoking ruins of
+great cities, now blasted crimson craters in a world of fearful
+desolation.</p>
+
+<p>The destroyers rode up, up, up&mdash;out of the clouds&mdash;and he
+was with them. Out beyond the swirling mists, where the cold of space
+seemed to reach in at them, and the roaring of the mighty propellers was
+a thin whine&mdash;then suddenly that was gone, and from the tail of
+each of the titanic machines there burst a great stream of light, a
+blazing column that roared back, and lit all space for miles
+around&mdash;rocket jets that sent them swiftly across space!</p>
+
+<p>He saw them approaching another world, a world that shone a dull red,
+but he saw the markings and knew that it was Earth, not Mars. The great
+planes began falling now&mdash;falling at an awful speed into the upper
+air of the planet, and in an instant the rocket flares were gone, fading
+and dying in the dense air. Again there came the roar of the mighty
+propellers. Then swiftly the fleet of giants swooped down, lower and
+lower. He became aware of its destination&mdash;a spot he knew must be
+New York&mdash;but a strangely distorted New York&mdash;a Venerian city,
+where New York should have been. And again, the bombs rained down. In an
+instant the gigantic city was a smoking ruin.</p>
+
+<p>The visions faded, and slowly he opened his eyes, looked about him.
+He was still in the room of the circle of chairs&mdash;he was still on
+Venus&mdash;then with sudden shock, understanding came. He knew the
+meaning of these visions&mdash;the meaning of that strangely distorted
+New York, of that red Earth. It meant that this was what the Venerians
+believed was to happen! They were trying to show him the plans of the
+owners and builders of those gigantic ships! The New York he had seen
+was New York as these men imagined it.</p>
+
+<p>Startled, confused, his forehead furrowed, he rose unsteadily to his
+feet. His head seemed whirling in the throes of a terrific headache. The
+men about him were looking anxiously at him. He glanced toward Morey. He
+was sleep<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 104]</span>ing deeply in the seat, his
+features now and again reflecting his sensations. It was his turn to
+learn this new language and see the visions.</p>
+
+<p>The old Venerian who had brought them there walked up to Arcot and
+spoke to him in a softly musical language, a language that was sibilant
+and predominated in liquid sounds; there were no gutturals, no nasals;
+it was a more musical language than Earth men had ever before heard, and
+now Arcot started in surprise, for he understood it perfectly; the
+language was as familiar as English.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We have taught you our language as quickly as possible&mdash;you may
+have a headache, but you must know what we know as soon as possible. It
+may well be that the fate of two worlds hangs on your actions. These men
+have concentrated on you and taught you very rapidly with the massed
+power of their minds, giving you visions of what we know to be in
+preparation. You must get back to your wonderful ship as quickly as
+possible; and yet you must know what has happened here on our world in
+the last few years, as well as what happened twenty centuries ago.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come with me to my office, and we will talk. When your friend has
+also learned, you may tell him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Quickly Arcot followed the Venerian down the long corridors of the
+building. The few people they met seemed intent on their own business,
+paying little attention to them.</p>
+
+<p>At last they seated themselves in the office where Arcot had first
+met his escort; and there he listened to a new history&mdash;the history
+of another planet.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My name is Tonlos,&#8221; the old man said. &#8220;I am a leader of
+my people&mdash;though my title and position are unimportant. To explain
+would entail a prolonged discussion of our social structure, and there
+is no time for that. Later, perhaps&mdash;but now to our history.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Twenty centuries ago,&#8221; Tonlos continued, &#8220;there were two
+great rival nations on this planet. The planet Turo is naturally divided
+so that there would be a tendency toward such division. There are two
+enormous belts of land around the globe, one running from about 20
+degrees north of the <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 105]</span>equator to about
+80 degrees north. This is my country, Lanor. To the south there is a
+similar great belt of land, of almost identical size, Kaxor. These two
+nations have existed for many thousands of our years.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Two thousand years ago a great crisis arose in the affairs of the
+world&mdash;a great war was in process of starting&mdash;but a Lanorian
+developed a weapon that made it impossible for the Kaxorians to
+win&mdash;and war was averted. The feeling was so strong, however, that
+laws were passed which stopped all intercourse between the two nations
+for these thousands of years. By devious ways we've learned that Kaxor
+has concentrated on the study of physics, perhaps in hopes of finding a
+weapon with which they could threaten us once more. Lanor has studied
+the secrets of the human mind and body. We have no disease here any
+longer; we have no insanity. We are students of chemistry, but physics
+has been neglected to a great extent. Recently, however, we have again
+taken up this science, since it alone of the main sciences had not
+received our study. Only twenty-five years have been spent on these
+researches, and in that short time we cannot hope to do what the
+Kaxorians have done in two thousand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The secret of the heat ray, the weapon that prevented the last war,
+had been almost forgotten. It required diligent research to bring it to
+life again, for it is a very inefficient machine&mdash;or was. Of late,
+however, we have been able to improve it, and now it is used in commerce
+to smelt our ores. It was this alone that allowed this city to put up
+the slight resistance that we did. We were surely doomed. This is the
+capital of Lanor, Sonor. We&mdash;and the nation&mdash;would have fallen
+but for you.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We have had some warning that this was coming. We have spies in
+Kaxor now, for we learned of their intentions when they flew the first
+of their giant planes over one of our cities and dropped a bomb! We have
+been trying, since we discovered the awful scope of their plans, to send
+you a warning if you could not help us. That you should come here at
+this particular time is almost beyond belief&mdash;a
+prac<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 106]</span>tically impossible
+coincidence&mdash;but perhaps there is more than coincidence behind it?
+Who knows?&#8221; He paused briefly; went on with a heavy sigh: &#8220;Since you
+drove that plane away, we can expect a new raid at any moment, and we
+must be prepared. Is there any way you can signal your planet?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes&mdash;we can signal easily,&#8221; Arcot answered; he
+struggled with the newly acquired language. &#8220;I do not know the word in
+your tongue&mdash;it may be that you do not have it&mdash;radio we call
+it&mdash;it is akin to light, but of vastly longer wavelength. Produced
+electrically, it can be directed like light and sent in a beam by means
+of a reflection. It can penetrate all substances except metals, and can
+leak around them, if it be not directional. With it I can talk readily
+with the men of Earth, and this very night I will.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot paused, frowning thoughtfully, then continued, &#8220;I know there's
+definite need for haste, but we can't do anything until Morey has
+received the knowledge you've given me. While we're waiting here, I
+might just as well learn all I can about your planet. The more I know,
+the more intelligently I'll be able to plan for our defense.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>In the conversation which followed, Arcot gained a general knowledge
+of the physical makeup of Venus. He learned that iron was an exceedingly
+rare element on the planet, while platinum was relatively plentiful.
+Gold, though readily available, was considered a nuisance, since it was
+of no practical value due to its softness, excessive weight and its
+affinity for many catalysts. Most of the other metallic elements were
+present in quantities approximating those of Earth, except for an
+element called &#8220;morlus&#8221;. When Tonlos mentioned this, Arcot
+said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Morlus&mdash;I have the word in your language&mdash;but I do not
+know the element. What is it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why&mdash;here is some!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Tonlos handed Arcot a small block of metal that had been used as a
+weight on a table in one corner of the room. It seemed fairly dense,
+about as heavy as iron, but it had a remarkably bluish tint. Obviously,
+it was the ele<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 107]</span>ment that composed the
+wings of the airplane they had seen that afternoon. Arcot examined it
+carefully, handicapped somewhat by its heat. He picked up a small copper
+rod and tried to scratch it but there was no noticeable effect.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You cannot scratch it with copper,&#8221; said Tonlos. &#8220;It is
+the second hardest metal we know&mdash;it is not as hard as chromium,
+but far less brittle. It is malleable, ductile, very very strong, very
+tough, especially when alloyed with iron, but those alloys are used only
+in very particular work because of iron's rarity.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Indicating the bluish block, Arcot said, &#8220;I'd like to identify this
+element. May I take it back to the ship and test it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You may, by all means. You will have considerable difficulty getting
+it into solution, however. It is attacked only by boiling selenic acid
+which, as you must know, dissolves platinum readily. The usual test for
+the element is to so dissolve it, oxidize it to an acid, then test with
+radium selenate, when a brilliant greenish blue salt is&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Test with radium selenate!&#8221; Arcot exclaimed. &#8220;Why, we
+have no radium salts whatever on Earth that we could use for that
+purpose. Radium is exceedingly rare!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Radium is by no means plentiful here,&#8221; Tonlos replied,
+&#8220;but we seldom have to test for morlus, and we have plenty of radium
+salts for that purpose. We have never found any other use for
+radium&mdash;it is so active that it combines with water just as sodium
+does; it is very soft&mdash;a useless metal, and dangerous to handle.
+Our chemists have never been able to understand it&mdash;it is always in
+some kind of reaction no matter what they do, and still it gives off
+that very light gas, helium, and a heavy gas, niton, and an
+unaccountable amount of heat.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your world is vastly different from ours,&#8221; Arcot
+commented. He told Tonlos of the different metals of Earth, the
+non-metals, and their occurrence. But try as he would, he could not
+place the metal Tonlos had given him.</p>
+
+<p>Morey's arrival interrupted their discussion. He looked very tired,
+and very serious. His head ached from his <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+108]</span>unwonted mental strain, just as Arcot's had. Briefly Arcot told
+him what he had learned, concluding with a question as to why Morey
+thought the two planets, both members of the same solar family, should
+be so different.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have an idea,&#8221; said Morey slowly, &#8220;and it doesn't
+seem <i>too</i> wacky. As you know, by means of solar photography,
+astronomers have mapped the sun, charting the location of the different
+elements. We've seen hydrogen, oxygen, silicon and others, and as the
+sun aged, the elements must have been mixed up more and more thoroughly.
+Yet we have seen the vast areas of single elements. Some of those areas
+are so vast that they could easily be the source of an entire world! I
+wonder if it is not possible that Earth was thrown off from some deposit
+rich in iron, aluminum and calcium, and poor in gold, radium and those
+other metals&mdash;and particularly poor in one element. We have located
+in the sun the spectrum of an element we have named coronium&mdash;and I
+think you have a specimen of coronium in your hand there! I'd say Venus
+came from a coronium-rich region!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The discussion ended there, for already the light outside had
+deepened to a murky twilight. The Terrestrians were led quickly down to
+the elevator, which dropped them rapidly to the ground. There was still
+a large crowd about the <i>Solarite</i>, but the way was quickly cleared
+for them. As the men passed through the crowd, a peculiar sensation
+struck them very forcibly. It seemed that everyone in the crowd was
+wishing them the greatest success&mdash;the best of good things in every
+wish.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The ultimate in applause! Morey, I'll swear we just received a
+silent cheer!&#8221; exclaimed Arcot, as they stood inside the airlock of the
+ship once more. It seemed home to them now! In a moment they had taken
+off the uncomfortable ventilating suits and stepped once more into the
+room where Wade and Fuller awaited them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Say&mdash;what were you fellows doing?&#8221; Wade demanded.
+&#8220;We were actually getting ready to do some inquiring about your
+health!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 109]</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I know we were gone a long time&mdash;but when you hear the reason
+you'll agree it was worth it. See if you can raise Earth on the radio,
+Morey, will you, while I tell these fellows what happened? If you
+succeed, tell them to call in Dad and your father, and to have a couple
+of tape recorders on the job. We'll want a record of what I have to
+send. Say that we'll call back in an hour.&#8221; Then, while Morey was busy
+down in the power room sending the signals out across the forty million
+miles of space that separated them from their home planet, Arcot told
+Wade and Fuller what they had learned.</p>
+
+<p>Morey finally succeeded in getting his message through, and returned
+to say that they would be waiting in one hour. He had had to wait eight
+minutes after sending his message to get any answer, however, due to
+time required for radio waves to make the two-way trip.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Fuller,&#8221; Arcot said, &#8220;as chef, suppose you see what you
+can concoct while Wade and I start on this piece of coronium and see
+what there is to learn.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At the supper table Wade and Arcot reported to the others the curious
+constants they had discovered for coronium. It was not attacked by any
+acid except boiling selenic acid, since it formed a tremendous number of
+insoluble salts. Even the nitrate violated the long-held rule that &#8220;all
+nitrates are soluble&#8221;&mdash;it wouldn't dissolve. Yet it was chemically
+more active than gold.</p>
+
+<p>But its physical constants were the most surprising. It melted at
+2800&deg; centigrade, a very high melting point indeed. Very few metals
+are solid at that temperature. But the tensile strength test made with a
+standard bar they finally turned out by means of a carbaloy tool, gave a
+reading of more than one million, three hundred thousand pounds per
+square inch! It was far stronger than iron&mdash;stronger than tungsten,
+the strongest metal heretofore known. It was twice as strong as the
+Earth's strongest metal!</p>
+
+<p>Fuller whistled in awe. &#8220;No wonder they can make a plane like that
+when they have such a metal to work with.&#8221; The designing engineer had
+visions of a machine after his <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 110]</span>own
+heart&mdash;one in which half the weight was <i>not</i> employed in
+holding it together!</p>
+
+<p>It was a little later that they got communication through to Earth,
+and the men went to the power room. The television screen was struggling
+to form a clear image despite the handicap of forty million miles of
+space. In a moment it had cleared, though, and they saw the face of Dr.
+Arcot. He showed plainly that he was worried about the startling news
+that had reached him already, sketchy though it was. After brief though
+warm greetings, his son rapidly outlined to him the full extent of their
+discoveries, and the force that Earth would have to meet.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dad, these Kaxorians have planes capable of far more than a thousand
+miles an hour in the air. For some reason the apparatus they use to
+propel them in space is inoperative in air, but their propellers will
+drive them forward faster than any plane Earth ever saw. You must start
+at once on a fleet of these molecular motion planes&mdash;and a lot of
+the gas Wade developed&mdash;you know how to make it&mdash;the animation
+suspending gas. They don't have it&mdash;and I believe it will be
+useful. I'll try to develop some new weapons here. If either of us makes
+any progress along new lines&mdash;we'll report to the other. I must
+stop now&mdash;a Lanorian delegation is coming.&#8221; After a few words of
+farewell, Arcot severed connections with the Earth and arose to await
+the arrival of the visitors.</p>
+
+<p>Since the return of the Terrestrians to the <i>Solarite</i>, a great
+crowd of Venerians had gathered around it, awaiting a glimpse of the
+men, for the news had spread that this ship had come from Earth. Now,
+the crowd had divided, and a group of men was approaching, clothed in
+great heavy coats that seemed warm enough to wear in Terrestrial arctic
+regions!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why&mdash;Arcot&mdash;what's the idea of the winter
+regalia?&#8221; asked Fuller in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Think a moment&mdash;they are going to visit a place whose
+temperature is seventy degrees colder than their room temperature. In
+the bargain, Venus never has any seasonal <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+111]</span>change of temperature, and a heavy bank of clouds that eternally
+cover the planet keeps the temperature as constant as a thermocouple
+arrangement could. The slight change from day to night is only
+appreciable by the nightly rains&mdash;see&mdash;the crowd is beginning
+to break up now. It's night already, and there is a heavy dew settling.
+Soon it will be rain, and the great amount of moisture in the air will
+supply enough heat, in condensing, to prevent a temperature drop of more
+than two or three degrees. These men are not used to changes in
+temperature as we are and hence they must protect themselves far more
+fully.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Three figures now entered the airlock of the <i>Solarite</i>, and
+muffled in heavy garments as they were, large under any conditions, they
+had to come through one at a time.</p>
+
+<p>Much that Arcot showed them was totally new to them. Much he could
+not explain to them at all, for their physics had not yet reached that
+stage.</p>
+
+<p>But there was one thing he could show them, and he did. There were no
+samples of the liquids he wanted, but their chemistry was developed to a
+point that permitted the communication of the necessary data and Arcot
+told them the formula of Wade's gas. Its ability to penetrate any
+material at ordinary temperatures, combined with its anesthetic
+properties, gave it obvious advantages as a weapon for rendering the
+opposing forces defenseless.</p>
+
+<p>Since it was able to penetrate all substances, there was no means of
+storing it. Hence it was made in the form of two liquids which reacted
+spontaneously and produced the gas, which was then projected to the spot
+where needed.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot asked now that the Venerian chemists make him a supply of these
+two liquids; and they promptly agreed. He felt he would have a fighting
+chance in combatting the enemy if he could but capture one of their
+flying forts. It seemed a strange task! Capturing so huge a machine with
+only the tiny <i>Solarite</i>&mdash;but Arcot felt there was a good
+possibility of his doing it if he but had a supply of that gas.</p>
+
+<p>There was one difficulty&mdash;one step in the synthesis required a
+considerable quantity of chlorine. Since
+chlorine <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 112]</span>was rare on Venus, the men
+were forced to sacrifice most of their salt supply; but this chlorine so
+generated could be used over and over again.</p>
+
+<p>It was quite late when the Venerians left, to go again into the
+scalding hot rain, rain that seemed to them to be a cold drizzle. After
+they had gone, the Terrestrians turned in for the night, leaving a
+telephone connection with the armed guard outside.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p>The dull light of the Venerian day was filtering in through the
+windows the next morning when the Terrestrians awoke. It was eight
+o'clock, New York time, but Sonor was working on a twenty-three hour
+day. It happened that Sonor and New York had been in opposition at
+midnight two nights ago, which meant that it was now ten o'clock
+Sonorian time. The result was that Arcot left the car to speak to the
+officer in charge of the guard about the ship.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We need some pure water&mdash;water free of copper salts. I think it
+would be best if you can get me some water that has been distilled. That
+is, for drinking. Also we need about two tons of water of any
+kind&mdash;the ship's tanks need recharging. I'd like about a ton of the
+drinking water.&#8221; Arcot had to translate the Terrestrian measures into
+the corresponding Venerian terms, of course, but still the officer
+seemed puzzled. Such a large amount of water would create a real problem
+in transportation. After apparently conferring by telepathic means with
+his superiors, the officer asked if the <i>Solarite</i> could be moved
+to some more accessible place.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot agreed to have it moved to a spot just outside the city, where
+the water could be procured directly from a stream. The drinking water
+would be ready when he returned to the city.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Solarite</i> was moved to the bank of the little river and the
+electrolysis apparatus was set up beside it. During the previous day,
+and ever since they had landed on Venus, all their power had been coming
+from the storage cells, but now that the electrolysis apparatus was to
+establish such a heavy and constant drain, Arcot started
+the <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 113]</span>generator, to both charge the
+cells, and to do the work needed.</p>
+
+<p>Throughout the day there could be heard the steady hum of the
+generator, and the throb-throb-throb of the oxygen pump, as the gas was
+pumped into the huge tanks. The apparatus they were using produced the
+gas very rapidly, but it was near nightfall before the huge tanks had
+again been filled. Even then there was a bit more room for the atomic
+hydrogen that was simultaneously formed, although twice as much hydrogen
+as oxygen was produced. Its task completed, the <i>Solarite</i> rose
+again and sped toward the distant city.</p>
+
+<p>A soft red glow filled the sky now, for even through the miles of
+clouds the intense sun was able to force some direct rays, and all the
+city was lighted with that warm radiance. The floodlights had not yet
+been turned on, but the great buildings looming high in the ruddy light
+were wonderfully impressive, the effect being heightened by the planned
+construction, for there were no individual spires, only a single mass
+that grew from the ground to tower high in the air, like some man-made
+mountain.</p>
+
+<p>Back at the Capital the <i>Solarite</i> again settled into the broad
+avenue that had been cut off to traffic now, and allotted to it as its
+resting place. Tonlos met them shortly after they had settled into
+place, and with him were five men, each carrying two large bottles.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah-co,&#8221; as Tonlos pronounced the Terrestrian name, &#8220;we
+have not been able to make very much of the materials needed for your
+gas, but before we made any very great amount, we tried it out on an
+animal, whose blood structure is the same as ours, and found it had the
+same effect, but that in our case the iodide of potassium is not as
+effective in awakening the victim as is the sorlus. I do not know
+whether you have tried that on Terrestrial animals or not. Luckily
+sorlus is the most plentiful of the halogen groups; we have far more of
+it than of chlorine, bromine or iodine.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sorlus? I do not know of it&mdash;it must be one of the other
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 114]</span>elements that we do not have on
+Earth. What are its properties?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It, too, is much like iodine, but heavier. It is a black solid
+melting at 570 degrees; it is a metallic looking element, will conduct
+electricity somewhat, oxidizes in air to form an acidic oxide, and forms
+strong oxygen acids. It is far less active than iodine, except toward
+oxygen. It is very slightly soluble in water. It does not react readily
+with hydrogen, and the acid where formed is not as strong as HI.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have seen so many new things here, I wonder if it may not be the
+element that precedes niton. Is it heavier than that?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; replied Tonlos; &#8220;it is just lighter than that
+element you call niton. I think you have none of it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; said Arcot, &#8220;it must be the next member of the
+halogen series, Morey. I'll bet they have a number of those heavier
+elements.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The gas was loaded aboard the <i>Solarite</i> that evening, and when
+Wade saw the quantity that they had said was &#8220;rather disappointingly
+small&#8221; he laughed heartily.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Small! They don't know what that gas will do! There's enough stuff
+there to gas this whole city. Why, with that, we can bring down any
+ship! But tell them to go on making it, for we can use it on the other
+ships.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again that night they spoke with Earth, and Morey, Senior, told them
+that work was already under way on a hundred small ships. They were
+using all their own ships already, while the Government got ready to act
+on the idea of danger. It had been difficult to convince them that
+someone on Venus was getting ready to send a force to Earth to destroy
+them; but the weight of their scientific reputation had turned the
+trick. The ships now under construction would be ready in three weeks.
+They would be unable to go into space, but they would be very fast, and
+capable of carrying large tanks of the gas-producing chemicals.</p>
+
+<p>It was near midnight, Venerian time, when they
+turned <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 115]</span>in. The following day they
+planned to start for the Kaxorian construction camp. They had learned
+from Tonlos that there were but five of the giant planes completed now,
+but there were fifteen more under construction, to make up the fleet of
+twenty that was to attack Earth. These fifteen others would be ready in
+a week&mdash;or less. When they were ready, the <i>Solarite</i> would
+stand small chance. They must capture one of the giants and learn its
+secrets, and then, if possible, with the weapons and knowledge of two
+worlds, defeat them. A large order!</p>
+
+<p>Their opportunity came sooner than they had hoped for&mdash;or
+wanted. It was about three o'clock in the morning when the telephone
+warning hummed loudly through the ship. Arcot answered.</p>
+
+<p>Far to the east and south of them the line of scout planes that
+patrolled all the borders of Lanor had been broken. Instantaneously, it
+seemed, out of the dark, its lights obscured, the mighty Kaxorian craft
+had come, striking a tiny scout plane head on, destroying it utterly
+before the scout had a chance to turn from the path of the titanic ship.
+But even as the plane spun downward, the pilot had managed to release a
+magnesium flare, a blindingly brilliant light that floated down on a
+parachute, and in the blaze of the white light it gave off, the other
+scouts at a few miles distance had seen the mighty bulk of the Kaxorian
+plane. At once they had dropped to the ground and then, by telephone
+lines, had sent their report to far off Sonor.</p>
+
+<p>In moments the interior of the <i>Solarite</i> became a scene of
+swift purposeful activity. All day the Terrestrians had been able to do
+so little in preparation for the conflict they knew must come, the
+battle for two worlds. They had wanted action, but they had no weapons
+except their invisibility and the atomic hydrogen. It would not sink a
+plane. It would only break open its armor, and they hoped, paralyze its
+crew. And on this alone they must pin their hopes.</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 116]</span></p>
+
+<h4>VI</h4>
+
+<p>Arcot lifted the <i>Solarite</i> at once high into the air, and
+started toward the point on the border, where the plane had been seen
+crossing. In a short time Wade relieved him at the controls while he
+dressed.</p>
+
+<p>They had been flying on in silence for about an hour, when suddenly
+Wade made out in the distance the great bulk of the plane, against the
+dull gray of the clouds, a mile or so above them. It seemed some
+monstrous black bat flying there against the sky, but down to the
+sensitive microphone on the side of the <i>Solarite</i> came the drone
+of the hundred mighty propellers as the great plane forged swiftly
+along.</p>
+
+<p>Just how rapidly these giants moved, Arcot had not appreciated until
+he attempted to overtake this one. It was going over a mile a second
+now&mdash;a speed that demanded only that it move its own length in
+about five-eights of a second! It made this tremendous speed by
+streamlining and through sheer power.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Solarite</i> hovered high above the dark ship at length, the
+roar of the terrific air blast from its propellers below coming up to
+them as a mighty wave of sound that made their own craft tremble! The
+hundred gigantic propellers roaring below, however, would distribute
+their gas perfectly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We're going invisible,&#8221; Arcot exclaimed. &#8220;Look
+out!&#8221; There was a click as the switch shut, and
+the <i>Solarite</i> was as transparent as the air above it. Arcot drove
+his ship swiftly, above and ahead of the mighty colossus, then released
+the gas. There was a low hiss from the power room, barely detectable
+despite the vacuum that shut them off from the roar of the Kaxorian
+plane. The microphone had long since been disconnected. Out of the gas
+vent streamed a cloud of purplish gas, becoming faintly visible as it
+left the influence of the invisibility apparatus, but only to those who
+knew where to look for it. The men in that
+mighty <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 117]</span>plane could not see it as
+their machine bore down into the little cloud of gas.</p>
+
+<p>Tensely the Terrestrians waited. Moments&mdash;and the gigantic plane
+wobbled! There was a sudden swerve that ended in a nose dive, straight
+toward Venus seven miles below.</p>
+
+<p>That the ship should crash into the ground below was not at all
+Arcot's plan, and he was greatly relieved when it flattened its dive and
+started to climb, its incalculable mass rapidly absorbing its kinetic
+energy. Down from its seven mile height it glided, controlling itself
+perfectly as Arcot released the last of the first four containers of the
+liquid gas makers, putting to sleep the last man on the ship below.</p>
+
+<p>In a long glide that carried it over many miles, the great ship
+descended. It had sunk far, and gone smoothly, but now there loomed
+ahead of it a range of low hills! It would certainly crash into the
+rocky cliffs ahead! Nearer and nearer drew the barrier while Arcot and
+the others watched with rigid attention. It might skim above those low
+hills at that&mdash;just barely escaping.... The watchers cringed as
+head on, at nearly two thousand miles an hour, the machine crashed into
+the rocks. Arcot had snapped the loud speaker into the circuit once
+more, and now as they looked at the sudden crash below, there thundered
+up to them mighty waves of sound!</p>
+
+<p>The giant plane had struck about twenty feet from the top of a nearly
+perpendicular cliff. The terrific crash was felt by seismographs in
+Sonor nearly two thousand miles away! The mighty armored hull plowed
+into the rocks like some gigantic meteor, the hundreds of thousands of
+tons crushing the rocky precipice, grinding it to powder, and shaking
+the entire hill. The cliff seemed to buckle and crack. In moments the
+plane had been brought to rest, but it had plowed through twenty feet of
+rock for nearly an eighth of a mile. For an instant it hung motionless,
+perched perilously in the air, its tail jutting out over the little
+valley, then slowly, majestically it sank, to strike with a
+reverberating crash that shattered the heavy armor plate!</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 118]</span></p>
+
+<p>For another instant the great motors continued turning, the roar of
+the propellers like some throbbing background to the rending crashes as
+the titanic wreck came to rest. Suddenly, with a series of roaring
+explosions, the bank of motors in the left wing blew up with awful
+force. There was a flash of indescribable brilliance that momentarily
+blinded the watching Terrestrians; then there came to the microphone
+such waves of sound as it could not reproduce. From the rock on which
+rested the fused mass of metal that they knew had been the wing, rose a
+great cloud of dust. Still the motors on the other side of the ship
+continued roaring and the giant propellers turned. As the blast of air
+blew the dust away, the Terrestrians stared in unbounded amazement. Up
+from the gaping, broken wing lanced a mighty beam of light of such
+dazzling intensity that Arcot swiftly restored them to visibility that
+they might shut it out. There was a terrific hissing, crackling roar.
+The plane seemed to wobble as it lay there, seemingly recoiling from
+that flaming column. Where it touched the cliff there was intense
+incandescence that made the rock glow white hot, then flow down in a
+sluggish rivulet of molten lava! For five minutes longer this terrific
+spectacle lasted, while Arcot withdrew the <i>Solarite</i> to a safer
+distance.</p>
+
+<p>The fifty motors of the remaining wing seemed slowing down
+now&mdash;then suddenly there was such a crash and towering flash of
+light as no human being had ever seen before! Up&mdash;up into the very
+clouds it shot its mighty flame, a blazing column of light that seemed
+to reach out into space. The <i>Solarite</i> was hurled back end over
+end, tumbling, falling. Even the heavy gyroscopes could not hold it for
+an instant, but quickly the straining motors brought them to rest in air
+that whirled and whined about them. They were more than twenty miles
+from the scene of the explosion, but even at that distance they could
+see the glow of the incandescent rock. Slowly, cautiously they
+maneuvered the <i>Solarite</i> back to the spot, and looked down on a
+sea of seething lava!</p>
+
+<p>Morey broke the awed silence. &#8220;Lord&mdash;what power
+that <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 119]</span>thing carries! No wonder they
+could support it in the air! But&mdash;how can they control such power?
+What titanic forces!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Slowly Arcot sent the <i>Solarite</i> away into the night&mdash;into
+the kindly darkness once more. His voice when he spoke at last was oddly
+restrained.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wonder what those forces were&mdash;they are greater than any man
+has ever before seen! An entire hill fused to molten, incandescent rock,
+not to mention the tons and tons of metal that made up that ship.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And such awful forces as these are to be released on our
+Earth!&#8221; For an interminable period they sat silent as the panorama
+of hills glided by at a slow two-hundred miles an hour. Abruptly Arcot
+exclaimed, &#8220;We <i>must</i> capture a ship. We'll try again&mdash;we'll
+either destroy or capture it&mdash;and either way we're ahead!&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p>Aimlessly they continued their leisurely course across a vast plain.
+There were no great mountains on Venus, for this world had known no such
+violent upheaval as the making of a moon. The men were lost in thought,
+each intent on his own ideas. At length Wade stood up, and walked slowly
+back to the power room.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the men in the control room heard his call:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Arcot&mdash;quick&mdash;the microphone&mdash;and rise a
+mile!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Solarite</i> gave a violent lurch as it shot vertically aloft
+at tremendous acceleration. Arcot reached over swiftly and snapped the
+switch of the microphone. There burst in upon them the familiar roaring
+drone of a hundred huge propellers. No slightest hum of motor, only the
+vast whining roar of the mighty props.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Another one! They must have been following the first by a few
+minutes. We'll get this one!&#8221; Arcot worked swiftly at his switches.
+&#8220;Wade&mdash;strap yourself in the seat where you are&mdash;don't take
+time to come up here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They followed the same plan which had worked so well before. Suddenly
+invisible, the <i>Solarite</i> flashed ahead of the great plane. The
+titanic wave of rushing sound engulfed <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+120]</span>them&mdash;then again came the little hiss of the gas. Now there
+were no hills in sight, as far as the eye could see. In the dim light
+that seemed always to filter through these gray clouds they could see
+the distant, level horizon.</p>
+
+<p>Several dragging minutes passed before there was any evident effect;
+the men from Earth were waiting for that great ship to waver, to wobble
+from its course. Suddenly Arcot gave a cry of surprise. Startled
+amazement was written all over his face, as his companions turned in
+wonderment to see that he was partially visible! The <i>Solarite</i>,
+too, had become a misty ghost ship about them; they were becoming
+visible! Then in an instant it was gone&mdash;and they saw that the huge
+black bulk behind them was wavering, turning; the thunderous roar of the
+propellers fell to a whistling whine; the ship was losing speed! It
+dipped, and shot down a bit&mdash;gained speed, then step by step it
+glided down&mdash;down&mdash;down to the surface below. The engines were
+idling now, the plane running more and more slowly.</p>
+
+<p>They were near the ground now&mdash;and the watchers scarcely
+breathed. Would this ship, too, crash? It glided to within a half mile
+of the plain&mdash;then it dipped once more, and Arcot breathed his
+relief as it made a perfect landing, the long series of rollers on the
+base of the gigantic hull absorbing the shock of the landing. There were
+small streams in the way&mdash;a tree or two, but these were obstacles
+unnoticed by the gargantuan machine. Its mighty propellers still idling
+slowly, the huge plane rolled to a standstill.</p>
+
+<p>Swooping down, the <i>Solarite</i> landed beside it, to be lost in
+the vast shadows of the mighty metal walls.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot had left a small radio receiver with Tonlos in Sonor before he
+started on this trip, and had given him directions on how to tune in on
+the <i>Solarite</i>. Now he sent a message to him, telling that the
+plane had been brought down, and asking that a squadron of planes be
+sent at once.</p>
+
+<p>Wade and Arcot were elected to make the first inspection of the
+Kaxorian plane, and clad in their cooling suits, they stepped from
+the <i>Solarite</i>, each carrying, for emergency use, a small hand
+torch, burning atomic hydrogen,
+capa<span class="pagenum">[Pg.121]</span>ble of melting its way through
+even the heavy armor of the great plane.</p>
+
+<p>As they stood beside it, looking up at the gigantic wall of metal
+that rose sheer beside them hundreds of feet straight up, it seemed
+impossible that this mighty thing could fly, that it could be propelled
+through the air. In awed silence they gazed at its vast bulk.</p>
+
+<p>Then, like pygmies beside some mighty prehistoric monster, they made
+their way along its side, seeking a door. Suddenly Wade stopped short
+and exclaimed: &#8220;Arcot, this is senseless&mdash;we can't do this! The
+machine is so big that it'll take us half an hour of steady walking to
+go around it. We'll have to use the <i>Solarite</i> to find an
+entrance!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was well that they followed Wade's plan, for the only entrance, as
+they later learned, was from the top. There, on the back of the giant,
+the <i>Solarite</i> landed&mdash;its great weight having no slightest
+effect on the Kaxorian craft. They found a trap-door leading down
+inside. However, the apparatus for opening it was evidently within the
+hull, so they had to burn a hole in the door before they could
+enter.</p>
+
+<p>What a sight there was for these men of Earth. The low rumble of the
+idling engines was barely audible as they descended the long ladder.</p>
+
+<p>There was no resemblance whatever to the interior of a flying
+machine; rather, it suggested some great power house, where the energies
+of half a nation were generated. They entered directly into a vast hall
+that extended for a quarter of a mile back through the great hull, and
+completely across the fuselage. To the extreme nose it ran, and
+throughout there were scattered little globes that gave off an intense
+white light, illuminating all of the interior. Translucent bull's-eyes
+obscured the few windows.</p>
+
+<p>All about, among the machines, lay Venerians. Dead they seemed, the
+illusion intensified by their strangely blue complexions. The two
+Terrestrians knew, however, that they could readily be restored to life.
+The great machines they had been operating were humming softly, almost
+inaudibly. There were two long rows of them, extending to the end of the
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 122]</span>great hall. They suggested mighty
+generators twenty feet high. From their tops projected two-feet-thick
+cylinders of solid fused quartz. From these extended other rods of fused
+quartz, rods that led down through the floor; but these were less bulky,
+scarcely over eight inches thick.</p>
+
+<p>The huge generator-like machines were disc-shaped. From these, too, a
+quartz rod ran down through the floor. The machines on the further row
+were in some way different; those in the front half of the row had the
+tubes leading to the floor below, but had no tubes jutting into the
+ceiling. Instead, there were many slender rods connected with a vast
+switchboard that covered all of one side of the great room. But
+everywhere were the great quartz rods, suggesting some complicated water
+system. Most of them were painted black, though the main rods leading
+from the roof above were as clear as crystal.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot and Wade looked at these gigantic machines in hushed awe. They
+seemed impossibly huge; it was inconceivable that all this was but the
+power room of an airplane!</p>
+
+<p>Without speaking, they descended to the level below, using a quite
+earthly appearing escalator. Despite the motionless figures everywhere,
+they felt no fear of their encountering resistance. They knew the
+effectiveness of Wade's anesthetic.</p>
+
+<p>The hall they entered was evidently the main room of the plane. It
+was as long as the one above, and higher, yet all that vast space was
+taken by one single, titanic coil that stretched from wall to wall! Into
+it, and from it there led two gigantic columns of fused quartz. That
+these were rods, such as those smaller ones above was obvious, but each
+was over eight feet thick!</p>
+
+<p>Short they were, for they led from one mighty generator such as they
+had seen above, but magnified on a scale inconceivable! At the end of
+it, its driving power, its motor, was a great cylindrical case, into
+which led a single quartz bar ten inches thick. This bar was alive with
+pulsing, glowing fires, that changed and maneuvered and died out over
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 123]</span>all its surface and through all its
+volume. The motor was but five feet in diameter and a scant seven feet
+long, yet obviously it was driving the great machine, for there came
+from it a constant low hum, a deep pitched song of awful power. And the
+huge quartz rod that led from the titanic coil-cylinder was alive with
+the same glowing fires that played through the motor rod. From one side
+of the generator, ran two objects that were familiar, copper bus bars.
+But even these were <i>three feet thick</i>!</p>
+
+<p>The scores of quartz tubes that come down from the floor above
+joined, coalesced, and ran down to the great generator, and into it.</p>
+
+<p>They descended to another level. Here were other quartz tubes, but
+these led down still further, for this floor contained individual
+sleeping bunks, most of them unoccupied, unready for occupancy, though
+some were made up.</p>
+
+<p>Down another level; again the bunks, the little individual rooms.</p>
+
+<p>At last they reached the bottom level, and here the great quartz
+tubes terminated in a hundred smaller ones, each of these leading into
+some strange mechanism. There were sighting devices on it, and there
+were ports that opened in the floor. This was evidently the bombing
+room.</p>
+
+<p>With an occasional hushed word, the Terrestrians walked through what
+seemed to be a vast city of the dead, passing sleeping officers, and
+crewmen by the hundreds. On the third level they came at last to the
+control room. Here were switchboards, control panels, and dozens of
+officers, sleeping now, beside their instruments. A sudden dull thudding
+sound spun Arcot and Wade around, nerves taut. They relaxed and
+exchanged apologetic smiles. An automatic relay had adjusted some
+mechanism.</p>
+
+<p>They noted one man stationed apart from the rest. He sat at the very
+bow, protected behind eight-inch coronium plates in which were set
+masses of fused quartz that were nearly as strong as the metal itself.
+These gave him a view in every direction except directly behind him.
+Obviously, here was the pilot.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 124]</span></p>
+
+<p>Returning to the top level, they entered the long passages that led
+out into the titanic wings. Here, as elsewhere, the ship was brightly
+lighted. They came to a small room, another bunk room. There were great
+numbers of these down both sides of the long corridor, and along the two
+parallel corridors down the wing. In the fourth corridor near the back
+edge of the wing, there were bunk rooms on one side, and on the other
+were bombing posts.</p>
+
+<p>As they continued walking down the first corridor, they came to a
+small room, whence issued the low hum of one of the motors. Entering,
+they found the crew sleeping, and the motor idling.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good Lord!&#8221; Wade exclaimed. &#8220;Look at that motor, Arcot!
+No bigger than the trunk of a man's body. Yet a battery of these sends
+the ship along at a mile a second! What power!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Slowly they proceeded down the long hall. At each of the fifty engine
+mountings they found the same conditions. At the end of the hall there
+was an escalator that led one level higher, into the upper wing. Here
+they found long rows of the bombing posts and the corresponding quartz
+rods.</p>
+
+<p>They returned finally to the control room. Here Arcot spent a long
+time looking over the many instruments, the controls, and the piloting
+apparatus.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wade,&#8221; he said at last, &#8220;I think I can see how this is
+done. I am going to stop those engines, start them, then accelerate them
+till the ship rolls a bit!&#8221; Arcot stepped quickly over to the pilots
+seat, lifted the sleeping pilot out, and settled in his place.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, you go over to that board there&mdash;that one&mdash;and when I
+ask you to, please turn on that control&mdash;no, the one
+below&mdash;yes&mdash;turn it on about one notch at a time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Wade shook his head dubiously, a one-sided grin on his face. &#8220;All
+right, Arcot&mdash;just as you say&mdash;but when I think of the powers
+you're playing with&mdash;well, a mistake might be unhealthy!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I'm going to stop the motors now,&#8221; Arcot announced
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 125]</span>quietly. All the time they had been
+on board, they had been aware of the barely inaudible whine of the
+motors. Now suddenly, it was gone, and the plane was still as death!</p>
+
+<p>Arcot's voice sounded unnaturally loud. &#8220;I did it without blowing the
+ship up after all! Now we're going to try turning the power on!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there was a throaty hum; then quickly it became the low
+whine; then, as Arcot turned on the throttle before him, he heard the
+tens of thousands of horsepower spring into life&mdash;and suddenly the
+whine was a low roar&mdash;the mighty propellers out there had became a
+blur&mdash;then with majestic slowness the huge machine moved off across
+the field!</p>
+
+<p>Arcot shut off the motors and rose with a broad, relieved smile,
+&#8220;Easy!&#8221; he said. They made their way again up through the
+ship, up through the room of the tremendous cylinder coil, and then into
+the power room. Now the machines were quiet, for the motors were no
+longer working.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Arcot, you didn't shut off the biggest machine of all down there.
+How come?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I couldn't, Wade. It has no shut-off control, and if it did have, I
+wouldn't use it. I will tell you why when we get back to
+the <i>Solarite</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At last they left the mighty machine; walked once more across its
+broad metal top. Here and there they now saw the ends of those quartz
+cylinders. Once more they entered the <i>Solarite</i>, through the air
+lock, and took off the cumbersome insulating suits.</p>
+
+<p>As quickly as possible Arcot outlined to the two who had stayed with
+the <i>Solarite</i>, the things they had seen, and the layout of the
+great ship.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think I can understand the secret of all that power, and it's not
+so different from the <i>Solarite</i>, at that. It, too, draws its power
+from the sun, though in a different way, and it stores it within itself,
+which the <i>Solarite</i> does not try to do.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Light of course, is energy, and therefore, has mass.
+It <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 126]</span>exerts pressure, the impact of its
+moving units of energy&mdash;photons. We have electrons and protons of
+matter, and photons of light. Now we know that the mass of protons and
+electrons will attract other protons and electrons, and hold them
+near&mdash;as in a stone, or in a solar system. The new idea here is
+that the photons will attract each other ever more and more powerfully,
+the closer they get. The Kaxorians have developed a method of getting
+them so close together, that they will, for a while at least, hold
+themselves there, and with a little 'pressure', will stay there
+indefinitely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In that huge coil and cylinder we found there we saw the main power
+storage tank. That was full of gaseous light-energy held together by its
+own attraction, plus a little help of the generator!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A little help?&#8221; Wade exclaimed. &#8220;Quite a little! I'll
+bet that thing had a million horsepower in its motor!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes&mdash;but I'll bet they have nearly fifty pounds of light
+condensed there&mdash;so why worry about a little thing like a million
+horsepower? They have plenty more where that comes from.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think they go up above the clouds in some way and collect the
+sun's energy. Remember that Venus gets twice as much as Earth. They
+focus it on those tubes on the roof there, and they, like all quartz
+tubes, conduct the light down into the condensers where it is first
+collected. Then it is led to the big condenser downstairs, where the
+final power is added, and the condensed light is stored.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Quartz conducts light just as copper conducts
+electricity&mdash;those are bus bars we saw running around there.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The bombs we've been meeting recently are, of course, little knots
+of this light energy thrown out by that projector mechanism we saw. When
+they hit anything, the object absorbs their energy&mdash;and is very
+promptly volatilized by the heat of the absorption.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you remember that column of hissing radiance we saw shooting out
+of the wrecked plane just before it blew up? That was the motor
+connection, broken, and discharg<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 127]</span>ing
+free energy. That would ordinarily have supplied all fifty motors at
+about full speed. Naturally, when it cut loose, it was rather
+violent.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The main generator had been damaged, no doubt, so it stopped
+working, and the gravitational attraction of the photons wasn't enough,
+without its influence to hold them bound too long. All those floods of
+energy were released instantaneously, of course.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Look&mdash;there come the Lanorians now. I want to go back to Sonor
+and think over this problem. Perhaps we can find something that will
+release all that energy&mdash;though honestly, I doubt it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot seemed depressed, overawed perhaps, by the sheer magnitude of
+the force that lay bound up in the Kaxorian ship. It seemed
+inconceivable that the little <i>Solarite</i> could in any way be
+effective against the incredible machine.</p>
+
+<p>The Lanorian planes were landing almost like a flock of birds, on the
+wings, the fuselage, the ground all about the gigantic ship. Arcot
+dropped into a chair, gazing moodily into emptiness, his thoughts on the
+mighty giant, stricken now, but only sleeping. In its vast hulk lay such
+energies as intelligence had never before controlled; within it he knew
+there were locked the powers of the sun itself. What could the
+<i>Solarite</i> do against it?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I almost forgot to mention it.&#8221; Arcot spoke slowly,
+dejectedly. &#8220;In the heat of the attack back there it went practically
+unnoticed. Our only weapon beside the gas is useless now. Do you
+remember how the ship seemed to lose its invisibility for an instant? I
+learned why when we investigated the ship. Those men are physicists of
+the highest order. We must realize the terrible forces, both physical
+and mental that we are to meet. They've solved the secret of our
+invisibility, and now they can neutralize it. They began using it a bit
+too late this time, but they had located the radio-produced interference
+caused by the ship's invisibility apparatus, and they were sending a
+beam of interfering radio energy at us. We are invisible only by reason
+of the vibration of the molecules in response to the
+radio <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 128]</span>impressed oscillations. The
+molecules vibrate in tune, at terrific frequency, and the light can pass
+perfectly. What will happen, however, if someone locates the source of
+the radio waves? It'll be simple for them to send out a radio beam and
+touch our invisible ship with it. The two radio waves impressed on us
+now will be out of step and the interference will instantly make us
+visible. We can no longer attack them with our atomic hydrogen blast, or
+with the gas&mdash;both are useless unless we can get close to them, and
+we can't come within ten miles of them now. Those bombs of theirs are
+effective at that distance.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again he fell silent, thinking&mdash;hoping for an idea that would
+once more give them a chance to combat the Kaxorians. His three
+companions, equally depressed and without a workable idea, remained
+silent. Abruptly Arcot stood up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I'm going to speak with the Commander-in-Field here. Then we can
+start back for Sonor&mdash;and maybe we had better head for home. It
+looks as though there is little we can do here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Briefly he spoke to the young Venerian officer, and told him what he
+had learned about the ship. Perhaps they could fly it to Sonor; or it
+could be left there undestroyed if he would open a certain control just
+before he left. Arcot showed him which one&mdash;it would drain out the
+power of the great storage tank, throwing it harmlessly against the
+clouds above. The Kaxorians might destroy the machine if they wanted
+to&mdash;Arcot felt that they would not wish to. They would hope, with
+reason, they might recapture it! It would be impossible to move that
+tremendous machine without the power that its &#8220;tank&#8221; was
+intended to hold.</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h4>VII</h4>
+
+<p>Slowly they cruised back to Sonor, Arcot still engrossed in thought.
+Would it be that Venus would fall before the <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+129]</span>attack of the mighty planes, that they would sweep out across
+space, to Earth&mdash;to Mars&mdash;to other worlds, a cosmic menace?
+Would the mighty machines soon be circling Earth? Guided missiles with
+atomic warheads could combat them, perhaps, as could the molecular
+motion machines. Perhaps these could be armored with twenty-inch steel
+walls, and driven into the great propellers, or at miles a second, into
+the ship itself! But these ships would require long hours, days, even
+weeks to build, and in that time the Kaxorian fleet would be ready. It
+would attack Earth within six days now! What hope was there to avert
+incalculable destruction&mdash;if not outright defeat?</p>
+
+<p>In despair Arcot turned and strode quickly down the long hallway of
+the <i>Solarite</i>. Above him he could hear the smooth, even hum of the
+sweetly functioning generator, but it only reminded him of the vastly
+greater energies he had seen controlled that night. The thudding relays
+in the power room, as Wade maneuvered the ship, seemed some diminutive
+mockery of the giant relays he had seen in the power room of the
+Kaxorian plane.</p>
+
+<p>He sat down in the power room, looking at the stacked apparatus,
+neatly arranged, as it must be, to get all this apparatus in this small
+space. Then at last he began to think more calmly. He concentrated on
+the greatest forces known to man&mdash;and there were only two that even
+occurred to him as great! One was the vast energies he had that very
+night learned of; the other was the force of the molecules, the force
+that drove his ship.</p>
+
+<p>He had had no time to work out the mathematics of the light
+compression, mathematics that he now knew would give results. There
+remained only the molecular motion. What could he do with it that he had
+not done?</p>
+
+<p>He drew out a small black notebook. In it were symbols, formulas, and
+page after page of the intricate calculus that had ended finally in the
+harnessing of this great force that was even now carrying him smoothly
+along.</p>
+
+<p>Half an hour later he was still busy&mdash;covering page after page
+with swiftly written formulas. Before him was a
+great <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 130]</span>table of multiple integers, the
+only one like it known to exist in the System, for the multiple calculus
+was an invention of Arcot's. At last he found the expression he wanted,
+and carefully he checked his work, excitedly though now, with an
+expression of eager hope&mdash;it seemed logical&mdash;it seemed
+correct&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Morey&mdash;oh, Morey,&#8221; he called, holding his
+enthusiasm in check, &#8220;if you can come here&mdash;I want you to check
+some math for me. I've done it&mdash;and I want to see if you get the
+same result independently!&#8221; Morey was a more careful mathematician than
+he, and it was to him Arcot turned for verification of any new
+discovery.</p>
+
+<p>Following the general directions Arcot gave him, Morey went through
+the long series of calculations&mdash;and arrived at the same results.
+Slowly he looked up from the brief expression with which he had
+ended.</p>
+
+<p>It was not the formula that astonished him&mdash;it was its physical
+significance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Arcot&mdash;do you think we can make it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a new expression in Arcot's eyes, a tightness about his
+mouth.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hope so, Morey. If we don't, Lanor is lost beyond a
+doubt&mdash;and probably Earth is, too. Wade&mdash;come here a minute,
+will you? Let Fuller take the controls, and tell him to push it. We have
+to get to work on this.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Rapidly Arcot explained their calculations&mdash;and the proof he had
+gotten.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Our beam of molecular motion-controlling energy directs all
+molecular motion to go at right angles to it. The mechanism so far has
+been a field inside a coil really, but if these figures are right, it
+means that we can project that field to a considerable distance even in
+air. It'll be a beam of power that will cause all molecules in its path
+to move at right angles to it, and in the direction we choose, by
+reversing the power in the projector. That means that no matter how big
+the thing is, we can tear it to pieces; we'll use its own powers, its
+own energies, to rip it, or crush it.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 131]</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Imagine what would happen if we directed this against the side of a
+mountain&mdash;the entire mass of rock would at once fly off at
+unimaginable speed, crashing ahead with terrific power, as all the
+molecules suddenly moved in the same direction. Nothing in all the
+Universe could hold together against it! It's a disintegration ray of a
+sort&mdash;a ray that will tear, or crush, for we can either make one
+half move away from the other&mdash;or we can reverse the power, and
+make one half drive toward the other with all the terrific power of its
+molecules! It is omnipotent&mdash;hmmm&mdash;&#8221; Arcot paused, narrowing
+his eyes in thought.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It has one limitation. Will it reach far in the air? In vacuum it
+should have an infinite range&mdash;in the atmosphere all the molecules
+of the air will be affected, and it will cause a terrific blast of icy
+wind, a gale at temperatures far below zero! This will be even more
+effective here on Venus!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But we must start designing the thing at once! Take some of the
+Immorpho and give me some, and we can let the sleep accumulate till we
+have more time! Look&mdash;we're in Sonor already! Land us,
+Fuller&mdash;right where we were, and then come back here. We're going
+to need you!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The gorgeous display of a Venerian dawn was already coloring the east
+as the great buildings seemed to rise silently about them. The sky,
+which had been a dull luminous gray, a gray that rapidly grew brighter
+and brighter, was now like molten silver, through which were filtering
+the early rays of the intense sun. As the sun rose above the horizon,
+though invisible for clouds, it still was traceable by the wondrous
+shell pink that began to suffuse the ten mile layer of vapor. The tiny
+droplets were, however, breaking the clear light into a million
+rainbows, and all about the swiftly deepening pink were forming
+concentric circles of blue, of green, orange, and all the colors of the
+rainbow, repeated time after time&mdash;a wondrous halo of glowing
+color, which only the doubly intense sun could create.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It's almost worth missing the sun all day to see their sunrises and
+sunsets,&#8221; Fuller commented. The men were <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+132]</span>watching it, despite their need for haste. It was a sight the
+like of which no Earthman had ever before seen.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately, then, they plunged into the extremely complex
+calculation of the electrical apparatus to produce the necessary fields.
+To get the effect they wanted, they must have two separate fields of the
+director ray, and a third field of a slightly different nature, which
+would cause the director ray to move in one direction only. It would be
+disconcerting, to say the least, if the director ray, by some mistake,
+should turn upon them!</p>
+
+<p>The work went on more swiftly than they had considered possible, but
+there was still much to be done on the theoretical end of the job alone
+when the streets about them began to fill. They noticed that a large
+crowd was assembling, and shortly after they had finished, after some of
+these people had stood there for more than an hour and a half, the crowd
+had grown to great size.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;From the looks of that collection, I should say we are about to
+become the principals in some kind of a celebration that we know nothing
+about. Well, we're here, and in case they want us, we're ready to
+come.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The guard that always surrounded the <i>Solarite</i> had been
+doubled, and was maintaining a fairly large clear area about the
+ship.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly thereafter they saw one of the high officials of Lanor come
+down the walk from the governmental building, walking toward
+the <i>Solarite</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Time for us to appear&mdash;and it may as well be all of us this
+time. I'll tell you what they say afterward, Wade. They've evidently
+gone to considerable trouble to get up this meeting, so let's cooperate.
+I hate to slow up the work, but we'll try to make it short.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The four Terrestrians got into their cooling suits, and stepped
+outside the ship. The Lanorian dignitary left his guard, walked up to
+the quartet from Earth with measured tread, and halted before them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Earthmen,&#8221; he began in a deep, clear voice, &#8220;we have
+gathered here this morning to greet you and thank
+you <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 133]</span>for the tremendous service you
+have done us. Across the awful void of empty space you have journeyed
+forty million miles to visit us, only to discover that Venerians were
+making ready to attack your world. Twice your intervention has saved our
+city.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is, of course, no adequate reward for this service; we can in
+no way repay you, but in a measure we may show our appreciation. We have
+learned from the greatest psychologist of our nation, Tonlos, that in
+your world aluminum is plentiful, but gold and platinum are rare, and
+that morlus is unknown. I have had a small token made for you, and your
+friends. It is a little plaque, a disc of morlus, and on it there is a
+small map of the Solar System. On the reverse side there is a globe of
+Venus, with one of Earth beside it, as well as our men could copy the
+small globe you have given us. The northern hemisphere of each is
+depicted&mdash;America, your nation, and Lanor, ours, thus being shown.
+We want you, and each of your friends, to accept these. They are symbols
+of your wonderful flight across space!&#8221; The Venerians turned to each of
+the Terrestrians and presented each with a small metal disc.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot spoke for the Terrestrians.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;On behalf of myself and my friends here, two of whom have not had an
+opportunity to learn your language, I wish to thank you for your great
+help when we most needed it. You, perhaps, have saved more than a
+city&mdash;you may have made it possible to save a world&mdash;our
+Earth. But the battle here has only begun.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There are now in the Kaxorian camp eighteen great ships. They have
+been badly defeated in the three encounters they have had with
+the <i>Solarite</i> so far. But no longer will they be vulnerable to our
+earlier methods of attack. Your spies report that the first plane, the
+plane which was first attacked by the <i>Solarite</i>, is still
+undergoing repairs. These will be completed within two days, and then,
+when they can leave a base guard of two ships, they will attack once
+more. Furthermore, they will attack with a new weapon. They have
+destroyed the usefulness of our weapon, <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+134]</span>invisibility, and in turn, now have it to use against us! We
+must seek out some new weapon. I hope we are on the right track now, but
+every moment is precious, and we must get back to the work. This address
+must be short. Later, when we have completed our preliminary work, we
+will have to give plans to your workmen, which you will be able to turn
+into metal, for we lack the materials. With this help we may succeed,
+despite our handicap.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The address was terminated at once. The Lanorians were probably
+disappointed, but they fully realized the necessity for haste.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wish Terrestrian orators spoke like that,&#8221; remarked
+Morey as they returned to the ship. &#8220;He said all there was to say, but
+he didn't run miles of speech doing it. He was a very forceful speaker,
+too!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;People who speak briefly and to the point generally
+are,&#8221; Arcot said.</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly noon that day before the theoretical discussion had
+been reduced to practical terms. They were ready to start work at once,
+but they had reason to work cheerfully now. Even through air they had
+found their ray would be able to reach thirty-five miles! They would be
+well out of the danger zone while attacking the gigantic planes of
+Kaxor.</p>
+
+<p>Morey, Wade and Arcot at once set to work constructing the electrical
+plant that was to give them the necessary power. It was lucky indeed
+that they had brought the great mass of spare apparatus! They had more
+than enough to make all the electrical machinery. The tubes, the coils,
+the condensers, all were there. The generator would easily supply the
+power, for the terrific forces that were to destroy the Kaxorian ships
+were to be generated in the plane itself. It was to destroy itself;
+the <i>Solarite</i> would merely be the detonator to set it off!</p>
+
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p>While the physicists were busy on this, Fuller was designing the
+mechanical details of the projector. It must be able to turn through a
+spherical angle of 180 degrees, and <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+135]</span>was necessarily controlled electrically from the inside. The
+details of the projector were worked out by six that evening, and the
+numerous castings and machined pieces that were to be used were to be
+made in the Venerian machine shops.</p>
+
+<p>One difficulty after another arose and was overcome. Night came on,
+and still they continued work. The Venerian workmen had promised to have
+the apparatus for them by ten o'clock the next morning&mdash;or what
+corresponded to ten o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after three o'clock that morning they had finished the
+apparatus, had connected all the controls, and had placed the last of
+the projector directors. Except for the projector they were ready, and
+Morey, Wade and Fuller turned in to get what sleep they could. But
+Arcot, telling them there was something he wished to get, took another
+dose of Immorpho and stepped out into the steaming rain.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes after ten the next morning Arcot came back, followed by
+half a dozen Venerians, each carrying a large metal cylinder in a
+cradle. These were attached to the landing gear of the <i>Solarite</i>
+in such fashion that the fusing of one piece of wire would permit the
+entire thing to drop free.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So <i>that's</i> what you hatched out, eh? What is it?&#8221;
+asked Wade as he entered the ship.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Just a thing I want to try out&mdash;and I'm going to keep it a
+deep, dark secret for a while. I think you'll get quite a surprise when
+you see those bombs in action! They're arranged to be released by
+turning current into the landing lights. We'll have to forgo lights for
+the present, but I needed the bombs more.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The mechanics have finished working on your projector parts, Fuller,
+and they'll be over here in a short time. Here comes the little gang I
+asked to help us. You can direct them.&#8221; Arcot paused and scowled with
+annoyance. &#8220;Hang it all&mdash;when they drill into the outer wall, we'll
+lose the vacuum between the two walls, and all that hot air will come
+in. This place will be roasting in a short time.
+We <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 136]</span>have the molecular motion coolers,
+but I'm afraid they won't be much good. Can't use the
+generator&mdash;it's cut off from the main room by vacuum wall.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think we'd better charge up the gas tanks and the batteries as
+soon as this is done. Then tonight we'll attack the Kaxorian
+construction camp. I've just learned that no spy reports have been
+coming in, and I'm afraid they'll spring a surprise.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Somewhat later came the sound of drills, then the whistling roar as
+the air sucked into the vacuum, told the men inside that the work was
+under way. It soon became uncomfortably hot as, the vacuum destroyed,
+the heat came in through all sides. It was more than the little
+molecular coolers could handle, and the temperature soon rose to about a
+hundred and fifteen. It was not as bad as the Venerian atmosphere, for
+the air seemed exceedingly dry, and the men found it possible to get
+along without cooling suits, if they did not work. Since there was
+little they could do, they simply relaxed.</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly dark before the Lanorians had finished their work, and
+the gas tanks had been recharged. All that time Arcot had spent with
+Tonlos determining the position of the Kaxorian construction camp. Spy
+reports and old maps had helped, but it was impossible to do very
+accurate work by these means.</p>
+
+<p>It was finally decided that the Kaxorian construction camp was about
+10,500 miles to the southwest. The <i>Solarite</i> was to start an hour
+after dark. Travelling westward at their speed, they hoped to reach the
+camp just after nightfall.</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h4>VIII</h4>
+
+<p>The <i>Solarite</i> sped swiftly toward the southwest. The sky slowly
+grew lighter as the miles flashed beneath them. They were catching up
+with the sun. As they saw the rolling ocean beneath them give way to low
+plains, they realized they were over Kaxorian land. The <i>Solarite</i>
+was flying very <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 137]</span>high, and as they
+showed no lights, and were not using the invisibility apparatus, they
+were practically undetectable. Suddenly they saw the lights of a mighty
+city looming far off to the east.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It's Kanor. Pass well to the west of it. That's their capital. We're
+on course.&#8221; Arcot spoke from his position at the projector, telling Wade
+the directions to follow on his course to the berth of the giant
+planes.</p>
+
+<p>The city dropped far behind them in moments, followed by another, and
+another. At length, veering southward into the dusk, they entered a
+region of low hills, age-old folds in the crust of the planet, rounded
+by untold millennia of torrential rains.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Easy, Wade. We are near now.&#8221; Mile after mile they
+flashed ahead at about a thousand miles an hour&mdash;then suddenly they
+saw far off to the east a vast glow that reached into the sky, painting
+itself on the eternal clouds miles above.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There it is, Wade. Go high, and take it easy!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Swiftly the <i>Solarite</i> climbed, hovering at last on the very rim
+of the cloud blanket, an invisible mote in a sea of gray mist. Below
+them they saw a tremendous field carved, it seemed, out of the ancient
+hills. From this height all sense of proportion was lost. It seemed but
+an ordinary field, with eighteen ordinary airplanes resting on it. One
+of these now was moving, and in a moment it rose into the air! But there
+seemed to be no men on all the great field. They were invisibly small
+from this height.</p>
+
+<p>Abruptly Arcot gave a great shout. &#8220;That's their surprise! They're
+ready far ahead of the time we expected! If all that armada gets in the
+air, we're done! Down, Wade, to within a few hundred feet of the ground,
+and close to the field!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Solarite</i> flashed down in a power dive&mdash;down with a
+sickening lurch. A sudden tremendous weight seemed to crush them as the
+ship was brought out of the dive not more than two hundred feet from the
+ground. Close to blacking out, Wade nevertheless shot it in as close to
+the field as he dared. Anxiously he called to Arcot, who
+answered <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 138]</span>with a brief
+&#8220;Okay!&#8221; The planes loomed gigantic now, their true
+proportions showing clearly against the brilliant light of the field. A
+tremendous wave of sound burst from the loudspeaker as the planes rolled
+across the ground to leap gracefully into the air&mdash;half a million
+tons of metal!</p>
+
+<p>From the <i>Solarite</i> there darted a pale beam of ghostly light,
+faintly gray, tinged with red and green&mdash;the ionized air of the
+beam. It moved in a swift half circle. In an instant the whirr of the
+hundreds, thousands of giant propellers was drowned in a terrific roar
+of air. Great snowflakes fell from the air before them; it was white
+with the solidified water vapor. Then came a titanic roar and the planet
+itself seemed to shake! A crash, a snapping and rending as a mighty
+fountain of soil and rock cascaded skyward, and with it, twisting,
+turning, hurled in a dozen directions at once, twelve titanic ships
+reeled drunkenly into the air!</p>
+
+<p>For a barely perceptible interval there was an oppressive silence as
+the ray was shut off. Then a bedlam of deafening sound burst forth anew,
+a mighty deluge of unbearable noise as the millions of tons of
+pulverized rock, humus and metal fell back. Some of it had ascended for
+miles; it settled amid a howling blizzard&mdash;snow that melted as it
+touched the madly churned airfield.</p>
+
+<p>High above there were ten planes flying about uncertainly. Suddenly
+one of these turned, heading for the ground far below, its wings
+screaming their protest as the motors roared, ever faster, with the
+gravity of the planet aiding them. There was a rending, crackling crash
+as the wings suddenly bent back along the sides. An instant later the
+fuselage tore free, rocketing downward; the wings followed more
+slowly&mdash;twisting, turning, dipping in mile-long swoops.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Solarite</i> shot away from the spot at maximum
+speed&mdash;away and up, with a force that nailed the occupants to the
+floor. Before they could turn, behind them flared a mighty gout of light
+that struck to the very clouds above, and all the landscape, for miles
+about, was visible in the glare of the released energy.</p>
+
+<p>As they turned, they saw on the plain, below a
+tremend<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 139]</span>ous crater, in its center a
+spot that glowed white and bubbled like the top of a huge cauldron.</p>
+
+<p>Nine great planes were circling in the air; then in an instant they
+were gone, invisible. As swiftly the <i>Solarite</i> darted away with a
+speed that defied the aim of any machine.</p>
+
+<p>High above the planes they went, for with his radar Arcot could trace
+them. They were circling, searching for the <i>Solarite</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The tiny machine was invisible in the darkness, but its invisibility
+was not revealed by the Kaxorian's radio detectors. In the momentary
+lull, Fuller asked a question.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wade, how is it that those ships can be invisible when they are
+driven by light, and have the light stored in them? They're perfectly
+transparent. Why can't we see the light?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They are storing the light. It's bound&mdash;it can't escape. You
+can't see light unless it literally hits you in the eye. Their stored
+light can't reach you, for it is held by its own attraction and by the
+special field of the big generators.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They seemed to be above one of the Kaxorian planes now. Arcot caught
+the roar of the invisible propellers.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To the left, Wade&mdash;faster&mdash;hold
+it&mdash;left&mdash;ah!&#8221; Arcot pushed a button.</p>
+
+<p>Down from the <i>Solarite</i> there dropped a little canister, one of
+the bombs that Arcot had prepared the night before. To hit an invisible
+target is ordinarily difficult, but when that target is far larger than
+the proverbial side of a barn, it is not very difficult, at that. But
+now Arcot's companions watched for the crash of the explosion, the flash
+of light. What sort of bomb was it that Arcot hoped would penetrate that
+tremendous armor?</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly they saw a great spot of light, a spot that spread with
+startling rapidity, a patch of light that ran, and moved. It flew
+through the air at terrific speed. It was a pallid light, green and wan
+and ghostly, that seemed to flow and ebb.</p>
+
+<p>For an instant Morey and the others stared in utter surprise. Then
+suddenly Morey burst out laughing.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 140]</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ho&mdash;you win, Arcot. That was one they didn't think of, I'll
+bet! Luminous paint&mdash;and by the hundred gallon! Radium paint, I
+suppose, and no man has ever found how to stop the glow of radium. That
+plane sticks out like a sore thumb!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, the great luminous splotch made the gigantic plane clearly
+evident against the gray clouds. Visible or not, that plane was
+marked.</p>
+
+<p>Quickly Arcot tried to maneuver the <i>Solarite</i> over another of
+the great ships, for now the danger was only from those he could not
+see. Suddenly he had an idea.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Morey&mdash;go back to the power room and change the adjustment on
+the meteorite avoider to half a mile!&#8221; At once Morey understood his
+plan, and hastened to put it into effect.</p>
+
+<p>The illuminated plane was diving, twisting wildly now.
+The <i>Solarite</i> flashed toward it with sickening speed, then
+suddenly the gigantic bulk of the plane loomed off to the right of the
+tiny ship, the great metal hull, visible now, rising in awesome might.
+They were too near; they shot away to a greater distance&mdash;then
+again that ghostly beam reached out&mdash;and for just a fraction of a
+second it touched the giant plane.</p>
+
+<p>The titanic engine of destruction seemed suddenly to be in the grip
+of some vastly greater Colossus&mdash;a clutching hand that closed! The
+plane jumped back with an appalling crash, a roar of rending metal. For
+an instant there came the sound like a mighty buzz-saw as the giant
+propellers of one wing cut into the body of the careening plane. In that
+instant, the great power storage tank split open with an impact like the
+bursting of a world. The <i>Solarite</i> was hurled back by an explosion
+that seemed to rend the very atoms of the air, and all about them was a
+torrid blaze of heat and light that seemed to sear their faces and hands
+with its intensity.</p>
+
+<p>Then in a time so brief that it seemed never to have happened, it was
+gone, and only the distant drone of the other ships' propellers came to
+them. There was no lum<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 141]</span>inous spot. The
+radium paint had been destroyed in the only possible way&mdash;it was
+volatilized through all the atmosphere!</p>
+
+<p>The Terrestrians had known what to expect; had known what would
+happen; and they had not looked at the great ship in that last instant.
+But the Kaxorians had naturally been looking at it. They had never seen
+the sun directly, and now they had been looking at a radiance almost as
+brilliant. They were temporarily blinded; they could only fly a straight
+course in response to the quick order of their squadron commander.</p>
+
+<p>And in that brief moment that they were unable to watch him, Arcot
+dropped two more bombs in quick succession. Two bright spots formed in
+the black night. No longer did these planes feel themselves
+invulnerable, able to meet any foe! In an instant they had put on every
+last trace of power, and at their top speed they were racing west, away
+from their tiny opponent&mdash;in the only direction that was open to
+them.</p>
+
+<p>But it was useless. The <i>Solarite</i> could pick up speed in half
+the time they could, and in an instant Arcot again trained his beam on
+the mighty splotch of light that was a fleeing plane.</p>
+
+<p>Out of the darkness came a ghostly beam, for an instant of time so
+short that before the explosive shells of the other could be trained on
+it, the <i>Solarite</i> had moved. Under that touch the mighty plane
+began crumbling, then it splintered beneath the driving blow of the
+great wing, as it shot toward the main body of the plane at several
+miles a second&mdash;driving into and through it! The giant plane
+twisted and turned as it fell swiftly downward into the
+darkness&mdash;and, again there came that world-rocking explosion, and
+the mighty column of light.</p>
+
+<p>Again and yet again the <i>Solarite</i> found and destroyed Kaxorian
+super-planes, protected in the uneven conflict by their diminutive size
+and the speed of their elusive maneuvering.</p>
+
+<p>But to remind the men of the <i>Solarite</i> that they
+were <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 142]</span>not alone, there came a
+sudden report just behind them, and they turned to see that one of the
+energy bombs had barely fallen short! In an instant the comparative
+midget shot up at top speed, out of danger. It looped and turned,
+hunting, feeling with its every detector for that other ship. The great
+planes were spread out now. In every direction they could be
+located&mdash;and all were leaving the scene of the battle. But one by
+one the <i>Solarite</i> shot after them, and always the speed of the
+little ship was greater.</p>
+
+<p>Two escaped. They turned off their useless invisibility apparatus and
+vanished into the night.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Solarite</i>, supported by her vertical lift units, coasted
+toward a stop. The drone of the fleeing super-planes diminished and was
+gone, and for a time the thrum of the generator and the tap-dance of
+relays adjusting circuits was the only sound aboard.</p>
+
+<p>Wade sighed finally. &#8220;Well, gentlemen, now we've got it, what do we
+do with it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean?&#8221; Morey asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Victory. The Jack-pot. Having the devices we just demonstrated, we
+are now the sole owners, by right of conquest, of one highly disturbed
+nation of several million people. With that gadget there, we can pick it
+up and throw it away.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Personally, I have a feeling that we've just won the largest white
+elephant in history. We don't just walk off and leave it, you know. We
+don't want it. But we've got it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Our friends in Sonor are not going to want the problem either; they
+just wanted the Kaxorians combed out of their hair.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As I say&mdash;we've got it, now&mdash;but what do we do with
+it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It's basically their problem, isn't it?&#8221; protested
+Fuller. Morey looked somewhat stricken, and thoroughly bewildered. &#8220;I
+hadn't considered that aspect very fully; I've been too darned busy
+trying to stay alive.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Wade shook his head. &#8220;Look, Fuller&#8212;it was their problem before,
+too, wasn't it? How'd they handle it? If you <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+143]</span>just let them alone, what do you suppose they'll do with the
+problem this time?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The same thing they did before,&#8221; Arcot groaned. &#8220;I'm
+tired. Let's get some sleep first, anyway.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sure; that makes good sense,&#8221; Wade agreed. &#8220;Sleep on it,
+yes. But go to sleep on it&mdash;well, that's what the not-so-bright
+Sonorans tried doing.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And off-hand, I'd say we were elected. The Kaxorians undoubtedly
+have a nice, two thousand year old hatred for the Sonorans who so
+snobbishly ignored them, isolated them, and considered them unfit for
+association. The Sonorans, on the other hand, are now thoroughly scared,
+and will be feeling correspondingly vindictive. They won this time by a
+fluke&mdash;our coming. I can just see those two peoples getting
+together and settling any kind of sensible, long-term treaty of mutual
+cooperation!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot and Morey both nodded wearily. &#8220;That is so annoyingly
+correct,&#8221; Morey agreed. &#8220;And you know blasted well none of us is
+going to sleep until we have some line of attack on this white elephant
+disposal problem. Anybody any ideas?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Fuller looked at the other three. &#8220;You know, in design when two
+incompatible materials must be structurally united, we tie each to a
+third material that is compatible with both.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sonor didn't win this fight. Kaxor didn't win it. Earth&mdash;in
+the <i>persona</i> of the <i>Solarite</i>&mdash;did. Earth isn't mad at
+anybody, hasn't been damaged by anybody, and hasn't been knowingly
+ignoring anybody.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The Sonorans want to be let alone; it won't work, but they can learn
+that. I think if we run the United Nations in on this thing, we may be
+able to get them to accept our white elephant for us.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They'll be making the same mistake Sonor did if they
+don't&mdash;knowingly ignoring the existence of a highly intelligent and
+competent race. It doesn't seem to work, judging from history both at
+home and here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The four looked at each other, and found agreement.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 144]</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That's something more than a problem to sleep on,&#8221; Morey
+said. &#8220;I'll get in touch with Sonor and tell 'em the shooting is over,
+so they can get some sleep too.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It's obvious a bunch of high-power research teams are going to be
+needed in both countries. Earth has every reason to respect Sonoran
+mental sciences as well as Kaxorian light-engineering. And
+Earth&mdash;as we just thoroughly demonstrated&mdash;has some science of
+her own. Obviously, the interaction of the three is to the maximum
+advantage of each&mdash;and will lead to a healing of the breach that
+now exists.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot looked up and yawned. &#8220;I'm putting this on autopilot at twenty
+miles up, and going to sleep. We can kick this around for a month
+anyway&mdash;and this is not the night to start.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The decision is unanimous,&#8221; Wade grinned.</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 145]</span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="book3" id="book3"></a>BOOK THREE</h2>
+
+<h3>THE BLACK STAR PASSES</h3>
+
+<h4>PROLOGUE</h4>
+
+<p>Taj Lamor gazed steadily down at the vast dim bulk of the ancient
+city spread out beneath him. In the feeble light of the stars its mighty
+masses of up-flung metal buildings loomed strangely, like the shells of
+some vast race of crustacea, long extinct. Slowly he turned, gazing now
+out across the great plaza, where rested long rows of slender, yet
+mighty ships. Thoughtfully he stared at their dim, half-seen shapes.</p>
+
+<p>Taj Lamor was not human. Though he was humanoid, Earth had never seen
+creatures just like him. His seven foot high figure seemed a bit
+ungainly by Terrestrial standards, and his strangely white, hairless
+flesh, suggesting unbaked dough, somehow gave the impression of
+near-transparency. His eyes were disproportionately large, and the black
+disc of pupil in the white corneas was intensified by contrast. Yet
+perhaps his race better deserved the designation <i>homo sapiens</i>
+than Terrestrians do, for it was wise with the accumulated wisdom of
+uncounted eons.</p>
+
+<p>He turned to the other man in the high, cylindrical, dimly lit tower
+room overlooking the dark metropolis, a man far older than Taj Lamor,
+his narrow shoulders bent, and his features grayed with his years. His
+single short, tight-fitting garment of black plastic marked him as one
+of the Elders. The voice of Taj Lamor was vibrant with feeling:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 146]</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Tordos Gar, at last we are ready to seek a new sun. Life for our
+race!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A quiet, patient, imperturbable smile appeared on the Elder's face
+and the heavy lids closed over his great eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he said sadly, &#8220;but at what cost in tranquility!
+The discord, the unrest, the awakening of unnatural ambitions&mdash;a
+dreadful price to pay for a questionable gain. Too great a price, I
+think.&#8221; His eyes opened, and he raised a thin hand to check the younger
+man's protest. &#8220;I know&mdash;I know&mdash;in this we do not see as one.
+Yet perhaps some day you will learn even as I have that to rest is
+better than to engage in an endless struggle. Suns and planets die. Why
+should races seek to escape the inevitable?&#8221; Tordos Gar turned slowly
+away and gazed fixedly into the night sky.</p>
+
+<p>Taj Lamor checked an impatient retort and sighed resignedly. It was
+this attitude that had made his task so difficult. Decadence. A race on
+an ages-long decline from vast heights of philosophical and scientific
+learning. Their last external enemy had been defeated millennia in the
+past; and through easy forgetfulness and lack of strife, ambition had
+died. Adventure had become a meaningless word.</p>
+
+<p>Strangely, during the last century a few men had felt the stirrings
+of long-buried emotion, of ambition, of a craving for adventure. These
+were throwbacks to those ancestors of the race whose science had built
+their world. These men, a comparative handful, had been drawn to each
+other by the unnatural ferment within them; and Taj Lamor had become
+their leader. They had begun a mighty struggle against the inertia of
+ages of slow decay, had begun a search for the lost secrets of a
+hundred-million-year-old science.</p>
+
+<p>Taj Lamor raised his eyes to the horizon. Through the leaping curve
+of the crystal clear roof of their world glowed a blazing spot of yellow
+fire. A star&mdash;the brightest object in a sky whose sun had lost its
+light. A point of radiance that held the last hopes of an incredibly
+ancient race.</p>
+
+<p>The quiet voice of Tordos Gar came through the
+semi<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 147]</span>darkness of the room, a pensive,
+dreamlike quality in its tones.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You, Taj Lamor, and those young men who have joined you in this
+futile expedition do not think deeply enough. Your vision is too narrow.
+You lack perspective. In your youth you cannot think on a cosmic scale.&#8221;
+He paused as though in thought, and when he continued, it seemed almost
+as though he were speaking to himself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In the far, dim past fifteen planets circled about a small, red sun.
+They were dead worlds&mdash;or rather, worlds that had not yet lived.
+Perhaps a million years passed before there moved about on three of them
+the beginnings of life. Then a hundred million years passed, and those
+first, crawling protoplasmic masses had become animals, and plants, and
+intermediate growths. And they fought endlessly for survival. Then more
+millions of years passed, and there appeared a creature which slowly
+gained ascendancy over the other struggling life forms that fought for
+the warmth of rays of the hot, red sun.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That sun had been old, even as the age of a star is counted, before
+its planets had been born, and many, many millions of years had passed
+before those planets cooled, and then more eons sped by before life
+appeared. Now, as life slowly forced its way upward, that sun was nearly
+burned out. The animals fought, and bathed in the luxury of its rays,
+for many millennia were required to produce any noticeable change in its
+life-giving radiations.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At last one animal gained the ascendancy. Our race. But though one
+species now ruled, there was no peace. Age followed age while
+semi-barbaric peoples fought among themselves. But even as they fought,
+they learned.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They moved from caves into structures of wood and stone&mdash;and
+engineering had its beginning. With the buildings came little chemical
+engines to destroy them; warfare was developing. Then came the first
+crude flying-machines, using clumsy, inefficient engines. Chemical
+engines! Engines so crude that one could watch the flow of their fuel!
+One part in one hundred thousand million of the energy of their
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 148]</span>propellents they released to run the
+engines, and they carried fuel in such vast quantities that they
+staggered under its load as they left the ground! And warfare became
+world-wide. After flight came other machines and other ages. Other
+scientists began to have visions of the realms beyond, and they sought
+to tap the vast reservoirs of Nature's energies, the energies of
+matter.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Other ages saw it done&mdash;a few thousand years later there passed
+out into space a machine that forced its way across the void to another
+planet! And the races of the three living worlds became as one&mdash;but
+there was no peace.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Swiftly now, science grew upon itself, building with ever faster
+steps, like a crystal which, once started, forms with incalculable
+speed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And while that science grew swiftly greater, other changes took
+place, changes in our universe itself. Ten million years passed before
+the first of those changes became important. But slowly, steadily our
+atmosphere was drifting into space. Through ages this gradually became
+apparent. Our worlds were losing their air and their water. One planet,
+less favored than another, fought for its life, and space itself was
+ablaze with the struggles of wars for survival.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Again science helped us. Thousands of years before, men had learned
+how to change the mass of matter into energy, but now at last the
+process was reversed, and those ancestors of ours could change energy
+into matter, any kind of matter they wished. Rock they took, and changed
+it to energy, then that energy they transmuted to air, to water, to the
+necessary metals. Their planets took a new lease of life!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But even this could not continue forever. They must stop that loss
+of air. The process they had developed for reformation of matter
+admitted of a new use. Creation! They were now able to make new
+elements, elements that had never existed in nature! They designed atoms
+as, long before, their fathers had designed molecules. At last their
+problem was solved. They made a new form of matter that was clearer than
+any crystal, and yet stronger and tougher <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+149]</span>than any metal known. Since it held out none of the sun's
+radiations, they could roof their worlds with it and keep their air
+within!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This was a task that could not be done in a year, nor a decade, but
+all time stretched out unending before them. One by one the three
+planets became tremendous, roofed-in cities. Only their vast powers,
+their mighty machines made the task possible, but it was done.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The droning voice of Tordos Gar ceased. Taj Lamor, who had listened
+with a mixture of amusement and impatience to the recital of a history
+he knew as well as the aged, garrulous narrator, waited out of the
+inborn respect which every man held for the Elders. At length he
+exclaimed: &#8220;I see no point&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But you will when I finish&mdash;or, at least, I hope you
+will.&#8221; Tordos Gar's words and tone were gently reproving. He
+continued quietly:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Slowly the ages drifted on, each marked by greater and greater
+triumphs of science. But again and again there were wars. Some there
+were in which the population of a world was halved, and all space for a
+billion miles about was a vast cauldron of incandescent energy in which
+tremendous fleets of space ships swirled and fused like ingredients in
+some cosmic brew. Forces were loosed on the three planets that sent even
+their mighty masses reeling drunkenly out of their orbits, and space
+itself seemed to be torn by the awful play of energies.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Always peace followed&mdash;a futile peace. A few brief centuries or
+a few millennia, and again war would flame. It would end, and life would
+continue.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But slowly there crept into the struggle a new factor, a darkening
+cloud, a change that came so gradually that only the records of
+instruments, made during a period of thousands of years, could show it.
+Our sun had changed from bright red to a deep, sullen crimson, and ever
+less and less heat poured from it. It was waning!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As the fires of life died down, the people of the three worlds
+joined in a conflict with the common menace,
+death <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 150]</span>from the creeping cold of
+space. There was no need for great haste; a sun dies slowly. Our
+ancestors laid their plans and carried them out. The fifteen worlds were
+encased in shells of crystal. Those that had no atmosphere were given
+one. Mighty heating plants were built&mdash;furnaces that burned matter,
+designed to warm a world! At last a state of stability had been reached,
+for never could conditions change&mdash;it seemed. All external heat and
+light came from far-off stars, the thousands of millions of suns that
+would never fail.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Under stress of the Great Change one scarcely noticed, yet almost
+incredible, transformation had occurred. We had learned to live with
+each other. We had learned to think, and enjoy thinking. As a species we
+had passed from youth into maturity. Advancement did not stop; we went
+on steadily toward the goal of all knowledge. At first there was an
+underlying hope that we might some day, somehow, escape from these
+darkened, artificial worlds of ours, but with the passing centuries this
+grew very dim and at length was forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Gradually as millennia passed, much ancient knowledge was also
+forgotten. It was not needed. The world was unchanging, there was no
+strife, and no need of strife. The fifteen worlds were warm, and
+pleasant, and safe. Without fully realizing it, we had entered a period
+of rest. And so the ages passed; and there were museums and libraries
+and laboratories; and the machines of our ancestors did all necessary
+work. So it was&mdash;until less than a generation ago. Our long lives
+were pleasant, and death, when it came, was a sleep. And
+then&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And then,&#8221; Taj Lamor interrupted, a sharp edge of
+impatience in his tone, &#8220;some of us awakened from our
+stupor!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The Elder sighed resignedly. &#8220;You cannot see&mdash;you cannot see.
+You would start that struggle all over again!&#8221; His voice continued in
+what Taj Lamor thought of as a senile drone, but the younger man paid
+scant attention. His eyes and thoughts were centered on that brilliant
+yellow <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 151]</span>star, the brightest object in
+the heavens. It was that star, noticeably brighter within a few
+centuries, that had awakened a few men from their mental slumbers.</p>
+
+<p>They were throwbacks, men who had the divine gift of curiosity; and
+sparked by their will to know, they had gone to the museums and looked
+carefully at the ancient directions for the use of the telectroscope,
+the mighty electrically amplified vision machine, had gazed through it.
+They had seen a great sun that seemed to fill all the field of the
+apparatus with blazing fire. A sun to envy! Further observation had
+revealed that there circled about the sun a series of planets, five,
+definitely; two more, probably; and possibly two others.</p>
+
+<p>Taj Lamor had been with that group, a young man then, scarcely more
+than forty, but they had found him a leader and they had followed him as
+he set about his investigation of the ancient books on astronomy.</p>
+
+<p>How many, many hours had he studied those ancient works! How many
+times had he despaired of ever learning their truths, and gone out to
+the roof of the museum to stand in silent thought looking out across the
+awful void to the steady flame of the yellow star! Then quietly he had
+returned to his self-set task.</p>
+
+<p>With him as teacher, others had learned, and before he was seventy
+there were many men who had become true scientists, astronomers. There
+was much of the ancient knowledge that these men could not understand,
+for the science of a million centuries is not to be learned in a few
+brief decades, but they mastered a vast amount of the forgotten
+lore.</p>
+
+<p>They knew now that the young, live sun, out there in space, was
+speeding toward them, their combined velocities equalling more than 100
+miles each second. And they knew that there were not seven, but nine
+planets circling about that sun. There were other facts they discovered;
+they found that the new sun was far larger than theirs had ever been;
+indeed, it was a sun well above average in size and
+bril<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 152]</span>liance. There were planets, a hot
+sun&mdash;a home! Could they get there?</p>
+
+<p>When their ancestors had tried to solve the problem of escape they
+had concentrated their work on the problem of going at speeds greater
+than that of light. This should be an impossibility, but the fact that
+the ancients had tried it, seemed proof enough to their descendants that
+it was possible, at least in theory. In the distant past they had needed
+speeds exceeding that of light, for they must travel light years; but
+now this sun was coming toward them, and already was less than two
+hundred and fifty billion miles away!</p>
+
+<p>They would pass that other star in about seventy years. That was
+scarcely more than a third of a man's lifetime. They could make the
+journey with conceivable speeds&mdash;but in that brief period they must
+prepare to move!</p>
+
+<p>The swift agitation for action had met with terrific resistance. They
+were satisfied; why move?</p>
+
+<p>But, while some men had devoted their time to arousing the people to
+help, others had begun doing work that had not been done for a long,
+long time. The laboratories were reopened, and workshops began humming
+again. They were making things that were new once more, not merely
+copying old designs.</p>
+
+<p>Their search had been divided into sections, search for weapons with
+which to defend themselves in case they were attacked, and search for
+the basic principles underlying the operation of their space ships. They
+had machines which they could imitate, but they did not understand them.
+Success had been theirs on these quests. The third section had been less
+successful. They had also been searching for secrets of the apparatus
+their forefathers had used to swing the planets in their orbits, to move
+worlds about at will. They had wanted to be able to take not only their
+space ships, but their planets as well, when they went to settle on
+these other worlds and in this other solar system.</p>
+
+<p>But the search for this secret had remained unrewarded. The secret of
+the spaceships they learned readily, and Taj Lamor had designed these
+mighty ships below there with <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 153]</span>that
+knowledge. Their search for weapons had been satisfied; they had found
+one weapon, one of the deadliest that their ancestors had ever invented.
+But the one secret in which they were most interested, the mighty force
+barrage that could swing a world in its flight through space, was lost.
+They could not find it.</p>
+
+<p>They knew the principles of the driving apparatus of their ships, and
+it would seem but a matter of enlargement to drive a planet as a ship,
+but they knew this was impossible; the terrific forces needed would
+easily be produced by their apparatus, but there was no way to apply
+them to a world. If applied in any spot, the planet would be torn
+asunder by the incalculable strain. They must apply the force equally to
+the entire planet. Their problem was one of application of power. The
+rotation of the planet made it impossible to use a series of driving
+apparatus, even could these be anchored, but again the sheer immensity
+of the task made it impossible.</p>
+
+<p>Taj Lamor gazed down again at the great ships in the plaza below.
+Their mighty bulks seemed to dwarf even the huge buildings about them.
+Yet these ships were his&mdash;for he had learned their secrets and
+designed them, and now he was to command them as they flew out across
+space in that flight to the distant star.</p>
+
+<p>He turned briefly to the Elder, Tordos Gar. &#8220;Soon we
+leave,&#8221; he said, a faint edge of triumph in his voice. &#8220;We will
+prove that our way is right.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The old man shook his head. &#8220;You will learn&mdash;&#8221; he
+began, but Taj Lamor did not want to hear.</p>
+
+<p>He turned, passed through a doorway, and stepped into a little
+torpedo-shaped car that rested on the metal roof behind him. A moment
+later the little ship rose, and then slanted smoothly down over the edge
+of the roof, straight for the largest of the ships below. This was the
+flagship. Nearly a hundred feet greater was its diameter, and its mile
+and a quarter length of gleaming metal hull gave it nearly three hundred
+feet greater length than that of the ships of the line.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 154]</span></p>
+
+<p>This expedition was an expedition of exploration. They were prepared
+to meet any conditions on those other worlds&mdash;no atmosphere, no
+water, no heat, or even an atmosphere of poisonous gases they could
+rectify, for their transmutation apparatus would permit them to change
+those gases, or modify them; they knew well how to supply heat, but they
+knew too, that that sun would warm some of its planets sufficiently for
+their purposes.</p>
+
+<p>Taj Lamor sent his little machine darting through the great airlock
+in the side of the gigantic interstellar ship and lowered it gently to
+the floor. A man stepped forward, opened the door for the leader,
+saluting him briskly as he stepped out; then the car was run swiftly
+aside, to be placed with thousands of others like it. Each of these cars
+was to be used by a separate investigator when they reached those other
+worlds, and there were men aboard who would use them.</p>
+
+<p>Taj Lamor made his way to a door in the side of a great metal tube
+that threaded the length of the huge ship. Opening the door he sat down
+in another little car that shot swiftly forward as the double door shut
+softly, with a low hiss of escaping air. For moments the car sped
+through the tube, then gently it slowed and came to rest opposite
+another door. Again came the hissing of gas as the twin doors opened,
+and Taj Lamor stepped out, now well up in the nose of the cruiser. As he
+stepped out of the car the outer and inner doors closed, and, ready now
+for other calls, the car remained at this station. On a ship so long,
+some means of communication faster than walking was essential. This
+little pneumatic railway was the solution.</p>
+
+<p>As Taj Lamor stepped out of the tube, a half-dozen men, who had been
+talking among themselves, snapped quickly to attention. Following the
+plans of the long-gone armies of their ancestors, the men of the
+expedition had been trained to strict discipline; and Taj Lamor was
+their technical leader and the nominal Commander-in-Chief, although
+another man, Kornal Sorul, was their actual commander.</p>
+
+<p>Taj Lamor proceeded at once to the Staff Cabin in
+the <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 155]</span>very nose of the great ship. Just
+above him there was another room, walled on all sides by that clear,
+glass-like material, the control cabin. Here the pilot sat, directing
+the motions of the mighty ship of space.</p>
+
+<p>Taj Lamor pushed a small button on his desk and in a moment a gray
+disc before him glowed dimly, then flashed into life and full, natural
+color. As though looking through a glass porthole, Taj Lamor saw the
+interior of the Communications Room. The Communications Officer was
+gazing at a similar disc in which Taj Lamor's features appeared.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Have they reported from Ohmur, Lorsand, and Throlus, yet, Morlus
+Tal?&#8221; asked the commander.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They are reporting now, Taj Lamor, and we will be ready within two
+and one half minutes. The plans are as before; we are to proceed
+directly toward the Yellow Star, meeting at Point 71?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The plans are as before. Start when ready.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The disc faded, the colors died, and it was gray again. Taj Lamor
+pulled another small lever on the panel before him, and the disc
+changed, glowed, and was steady; and now he saw the preparations for
+departure, as from an eye on the top of the great ship. Men streamed
+swiftly in ordered columns all about and into the huge vessels. In an
+incredibly short time they were in, and the great doors closed behind
+them. Suddenly there came a low, dull hum through the disc, and the
+sound mounted quickly, till all the world seemed humming to that dull
+note. The warning!</p>
+
+<p>Abruptly the city around him seemed to blaze in a riot of colored
+light! The mighty towering bulks of the huge metal buildings were
+polished and bright, and now, as the millions of lights, every color of
+the spectrum, flashed over all the city from small machines in the air,
+on the ground, in windows, their great metal walls glistening with a
+riot of flowing color. Then there was a trembling through all the frame
+of the mighty ship. In a moment it was gone, and the titanic mass of
+glistening metal rose smoothly, quickly to the great roof of their world
+above them. On an even keel it climbed straight up, then suddenly it
+leaped forward <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 156]</span>like some great bird
+of prey sighting its victim. The ground beneath sped swiftly away, and
+behind it there came a long line of ships, quickly finding their
+position in the formation. They were heading toward the giant airlock
+that would let them out into space. There was but one lock large enough
+to permit so huge a ship to pass out, and they must circle half their
+world to reach it.</p>
+
+<p>On three other worlds there were other giant ships racing thus to
+meet beyond their solar system. There were fifty ships coming from each
+planet; two hundred mighty ships in all made up this Armada of Space,
+two hundred gargantuan interstellar cruisers.</p>
+
+<p>One by one the giant ships passed through the airlock and out into
+space. Here they quickly reformed as they moved off together, each ship
+falling into its place in the mighty cone formation, with the flagship
+of Taj Lamor at the head. On they rushed through space, their speed ever
+mounting. Suddenly there seemed to leap out of nowhere another mass of
+shining machines that flew swiftly beside them. Like some strange,
+shining ghosts, these ships seemed to materialize instantly beside and
+behind their fleet. They fell in quickly in their allotted position
+behind the Flagship's squadron. One&mdash;two more fleets appeared thus
+suddenly in the dark, and together the ships were flashing on through
+space to their goal of glowing fire ahead!</p>
+
+<p>Hour after hour, day after day the ships flashed on through the awful
+void, the utter silence relieved by the communications between
+themselves and the slowly weakening communications from the far-off home
+planets.</p>
+
+<p>But as those signals from home grew steadily weaker, the sun before
+them grew steadily larger. At last the men began to feel the heat of
+those rays, to realize the energy that that mighty sea of flame poured
+forth into space, and steadily they watched it grow nearer.</p>
+
+<p>Then came a day when they could make out clearly the dim bulk of a
+planet before them, and for long hours they slowed down the flying speed
+of the ships. They had mapped the system they were approaching; there
+were nine planets of <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 157]</span>varying sizes,
+some on the near and some on the far side of the sun. There were but
+three on the near side; one that seemed the outermost of the planets,
+about 35,000 miles in diameter, was directly in their path, while there
+were two more much nearer the sun, about 100,000,000 and 70,000,000
+miles distant from it, each about seven to eight thousand miles in
+diameter, but they were on opposite sides of the sun. These more
+inviting and more accessible worlds were numbers two and three of the
+planetary system. It was decided to split the expedition into two parts;
+one part was to go to planet two, and the other to three. Taj Lamor was
+to lead his group of a hundred ships to the nearer planet at once.</p>
+
+<p>In a very brief time the great ships slanted down over what seemed to
+be a mighty globe of water. They were well in the northern hemisphere,
+and they had come near the planet first over a vast stretch of rolling
+ocean. The men had looked in wonder at such vast quantities of the
+fluid. To them it was a precious liquid, that must be made artificially,
+and was to be conserved, yet here they saw such vast quantities of
+natural water as seemed impossible. Still, their ancient books had told
+of such things, and of other strange things, things that must have been
+wondrously beautiful, though they were so old now, these records, that
+they were regarded largely as myths.</p>
+
+<p>Yet here were the strange proofs! They saw great masses of fleecy
+water vapor, huge billowy things that seemed solid, but were blown
+lightly in the wind. And natural air! The atmosphere extended for
+hundreds of miles off into space; and now, as they came closer to the
+surface of this world the air was dense, and the sky above them was a
+beautiful blue, not black, even where there were stars. The great sun,
+so brilliantly incandescent when seen from space, and now a glowing
+globe of reddish-yellow.</p>
+
+<p>And as they came near land, they looked in wonder at mighty masses of
+rock and soil that threw their shaggy heads high above the surrounding
+terrain, huge masses that rose high, like waves in the water, till they
+towered in <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 158]</span>solemn grandeur miles into
+the air! What a sight for these men of a world so old that age long
+erosion had washed away the last traces of hills, and filled in all of
+the valleys!</p>
+
+<p>In awe they looked down at the mighty rock masses, as they swung low
+over the mountains, gazing in wonder at the green masses of the strange
+vegetation; strange, indeed, for they for uncounted ages had grown only
+mushroom-like cellulose products, and these mainly for ornament, for all
+their food was artificially made in huge factories.</p>
+
+<p>Then they came over a little mountain lake, a body of water scarcely
+large enough to berth one of their huge ships, but high in the clear air
+of the mountains, fed by the melting of eternal snows. It was a
+magnificent sapphire in a setting green as emerald, a sparkling lake of
+clear water, deep as the sea, high in a cleft in the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>In wonder the men looked down at these strange sights. What a
+marvelous home!</p>
+
+<p>Steadily the great machines proceeded, and at last the end of the
+giant mountain was reached, and they came to a great plain. But that
+plain was strangely marked off with squares, as regularly as though
+plotted with a draftsman's square. This world must be inhabited by
+intelligent beings!</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Taj Lamor saw strange specks off in the far horizon to the
+south, specks that seemed to grow in size with terrific velocity; these
+must be ships, the ships of these people, coming to defend their home.
+The strangely pallid face of Taj Lamor tightened into lines of grim
+resolution. This was a moment he had foreseen and had dreaded. Was he to
+withdraw and leave these people unmolested, or was he to stand and fight
+for this world, this wonderfully beautiful home, a home that his race
+could live in for millions of years to come? He had debated this
+question many times before in his mind, and he had decided. There would
+never, never be another chance for his people to gain a new home. They
+must fight.</p>
+
+<p>Swiftly he gave his orders. If resistance came, if an attack were
+made, they were to fight back at once, with every weapon at their
+disposal.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 159]</span></p>
+
+<p>The strangers' ships had grown swiftly larger to the eye, but still,
+though near now, they seemed too small to be dangerous. These giant
+interstellar cruisers were certainly invulnerable to ships so small;
+their mere size would give them protection! These ships were scarcely as
+long as the diameter of the smaller of the interstellar ships&mdash;a
+bare two hundred and fifty feet for the largest.</p>
+
+<p>The interstellar cruisers halted in their course, and waited for the
+little ships to approach. They were fast, for they drew alongside
+quickly, and raced to the front of the flagship. There was one small one
+that was painted white, and on it there was a large white banner,
+flapping in the wind of its passage. The rest of the ships drew off as
+this came forward, and stopped, hanging motionless before the control
+room of the giant machine. There were men inside&mdash;three strange
+men, short and oddly pink-skinned&mdash;but they were gesturing now,
+motioning that the giant machine settle to the ground beneath. Taj Lamor
+was considering whether or not to thus parley with the strangers, when
+suddenly there leaped from the white craft a beam of clear white&mdash;a
+beam that was directed toward the ground, then swung up toward the great
+cruiser in a swift arc!</p>
+
+<p>As one, a dozen swift beams of pale red flared out from the giant and
+bathed the pigmy craft. As they reached it, the white ray that had been
+sweeping up suddenly vanished, and for an instant the ship hung poised
+in the air; then it began to swing crazily, like the pendulum of a
+clock&mdash;swung completely over&mdash;and with a sickening lurch sped
+swiftly for the plain nearly five miles below. In moments there came a
+brief flare, then there remained only a little crater in the soft
+soil.</p>
+
+<p>But the red beams had not stopped with the little ship; they had
+darted out to the other machines, trying to reach them before they could
+bring those strange white rays into play. The cruisers obviously must
+win, for they carried dozens of projectors, but they might be damaged,
+their flight delayed. They must defeat those strangers quickly. The rays
+of Taj Lamor's ship lashed out swiftly, but almost
+before <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 160]</span>they had started, all the
+other ships, a full hundred, were in action, and the flagship was
+darting swiftly up and away from the battle. Below, those pale red rays
+were taking a swift toll of the little ships, and nearly twenty of them
+rolled suddenly over, and dashed to destruction far below.</p>
+
+<p>But now the little ships were in swift darting motion. Because of
+their small size, they were able to avoid the rays of the larger
+interstellar cruisers, and as their torpedo-shaped hulls flashed about
+with bewildering speed, they began to fight back. They had been taken
+utterly by surprise, but now they went into action with an abandon and
+swiftness that took the initiative away from the gigantic interstellar
+liners. They were in a dozen places at once, dodging and twisting,
+unharmed, out of the way of the deadly red beams, and were as hard to
+hit as so many dancing feathers suspended over an air jet.</p>
+
+<p>And if the pilots were skillful in avoiding enemy rays, their ray men
+were as accurate in placing theirs. But then, with a target of such vast
+size, not so much skill was necessary.</p>
+
+<p>These smaller vessels were the ships of Earth. The people of the dark
+star had entered the solar system quite unannounced, except that they
+had been seen in passing the orbit of Mars, for a ship had been out
+there in space, moving steadily out toward Neptune, and the great
+interstellar cruisers, flashing in across space, away from that frigid
+planet, had not seen the tiny wanderer. But he had seen those mighty
+hulks, and had sent his message of danger out on the ether, warning the
+men of Earth. They had relayed it to Venus, and the ships that had gone
+there had received an equally warm reception, and were even now finding
+their time fully occupied trying to beat off the Interplanetary
+Patrol.</p>
+
+<p>The battle ended as swiftly as it began, for Taj Lamor, in his
+machine high above, saw that they were outclassed, and ordered them to
+withdraw at once. Scarcely ten minutes had elapsed, yet they had lost
+twenty-two of their giant ships.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 161]</span></p>
+
+<p>The expedition that had gone to Venus reported a similarly active
+greeting. It was decided at once that they should proceed cautiously to
+the other planets, to determine which were inhabited and which were not,
+and to determine the chemical and physical conditions on each.</p>
+
+<p>The ships formed again out in space, on the other side of the sun,
+however, and started at once in compact formation for Mercury.</p>
+
+<p>Their observations were completed without further mishap, and they
+set out for their distant home, their number depleted by forty-one
+ships, for nineteen had fallen on Venus.</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h4>I</h4>
+
+<p>The Terrestrian and Venerian governments had met in conference, a
+grim, businesslike discussion with few wasted words. Obviously, this was
+to be a war of science, a war on a scale never before known on either
+world. Agreements were immediately drawn up between the two worlds for a
+concerted, cooperative effort. A fleet of new and vastly more powerful
+ships must be constructed&mdash;but first they must have a complete
+report on the huge invading craft that had fallen in western Canada, and
+on Venus, for they might conceivably make their secrets their own.</p>
+
+<p>They called for the scientists whose work had made possible their
+successful resistance of the marauders: Arcot, Morey and Wade. They
+found them working in the Arcot Laboratories.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wade,&#8221; called Arcot tensely as he snapped the switch of
+the televisophone, &#8220;bring Morey and meet me at the machine on the roof
+at once. That was a call from Washington. I'll explain as soon as you
+get there.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>On the roof Arcot opened the hangar doors, and entered the
+five-passenger molecular motion ship inside. Its
+sleek, <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 162]</span>streamlined sides spoke of
+power and speed. This was a special research model, designed for their
+experiments, and carrying mechanisms not found in commercial crafts.
+Among these were automatic controls still in the laboratory stage, but
+permitting higher speed, for no human being could control the ship as
+accurately as these.</p>
+
+<p>It took the trio a little less than a quarter of an hour to make the
+5,000 mile trip from New York to the battlefield of Canada. As they sped
+through the air, Arcot told them what had transpired. The three were
+passed through the lines at once, and they settled to the ground beside
+one of the huge ships that lay half buried in the ground. The force of
+the impact had splashed the solid soil as a stone will splash soft mud,
+and around the ship there was a massive ridge of earth. Arcot looked at
+the titanic proportions of this ship from space, and turned to his
+friends:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We can investigate that wreck on foot, but I think it'll be far more
+sensible to see what we can do with the car. This monster is certainly a
+mile or more long, and we'd spend more time in walking than in
+investigation. I suggest, we see if there isn't room for the car inside.
+This beats even those huge Kaxorian planes for size.&#8221; Arcot paused, then
+grinned. &#8220;I sure would have liked to mix in the fight they must have had
+here&mdash;nice little things to play with, aren't they?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It would make a nice toy,&#8221; agreed Wade as he looked at
+the rows of wicked-looking projectors along the sides of the metal hull,
+&#8220;and I wonder if there might not be some of the crew alive in there? If
+there are, the size of the ship would prevent their showing themselves
+very quickly, and since they can't move the ship, it seems to me that
+they'll let us know shortly that they're around. Probably, with the
+engines stopped, their main weapons are useless, but they would
+doubtless have some sort of guns. I'm highly in favor of using the car.
+We carry a molecular director ray, so if the way is blocked, we can make
+a new one.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Wade's attention was caught by a sudden flare of
+light <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 163]</span>a few miles across the plain.
+&#8220;Look over there&mdash;that ship is still flaming&mdash;reddish, but
+almost colorless. Looks like a gas flame, with a bit of calcium in it.
+Almost as if the air in the ship were combustible. If we should do any
+exploring in this baby, I suggest we use altitude suits&mdash;they can't
+do any harm in any case.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Three or four of the great wrecks, spread over a wide area, were
+burning now, hurling forth long tongues of colorless, intensely hot
+flame. Several of the ships had been only slightly damaged; one had been
+brought down by a beam that had torn free the entire tail of the ship,
+leaving the bow in good condition. Apparently this machine had not
+fallen far; perhaps the pilot had retained partial control of the ship,
+his power failing when he was only a comparatively short distance from
+Earth. This was rather well to one side of the plain, however, and they
+decided to investigate it later.</p>
+
+<p>The ship nearest them had crashed nose first, the point being crushed
+and shattered. Arcot maneuvered his craft cautiously toward the great
+hole at the nose of the ship, and they entered the mighty vessel slowly,
+a powerful spotlight illuminating the interior. Tremendous girders,
+twisted and broken by the force of impact, thrust up about them. It soon
+became evident that there was little to fear from any living enemies,
+and they proceeded more rapidly. Certainly no creature could live after
+the shock that had broken these huge girders! Several times metal beams
+blocked their path, and they were forced to use the molecular director
+ray to bend them out of the way.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Man,&#8221; said Arcot as they stopped a moment to clear away
+a huge member that was bent across their path, &#8220;but those beams do look
+as if they were built permanently! I'd hate to ram into one of them!
+Look at that one&mdash;if that has anywhere near the strength of steel,
+just think of the force it took to bend it!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At last they had penetrated to the long tube that led through the
+length of the ship, the communication tube. This admitted the small ship
+easily, and they moved <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 164]</span>swiftly along
+till they came to what they believed to be about the center of the
+invader. Here Arcot proposed that they step out and see what there was
+to be seen.</p>
+
+<p>The others agreed, and they at once put on their altitude suits of
+heavy rubberized canvas, designed to be worn outside the ship when at
+high altitude, or even in space. They were supplied with oxygen tanks
+that would keep the wearer alive for about six hours. Unless the
+atmosphere remaining in the alien ship was excessively corrosive, they
+would be safe. After a brief discussion, they decided that all would go,
+for if they met opposition, there would be strength in numbers.</p>
+
+<p>They met their first difficulty in opening the door leading out of
+the communication tube. It was an automatic door, and resisted their
+every effort&mdash;until finally they were forced to tear it out with a
+ray. It was impossible to move it in any other way. The door was in what
+was now the floor, since the ship seemed to have landed on one side
+rather than on its keel.</p>
+
+<p>They let themselves through the narrow opening one at a time, and
+landed on the sloping wall of the corridor beyond.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lucky this wasn't a big room, or we'd have had a nice drop to the
+far wall!&#8221; commented Wade. The suits were equipped with a thin vibrating
+diaphragm that made speech easy, but Wade's voice came through with a
+queerly metallic ring.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot agreed somewhat absently, his attention directed toward their
+surroundings. His hand light pierced the blackness, finally halting at a
+gaping opening, apparently the entrance to a corridor. As they examined
+it, they saw that it slanted steeply downward.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It seems to be quite a drop,&#8221; said Wade as he turned his
+light into it, &#8220;but the surface seems to be rather rough. I think we can
+do it. I notice that you brought a rope, Morey; I think it'll help. I'll
+go first, unless someone else wants the honor.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You go first?&#8221; Arcot hesitated briefly. &#8220;But I don't
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 165]</span>know&mdash;if we're all going, I
+guess you had better, at that. It would take two ordinary men to lower a
+big bulk like you. On the other hand, if anybody is going to stay,
+you're delegated as elevator boy!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hold everything,&#8221; continued Arcot. &#8220;I have an idea. I
+think none of us will need to hold the weight of the others with the
+rope. Wade, will you get three fairly good-sized pieces of metal,
+something we can tie a rope to? I think we can get down here without the
+help of anyone else. Morey, will you cut the rope in three equal pieces
+while I help Wade tear loose that girder?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot refused to reveal his idea till his preparations were complete,
+but worked quickly and efficiently. With the aid of Wade, he soon had
+three short members, and taking the rope that Morey had prepared, he
+tied lengths of cord to the pieces of metal, leaving twenty foot lengths
+hanging from each. Now he carefully tested his handiwork to make sure
+the knots would not slip.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, let's see what we can do.&#8221; Arcot put a small loop
+in one end of a cord, thrust his left wrist through this, and grasped
+the rope firmly with his hand. Then he drew his ray pistol, and adjusted
+it carefully for direction of action. The trigger gave him control over
+power. Finally he turned the ray on the block of metal at the other end
+of the rope. At once the metal pulled vigorously, drawing the rope taut,
+and as Arcot increased the power, he was dragged slowly across the
+floor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah&mdash;it works.&#8221; He grinned broadly over his
+shoulder. &#8220;Come on, boys, hitch your wagon to a star, and we'll go on
+with the investigation. This is a new, double action parachute. It lets
+you down easy, and pulls you up easier! I think we can go where we want
+now.&#8221; After a pause he added, &#8220;I don't have to tell you that too much
+power will be very bad!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With Arcot's simple brake, they lowered themselves into the corridor
+below, descending one at a time, to avoid any contact with the ray,
+since the touch of the beam was fatal.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 166]</span></p>
+
+<p>The scene that lay before them was one of colossal destruction. They
+had evidently stumbled upon the engine room. They could not hope to
+illuminate its vast expanse with their little hand lights, but they
+could gain some idea of its magnitude, and of its original layout. The
+floor, now tilted at a steep angle, was torn up in many places, showing
+great, massive beams, buckled and twisted like so many wires, while the
+heavy floor plates were crumpled like so much foil. Everywhere the room
+seemed covered with a film of white silvery metal; it was silver, they
+decided after a brief examination, spattered broadcast over the walls of
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Morey pointed ceilingward with his light. &#8220;That's where the
+silver came from!&#8221; he exclaimed. A network of heavy bars ran across the
+roof, great bars of solid silver fully three feet thick. In one section
+gaped a ragged hole, suggesting the work of a disintegration ray, a hole
+that went into the metal roof above, one which had plainly been fused,
+as had the great silver bars.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot looked in wonder at the heavy metal bars. &#8220;Lord&mdash;bus bars
+three feet thick! What engines they must have! Look at the way those
+were blown out! They were short circuited by the crash, just before the
+generator went out, and they were volatilized! Some juice!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With the aid of their improvised elevators, the three men attempted
+to explore the tremendous chamber. They had scarcely begun, when Wade
+exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bodies!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They crowded around his gruesome find and caught their first glimpse
+of the invaders from space. Anatomical details could not be
+distinguished since the bodies had been caught under a rain of crushing
+beams, but they saw that they were not too different from both
+Terrestrians and Venerians&mdash;though their blood seemed strangely
+pallid, and their skin was of a ghastly whiteness. Evidently they had
+been assembled before an unfamiliar sort of instrument panel when
+catastrophe struck; Morey indicated the dials and keys.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 167]</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nice to know what you're fighting,&#8221; Arcot observed.
+&#8220;I've a hunch that we'll see some of these critters alive&mdash;but not
+in this ship!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They turned away and resumed their examination of the shattered
+mechanisms.</p>
+
+<p>A careful examination was impossible; they were wrecks, but Arcot did
+see that they seemed mainly to be giant electrical machines of standard
+types, though on a gargantuan scale. There were titanic masses of
+wrecked metal, iron and silver, for with these men silver seemed to
+replace copper, though nothing could replace iron and its magnetic
+uses.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They are just electrical machines, I guess,&#8221; said Arcot
+at last. &#8220;But what size! Have you seen anything really
+revolutionary, Wade?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Wade frowned and answered. &#8220;There are just two things that bother me.
+Come here.&#8221; As Arcot jumped over, nearly suspended by his ray pistol,
+Wade directed his light on a small machine that had fallen in between
+the cracks in the giant mass of broken generators. It was a little
+thing, apparently housed in a glass case. There was only one objection
+to that assumption. The base of a large generator lay on it, metal fully
+two feet thick, and that metal was cracked where it rested on the case,
+and the case, made of material an inch and a half thick, was not
+dented!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Whewww&mdash;that's a nice kind of glass to have!&#8221; Morey
+commented. &#8220;I'd like to have a specimen for examination. Oh&mdash;I
+wonder&mdash;yes, it must be! There's a window in the side up there
+toward what was the bow that seemed to me to be the same stuff. It's
+buried about three feet in solid earth, so I imagine it must be.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The three made their way at once to where they had seen the window.
+The frame appeared to be steel, or some such alloy, and it was twisted
+and bent under the blow, for this was evidently the outer wall, and the
+impact of landing had flattened the rounded side. But that
+&#8220;glass&#8221; window was quite undisturbed! There was, as a
+further proof, a large granite boulder lying against it on the
+outside&mdash;or what <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 168]</span>had been a
+boulder, though it had been shattered by the impact.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Say&mdash;that's some building material!&#8221; Arcot
+indicated the transparent sheet. &#8220;Just look at that granite
+rock&mdash;smashed into sand! Yet the window isn't even scratched! Look
+how the frame that held it is torn&mdash;just torn, not broken. I wonder
+if we can tear it loose altogether?&#8221; He stepped forward, raising his
+pistol. There was a thud as his metal bar crashed down when the ray was
+shut off. Then, as the others got out of the way, he stepped toward the
+window and directed his beam toward it. Gradually he increased the
+power, till suddenly there was a rending crash, and they saw only a
+leaping column of earth and sand and broken granite flying up through
+the hole in the steel shell. There was a sudden violent crash, then a
+moment later a second equally violent crash as the window, having flown
+up to the ceiling, came thumping back to the floor.</p>
+
+<p>After the dust had settled they came forward, looking for the window.
+They found it, somewhat buried by the rubbish, lying off to one side.
+Arcot bent down to tilt it and sweep off the dirt; he grasped it with
+one hand, and pulled. The window remained where it was. He grasped it
+with both hands and pulled harder. The window remained where it was.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Uh&mdash;say, lend a hand will you, Wade.&#8221; Together the
+two men pulled, but without results. That window was about three feet by
+two feet by one inch, making the total volume about one-half a cubic
+foot, but it certainly was heavy. They could not begin to move it. An
+equal volume of lead would have weighed about four hundred pounds, but
+this was decidedly more than four hundred pounds. Indeed, the combined
+strength of the three men did not do more than rock it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well&mdash;it certainly is no kind of matter we know
+of!&#8221; observed Morey. &#8220;Osmium, the heaviest known metal, has a
+density of twenty-two and a half, which would weigh about 730 pounds. I
+think we could lift that, so this is heavier than anything we know. At
+least that's proof of a <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 169]</span>new system.
+Between Venus and Earth we have found every element that occurs in the
+sun. These people must have come from another star!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Either that,&#8221; returned Arcot, &#8220;or proof of an amazing
+degree of technological advancement. It's only a guess, of
+course&mdash;but I have an idea where this kind of matter exists in the
+solar system. I think you have already seen it&mdash;in the gaseous
+state. You remember, of course, that the Kaxorians had great reservoirs
+for storing light-energy in a bound state in their giant planes. They
+had bound light, light held by the gravitational attraction for itself,
+after condensing it in their apparatus, but they had what amounted to a
+gas&mdash;gaseous light. Now suppose that someone makes a light
+condenser even more powerful than the one the Kaxorians used, a
+condenser that forces the light so close to itself, increases its
+density, till the photons hold each other permanently, and the substance
+becomes solid. It will be matter, matter made of light&mdash;light
+matter&mdash;and let us call it a metal. You know that ordinary matter
+is electricity matter, and electricity matter metals conduct electricity
+readily. Now why shouldn't our 'light matter' metal conduct light? It
+would be a wonderful substance for windows.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But now comes the question of moving it,&#8221; Wade
+interposed. &#8220;We can't lift it, and we certainly want to examine it. That
+means we must take it to the laboratory. I believe we're about through
+here&mdash;the place is clearly quite permanently demolished. I think we
+had better return to the ship and start to that other machine we saw
+that didn't appear to be so badly damaged. But&mdash;how can we move
+this?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think a ray may do the trick.&#8221; Arcot drew his ray
+pistol, and stepped back a bit, holding the weapon so the ray would
+direct the plate straight up. Slowly he applied the power, and as he
+gradually increased it, the plate stirred, then moved into the air.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It works! Now you can use your pistol, Morey, and direct it toward
+the corridor. I'll send it up, and let it fall outside, where we can
+pick it up later.&#8221; Morey stepped <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+170]</span>forward, and while Arcot held it in the air with his ray, Morey
+propelled it slowly with his, till it was directly under the corridor
+leading upward. Then Arcot gave a sudden increase in power, and the
+plate moved swiftly upward, sailing out of sight. Arcot shut off his
+ray, and there came to their ears a sudden crash as the plate fell to
+the floor above.</p>
+
+<p>The three men regained their ropes and &#8220;double action
+parachutes&#8221; as Arcot called them, and floated up to the next
+floor. Again they started the process of moving the plate. All went well
+till they came to the little car itself. They could not use the ray on
+the car, for fear of damaging the machinery. They had to use some purely
+mechanical method of hoisting it in.</p>
+
+<p>Finally they solved the problem by using the molecular director ray
+to swing a heavy beam into the air, then one man pulled on the far end
+of it with a rope, and swung it till it was resting on the door of the
+ship on one end, and the other rested in a hole they had torn in the
+lining of the tube.</p>
+
+<p>Now they maneuvered the heavy plate till it was resting on that beam;
+then they released the plate, and watched it slide down the incline,
+shooting through the open doorway of the car. In moments the job was
+done. The plate at last safely stowed, the three men climbed into the
+car, and prepared to leave.</p>
+
+<p>The little machine glided swiftly down the tube through the mighty
+ship, finally coming out through the opening that had admitted them.
+They rose quickly into the air, and headed for the headquarters of the
+government ships.</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h4>II</h4>
+
+<p>A great number of scientists and military men were already gathered
+about the headquarters ship. As Arcot's party arrived, they learned that
+each of the wrecks was being assigned to one group. They further learned
+that <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 171]</span>because of their scientific
+importance, they were to go to the nearly perfect ship lying off to the
+west. Two Air Patrolmen were to accompany them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lieutenant Wright and Lieutenant Greer will go with
+you,&#8221; said the Colonel. &#8220;In the event of trouble from
+possible&mdash;though unlikely&mdash;survivors, they may be able to
+help. Is there anything further we can do?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;These men are armed with the standard sidearms, aren't
+they?&#8221; Arcot asked. &#8220;I think we'll all be better off if I arm them
+with some of the new director-ray pistols. I have several in my boat. It
+will be all right, I suppose?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Certainly, Dr. Arcot. They are under your command.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The party, increased to five now, returned to the ship, where Arcot
+showed the men the details of the ray pistols, and how to use them. The
+control for direction of operation was rather intricate in these early
+models, and required considerable explanation. The theoretical range of
+even these small hand weapons was infinity in space, but in the
+atmosphere the energy was rather rapidly absorbed by ionization of the
+air, and the dispersion of the beam made it ineffective in space over a
+range of more than thirty-five miles.</p>
+
+<p>Again entering the little molecular motion car, they went at once to
+the great hull of the fallen ship. They inspected it cautiously from
+overhead before going too close, for the dreadnought, obviously, had
+landed without the terrific concussion that the others had experienced,
+and there was a possibility that some of the crew had survived the
+crash. The entire stern of the huge vessel had been torn off, and
+evidently the ship was unable to rise, but there were lights glowing
+through the portholes on the side, indicating that power had not failed
+completely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think we'd better treat that monster with respect,&#8221;
+remarked Wade, looking down at the lighted windows. &#8220;They have power,
+and the hull is scarcely dented except where the stern was caught by a
+beam. It's lucky we had those ray projector ships! They've been in
+service only about four months, haven't they, Lieutenant?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 172]</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Just about that, sir,&#8221; the Air Patrolman replied. &#8220;They
+hadn't gotten the hand weapons out in sufficient quantities to be issued
+to us as yet.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Morey scowled at the invader. &#8220;I don't like this at all. I wonder why
+they didn't greet us with some of their beams,&#8221; he said in worried
+tones. It did seem that there should be some of the rays in action now.
+They were less than a mile from the fallen giant, and moving rather
+slowly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I've been puzzled about that myself,&#8221; commented Arcot,
+&#8220;and I've come to the conclusion that either the ray projectors are fed
+by a separate system of power distribution, which has been destroyed, or
+that the creatures from space are all dead.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They were to learn later, in their exploration of the ship, that the
+invaders' ray projectors were fed from a separate generator, which
+produced a special form of alternating current wave for them. This
+generator had been damaged beyond use.</p>
+
+<p>The little machine was well toward the stern of the giant now, and
+they lowered it till it was on a level with the torn metal. It was plain
+that the ship had been subjected to some terrific tension. The great
+girders were stretched and broken, and the huge ribs were bent and
+twisted. The central tube, which ran the length of the ship, had been
+drawn down to about three quarters of its original diameter, making it
+necessary for them to use their ray to enter. In moments their speedster
+glided into the dark tunnel. The searchlight reaching ahead filled the
+metal tunnel with a myriad deceptive reflections. The tube was lighted
+up far ahead of them, and seemed empty. Cautiously they advanced, with
+Arcot at the controls.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wade&mdash;Morey&mdash;where will we stop first?&#8221; he
+asked. &#8220;The engines? They'll probably be of prime importance. We know
+their location. What do you say?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I agree,&#8221; replied Wade, and Morey nodded his
+approval.</p>
+
+<p>They ran their craft down the long tube till they reached the door
+they knew must be the engine room landing,
+and <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 173]</span>stepped out, each wearing an
+altitude suit. This ship had landed level, and progress would be much
+easier than in the other one. They waited a moment before opening the
+door into the engine room, for this led into a narrow corridor where
+only one could pass. Caution was definitely in order. The Air Patrolmen
+insisted on leading the way. They had been sent along for the express
+purpose of protecting the scientists, and it was their duty to lead.
+After a brief argument Arcot agreed.</p>
+
+<p>The two officers stepped to the door, and standing off to one side,
+tore it open with a ray from their pistols. It fell with a clatter to
+the rounded metal floor of the tube, and lay there vibrating noisily,
+but no rays of death lanced out from beyond it. Cautiously they peered
+around the corner of the long corridor, then seeing nothing, entered.
+Wade came next, then Arcot, followed by Morey.</p>
+
+<p>The corridor was approximately thirty feet long, opening into the
+great engine room. Already the men could hear the smooth hum of powerful
+machines, and could see the rounded backs of vast mechanisms. But there
+was no sign of life, human or otherwise. They halted finally at the
+threshold of the engine room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; Arcot said softly. &#8220;We haven't seen anyone so
+far, and I hope no one has seen us. The invaders may be behind one of
+those big engines, quite unaware of us. <i>If</i> they're there, and
+they see us, they'll be ready to fight. Now remember, those weapons you
+have will tear loose anything they hit, so take it easy. You know
+something about the power of those engines, so don't put them out of
+commission, and have them splash us all over the landscape.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But look out for the crew, and get them if they try to get
+you!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Cautiously but quickly they stepped out into the great room, forming
+a rough half circle, pistols ready for action. They walked forward
+stealthily, glancing about them&mdash;and simultaneously the enemies
+caught sight of each other. There were six of the invaders, each about
+seven feet tall, and <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 174]</span>surprisingly
+humanoid. They somewhat resembled Venerians, but they weren't Venerians,
+for their skin was a strange gray-white, suggesting raw dough. It seemed
+to Arcot that these strange, pale creatures were advancing at a slow
+walk, and that he stood still watching them as they slowly raised
+strange hand weapons. He seemed to notice every detail: their short,
+tight-fitting suits of some elastic material that didn't hamper their
+movements, and their strange flesh, which just seemed to escape being
+transparent. Their eyes were strangely large, and the black spot of the
+pupil in their white corneas created an unnatural effect.</p>
+
+<p>Then abruptly their weapons came up&mdash;and Arcot responded with a
+sudden flick of his ray, as he flung himself to one side. Simultaneously
+his four companions let their beams fly toward the invaders. They glowed
+strangely red here, but they were still effective. The six beings were
+suddenly gone&mdash;but not before they had released their own beams.
+And they had taken toll. Lieutenant Wright lay motionless upon the
+floor.</p>
+
+<p>The Terrestrians scarcely had a chance to notice this, for
+immediately there was a terrific rending crash, and clean daylight came
+pouring in through a wide opening in the wall of the ship. The five rays
+had not stopped on contact with the enemy, but had touched the wall
+behind them. An irregular opening now gaped in the smooth metal.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there came a second jarring thud, a dull explosion; then a
+great sheet of flame filled the hole&mdash;a wall of ruddy flame swept
+rapidly in. Arcot swung up his ray pistol, pointing it at the mass of
+flaming gas. A mighty column of air came through the narrow corridor
+from the tube, rushing toward the outside, and taking the flame with it.
+A roaring mass of gas hovered outside of the ship.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lieutenant,&#8221; said Arcot, swiftly, &#8220;turn your ray on that
+hole, and keep it there, blowing that flame outside with it. You'll find
+you can't put the fire out, but if you keep it outside the ship, I
+believe we'll be reasonably safe.&#8221; The Patrolman obeyed instantly,
+relieving Arcot.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 175]</span></p>
+
+<p>Wade and Morey were already bending over the fallen man.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for him,&#8221; the
+latter said grimly, &#8220;and every moment here is dangerous. Let's continue
+our investigation and carry him back to the ship when we leave.&#8221; Arcot
+nodded silently.</p>
+
+<p>Solemnly they turned away from the motionless figure on the floor and
+set out on their investigation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Arcot,&#8221; began Morey after a moment, &#8220;why is that gas
+burning like that? Can't we put it out?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let's get through with this job first,&#8221; replied Arcot
+somewhat tersely. &#8220;The discussion comes after.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The bodies of the invaders were gone, so they could not examine them
+now. That was a matter for the doctors and biologists, anyway. The
+engines were their main interest, huge things which overshadowed
+everything about them.</p>
+
+<p>It must have been the concealment afforded by the engines that
+permitted three of the enemy to get so close. The only warning the
+Terrestrians had was a faint pink haze as they stepped around the corner
+of an engine; and a sudden feeling of faintness swept over them. They
+leaped back, out of sight, peering around the corner with nerves and
+muscles tensed. There was no sign of movement.</p>
+
+<p>As they watched, they saw a pallid hand reaching out with a ray gun;
+and Wade swiftly pointed his own weapon. There came a sudden crash of
+metal, a groan and quiet. Two other aliens leaped from behind the great
+engine just as the Terrestrians dodged further back; as swiftly, they
+too found concealment.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot swung his ray up, and was about to pull the trigger that would
+send the huge engine toppling over upon them, when he saw that it was
+running. He thought of the unknown energies in the machine, the
+potential destruction, and he shook his head. Cautiously he looked
+around the edge of the towering mass, waiting&mdash;his beam flashed
+out, and there was a snapping sound as the ray caught a reaching hand
+and hurled its owner against a mighty transformer of some sort. For an
+instant the huge mass tottered, then was still. In
+the <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 176]</span>low concentration of power that
+Arcot had used, only a small portion had been touched, and the molecules
+of this portion had not been enough to tip over its tremendous
+weight.</p>
+
+<p>Only one enemy remained; and Arcot learned swiftly that he was still
+in action, for before he could dodge back there came that now-familiar
+pink haziness. It touched Arcot's hand, outstretched as it had been when
+he fired, and a sudden numbness came over it. His pistol hand seemed to
+lose all feeling of warmth or cold. It was there; he could still feel
+the weapon's deadened weight. Reflex action hurled him back, his hand
+out of range of the ray. In seconds feeling began to return, and in less
+than ten his hand was normal again.</p>
+
+<p>He turned to the others with a wry grin. &#8220;Whew&mdash;that was a
+narrow squeak! I must say their ray is a gentlemenly sort of thing. It
+either kills you, or doesn't injure you at all. There it goes
+again!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A shaft of pink radiance reached the end of the engine, just grazing
+it, evidently absorbed by its mass. &#8220;Pinning us down,&#8221; Wade
+grated. They certainly couldn't step out into the open space&mdash;but
+they couldn't stay where they were indefinitely, either. Reinforcements
+might arrive!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Look,&#8221; Wade pointed with his pistol, &#8220;he's under that
+big metal bar&mdash;up there in the roof&mdash;see it? I'll pull it
+down; he may get nervous and come into sight.&#8221; Swiftly Arcot sprang
+forward and caught his arm.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lord&mdash;don't do that, Wade&mdash;there's too much stuff here
+that we don't know anything about. Too much chance of your smashing us
+with him. I'm going to try to get around to the other side of this
+machine and see what I can do, while you fellows keep him occupied.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot disappeared around the black humming giant. Interminably the
+others waited for something to happen; then suddenly the beam that had
+been playing at irregular intervals across the end of the machine, swung
+quickly to the other side; and simultaneously another ray seemed to leap
+from the machine itself. They met and crossed. There came a momentary
+crashing arc, then both went dead, as the ap<span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+177]</span>paratus that generated them blew out under terrific
+overload.</p>
+
+<p>The invader evidently carried a spare, for the watchers saw him dart
+from concealment, clawing at his pocket pouch. They turned their rays on
+him, and just as his projector came free, a ray hurled him violently to
+the left. He crashed into a huge motor, and the result was not nice.</p>
+
+<p>The projector had been jerked from his hand and lay off to the side.
+Arcot ran to it and picked it up just as they heard the Lieutenant call
+an alarmed inquiry.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think we're okay now,&#8221; Arcot answered. &#8220;I hope there
+are no more&mdash;but by all means stay where you are, and use as little
+power as possible in blowing that flame outside. It uses up the
+atmosphere of the ship, and though we don't need it, I think we'd better
+take things easy. Call us if anything looks odd to you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>For several minutes the three scientists looked about them in
+awe-struck wonder. They were the first men of Earth to see the driving
+equipment of one of the tremendous Kaxorian planes, and they felt tiny
+beside its great bulk; but now, as they examined this engine room, they
+realized that even the huge plane shrank into insignificance beside this
+interstellar cruiser.</p>
+
+<p>All about them loomed the great rounded backs of giant electric
+motor-generators of some sort. Across the roof ran a network of gigantic
+metal bars, apparently conductors, but so large that they suggested
+heavy structural members. The machines they ran into loomed fully thirty
+feet into the air; they were longer than cylinders, thirty feet in
+diameter, and there was a group of four main machines fully a hundred
+twenty feet long! There were many smaller mechanisms&mdash;yet these
+smaller ones would easily have constituted a complete power supply for
+the average big city. Along each wall ran a bank of transformers, cast
+in the same heroic mold. These seemed connected with the smaller
+machines, there being four conductors leading into each of the minor
+units, two intake, and two, apparently, output leads, suggesting rotary
+converters. The multiple units and the various types and sizes of
+transformers made it obvious that many different
+frequen<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 178]</span>cies were needed. Some of the
+transformers had air cores, and led to machines surrounded with a
+silvery white metal instead of the usual iron. These, apparently, were
+generating current at an extremely high frequency.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; Morey commented, &#8220;they ought to have power
+enough. But do you notice that those four main units have their leads
+radiating in different directions? The one on the left there seems to
+lead to that big power board at the front&mdash;or better, bow. I think
+it would be worth investigating.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot nodded. &#8220;I had the same idea. You notice that two of the main
+power units are still working, but that those other two have stopped?
+Probably the two dead ones have something to do with the motion of the
+ship. But there's one point I think is of even greater interest. All the
+machines we have seen, all the conspicuous ones, are secondary power
+sources. There are no primary sources visible. Notice that those two
+main conduits lead over to the right, and toward the bow. Let's check
+where they go to.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>As they talked they followed the huge conductors back to their point
+of convergence. Suddenly they rounded one of the huge main power units,
+and saw before them, at the center of square formed by these machines, a
+low platform of transparent light-metal. At the exact center of this
+platform, which was twenty feet in diameter, there was a table, about
+seven feet across and raised about five feet above the level of the
+platform on stout light-metal legs. On the table were two huge cubes of
+solid silver, and into these cubes ran all the conductors they had
+seen.</p>
+
+<p>In the space of about six inches left between the blocks of metal,
+there was a small box constructed of some strange new material. It was
+the most perfect reflecting surface that any of the men had ever
+imagined. Indeed, it was so perfect a reflector that they were unable to
+see it, but could detect its presence only by the mirror images, and the
+fact that it blotted out objects behind it.</p>
+
+<p>Now they noticed that through the huge blocks of metal there were two
+small holes, and two thin wires of this same reflecting material led
+into those holes. The wires led directly <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+179]</span>up to the roof, and, suspended on three-foot hangers of the
+light-metal, continued on toward the bow.</p>
+
+<p>Could this be the source of power for the entire ship? It seemed
+impossible, yet there were many other seeming impossible things here,
+among them that strangely reflecting matter.</p>
+
+<p>There was a low railing about the central platform, apparently
+intended to keep observers at a safe distance, so they decided against
+any more detailed investigation. As they were about to discuss their
+unusual find, the Lieutenant called that he heard sounds behind him.</p>
+
+<p>At once the three ran rapidly toward the narrow corridor that had
+given them entrance. The flaming gas was still shooting through the hole
+in the wall of the ship, and the rush of air through the corridor made
+it difficult to hear any sounds there, and exceedingly difficult to
+walk.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Turn on more power, Lieutenant, and see if we can't draw out the
+enemy,&#8221; suggested Arcot, while they braced themselves around the tube
+exit.</p>
+
+<p>As the Patrolman increased the power of his beam, the moan of the air
+through the corridor increased suddenly to a terrific roar, and a
+cyclonic gale swept through. But none of the invaders were drawn
+out.</p>
+
+<p>After the Lieutenant had shut off the blast from his pistol at
+Arcot's signal, the latter said: &#8220;I don't think anything less than a war
+tank could stand that pressure. It's probable that we'll be attacked if
+we stay here much longer, though&mdash;and we may not be able to get out
+at all. I think, Lieutenant, I'll ask you to stay here while we go out
+and get the ship ready to leave.&#8221; He paused, grinning. &#8220;Be sure to keep
+that flame outside. You'll be in the position of Hercules after Atlas
+left him holding the skies on his shoulders. You can't shut off the ray
+for long or we'll have a first-rate explosion. We'll signal when we're
+ready by firing a revolver, and you make it to the ship as fast as you
+can travel.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot's expression became solemn. &#8220;We'll have to carry Wright back to
+the ship. He was a brave man, and he certainly deserves burial in the
+soil of his own world. And, <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 180]</span>Morey,
+we'll have to look up his family. Your father's company will have to
+take care of them if they need help.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Slowly the men forced their way back toward their ship, fighting
+against the roaring column of air, their burden hindering them somewhat;
+but at last they reached the open tunnel. Even here the air was in
+violent motion.</p>
+
+<p>They got into their boat as quickly as possible, and set the controls
+for reverse flight. Then Wade fired the signal shot. In moments they saw
+Lieutenant Greer bucking against the current of air, continuing under
+its own momentum.</p>
+
+<p>By the time he was in the ship an ominous calm had fallen. Swiftly
+they sped down the corridor, and had almost reached the open air, when
+suddenly there was a dull rumble behind them, and they were caught on a
+wave of pressure that hurled them along at terrific speed. In a flash
+they sped into the open air, the great tunnel with its thick walls and
+flared opening acting like a gigantic blunderbus, with the ship as its
+bullet. Arcot made no attempt to slow down the little craft, but pressed
+his foot heavily on the vertical accelerator. The ship rocketed up with
+terrific speed, and the acceleration pinned the men down to their seats
+with tripled weight.</p>
+
+<p>Anxiously they watched the huge invader as they sped away from it. At
+Arcot's direction Morey signaled the other groups of scientists to get
+out of danger with all speed, warning of the impending blow-up. As the
+moments sped by the tension mounted. Arcot stared fixedly into the
+screen before him, keeping the giant space ship in focus. As they sped
+mile upon miles away from it, he began to relax a bit.</p>
+
+<p>Not a word was spoken as they watched and waited. Actually, very
+little time passed before the explosion, but to the watchers the seconds
+dragged endlessly. Then at twenty-seven miles, the screen flared into a
+sheet of blinding white radiance. There was a timeless
+instant&mdash;then a tremendous wave of sound, a roaring, stunning
+concussion smote the ship, shaking it with unrestrained fury&mdash;to
+cease as abruptly as it came.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately they realized the reason. They were
+rushing <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 181]</span>away from the explosion
+faster than the sound it made, hence could not hear it. After the first
+intolerable flash, details became visible. The great ship seemed to leap
+into countless tremendous fragments, each rushing away from the point of
+the blow-up. They did not go far; the force was not sustained long
+enough, nor was it great enough to overcome the inertia of so vast a
+mass for more than moments. Huge masses rained to earth, to bury
+themselves in the soil.</p>
+
+<p>There came a momentary lull. Then suddenly, from the mass which
+evidently held the wrecked engine room, there shot out a beam of intense
+white light that swept around in a wide, erratic arc. Whatever it
+touched fused instantly into a brilliantly glowing mass of liquid
+incandescence. The field itself, fragments of the wreckage, fused and
+mingled under its fury. The beam began to swing, faster and faster, as
+the support that was holding it melted; then abruptly it turned upon
+itself. There came a sudden blast of brilliance to rival that of the
+sun&mdash;and the entire region became a molten lake. Eyes streaming,
+temporarily blinded, the men turned away from the screen.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That,&#8221; said Arcot ruefully, &#8220;is that! It seems that our
+visitors don't want to leave any of their secrets lying around for us to
+investigate. I've an idea that all the other wrecks will go like this
+one did.&#8221; He scowled. &#8220;You know, we really didn't learn much. Guess we'd
+better call the headquarters ship and ask for further instructions. Will
+you attend to it, Lieutenant Greer?&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h4>III</h4>
+
+<p>Swiftly Arcot's sleek cruiser sped toward New York and the Arcot
+Laboratories. They had halted briefly at the headquarters ship of the
+Earth-Venus forces to report on their experience; and alone again, the
+three scientists were on their way home.</p>
+
+<p>With their course set, Arcot spoke to the others. &#8220;Well, fellows,
+what are your opinions on&mdash;what we've seen?
+Wade, <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 182]</span>you're a chemist&mdash;tell us
+what you think of the explosion of the ship, and of the strange color of
+our molecular ray in their air.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Wade shook his head doubtfully. &#8220;I've been trying to figure it out,
+and I can't quite believe my results. Still, I can't see any other
+explanation. That reddish glow looked like hydrogen ions in the air. The
+atmosphere was certainly combustible when it met ours, which makes it
+impossible for me to believe that their air contained any noticeable
+amount of oxygen, for anything above twenty per cent oxygen and the rest
+hydrogen would be violently explosive. Apparently the gas had to mix
+liberally with our air to reach that proportion. That it didn't explode
+when ionized, showed the absence of hydro-oxygen mixture.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All the observed facts except one seem to point to an atmosphere
+composed largely of hydrogen. That one&mdash;there are beings living in
+it! I can understand how the Venerians might adapt to a different
+climate, but I can't see how anything approaching human life can live in
+an atmosphere like that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot nodded. &#8220;I have come to similar conclusions. But I don't see
+too much objection to the thought of beings living in an atmosphere of
+hydrogen. It's all a question of organic chemistry. Remember that our
+bodies are just chemical furnaces. We take in fuel and oxidize it, using
+the heat as our source of power. The invaders live in an atmosphere of
+hydrogen. They eat oxidizing fuels, and breathe a reducing atmosphere;
+they have the two fuel components together again, but in a way different
+from our method. Evidently, it's just as effective. I'm sure that's the
+secret of the whole thing.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sounds fairly logical.&#8221; Wade agreed. &#8220;But now I have a
+question for you. Where under the sun did these beings come from?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot's reply came slowly. &#8220;I've been wondering the same thing. And
+the more I wonder, the less I believe they did come from&mdash;under our
+sun. Let's eliminate all the solar planets&mdash;we can do that at one
+fell swoop. It's perfectly ob<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 183]</span>vious
+that those ships are by no means the first crude attempts of this race
+to fly through space. We're dealing with an advanced technology. If they
+have had those ships even as far away as Pluto, we should certainly have
+heard from them by now.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hence, we've got to go out into interstellar space. You'll probably
+want to ram some of my arguments down my throat&mdash;I know there is no
+star near enough for the journey to be made in anything less than a
+couple of generations by all that's logical; and they'd freeze in the
+interstellar cold doing it. There is no <i>known</i> star close
+enough&mdash;but how about unknowns?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What have they been doing with the star?&#8221; Morey snorted.
+&#8220;Hiding it behind a sun-shade?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot grinned. &#8220;Yes. A shade of old age. You know a sun can't radiate
+forever; eventually they die. And a dead sun would be quite black, I'm
+sure.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And the planets that circle about them are apt to become a wee bit
+cool too, you know.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Agreed,&#8221; said Arcot, &#8220;and we wouldn't be able to do much
+about it. But give these beings credit for a little higher order of
+intelligence. We saw machines in that space ship that certainly are
+beyond us! They are undoubtedly heating their planets with the same
+source of energy with which they are running their ships.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I believe I have confirmation of that statement in two things. They
+are absolutely colorless; they don't even have an opaque white skin. Any
+living creature exposed to the rays of a sun, which is certain to emit
+some chemical rays, is subject to coloration as a protection against
+those rays. The whites, who have always lived where sunlight is weakest,
+have developed a skin only slightly opaque. The Orientals, who live in
+more tropical countries, where less clothes and more sun is the motto,
+have slightly darker skins. In the extreme tropics Nature has found it
+necessary to use a regular blanket of color to stop the rays. Now
+extrapolating the other way, were there no such rays, the people would
+become a pigmentless race. Since most proteins are rather translucent,
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 184]</span>at least when wet, they would appear
+much as these beings do. Remember, there are very few colored proteins.
+Hemoglobin, such as in our blood, and hemocyanin, like that in the blue
+blood of the Venerians, are practically unique in that respect. For
+hydrogen absorption, I imagine the blood of these creatures contains a
+fair proportion of some highly saturated compound, which readily takes
+on the element, and gives it up later.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But we can kick this around some more in the lab.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Before starting for New York, Arcot had convinced the officer in
+charge that it would be wise to destroy the more complete of the
+invaders' ships at once, lest one of them manage to escape. The fact
+that none of them had any rays in operation was easily explained; they
+would have been destroyed by the Patrol if they had made any show of
+weapons. But they might be getting some ready, to be used in possible
+escape attempts. The scientists were through with their preliminary
+investigations. And the dismembered sections would remain for study,
+anyway.</p>
+
+<p>The ships had finally been rayed apart, and when the three had left,
+their burning atmosphere had been sending mighty tongues of flame a mile
+or more into the air. The light gas of the alien atmosphere tended to
+rise in a great globular cloud, a ball that quickly burned itself out.
+It had not taken long for the last of the machines to disintegrate under
+the rays. There would be no more trouble from them, at any rate!</p>
+
+<p>Now Morey asked Arcot if he thought that they had learned all they
+could from the ships; would it not have been wiser to save them, and
+investigate more fully later, taking a chance on stopping any sudden
+attack by surviving marauders by keeping a patrol of Air Guards
+there.</p>
+
+<p>To which Arcot replied, &#8220;I thought quite a bit before I suggested
+their destruction, and I conferred for a few moments with Forsyth, who's
+just about tops in biology and bacteriology. He said that they had by no
+means learned as much as they wished to, but they'd been forced to leave
+in any event. Remember that pure hydrogen, the
+atmo<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 185]</span>sphere we were actually living in
+while on the ship, is quite as inert as pure oxygen&mdash;when alone.
+But the two get very rough when mixed together. The longer those ships
+lay there the more dangerously explosive they became. If we hadn't
+destroyed them, they would have wrecked themselves. I still think we
+followed the only logical course.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dr. Forsyth mentioned the danger of disease. There's a remote
+possibility that we might be susceptible to their germs. I don't believe
+we would be, for our chemical constitution is so vastly different. For
+instance, the Venerians and Terrestrians can visit each other with
+perfect freedom. The Venerians have diseases, and so do we, of course;
+but there are things in the blood of Venerians that are absolutely
+deadly to any Terrestrian organism. We have a similar deadly effect on
+Venerian germs. It isn't immunity&mdash;it's simply that our respective
+constitutions are so different that we don't need immunity. Similarly,
+Forsyth thinks we would be completely resistant to all diseases brought
+by the invaders. However, it's safer to remove the danger, if any,
+first, and check afterward.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The three men sped rapidly back to New York, flying nearly sixty
+miles above the surface of the Earth, where there would be no
+interfering traffic, till at length they were above the big city, and
+dropping swiftly in a vertical traffic lane.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly thereafter they settled lightly in the landing cradle at the
+Arcot Laboratories. Arcot's father, and Morey's, were there, anxiously
+awaiting their return. The elder Arcot had for many years held the
+reputation of being the nation's greatest physicist, but recently he had
+lost it&mdash;to his son. Morey Senior was the president and chief
+stockholder in the Transcontinental Air Lines. The Arcots, father and
+son, had turned all their inventions over to their close friends, the
+Moreys. For many years the success of the great air lines had been
+dependent in large part on the inventions of the Arcots; these new
+discoveries enabled them to keep one step ahead of competition, and as
+they also made the huge transport machines for other
+companies, <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 186]</span>they drew tremendous
+profits from these mechanisms. The mutual interest, which had begun as a
+purely financial relationship, had long since become a close personal
+friendship.</p>
+
+<p>As Arcot stepped from his speedster, he called immediately to his
+father, telling of their find, the light-matter plate.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I'll need a handling machine to move it. I'll be right
+back.&#8221; He ran to the elevator and dropped quickly to the heavy
+machinery lab on the lower floor. In a short time he returned with a
+tractor-like machine equipped with a small derrick, designed to get its
+power from the electric mains. He ran the machine over to the ship. The
+others looked up as they heard the rumble and hum of its powerful motor.
+From the crane dangled a strong electro-magnet.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What's that for?&#8221; asked Wade, pointing to the magnet.
+&#8220;You don't expect this to be magnetic, do you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wait and see!&#8221; laughed Arcot, maneuvering the handling
+machine into position. One of the others made contact with the power
+line, and the crane reached into the ship, lowering the magnet to the
+plate of crystal. Then Arcot turned the power into the lifting motor.
+The hum rose swiftly in volume and pitch till the full load began to
+strain the cables. The motor whined with full power, the cables
+vibrating under the tension. The machine pulled steadily, until, to
+Arcot's surprise, the rear end of the machine rose abruptly from the
+floor, tipping forward.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well&mdash;it <i>was</i> magnetic, but how did you
+know?&#8221; asked the surprised Wade. Since the ship was made of the
+Venerian metal, coronium, which was only slightly magnetic, the plate
+was obviously the magnet's only load.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Never mind. I'll tell you later. Get an I-beam, say about twenty
+feet long, and see if you can't help lift that crazy mass. I think we
+ought to manage it that way.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And so it proved. With two of them straddling the I-beam, the
+leverage was great enough to pull the plate out. Running it over to the
+elevator, they lowered the heavy mass, disconnected the cable, and rode
+down to Arcot's laboratory. <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 187]</span>Again the
+I-beam and handling machine were brought into play, and the plate was
+unloaded from the car. The five men gathered around the amazing souvenir
+from another world.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I'm with Wade in wondering how you knew the plate was magnetic,
+son,&#8221; commented the elder Arcot. &#8220;I can accept your explanation that the
+stuff is a kind of matter made of light, but I know you too well to
+think it was just a lucky guess. How did you know?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It really was pretty much of a guess, Dad, though there was some
+logic behind the thought. You ought to be able to trace down the idea!
+How about you, Morey?&#8221; Arcot smiled at his friend.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I've kept discreetly quiet,&#8221; replied Morey, &#8220;feeling
+that in silence I could not betray my ignorance, but since you ask me, I
+can guess too. I seem to recall that light is affected by a powerful
+magnet, and I can imagine that that was the basis for your guess. It has
+been known for many years, as far back as Clerk Maxwell, that polarized
+light can be rotated by a powerful magnet.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That's it! And now we may as well go over the whole story, and tell
+Dad and your father all that happened. Perhaps in the telling, we can
+straighten out our own ideas a bit.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>For the next hour the three men talked, each telling his story, and
+trying to explain the whys and wherefores of what he had seen. In the
+end all agreed on one point: if they were to fight this enemy, they
+<i>must</i> have ships that could travel though space with speed to
+match that of the invaders, ships with a self-contained source of
+power.</p>
+
+<p>During a brief lull in the conversation, Morey commented rather
+sarcastically: &#8220;I wonder if Arcot will now kindly explain his famous
+invisible light, or the lost star?&#8221; He was a bit nettled by his own
+failure to remember that a star could go black. &#8220;I can't see what
+connection this has with their sudden attack. If they were there, they
+must have developed when the star was bright, and as a star requires
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 188]</span>millions of years to cool down, I
+can't see how they could suddenly appear in space.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Before answering, Arcot reached into a drawer of his desk and pulled
+out an old blackened briar pipe. Methodically he filled it, a thoughtful
+frown on his face; then carefully lighting it, he leaned back, puffing
+out a thin column of gray smoke.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Those creatures must have developed on their planets before the sun
+cooled.&#8221; He puffed slowly. &#8220;They are, then, a race millions of years
+old&mdash;or so I believe. I can't give any scientific reason for this
+feeling; it's merely a hunch. I just have a feeling that the invaders
+are old, older than our very planet! This little globe is just about two
+billion years old. I feel that that race is so very ancient they may
+well have counted the revolutions of our galaxy as, once every twenty or
+thirty million years, it swung about its center.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;When I looked at those great machines, and those comparatively
+little beings as they handled their projectors, they seemed out of
+place. Why?&#8221; He shrugged. &#8220;Again, just a hunch, an impression.&#8221; He
+paused again, and the slow smoke drifted upward.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If I'm granted the premise that a black, dead star is approaching
+the Solar System, then my theorizing may seem more logical. You agree?&#8221;
+The listeners nodded and Arcot continued. &#8220;Well&mdash;I had an
+idea&mdash;and when I went downstairs for the handling machine, I called
+the Lunar Observatory.&#8221; He couldn't quite keep a note of triumph out of
+his voice. &#8220;Gentlemen&mdash;some of the planets have been misbehaving!
+The outermost planets, and even some of those closer to the sun have not
+been moving as they should. A celestial body of appreciable
+mass <i>is</i> approaching the System; though thus far nothing has been
+seen of the visitor!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A hubbub of excited comment followed this startling revelation. Arcot
+quieted them with an upraised hand. &#8220;The only reason you and the world
+at large haven't heard about this as yet is the fact that the
+perturbation of the planets is so very slight that the astronomers
+figured they might <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 189]</span>have made an error
+in calculation. They're rechecking now for mistakes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To get back to my visualization&mdash;It must have been many
+millions of years ago that life developed on the planets of the black
+star, a warm sun then, for it was much younger. It was probably rather
+dim as suns go even its younger days. Remember, our own sun is well
+above average in brilliance and heat radiation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In those long-gone ages I can imagine a race much like ours
+developing, differing chemically, in their atmosphere of hydrogen; but
+the chemical body is not what makes the race, it's the thought process.
+They must have developed, and then as their science grew, their sun
+waned. Dimmer and dimmer it became, until their planets could not
+maintain life naturally. Then they had to heat them artificially. There
+is no question as to their source of power; they had to use the energy
+of matter&mdash;so called atomic energy&mdash;for no other source would
+be great enough to do what had to be done. It is probable that their
+science had developed this long before their great need arose.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With this must also have come the process of transmutation, and the
+process they use in driving their interstellar cruisers. I am sure those
+machines are driven by material energy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But at last their star was black, a closed star, and their cold,
+black planets must circle a hot, black sun forever! They were trapped
+for eternity unless they found a way to escape to some other stellar
+system. They could not travel as fast as light, and they could escape
+only if they found some near-by solar system. Their star was
+dead&mdash;black. Let's call it Nigra&mdash;the Black One&mdash;since
+like every other star it should have a name. Any objection?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was none, so Arcot continued:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now we come to an impossibly rare coincidence. That two suns in
+their motion should approach each other is beyond the point of logic.
+That both suns have a retinue of planets approaches the height of the
+ridiculous. Yet that is what is happening right now. And the
+Nigrans&mdash;if that's <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 190]</span>the correct
+term&mdash;have every intention of taking advantage of the coincidence.
+Since our sun has been visible to them for a long, long time, and the
+approaching proximity of the suns evident, they had lots of time to
+prepare.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I believe this expedition was just an exploratory one; and if they
+can send such huge machines and so many of them, for mere exploration,
+I'm sure they must have quite a fleet to fight with.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We know little about their weapons. They have that death ray, but
+it's not quite as deadly as we might have feared, solely because our
+ships could outmaneuver them. Next time, logically, they'll bring with
+them a fleet of little ships, carried in the bellies of those giants,
+and they'll be a real enemy. We'll have to anticipate their moves and
+build to circumvent them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;As for their ray, I believe I have an idea how it works. You're all
+familiar with the catalytic effects of light. Hydrogen and chlorine will
+stand very peacefully in the same jar for a long time, but let a strong
+light fall on them, and they combine with terrific violence. This is the
+catalytic effect of a vibration, a wave motion. Then there is such a
+thing as negative catalysis. In a certain reaction, if a third element
+or compound is introduced, all reaction is stopped. I believe that's the
+principle of the Nigran death ray; it's a catalyst that simply stops the
+chemical reactions of a living body, and these are so delicately
+balanced that the least resistance will upset them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot halted, and sat puffing furiously for a moment. During his
+discourse the pipe had died to an ember; with vigorous puffing he tried
+to restore it. At last he had it going and continued.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What other weapons they have we cannot say. The secret of
+invisibility must be very old to them. But we'll guard against the
+possibility by equipping our ships against it. The only reason the
+patrol ships aren't equipped already is that invisibility is useless
+with modern criminals; they all know the secret and how to fight
+it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Morey interrupted with a question.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 191]</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Arcot, it's obvious that we have to get out into space to meet the
+enemy&mdash;and we'll have to have freedom of movement there. How are we
+going to do it? I was wondering if we could use Wade's system of storing
+the atomic hydrogen in solution. That yields about 100,000 calories for
+every two grams, and since this is a method of storing heat energy, and
+your molecular motion director is a method of converting heat into
+mechanical work with 100 per cent efficiency, why not use that? All we
+need, really, is a method of storing heat energy for use while we're in
+space.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot exhaled slowly before answering, watching the column of smoke
+vanish into the air.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I thought of that, and I've been trying to think of other, and if
+possible, better, cheaper, and quicker ways of getting the necessary
+power.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let's eliminate the known sources one by one. The usual ones, the
+ones men have been using for centuries, go out at once. The atomic
+hydrogen reaction stores more energy per gram than any other chemical
+reaction known. Such things as the storage battery, the electro-static
+condenser, the induction coil, or plain heat storage, are worthless to
+us. The only other method of storing energy we know of is the method
+used by the Kaxorians in driving their huge planes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They use condensed light-energy. This is efficient to the ultimate
+maximum, something no other method can hope to attain. Yet they need
+huge reservoirs to store it. The result is still ineffective for our
+purpose; we want something we can put in a small space; we want to
+condense the light still further. That will be the ideal form of energy
+storage, for then we will be able to release it directly as a heat ray,
+and so use it with utmost efficiency. I think we can absorb the released
+energy in the usual cavity radiator.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A queer little smile appeared on Arcot's face. &#8220;Remember&mdash;what
+we want is light in a more condensed form, a form that is naturally
+stable, and that does not need to be held in a bound state, but actually
+requires urging to bring about the release of energy. For
+example&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 192]</span></p>
+
+<p>A shout from Wade interrupted him. &#8220;That's really
+rare! <i>Whoo</i>&mdash;I have to hand it to you! That takes all the
+prizes!&#8221; He laughed delightedly. In puzzled wonder Morey and the two
+older men looked at him, and at Arcot who was grinning broadly now.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, I suppose it must be funny,&#8221; Morey began, then
+hesitated. &#8220;Oh&mdash;I see&mdash;say, that <i>is</i> good!&#8221;
+He turned to his father. &#8220;I see now what he's been driving at. It's been
+right here under our noses all the time.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The light-matter windows we found in the wrecked enemy ships contain
+enough bound light-energy to run all the planes we could make in the
+next ten years! We're going to have the enemy supply us with power we
+can't get in any other way. I can't decide, Arcot, whether you deserve a
+prize for ingenuity, or whether we should receive booby-prizes for our
+stupidity.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot Senior smiled at first, then looked dubiously at his son.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There's definitely plenty of the right kind of energy stored
+there&mdash;but as you suggested, the energy will need encouragement to
+break free. Any ideas?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A couple. I don't know how they'll work, of course; but we can
+try.&#8221; Arcot puffed at his pipe, serious now as he thought of the
+problems ahead.</p>
+
+<p>Wade interposed a question. &#8220;How do you suppose they condense that
+light energy in the first place, and, their sun being dead, whence all
+the light? Back to the atom, I suppose.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You know as much as I do, of course, but I'm sure they must break up
+matter for its energy. As for the condensation problem, I think I have a
+possible solution of that too&mdash;it's the key to the problem of
+release. There's a lot we don't know now&mdash;but we'll have a bigger
+store of knowledge before this war is over&mdash;if we have anything at
+all!&#8221; he added grimly. &#8220;It's possible that man may lose knowledge, life,
+his planets and sun&mdash;but there's still plenty of hope. We're not
+finished yet.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How do you think they got their energy loose?&#8221; asked
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 193]</span>Wade. &#8220;Do you think those big
+blocks of what appeared to be silver were involved in the energy
+release?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I do. Those blocks were probably designed to carry away the
+power once it was released. How the release was accomplished, though, I
+don't know. They couldn't use material apparatus to start their release
+of material energy; the material of the apparatus might 'catch fire'
+too. They had to have the disintegrating matter held apart from all
+other matter. This was quite impossible, if you are going to get the
+energy away by any method other than by the use of fields of force. I
+don't think that is the method. My guess is that a terrific current of
+electricity would accomplish it if anything would.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How then are we going to get the current to it? The wires will be
+subject to the same currents. Whatever they do to the matter involved,
+the currents will do to the apparatus&mdash;except in one case. If that
+apparatus is made of <i>some other kind of matter</i>, then it wouldn't
+be affected. The solution is obvious. Use some of the light-matter. What
+will destroy light-matter, won't destroy electricity-matter, and what
+will destroy electricity-matter, won't disturb light-matter.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you remember the platform of light-metal, clear as crystal? It
+must have been an insulating platform. What we started as our
+assumptions in the case of the light-metal, we can now carry further. We
+said that electricity-metals carried electricity, so light-metals would
+carry or conduct light. Now we know that there is no substance which is
+transparent to light, that will carry electricity by metallic
+conduction. I mean, of course, that there is no substance transparent to
+light, and at the same time capable of carrying electricity by
+electronic transmission. True, we have things like NaCl solutions in
+ordinary H<sub>2</sub>O which will carry electricity, but here it's
+ionic conduction. Even glass will carry electricity very well when hot;
+when red hot, glass will carry enough electricity to melt it very
+quickly. But again, glass is not a solid, but a viscous liquid, and it
+is again carried by ionic conduction. Iron, copper, sodium, silver,
+lead&mdash;all metals carry <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 194]</span>the
+current by means of electron drift through the solid material. In such
+cases we can see that no transparent substance conducts electricity.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Similarly, the reverse is true. No substance capable of carrying
+electricity by metallic conduction is transparent. All are opaque, if in
+any thickness. Of course, gold is transparent when in leaf
+form&mdash;but when it's that thin it won't conduct very much! The
+peculiar condition we reach in the case of the invisible ship is
+different. There the effects are brought about by the high frequency
+impressed. But you get my point.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you remember those wires that we saw leading to that little box
+of the reflecting material? So perfectly reflecting it was that we
+didn't see it. We only saw where it must be; we saw the light it
+reflected. That was no doubt light-matter, a non-metal, and as such,
+non-conductive to light. Like sulphur, an electric non-metal, it
+reflected the base of which it was formed. Sulphur reflects the base of
+which it was formed. Sulphur reflects electricity and&mdash;in the
+crystalline form&mdash;passes light. This light-non-metal did the same
+sort of thing; it reflected light and passed electricity. It was a
+conductor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now we have the things we need, the matter to disintegrate, and the
+matter to hold the disintegrating material in. We have two different
+types of matter. The rest is obvious&mdash;but decidedly not easy. They
+have done it, though; and after the war is over, there should be many of
+their machines drifting about in space waiting to give up their
+secrets.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot Senior clapped his son on the back. &#8220;A fair foundation on which
+to start, anyway. But I think it's time now that you got working on your
+problem; and since I'm officially retired, I'm going downstairs. You
+know I'm working in my lab on a method to increase the range and power
+of your projector for the molecular motion field. Young Norris is
+helping me, and he really has ideas. I'll show you our math later.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 195]</span></p>
+
+<p>The party broke up, the three younger men staying in their own labs,
+the older men leaving.</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h4>IV</h4>
+
+<p>The three immediately set to work. At Arcot's suggestion, Wade and
+Morey attacked the plate of crystal in an attempt to tear off a small
+piece, on which they might work. Arcot himself went into the
+televisophone room and put through a second call to the Tychos
+Observatory, the great observatory that had so recently been established
+on the frigid surface of the Moon. The huge mirror, twenty feet in
+diameter, allowed an immense magnification, and stellar observations
+were greatly facilitated, for no one bothered them, and the
+&#8220;seeing&#8221; was always perfect.</p>
+
+<p>However, the great distance was rather a handicap to the ordinary
+televisophone stations, and all calls put through to the astronomers had
+to be made through the powerful sending station in St. Louis, where all
+interplanetary messages were sent and received, while that side of the
+Earth was facing the station; and from Constantinople, when that city
+faced the satellite. These stations could bridge the distance readily
+and clearly.</p>
+
+<p>For several minutes Arcot waited while connections were being made
+with the Moon; then for many more minutes he talked earnestly with the
+observer in this distant station, and at last satisfied, he hung up.</p>
+
+<p>He had outlined his ideas concerning the black star, based upon the
+perturbation of the planets; then he had asked them to investigate the
+possibilities, and see if they could find any blotting out of stars by a
+lightless mass.</p>
+
+<p>Finally he returned to Morey and Wade who had been working on the
+crystal plate. Wade had an expression of exasperation on his face, and
+Morey was grinning broadly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hello, Arcot&mdash;you missed all the fun! You should have seen
+Wade's struggle with that plate!&#8221; The plate, during his absence, had
+been twisted and bent, showing that it had <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+196]</span>undergone some terrific stresses. Now Wade began to make a
+series of highly forceful comments about the properties of the plate in
+language that was not exactly scientific. It had value, though, in that
+it seemed to relieve his pent-up wrath.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, Wade, you don't seem to like that stuff. Maybe the difficulty
+lies in your treatment, rather than in the material itself. What have
+you tried?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Everything! I took a coronium hack saw that will eat through
+molybdenum steel like so much cheese, and it just wore its teeth off. I
+tried some of those diamond rotary saws you have, attached to an
+electric motor, and it wore out the diamonds. That got my goat, so I
+tried using a little force. I put it in the tension testing machine, and
+clamped it&mdash;the clamp was good for 10,000,000 pounds&mdash;but it
+began to bend, so I had to quit. Then Morey held it with a molecular
+beam, and I tried twisting it. Believe me, it gave me real pleasure to
+see that thing yield under the pressure. But it's not brittle; it merely
+bends.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And I can't cut it, or even get some shavings off the darned thing.
+You said you wanted to make a Jolly balance determination of the
+specific gravity, but the stuff is so dense you'd need only a tiny
+scrap&mdash;and I can't break it loose!&#8221; Wade looked at the plate in
+thorough disgust.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot smiled sympathetically; he could understand his feelings, for
+the stuff certainly was stubborn. &#8220;I'm sorry I didn't warn you fellows
+about what you'd run into, but I was so anxious to get that call through
+to the Moon that I forgot to tell you how I expected to make it
+workable. Now, Wade, if you'll get another of those diamond-tooth rotary
+saws, I'll get something that may help. Put the saw on the air motor.
+Use the one made of coronium.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Wade looked after the rapidly disappearing Arcot with raised
+eyebrows, then, scratching his head, he turned and did as Arcot had
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot returned in about five minutes with a small handling machine,
+and a huge magnet. It must have weighed nearly half a ton. This he
+quickly connected to the heavy duty power lines of the lab. Now, running
+the handling ma<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 197]</span>chine into position,
+he quickly hoisted the bent and twisted plate to the poles of the
+magnet, with the aid of the derrick. Then backing the handling machine
+out of the way, he returned briskly to his waiting associates.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now we'll see what we will see!&#8221; With a confident smile
+Arcot switched on the current of the big magnet. At once a terrific
+magnetic flux was set up through the light-metal. He took the little
+compressed-air saw, and applied it to the crystal plate. The smooth hiss
+of the air deepened to a harsh whine as the load came on it, then the
+saw made contact with the refractory plate.</p>
+
+<p>Unbelievingly Wade saw the little diamond-edge saw bite its way
+slowly but steadily into the plate. In a moment it had cut off a little
+corner of the light-matter, and this fell with a heavy thud to the
+magnet pole, drawn down by the attraction of the magnet and by
+gravity.</p>
+
+<p>Shutting off the magnet, Arcot picked up a pair of pliers and gripped
+the little fragment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Whew&mdash;light-metal certainly isn't light metal! I'll bet this
+little scrap weights ten pounds! We'll have to reduce it considerably
+before we can use it. But that shouldn't be too difficult.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>By using the magnet and several large diamond faceplates they were
+able to work the tough material down to a thin sheet; then with a heavy
+press, they cut some very small fragments, and with these, determined
+the specific gravity.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Arcot,&#8221; Wade asked finally, &#8220;just how does the magnet
+make that stuff tractable? I'm not physicist enough to figure out what
+takes place inside the material.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Magnetism worked as it did,&#8221; Arcot explained, &#8220;because
+in this light-matter every photon is affected by the magnetism, and
+every photon is given a new motion. That stuff can be made to go with
+the speed of light, you know. It's the only solid that could be so
+affected. This stuff should be able, with the aid of a molecular motion
+beam, which will make all the photons move in parallel paths, to move at
+the full speed of each photon&mdash;186,000 miles a second. The
+<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 198]</span>tremendous speed of these individual
+photons is what makes the material so hard. Their kinetic impulse is
+rather considerable! It's the kinetic blow that the molecules of a metal
+give that keeps other metal from penetrating it. This simply gives such
+powerful impulse that even diamonds wouldn't cut it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You know that an iron saw will cut platinum readily, yet if both are
+heated to say, 1600 degrees, the iron is a liquid, and the platinum very
+soft&mdash;but now the platinum cuts through the iron!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Heat probably won't have any effect on this stuff, but the action of
+the magnet on the individual photons corresponds to the effect of the
+heat on the individual atoms and molecules. The mass is softened, and we
+can work it. At least, that's the way I figure it out.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But now, Wade, I wish you'd see if you can determine the density of
+the stuff. You're more used to those determinations and that type of
+manipulation than we are. When you get through, we may be able to show
+you some interesting results ourselves!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Wade picked up a tiny chip of the light-metal and headed for his own
+laboratory. Here he set up his Jolly balance, and began to work on the
+fragment. His results were so amazing that he checked and rechecked his
+work, but always with the same answer. Finally he returned to the main
+lab where Arcot and Morey were busy at the construction of a large and
+complicated electro-static apparatus.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What did you find?&#8221; called out Arcot, as he saw Wade
+reenter the room. &#8220;Hold your report a second and give us a hand here,
+will you? I have a laboratory scale apparatus of the type the Kaxorians
+used in the storage of light. They've known, ever since they began
+working with them, that their machines would release the energy with
+more than normal violence, if certain changes were made in them. That
+is, the light condenser, the device that stored the photons so close to
+each other, would also serve to urge them apart. I've made the necessary
+changes, and now I'm trying to set up the apparatus to work on solid
+light-mat<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 199]</span>ter. It was developed for
+gaseous material, and it's a rather tricky thing to change it over. But
+I think we've almost got it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wade, will you connect that to the high frequency oscillator
+there&mdash;no&mdash;through that counterbalanced condenser. We may have
+to change the oscillator frequency quite a bit, but a variable condenser
+will do that.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, what results did you get?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Wade shook his head doubtfully. &#8220;We all know it's amazing
+stuff&mdash;and of course, it must be heavy&mdash;but still&mdash;well,
+anyway, I got a density of 103.5!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Whewww&mdash;103.5! Lord! That's almost five times as heavy as the
+heaviest metal hitherto known. There's about half a cubic foot of the
+material; that would mean about 4000 pounds for the whole mass, or two
+tons. No wonder we couldn't lift the plate!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They stopped their work on the Kaxorian apparatus to discuss the
+amazing results of the density test, but now they fell to again, rapidly
+assembling the device, for each was a trained experimenter. With all but
+the final details completed, Arcot stood back and surveyed their
+handiwork.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think we'll have enough urge to cause disintegration right
+here,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but I want to make sure, and so, before we set up
+the case over it, I think we may as well put that big magnet in place,
+and have it there to help in the work of disintegration, if need
+be.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At last the complete apparatus was set up, and the tiny bit of
+light-matter they were to work on was placed on the table of a powerful
+Atchinson projector microscope, the field of view being in the exact
+center of the field of both the magnet and the coil. Carefully, then,
+step by step, Arcot, Morey and Wade went over their work, checking and
+rechecking.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, we're ready,&#8221; said Arcot finally, as he placed the
+projector screen in position and dimmed the lights in the room. A touch
+of the switch, and the projection screen was illuminated with the
+greatly enlarged image of the tiny scrap of light-metal.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 200]</span></p>
+
+<p>With his hand on the switch, Arcot spoke to the other two. &#8220;I won't
+say there's <i>no</i> danger, since we haven't done this before; and if
+all the energy should be released at once, it'll blow the top out of the
+building. But I'm reasonably sure that it will work safely. Any
+objections?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Wade shook his head, and Morey said: &#8220;I can't see any flaws in our
+work.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot nodded, and unconsciously tensing, he closed the switch. This
+put the powerful Arcot oscillator tubes into action, and the power was
+ready for application.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly he closed the rheostat and put the power into the coil. The
+little sliver of metal on the slide seemed to throb a bit, and its
+outline grew hazy; but at last, with full power on, the release was so
+slow as to be imperceptible.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Guess we need the magnet after all; I'll put it on this
+time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He opened the coil circuit and closed the magnet circuit at half
+voltage, then again he increased the current through the rheostat. This
+time the plate throbbed quite violently, it took the appearance of a bit
+of iodine. Dense vapors began pouring from it, and instantly those
+vapors became a blindingly brilliant flood of light. Arcot had snapped
+open the switch the moment he saw this display start, and it had had
+little time to act, for the instant the circuit was opened, it subsided.
+But even in that brief time, the light aluminum screen had suddenly
+become limp and slumped down, molten! The room was unbearably hot, and
+the men were half blinded by the intensity of the light.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It works!&#8221; yelled Wade. &#8220;It works! That sure was hot,
+too&mdash;it's roasting in here.&#8221; He flung open a window. &#8220;Let's have
+some air.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Arcot and Morey gripped hands with a broad grin. That display meant
+that Earth and Venus would have space ships with which to fight space
+ships. Reason enough for their joy.</p>
+
+<p>Though they had made an unusual amount of progress already, there was
+still a great deal of development work to be done. Fuller was needed,
+Arcot decided, so he called <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 201]</span>the elder
+Morey and requested his services if he could be spared from his present
+work. He could, and would arrive later that day.</p>
+
+<p>When Fuller appeared about mid-afternoon, he found the three friends
+already at work on the development of a more compact apparatus than the
+makeshift hookup used in making that first release mechanism.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And so you can see,&#8221; said Arcot as he finished his
+summary of their work to that point, &#8220;we still have quite a job ahead of
+us. I'm now trying to find some data for you to work on, but I can tell
+you this: We'll need a ship that has plenty of strength and plenty of
+speed. There will be the usual power plant, of course; the generators,
+the power-tube board, and the electro-magnetic relays for the regular
+molecular motion controls. Then, in addition, we must have controls for
+the ray projector, though that must wait a while, for Dad is working on
+a method of doubling our range.... Oh yes, the driving units will be
+inside the ship now, for all our power will come from the energy of the
+light-matter.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They spent the next hour in discussing the manifold details involved
+in the design of their space ship: the mechanism involved in
+transferring the light-energy to the drivers; a means of warming the
+ship in interstellar space; a main horizontal drive for forward and
+backward motion as well as braking; three smaller vertical power units
+to give them freedom of direction in climb or descent; other smaller
+horizontal power units for turning and moving sideways.</p>
+
+<p>The ships, they decided, must be capable of six or seven thousand
+miles a second. They would need three types of ships: a small single-man
+speedster, without bunk or living quarters, simply a little power plant
+and weapon. Designed for speed and mobility, it would be very hard to
+hit, and because of its own offensive power would be dangerous to the
+enemy. They would need a fleet of mother ships&mdash;ships that would
+hold both the speedsters and their pilots&mdash;say thirty to a cruiser.
+There would also be some ten-man scouts, operating in the same manner as
+the larger cruisers, but with a smaller fleet of speedsters dependent on
+them.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 202]</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For defense,&#8221; Arcot concluded, &#8220;we'll have to depend on
+armor as heavy as we can make and still remain within the bounds of
+practical construction. I don't believe we'll be able to build up enough
+mass to insulate against their negative catalysis ray. We'll have to
+depend on mobility and offense.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But now let's get back to work. I think, Fuller, that you might call
+in the engineers of all the big aircraft and machine tool manufacturers
+and fabricators, and have them ready to start work at once when the
+plans are finally drawn up. You'd better get in touch with the Venerian
+producers, too. Those new works in Sorthol, Kaxor, will certainly be
+able to help a lot.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I suppose the Interplanetary Patrol men will have something to say,
+so they better be called in. Likewise the Venerian Council. Morey, maybe
+your dad can handle some of this.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>As one they arose and set to work on their respective tasks&mdash;the
+planning and building of the Earth-Venus war fleet.</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h4>V</h4>
+
+<p>Despite their utmost endeavor and the hard work of the industrial
+might of two worlds, it was nearly six weeks before the fleet had grown
+to a thing of importance. The tests to which they subjected the tiny
+speedsters had been more than satisfactory. They behaved wonderfully,
+shooting about at terrific speed, and with all the acceleration a pilot
+could stand. These speedsters were literally piloted projectiles, and
+their amazing mobility made them a powerful arm of offense.</p>
+
+<p>There came into being a special corp dubbed, oddly enough, the
+&#8220;Rocket Squad&#8221;, a group of men who could stand plenty of
+&#8220;G's&#8221;. This &#8220;Rocket Squad&#8221; was composed solely
+of Terrestrians, for they were accustomed to the gravity of Earth and
+could stand greater acceleration strains <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+203]</span>than could the Venerians. The pick of the Air Patrol formed the
+nucleus of this new military organization; and in short order, so great
+is the appeal of the new and novel, the cream of the young men of the
+planet were competing for a place among the Rocketeers.</p>
+
+<p>Each ship, both speedster and mother craft, was equipped with an
+invisibility locator, a sensitive short-wave directional receiver, that
+would permit the operator to direct his rays at invisible targets. The
+ships themselves could not be made invisible, since they depended in
+their very principle on the absorption of light-energy. If the walls of
+every part of the ship were perfectly transparent, they could absorb no
+energy at all, and they would still be plainly visible&mdash;even more
+so than before! They must remain visible, but they could also force the
+enemy to remain visible.</p>
+
+<p>Each ten-man ship carried an old-fashioned cannon that was equipped
+to hurl cannisters carrying the luminous paint. They decided that these
+would have advantages, even if the invaders did not use invisibility,
+for in space a ship is visible only because it reflects or emits light.
+For this reason the ships were not equipped with any portholes except in
+the pilot room and at the observation posts. No light could escape. To
+reduce the reflection to the absolute minimum, the ships had each been
+painted with a 99% absorptive black. In space they would be exceedingly
+difficult targets.</p>
+
+<p>The heating effect of the sun on the black pigment when near the
+great star was rather disagreeably intense, and to cool the speedsters
+they had installed molecular director power units, which absorbed the
+heat and used the energy to drive the ship. Heaters offset the radiation
+loss of the black surface when too far from the sun.</p>
+
+<p>Each of the speedsters was equipped with a small machine-gun shooting
+luminous paint bullets. One of these, landing on another craft, made it
+visible for at least two hours, and since they could cover an area of
+about thirty feet, they were decidedly effective.</p>
+
+<p>It was found that ray practice was rather complicated. The government
+had ranges set up in great mountain dis<span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+204]</span>tricts away from any valuable property, but they soon found that
+spatial warplay could not be carried on on Earth. The rays very quickly
+demolished the targets, and in a short time made good progress toward
+demolishing the mountains as well. The problem was solved by using the
+barren surface of the moon and the asteroid belt beyond Mars as a
+proving ground.</p>
+
+<p>The ships were sent out in squadrons as fast as they could be
+finished and the men could be brought together and trained. They were
+establishing a great shield of ships across all that section of the
+system whence the Nigrans had appeared, and they hoped to intercept the
+next attack before it reached Earth, for they were certain the next
+attack would be in full force.</p>
+
+<p>Arcot had gone to the conference held on Venus with the other men who
+had investigated the great wrecks, and each scientist had related his
+view of things and had offered suggestions. Arcot's idea of the black
+star was not very favorably received. As he later told Wade and Morey,
+who had not gone, there was good reason for their objection to his idea.
+Though the scientists were willing to admit that the invaders must have
+come from a great distance, and they agreed that they lived in an
+atmosphere of hydrogen, and judging from their pale skins, that they
+were not used to the rays of a sun, they still insisted on the theory of
+an outer planet of Sol.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You remember,&#8221; explained Arcot, &#8220;several years ago there
+was considerable discussion about the existence of a planet still
+further out from the sun than Pluto. It is well known that there are a
+number of irregularities in the orbits of Neptune and Pluto that can't
+be caused by known planets, and an outer planet could have the necessary
+mass and orbit to account for them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This attack from outer space was immediately taken as proof of that
+theory, and it was very easily supported, too. My one good point that
+stood for any length of time under their attacks was the fact that those
+ships weren't developed in a year, nor a century, and that the chemical
+constitution <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 205]</span>of the men was so
+different. There were no new elements discovered, except the
+light-matter, but they are rather wondering about the great difference
+of earthly chemical constitution and the constitution of these
+invaders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They had one argument that was just about enough to throw mine out,
+though they pointed to the odds against the thing happening. You know,
+of course, how planets are formed? They are the results of tidal action
+on two passing suns.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You can imagine two mighty stars careening through space and then
+drawing slowly nearer, till at last they come within a few billion miles
+of each other, and their gigantic masses reach out and bind them with a
+mighty chain of gravity. Their titanic masses swing about each other,
+each trying to pull free, and continue its path about the center of the
+galactic system. But as their huge bulks come nearer, the chains that
+bind them become stronger and stronger, and the tremendous pull of the
+one gargantuan fire ball on the other raises titanic tides of flame.
+Great streamers of gas shoot out, and all the space about is lighted by
+the flaming suns. The pull of gravity becomes more and more intense, and
+as the one circles the other, the tide is pulled up, and the mighty ball
+of fire, which, for all its existence has been practically motionless as
+far as rotation goes, begins to acquire a greater and greater rotational
+speed as the tidal drag urges it on. The flames begin to reach higher
+and higher, and the tides, now urged from the sun by centrifugal force,
+rise into an ever greater crest, and as the swinging suns struggle to
+break loose, the flaming gas is pulled up and up, and becomes a mighty
+column of fire, a column that reaches out across
+three&mdash;four&mdash;a dozen millions of miles of space and joins the
+two stars at last, as stalactites and stalagmites grow together. A
+flaming tie of matter joins them, two titanic suns, and a mighty rope of
+fire binds them, while far mightier chains of gravity hold them
+together.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But now their original velocity reasserts itself, and having
+spiraled about each other for who can say how
+long<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 206]</span>&mdash;a year&mdash;a million
+years seems more probable&mdash;but still only an instant in the life of
+a star&mdash;they begin to draw apart, and the flaming column is
+stretched out, and ever thinner it grows, and the two stars at last
+separate. But now the gas will never fall back into the sun. Like some
+giant flaming cigar it reaches out into space and it will stay thus, for
+it has been set in rotation about the sun at such a speed as is needed
+to form an orbit. The giant mass of gas is, however, too cool to
+continue to develop energy from matter, for it was only the surface of
+the sun, and cool. As it cools still further, there appear in it
+definite condensations, and the beginnings of the planets are there. The
+great filament that stretched from the sun to sun was cigar-shaped, and
+so the matter is more plentiful toward the center, and larger planets
+develop. Thus Jupiter and Saturn are far larger than any of the others.
+The two ends are tapering, thus Earth is larger than Venus, which is
+larger than Mercury, and Uranus and Neptune are both smaller than
+Saturn, Pluto being smaller than either.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mars and the asteroids are hard to explain. Perhaps it is easier to
+understand when we remember that the planets thus formed must
+necessarily have been rotating in eccentric orbits when they were first
+born, and these planets came too near the sun while gaseous, or nearly
+so, and Mars lost much of its matter, while the other, which now exists
+only as the asteroids, broke up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But now that other flaming star has retired, wandering on through
+space. The star has left its traces, for behind it there are planets
+where none existed before. But remember that it, too, must have planets
+now.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All this happened some 2,000 million years ago.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But in order that it might happen, it requires that two stars pass
+within the relatively short distance of a few billion miles of each
+other. Space is not overcrowded with matter, you know. The density of
+the stars has been compared with twenty tennis balls roaming about
+8,000-mile sphere that the Earth fills up&mdash;twenty tennis balls in
+some 270 billion cubic miles of space. Now imagine two of
+those <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 207]</span>tennis balls&mdash;with plenty
+of room to wander in&mdash;passing within a few yards of each other. The
+chances are about as good as the chances of two stars passing close
+enough to make planets.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now let us consider another possibility.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The Black Star, as I told you, has planets. That means that it must
+have thus passed close to another star. Now we have it coming close to
+another sun that has been similarly afflicted. The chances of that
+happening are inconceivably small. It is one chance in billions that the
+planets will form. Two stars must pass close to each other, when they
+have all space to wander about in. Then those afflicted stars separate,
+and one of them passes close by a new star, which has thus been
+similarly afflicted with that one chance in billions&mdash;well, that is
+then a chance in billions of billions.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So my theory was called impossible. I don't know but what it is.
+Besides, I thought of an argument the other men didn't throw at me. I'm
+surprised they didn't, too&mdash;the explanation of the strange chemical
+constitution of these men of a solar system planet would not be so
+impossible. It is quite possible that they live on a planet revolving
+about the sun which is, nevertheless, a planet of another star. It is
+quite conceivable to me that the chemical constitution of Neptune and
+Pluto will be found to be quite different from that of the rest of our
+planets. The two filaments drawn out from the suns may not have mingled,
+though I think they did, but it is quite conceivable that, just before
+parting, our sun tore one planet, or even two or three, from the other
+star.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And that would explain these strange beings.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My other ideas were accepted. The agreed-on plan for the release of
+energy, and the source of the power.&#8221; Arcot puffed on his pipe
+meditatively for several moments, then stood up and stretched.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ho&mdash;I wish they'd let me go on active duty with the space
+fleet! A scientific reputation can be an awful handicap at times,&#8221; he
+grinned. He had been rejected very emp<span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+208]</span>hatically when he had tried to enlist. The Interplanetary
+governments had stated flatly that he was too important as a scientist
+to be risked as a pilot of a space ship.</p>
+
+<p>On two worlds the great construction plants were humming with
+activity. Civilian production of all but the barest essentials had been
+put aside for the duration of the emergency. Space ships were being
+turned out at top speed, getting their fuel from the wrecks of the
+invaders' cruisers. Each ship needed only a small amount of the
+light-metal, for the energy content was tremendous. And those ships had
+been gigantic.</p>
+
+<p>Already there was a fleet of speedsters and mother ships out there in
+space, and with every passing hour others left the home planets, always
+adding to the fighting force that was to engage the attackers deep in
+space, where no stray ships might filter through to destroy the cities
+of Earth or Venus. Assembly lines were now turning out ships so rapidly
+that the training of their operators was the most serious problem. This
+difficulty had finally been overcome by a very abbreviated training
+course in the actual manipulation of the controls on the home planets,
+and subsequent training as the squadrons raced on their outward
+courses.</p>
+
+<p>It was soon decided that there must be another service beside that of
+the ordinary ships. One plant was devoted to making huge interstellar
+liners. These giants, made on Venus, were nearly a quarter of a mile
+long, and though diminutive in comparison with the giant Nigran ships,
+they were still decidedly large. Twelve of these could be completed
+within the next month, it was found; and one was immediately set aside
+as an officers' headquarters ship. It was recognized that the officers
+must be within a few hundred thousand miles of the actual engagements,
+for decisions would have to be made without too much loss of time in the
+transmission of reports.</p>
+
+<p>The ship must not be brought too near the front lest the officers be
+endangered and the entire engagement lost for want of the organizing
+central headquarters. The final solution had been the huge central
+control ship.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 209]</span></p>
+
+<p>The other large vessels were to be used to carry food and supplies.
+They were not to enter the engagement, for their huge size would make
+them as vulnerable to the tiny darting mites of space as the Nigran
+ships had been to the Interplanetary Patrol. The little ships could not
+conveniently stock for more than a week of engagement, then drop back to
+these warehouses of space, and go forward again for action.</p>
+
+<p>Throughout the long wait the officers of the Solarian forces
+organized their forces to the limit of their ability, planning each move
+of their attack. Space had been marked off into a great
+three-dimensional map, and each ship carried a small replica, the
+planets moving as they did in their orbits. The space between the
+planets was divided off into definite points in a series of Cartesian
+co-ordinates, the sun being the origin, and the plane of the elliptic
+being the X-Y plane.</p>
+
+<p>The OX line was taken pointing toward one of the brightest of the
+fixed stars that was in the plane of the elliptic. The entire solar
+system was thus marked off as had been the planets long ages before,
+into a system of three dimensional latitude and longitude. This was
+imperative, in order to assure the easy location of the point of first
+attack, and to permit the entire fleet to come into position there. A
+scattered guard was to remain free, to avoid any false attacks and a
+later attack from a point millions of miles distant. Earth and Venus
+were each equipped with gigantic ray projectors, mighty weapons that
+could destroy anything, even a body as large as the Moon, at a distance
+of ten thousand miles. Still, a ship might get through, and with the
+death ray&mdash;what fearful toll might be exacted from a vast city such
+as Chicago&mdash;with its thirty millions! Or Karos, on Venus, with its
+fifteen and one half millions!</p>
+
+<p>The tension became greater and greater as with each passing day the
+populace of two worlds awaited the call from the far-flung guard. The
+main bulk of the fleet had been concentrated in the center of their
+great spherical shell of ships. They could only wait&mdash;and
+watch&mdash;and prepare! Hundreds of miles apart, yet near enough so
+that no ship <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 210]</span>except perhaps a one-man
+craft could pass them undetected; and behind them were ships with
+delicate apparatus that could detect any foreign body of any size
+whatever within a hundred thousand miles of them.</p>
+
+<p>The Solar System was prepared to repel boarders from the vast sea of
+space!</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h4>VI</h4>
+
+<p>Taj Lamor gazed down at the tremendous field below him. In it lay
+close packed a great mass of ships, a concourse of Titans of Space,
+dreadnoughts that were soon to set out to win&mdash;not a nation, not
+even a world, but to conquer a solar system, and to win for their owners
+a vast new sun, a sun that would light them and heat them for long ages
+to come.</p>
+
+<p>Momentarily Taj Lamor's gaze followed the retreating figure of Tordos
+Gar, the Elder; a figure with stooped shoulders and bowed head. His
+quiet yet vibrant parting words still resounded in his ears:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Taj Lamor, remember what I tell you. If you win this awful
+war&mdash;you lose. As will our race. Only if you lose will you
+win.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With a frown Taj Lamor stared down at the vast metal hulls glistening
+softly in the dull light of far-off stars, the single brightly beaming
+star that was their goal, and the dim artificial lighting system. From
+the distance came to him the tapping and humming of the working machines
+below as they strove to put the finishing touches to the great
+ships.</p>
+
+<p>He raised his eyes toward the far-off horizon, where a great yellow
+star flamed brilliantly against the black velvet of space. He thought of
+that planet where the sky had been blue&mdash;an atmosphere of such
+intensity that it colored the sky!</p>
+
+<p>Thoughtfully he gazed at the flaming yellow point.</p>
+
+<p>He had much to consider now. They had met a
+new <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 211]</span>race, barbarians in some ways,
+yet they had not forgotten the lessons they had learned; they were not
+decadent. Between his eon-old people and their new home stood these
+strange beings, a race so young that its age could readily be counted in
+millennia, but withal a strong, intelligent form of life. And to a race
+that had not known war for so many untold ages, it was an unthinkable
+thing that they must kill other living, intelligent beings in order that
+they might live.</p>
+
+<p>They had no need of moving, Tordos Gar and many others had argued;
+they could stay where they were forever, and never find any need for
+leaving their planet. This was the voice of decadence, Taj Lamor told
+himself; and he had grown to hate that voice.</p>
+
+<p>There were other men, men who had gone to that other solar system,
+men who had seen vast oceans of sparkling water, showering from their
+ruffled surfaces the brilliant light of a great, hot sun. They had seen
+towering masses of mountains that reached high into the blue sky of a
+natural atmosphere, their mighty flanks clothed with green growth;
+natural plants in abundance.</p>
+
+<p>And best of all, they had fought and seen action, such as no member
+of their race had known in untold ages. They knew Adventure and
+Excitement, and they had learned things that no member of their ancient
+race had known for millennia. They had learned the meaning of advancement
+and change. They had a new ardor, a new strength, a new emotion to drive
+them, and those who would have held them back became enthusiasts
+themselves. Enthusiasm may be contagious, but the spirit of their
+decadence was rapidly failing before this new urge. Here was their last
+chance and they must take it; they would!</p>
+
+<p>They had lost many men in that battle on the strange world, but their
+race was intelligent; they learned quickly, the small ships had been
+very hard targets, while their big ships were too easy to strike. They
+must have small ships, yet they must have large ships for cargo, and for
+the high speed driving apparatus. The small ships were
+not <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 212]</span>able to accelerate to the
+terrific speed needed. Once their velocity had been brought up to the
+desired value, it was easy to maintain it with the infinitely small
+friction of space as the only retarding force; one atom per cubic inch
+was all they must meet. This would not hold them up, but the great
+amount of fuel and the power equipment needed to accelerate to the
+desired speed could not be packed into the small ship. Into the vast
+holds of the huge ships the smaller ones were packed, long shining rows
+of little metal projectiles. Tiny they were, but they could dart and
+twist and turn as swiftly as could the ships they had met on that other
+world&mdash;tiny ships that flashed about with incredible suddenness, a
+target that seemed impossible to hit. These ships would be a match for
+those flashing motes of the Yellow Sun. Now it might be that their great
+transport and battle ships could settle down to those worlds and arrange
+them for their own people!</p>
+
+<p>And they had discovered new weapons, too. One of their mightiest was
+a very old apparatus, one that had been forgotten for countless ages. A
+model of it was in existence in some forgotten museum on a deserted
+planet, and with it long forgotten tomes that told of its principles,
+and of its consequences. Invisibility was now at their command. It was
+an ancient weapon, but might be exceedingly effective!</p>
+
+<p>And one other. They had developed a new thing! They had not learned
+of it in books, it was their invention! They did not doubt that there
+were other machines like it in their museums, but the idea was original
+with them. It was a beam of electrical oscillatory waves, projected with
+tremendous energy, and it would be absorbed by any conductor. They could
+melt a ship with this!</p>
+
+<p>And thus that great field had been filled with Giants of Space! And
+in each of these thousand great warships there nestled three thousand
+tiny one-man ships.</p>
+
+<p>Here was a sight to inspire any race!</p>
+
+<p>Taj Lamor watched as the last of the working machines dragged its
+slow way out of the great ships. They were finished! The men were
+already in them, waiting to start, <span class="pagenum">[Pg.
+213]</span>and now there was an enthusiasm and an activity that had not
+been before; now the men were anxious to get that long journey completed
+and to be there, in that other system!</p>
+
+<p>Taj Lamor entered his little special car and shot swiftly down to the
+giant cruisers. He stepped out of his little craft and walked over to
+the tube conveyor ready for the trip to the nose of the great vessel.
+Behind him attendants quickly moved his car to a locked cradle berth
+beside long rows of similar vehicles.</p>
+
+<p>A short while later those who were to remain on the dark planet saw
+the first of the monsters of space rise slowly from the ground and leap
+swiftly forward; then as methodically as though released by automatic
+machinery, the others leaped in swift pursuit, rushing across half a
+world to the tremendous space lock that would let them out into the
+void. In a long, swift column they rushed on. Then one at a time they
+passed out into the mighty sea of space. In space they quickly formed
+and set out.</p>
+
+<p>As though by magic, far to the left of their flight, there suddenly
+appeared a similar flight of giant ships, and then to the right, and
+above them, another seemed to leap out of nothingness as the ships of
+other planets came into sight. Quickly they formed a vast cone about
+their leader's ship, a protecting screen, yet a powerful offensive
+formation.</p>
+
+<p>Endlessly, it seemed, they sped on through the darkness. Then as the
+yellow star flamed brighter and brighter before them, they slowed their
+ships till the small fliers could safely be released into space.</p>
+
+<p>Like a swarm of insects flying about giant birds of space the little
+ships circled the mighty masses of the battle cruisers. So huge were
+they, that in the combined mass of the fleet there rested sufficient
+gravitational attraction to force the little fliers to form orbits about
+them. And so they sped on through the void, the vast conical fleet with
+its slowly circling belt of little ships. A fleet whose counterpart had
+never entered the Solar System.</p>
+
+<p>It was well beyond the orbit of Pluto that the first
+of <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 214]</span>the Solarian scouts detected the
+approaching invasion fleet. The tension that had gripped Earth and Venus
+and their guardian ships for so long a time suddenly snapped; and like a
+great machine set into sudden motion, or a huge boulder, balanced, given
+the last push that sends it spinning with destructive violence down a
+slope, the fleet went into action.</p>
+
+<p>It was merely a little scout, a ten-man cruiser, that sent in the
+message of attack, and then, upon receiving headquarters' permission,
+went into action. Some of the tacticians had wanted to try to get the
+entire fleet into battle range for a surprise attack in power; but
+others felt that this could not possibly succeed. Most important, they
+decided, was the opportunity of learning if the invaders had any new
+weapons.</p>
+
+<p>The Nigrans had no warning, for a ten-man cruiser was invisible to
+them, though the vast bulk of their own ships stood out plainly, lighted
+by a blazing sun. No need here to make the sun stand still while the
+battle was finished! There was no change out here in all time! The first
+intimation of attack that the Nigrans had was the sudden splitting and
+destruction of the leading ship. Then, before they could realize what
+was happening, thirty-five other destructive molecular motion beams were
+tearing through space to meet them! The little ten-man cruiser and its
+flight of speedsters was in action! Twenty-one great ships crumpled and
+burst noiselessly in the void, their gases belching out into space in a
+great shining halo of light as the sun's light struck it.</p>
+
+<p>Unable to see their tiny enemies, who now were striking as swiftly,
+as desperately as possible, knowing that death was practically certain,
+hoping only to destroy a more equal number of the giants, they played
+their beams of death about them, taking care to miss their own ships as
+much as possible.</p>
+
+<p>Another ship silently crumpled, and suddenly one cruiser right in the
+line of the flight was brought to a sudden halt as all its molecules
+were reversed. The ships be<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 215]</span>hind it,
+unable to stop so suddenly, piled up on it in chaotic wreckage! A vast
+halo of shining gas spread out fifty thousand miles about, blinding
+further the other ships, the radiance about them making it impossible to
+see their tiny enemies.</p>
+
+<p>Now other of the Solarian ships were coming swiftly to the attack.
+Suddenly a combination of three of the ten-man cruisers stopped another
+of the great ships instantaneously. There was another soundless crash,
+and the giant mass of wreckage that heaped suddenly up glowed dully red
+from the energy of impact.</p>
+
+<p>But now the little ships of the invaders got into action. They had
+been delayed by the desperate attempts of the dreadnaughts to wipe out
+their enemies with the death rays, and they could not cover the great
+distances without some delay.</p>
+
+<p>When a battle spreads itself out through a ten-thousand mile cube of
+space&mdash;through a thousand billion cubic miles of space&mdash;it is
+impossible to cover it instantaneously with any machine.</p>
+
+<p>Already nearly a hundred and fifty of the giant liners had gone into
+making that colossal mass of junk in space. They must protect the
+remaining cruisers! And it was that flight of small ships that did
+protect them. Many of the Solarians went down to death under their rays.
+The death rays were exceedingly effective, but the heat rays were not
+able to get quite as long a range, and they were easily detected by the
+invisibility locators, which meant certain destruction, for a molecular
+motion ray would be there in moments, once they had been located.</p>
+
+<p>The main fleet of the Solar System was already on its way, and every
+moment drew closer to this running battle, for the great ships of the
+Nigrans had, although they were entering the system cautiously, been
+going at a very high speed, as interplanetary speeds are measured. The
+entire battle had been a running encounter between the two forces. The
+Solarian force, invisible because of its small size, was certainly
+getting the better of the encounter thus far, but now that the odds were
+changing, now that the small <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 216]</span>ships
+had come into the fray, engaging them at close range, they were not
+having so easy time of it.</p>
+
+<p>It would be many hours before the full strength of the Solarian fleet
+could be brought to bear on the enemy. They were not able to retire and
+await their arrival, for they <i>must</i> delay the Nigran fleet. If
+even one of those great ships should safely reach the two planets behind
+them&mdash;!</p>
+
+<p>But within a half hour of the original signal, the Rocket Squad had
+thrown itself into the battle with a fervor and abandon that has given
+that famous division a name that will last forever.</p>
+
+<p>The small fliers of the Nigrans were beginning to take an appalling
+toll in the thinning ranks of the Solarians. The coming of the Rocket
+Squad was welcome indeed! They were able to maneuver as swiftly as the
+enemy; the speedsters were harder to spot than the Solarian ten-man and
+thirty-man boats. The Solarian speedsters were even smaller than the
+comparable Nigran craft, and some of these did a tremendous amount of
+damage. The heat ray was quite ineffective against the ten-man ships,
+even when working at full capacity, when produced by the small
+generators of the Nigran one-man boats. The cruisers could absorb the
+heat and turn it into power faster than the enemy could supply it. Beams
+from the monster interstellar liners were another matter, of course.</p>
+
+<p>But the one-man speedsters had a truly deadly plan of attack against
+the liners. The plan was officially frowned upon because of the great
+risks the pilots must take. They directed their boats at one of the
+monster ships, all the power units on at full drive. As close to target
+as possible the man jumped from his ship, clothed, of course, in an
+altitude suit equipped with a radio transmitter and receiver.</p>
+
+<p>Death rays could not stop the speedsters, and with their momentum,
+the invaders could not make it less deadly with their heat beam, for,
+molten, it was still effective. A projectile weighing twenty-two tons,
+moving a hundred miles a second, can destroy anything man can lift off a
+planet! Their very speed made it impossible to dodge them,
+and <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 217]</span>usually they found their mark. As
+for the risk, if the Solarian forces were victorious, the pilots could
+be picked up later, provided too long a time had not elapsed!</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of the battle, the Solarians began to wonder why the
+Nigran fleet was decreasing so rapidly&mdash;certainly they had not
+caused all that damage! Then suddenly they found the answer. One of
+their ships&mdash;then another&mdash;and another fell victim to a pale
+red ray that showed up like a ghostly pillar of luminosity coming from
+nowhere and going nowhere! The answer? The invaders' ships were becoming
+invisible! The invisibility detectors were being overloaded now, and the
+hunt was hard, while the Nigrans were slipping past them and silently
+destroying Solarian ships! The molecular motion rays were quite
+effective on an invisible ship&mdash;once it had been found. They were
+destroying the Nigrans as rapidly as they were being destroyed, but they
+were letting some of them slip past! The luminous paint bombs and
+bullets were now called into play. All enemy ships were shot at with
+these missiles, and invisibility was forestalled.</p>
+
+<p>At long last the dark bulk of the main fleet approached, a scarcely
+visible cloud of tiny darting metal ships. The battle so far had been a
+preliminary engagement. The huge ships of the Nigrans were forced to
+stop their attack, and releasing the last of the fliers, to retire to a
+distance, protected by a screen of small ships, for they were helpless
+against the Solarian speedsters. Invisibility fell into disfavor, too,
+now that there were plenty of Solarian ships, for the Nigrans were more
+conspicuous when invisible than when visible. The radio detector could
+pick them out at once.</p>
+
+<p>The entire Nigran fleet was beginning to reveal the disorder and
+uncertainty that arose from desperation, for they were cornered in the
+most undesirable position possible. They were outside the Solarian
+fleet, and their ships were lighted by the glare of the sun. The
+defenders, on the other hand, were in such a position that the enemy
+could see only the &#8220;night&#8221; side of them&mdash;the shadowed
+side&mdash;and, as there was no air to diffuse the light, they were
+exceedingly hard <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 218]</span>to find. In the
+bargain, the radium paint was making life for the Nigrans a brief and
+flitting thing!</p>
+
+<p>The invaders began to pay an awful toll in this their first real
+engagement. They lacked the necessary power to cover the entire Solarian
+fleet with their death rays, and their heat weapons were of little help.
+The power of the small ships did not count for much&mdash;and the big
+liners could not use their weapons effectively for their small fliers
+must be between them and their adversary. Despite this, however, the
+Nigrans so greatly outnumbered the Earth-Venus forces that it looked as
+though a long and costly war lay ahead.</p>
+
+<p>At last the Solarian generals tried a ruse, a ruse they hoped would
+work on these beings; but they who never before had to plan a war in
+space, were not sure that their opponents had not had experience in the
+art. True, the Nigrans hadn't revealed any especially striking
+generalship&mdash;had, in fact, committed some inexcusable
+blunders&mdash;but they couldn't be sure. Though they didn't know it,
+the Solarians had the advantage of thousands of years of planetary
+warfare to rely on. This stood them in good stead now.</p>
+
+<p>The Nigrans were rallying rapidly. To their surprise, the forces of
+the Solarians were dwindling, and no matter how desperately this remnant
+fought, they could not hold back the entire force of the Nigran fliers.
+At last it appeared certain that the small ships could completely engage
+the Solarian fleet!</p>
+
+<p>Quickly the giant cruisers formed a great dense cone of attack, and
+at a given signal, the fliers cleared a hole for them through the great
+disc-shaped shield of the defenders. And with all their rays fanned out
+in a 100% overlap ahead of them, the Nigran fleet plunged through the
+disc of ships at close to four hundred miles per second. They broke
+through&mdash;were on their way to the unprotected planets!</p>
+
+<p>The Solarian ships closed the gap behind them, and eighteen of the
+giant ships burst into wreckage as powerful beams found them, but for
+the most part the remnant of the defending forces were far too busy with
+the fliers to attack the large ships. Now, as the monster engines of
+de<span class="pagenum">[Pg. 219]</span>struction raced on toward the
+planets still approximately two billion miles away, they knew that, far
+behind them, their fliers were engaging the Solarians. They had left
+their guard&mdash;but the guard was keeping the enemy occupied while
+they were free to drive in!</p>
+
+<p>Then from nowhere came the counterattack! Nearly five thousand
+thirty-man ships of Earth and Venus, invisible in the darkness of space,
+suddenly leaped into action as the dreadnoughts sped past. Their
+destroying rays played over the nigh-helpless giants, and the huge ships
+were crumbling into colossal derelicts. With the last of their guard
+stripped from them, they fell easy prey to the attackers. Faster than
+they could keep count they were losing their warships of space!</p>
+
+<p>The ruse had worked perfectly! Nearly all of the ten-man and one-man
+ships had been left behind them in the original disc, while all the
+thirty-man light cruisers, and a few hundred each of the ten-man and
+one-man crafts sped away to form a great ring twenty thousand miles
+farther back. The Nigran fleet had flown blindly into the ambush.</p>
+
+<p>There was only one thing left for them to do. They were defeated.
+They must return to their far-off black star and leave the Solarians in
+possession of their worlds. For all battle purposes their great force
+was nearly wiped out, only the fliers remained in force; and these could
+no longer be carried in the remnant of the great liners. Swiftly they
+fell back, passing again through the disc, losing thirty more vessels,
+then raced swiftly away from the fleet of their enemies.</p>
+
+<p>The Solarians, however, were not content. Their ships were forming in
+a giant hollow cylinder, and as the sphere of the Nigrans retreated,
+their beams playing behind them, the cylinder moved forward until it
+surrounded them, and they raced together toward the distant lightless
+sun. The Solar end of the cylinder swiftly closed, blocked by a group of
+huge ships which had taken no visible part in the battle. The Nigrans
+had stopped using their rays; and the
+Solarians <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 220]</span>followed in armed
+readiness, not molesting as long as they were not molested.</p>
+
+<p>Many days this strange flight lasted, till at last the great yellow
+sun, Sol, had faded in the distance to an unusually brilliant star.
+Then, suddenly visible out of the darkness, a strange black world loomed
+ahead, and the Nigran ships settled swiftly toward it. Through the
+airlocks the great liners settled to their planet. No action was taken
+so long as the Solarian ships were not menaced, but for eight long
+months the darting ships hung above the four englobed worlds of
+Nigra.</p>
+
+<p>Then at last the astronomers of Earth and Venus sent through the
+billions of miles of ether their message of safety. The guard could
+return home, for the sun they had been guarding would soon be too far
+from Earth or Venus to make any attack logical. Despite this, for years
+to come the fleet would guard the rim of the System, just to be sure;
+but it appeared that the suns had passed, never again to meet.</p>
+
+<p>A strange thing had happened during the passing of the stars. Pluto
+no longer circled Sol; it had been captured by Nigra! The great fleet
+returned to a changed Solar system. Sol was still at its center, but
+there were now ten planets, including two new ones that the sun had
+captured from Nigra in return for Pluto; and all the planets had shifted
+a bit in their orbits.</p>
+
+<p>What the ultimate effect on the planets will be, we cannot say as
+yet. The change thus far is certainly not very great, though a somewhat
+warmer climate exists now on Earth, and it is a bit cooler on Venus. The
+long-range difference, however, will be exceedingly interesting.</p>
+
+<p>The Solar System has just passed through an experience which is
+probably unique in all the history of the mighty nebula of which our sun
+is an infinitesimal part. The chances that one star, surrounded by a
+system of planets, should pass within a hundred billion miles of another
+star, similarly accompanied, was one in billions of billions. That both
+systems should have been inhabited by intelligent races&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 221]</span></p>
+
+<p>It is easy to understand why the scientists could not believe Arcot's
+theory of attack from another sun until they had actually seen those
+other worlds.</p>
+
+<p>In that war between two solar systems we learned much and lost much.
+Yet, in all probability we gained more than we lost, for those two
+new-old planets will mean tremendous things to us. Already scientists
+are at work in the vast museums and ancient laboratories that are on
+them, and every day new things are being discovered. We lost many men,
+but we saved our worlds, and we learned many invaluable secrets from the
+invaders. In addition, we have but scratched the surface of a science
+that is at least a thousand million years old!</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg. 222]</span></p>
+
+<h3>EPILOGUE</h3>
+
+<p>Taj Lamor looked out across the void of space toward a fading point
+of yellow light. Far in the distance it glowed, and every second moved
+it many more miles farther from him. They had lost their struggle for
+life and a new sun, he had thought when he turned back, defeated, from
+that distant sun. But time had brought new hope.</p>
+
+<p>They had lost many men in that struggle, and their dwindling
+resources had been strained to the limit, but now there was hope, for a
+new spirit had been born in their race. They had fought, and lost, but
+they had gained a spirit of adventure that had been dormant for millions
+of years.</p>
+
+<p>Below him, in the great dim mass that was their city, he knew that
+many laboratories were in the full swing of active work. Knowledge and
+its application were being discovered and rediscovered. New uses were
+being found for old things, and their daily life was changing. It was
+again a race awake, rejuvenated by a change!</p>
+
+<p>As the great sea of yellow fire that was that strange sun had faded
+behind their fleeing ships, leaving their dead planets still circling a
+dead sun, he had thought their last chance was gone forever. But hope
+had reawakened, with the birth of new ideas, new ways of doing
+things.</p>
+
+<p>Tordos Gar had been right! They had lost&mdash;but in the losing,
+they had won!</p>
+
+<p>Taj Lamor shifted his gaze to a blazing point of light, where a
+titanic sea of flame was burning with a
+brilliance <span class="pagenum">[Pg. 223]</span>and power that, despite
+the greater distance, made the remote yellow sun seem pale and dim. The
+blue-white glow told of a monster star, a star far brighter than the one
+they had just left. It had become the brightest star in their heavens.
+On their ancient star charts it was listed as a red giant, named
+Tongsil-239-e, which meant it was of the fifth magnitude and very
+distant. But in the long ages that had passed since it was classified,
+it had become a mighty sun&mdash;a star in its prime.</p>
+
+<p>How were they to reach it? It was eight and one half light years
+away!</p>
+
+<p>Their search for the force that would swing a world from its orbit
+had at last been successful. The knowledge had come too late to aid them
+in their fight for the yellow sun, but they might yet use it&mdash;they
+might even tear their planets from their orbits, and drive them as free
+bodies across the void. It would take ages to make the trip&mdash;but
+long ages had already passed as their dark planet swung through the
+void. What difference would it make if they were or were not accompanied
+by a dead star?</p>
+
+<p>True, the star that was now their goal was a double star; their
+planets could not find orbits about it, but they might remedy
+that&mdash;they could tear one star free and hurl it into space, making
+the remaining sun suitable for their use.</p>
+
+<p>But they <i>would</i> escape this dead sun.</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h3 style="margin:10% 0 3%;">CLASSICS OF GREAT SCIENCE-FICTION from ACE BOOKS</h3>
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+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Black Star Passes, by John W Campbell
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+</pre>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Black Star Passes, by John W Campbell
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Black Star Passes
+
+Author: John W Campbell
+
+Illustrator: Jerome Podwil
+
+Release Date: February 27, 2007 [EBook #20707]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLACK STAR PASSES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by V. L. Simpson, Greg Weeks and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+    THREE AGAINST THE STARS
+
+    A sky pirate armed with superior weapons of his own
+    invention....
+
+    First contact with an alien race dangerous enough to
+    threaten the safety of two planets....
+
+    The arrival of an unseen dark sun whose attendant
+    marauders aimed at the very end of civilization in this
+    Solar System....
+
+    These were the three challenges that tested the skill
+    and minds of the brilliant team of scientist-astronauts
+    Arcot, Wade, and Morey. Their initial adventures are a
+    classic of science-fiction which first brought the name
+    of their author, John W. Campbell, into prominence as a
+    master of the inventive imagination.
+
+
+
+    JOHN W. CAMPBELL first started writing in 1930 when his
+    first short story, _When the Atoms Failed_, was
+    accepted by a science-fiction magazine. At that time he
+    was twenty years old and still a student at college. As
+    the title of the story indicates, he was even at that
+    time occupied with the significance of atomic energy
+    and nuclear physics.
+
+    For the next seven years, Campbell, bolstered by a
+    scientific background that ran from childhood
+    experiments, to study at Duke University and the
+    Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote and sold
+    science-fiction, achieving for himself an enviable
+    reputation in the field.
+
+    In 1937 he became the editor of _Astounding Stories_
+    magazine and applied himself at once to the task of
+    bettering the magazine and the field of s-f writing in
+    general. His influence on science-fiction since then
+    cannot be underestimated. Today he still remains as the
+    editor of that magazine's evolved and redesigned
+    successor, _Analog_.
+
+
+
+THE BLACK STAR PASSES
+
+JOHN W. CAMPBELL
+
+
+
+
+
+ACE BOOKS, INC.
+1120 Avenue of the Americas
+New York, N.Y. 10036
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BLACK STAR PASSES
+
+Copyright, 1953, by John W. Campbell, Jr.
+
+Copyright, 1930, by Experimenter Publications, Inc.
+
+An Ace Book, by arrangement with the author.
+
+
+_Cover art by Jerome Podwil._
+
+
+
+Printed in U.S.A.
+
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+
+Introduction 7
+
+
+BOOK ONE
+
+Piracy Preferred 11
+
+
+BOOK TWO
+
+Solarite 71
+
+
+BOOK THREE
+
+The Black Star Passes 145
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+These stories were written nearly a quarter of a century ago, for the
+old _Amazing Stories_ magazine. The essence of any magazine is
+not its name, but its philosophy, its purpose. That old _Amazing
+Stories_ is long since gone; the magazine of the same name today is
+as different as the times today are different from the world of 1930.
+
+Science-fiction was new, in 1930; atomic energy was a dream we
+believed in, and space-travel was something we tried to understand
+better. Today, science-fiction has become a broad field, atomic
+energy--despite the feelings of many present adults!--is no dream.
+(Nor is it a nightmare; it is simply a fact, and calling it a
+nightmare is another form of effort to push it out of reality.)
+
+In 1930, the only audience for science-fiction was among those who
+were still young enough in spirit to be willing to hope and speculate
+on a new and wider future--and in 1930 that meant almost nothing but
+teen-agers. It meant the brightest group of teen-agers, youngsters who
+were willing to _play_ with ideas and understandings of physics
+and chemistry and astronomy that most of their contemporaries
+considered "too hard work."
+
+I grew up with that group; the stories I wrote over the years, and,
+later, the stories I bought for _Astounding Science Fiction_
+changed and grew more mature too. _Astounding Science Fiction_
+today has many of the audience that read those early stories; they're
+not high school and college students any more, of course, but
+professional engineers, technologists and researchers now. Naturally,
+for them we need a totally different kind of story. In growing with
+them, I and my work had to lose much of the enthusiastic scope that
+went with the earlier science fiction.
+
+When a young man goes to college, he is apt to say, "I want to be a
+scientist," or "I want to be an engineer," but his concepts are broad
+and generalized. Most major technical schools, well knowing this, have
+the first year course for _all_ students the same. Only in the
+second and subsequent years does specialization start.
+
+By the sophomore year, a student may say, "I want to be a
+_chemical_ engineer."
+
+At graduation, he may say, "I'm going into chemical engineering
+_construction_."
+
+Ten years later he may explain that he's a chemical engineer
+specializing in the construction of corrosion-resistant structures,
+such as electroplating baths and pickling tanks for stainless steel.
+
+Year by year, his knowledge has become more specialized, and much
+deeper. He's better and better able to do the important work the world
+needs done, but in learning to do it, he's necessarily lost some of
+the broad and enthusiastic scope he once had.
+
+These are early stories of the early days of science-fiction. Radar
+hadn't been invented; we missed that idea. But while these stories
+don't have the finesse of later work--they have a bounding enthusiasm
+that belongs with a young field, designed for and built by young men.
+Most of the writers of those early stories were, like myself, college
+students. (_Piracy Preferred_ was written while I was a sophomore
+at M.I.T.)
+
+For old-timers in science-fiction--these are typical of the
+days when the field was starting. They've got a fine flavor
+of our own younger enthusiasm.
+
+For new readers of science-fiction--these have the stuff that laid the
+groundwork of today's work, they're the stories that were meant for
+young imaginations, for people who wanted to think about the world
+they had to build in the years to come.
+
+Along about sixteen to nineteen, a young man has to decide what is,
+for him, the Job That Needs Doing--and get ready to get in and pitch.
+If he selects well, selects with understanding and foresight, he'll
+pick a job that _does_ need doing, one that will return rewards
+in satisfaction as well as money. No other man can pick that for him;
+he must choose the Job that _he_ feels fitting.
+
+Crystal balls can be bought fairly reasonably--but they don't work
+well. History books can be bought even more cheaply, and they're
+moderately reliable. (Though necessarily filtered through the cultural
+attitudes of the man who wrote them.) But they don't work well as
+predicting machines, because the world is changing too rapidly.
+
+The world today, for instance, needs engineers desperately. There a
+lot of jobs that the Nation would like to get done that can't even be
+started; not enough engineers available.
+
+Fifty years ago the engineering student was a sort of Second Class
+Citizen of the college campus. Today the Liberal Arts are fighting for
+a come-back, the pendulum having swung considerably too far in the
+other direction.
+
+So science-fiction has a very real function to the teen-agers; it
+presents varying ideas of what the world in which he will live his
+adult life will be interested in.
+
+This is 1953. My son will graduate in 1955. The period of his peak
+earning power should be when he's about forty to sixty--about 1970,
+say, to 1990. With the progress being made in understanding of health
+and physical vigor, it's apt to run beyond 2000 A.D., however.
+
+Anyone want to bet that people will be living in the same general
+circumstances then? That the same general social and cultural and
+material standards will apply?
+
+I have a hunch that the history books are a poor way of planning a
+life today--and that science-fiction comes a lot closer.
+
+There's another thing about science-fiction yarns that is quite
+conspicuous; it's so difficult to pick out the villains. It might have
+made quite a change in history if the ballads and tales of the old
+days had been a little less sure of who the villains were. Read the
+standard boy's literature of forty years ago; tales of Crusaders who
+were always right, and Saracens who were always wrong. (The same
+Saracens who taught the Christians to respect the philosophy of the
+Greeks, and introduced them to the basic ideas of straight,
+self-disciplined thinking!)
+
+Life's much simpler in a thatched cottage than in a dome on the
+airless Moon, easier to understand when the Villains are all pure
+black-hearted villains, and the Heroes are all pure White Souled
+Heroes. Just look how simple history is compared with science-fiction!
+It's simple--but is it good?
+
+These early science-fiction tales explored the Universe; they were
+probings, speculations, as to where we _could_ go. What we
+_could_ do.
+
+They had a sweep and reach and exuberance that belonged.
+
+They _were_ fun, too....
+
+John W. Campbell, Jr.
+Mountainside, N.J.
+April, 1953
+
+
+
+
+BOOK ONE
+
+PIRACY PREFERRED
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE
+
+
+High in the deep blue of the afternoon sky rode a tiny speck of
+glistening metal, scarcely visible in the glare of the sun. The workers
+on the machines below glanced up for a moment, then back to their work,
+though little enough it was on these automatic cultivators. Even this
+minor diversion was of interest in the dull monotony of green. These
+endless fields of castor bean plants had to be cultivated, but with the
+great machines that did the work it required but a few dozen men to
+cultivate an entire county.
+
+The passengers in the huge plane high above them gave little thought to
+what passed below, engrossed with their papers or books, or engaged in
+casual conversation. This monotonous trip was boring to most of them. It
+seemed a waste of time to spend six good hours in a short 3,500 mile
+trip. There was nothing to do, nothing to see, except a slowly passing
+landscape ten miles below. No details could be distinguished, and the
+steady low throb of the engines, the whirring of the giant propellers,
+the muffled roar of the air, as it rushed by, combined to form a
+soothing lullaby of power. It was all right for pleasure seekers and
+vacationists, but business men were in a hurry.
+
+The pilot of the machine glanced briefly at the instruments, wondered
+vaguely why he had to be there at all, then turned, and leaving the
+pilot room in charge of his assistant, went down to talk with the chief
+engineer.
+
+His vacation began the first of July, and as this was the last of June,
+he wondered what would have happened if he had done as he had been half
+inclined to do--quit the trip and let the assistant take her through. It
+would have been simple--just a few levers to manipulate, a few controls
+to set, and the instruments would have taken her up to ten or eleven
+miles, swung her into the great westward air current, and leveled her
+off at five hundred and sixty or so an hour toward 'Frisco'. They would
+hold her on the radio beam better than he ever could. Even the landing
+would have been easy. The assistant had never landed a big plane, but he
+knew the routine, and the instruments would have done the work. Even if
+he hadn't been there, ten minutes after they had reached destination, it
+would land automatically--if an emergency pilot didn't come up by that
+time in answer to an automatic signal.
+
+He yawned and sauntered down the hall. He yawned again, wondering what
+made him so sleepy.
+
+He slumped limply to the floor and lay there breathing ever more and
+more slowly.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The officials of the San Francisco terminus of The Transcontinental
+Airways company were worried. The great Transcontinental express had
+come to the field, following the radio beam, and now it was circling the
+field with its instruments set on the automatic signal for an emergency
+pilot. They were worried and with good reason, for this flight carried
+over 900,000 dollars worth of negotiable securities. But what could
+attack one of those giant ships? It would take a small army to overcome
+the crew of seventy and the three thousand passengers!
+
+The great ship was landing gently now, brought in by the emergency
+pilot. The small field car sped over to the plane rapidly. Already the
+elevator was in place beside it, and as the officials in the car drew up
+under the giant wing, they could see the tiny figure of the emergency
+pilot beckoning to them. Swiftly the portable elevator carried them up
+to the fourth level of the ship.
+
+What a sight met their eyes as they entered the main salon! At first
+glance it appeared that all the passengers lay sleeping in their chairs.
+On closer examination it became evident that they were not breathing!
+The ear could detect no heartbeat. The members of the crew lay at their
+posts, as inert as the passengers! The assistant pilot sprawled on the
+floor beside the instrument panel--apparently he had been watching the
+record of the flight. There was no one conscious--or apparently
+living--on board!
+
+"Dead! Over three thousand people!" The field manager's voice was
+hoarse, incredulous. "It's impossible--how could they have done it? Gas,
+maybe, drawn in through the ventilator pumps and circulated through the
+ship. But I can't conceive of any man being willing to kill three
+thousand people for a mere million! Did you call a doctor by radio,
+Pilot?"
+
+"Yes, sir. He is on his way. There's his car now."
+
+"Of course they will have opened the safe--but let's check anyway. I can
+only think some madman has done this--no sane man would be willing to
+take so many lives for so little." Wearily the men descended the stairs
+to the mail room in the hold.
+
+The door was closed, but the lock of the door was gone, the
+magnesium-beryllium alloy burned away. They opened the door and entered.
+The room seemed in perfect order. The guard lay motionless in the steel
+guard chamber at one side; the thick, bullet-proof glass made his
+outlines a little blurred, and the color of his face was green--but they
+knew there too must be that same pallor they had seen on the other
+faces. The delicate instruments had brought in the great ship perfectly,
+but it was freighted with a cargo of dead!
+
+They entered the room and proceeded to the safe, but it was opened as
+they had expected. The six-inch tungsto-iridium wall had been melted
+through. Even this unbelievable fact no longer surprised them. They
+only glanced at the metal, still too hot to touch, and looked about the
+room. The bonds had been taken. But now they noticed that over the
+mail-clerk's desk there had been fastened a small envelope. On it was
+printed:
+
+    To the Officials of the San Francisco Airport
+
+Inside was a short message, printed in the same sharp, black letters:
+
+    Gentlemen:
+
+    This plane should land safely. If it doesn't, it is your
+    fault, not mine, for the instruments that it carries
+    should permit it. The passengers are NOT dead! They have
+    been put in a temporary state of suspended animation.
+    Any doctor can readily revive them by the injection of
+    seven c.c. of decinormal potassium iodide solution for
+    every 100 pounds of weight. Do NOT use higher
+    concentrations. Lower concentrations will act more
+    slowly.
+
+    You will find that any tendency toward leprosy or cancer
+    will have been destroyed. It will kill any existing
+    cancer, and cure it in about one week. I have not
+    experimented with leprosy beyond knowing that it is
+    cured very quickly.
+
+    This is an outside job. Don't annoy the passengers with
+    questions.
+
+    The gas used cannot be stopped by any material I know
+    of. You can try it with any mask--but don't use the
+    C-32L. It will react with the gas to kill. I would
+    advise that you try it on an animal to convince
+    yourselves.
+
+    I have left stock in my new company to replace the bonds
+    I have taken.
+
+    Piracy Incorporated is incorporated under my own laws.
+
+                                                  The Pirate
+
+On the desk beneath the note was a small package which contained a
+number of stock certificates. They totalled $900,000 face value of
+"Piracy Preferred", the preferred stock of a corporation, "Piracy, Inc."
+
+"Piracy! Pirates in the air!" The field manager forced an unnatural
+laugh. "In 2126 we have pirates attacking our air lines. _Piracy
+Preferred!_ I think I'd prefer the bonds myself. But thank God he did
+not kill all those people. Doctor, you look worried! Cheer up. If what
+this pirate says is true, we can resuscitate them, and they'll be better
+off for the experience!"
+
+The doctor shook his head. "I've been examining your passengers. I'm
+afraid that you'll never be able to bring these people back to life
+again, sir. I can't detect any heart action even with the amplifier.
+Ordinary heart action sounds like a cataract through this instrument. I
+can see nothing wrong with the blood; it has not coagulated as I
+expected, nor is there any pronounced hydrolysis as yet. But I'm afraid
+I'll have to write out the death warrants for all these men and women.
+One of the people on that ship was coming to see me. That's how I
+happened to be on the field. For her, at least, it may be better so. The
+poor woman was suffering from an incurable cancer."
+
+"In this case, Doctor, I hope and believe you are wrong. Read this
+note!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was two hours before the work of reviving the passengers could be
+started. Despite all the laws of physics, their body temperature had
+remained constant after it had reached seventy-four, showing that some
+form of very slow metabolism was going on. One by one they were put into
+large electric blankets, and each was given the correct dose of the
+salt. The men waited anxiously for results--and within ten minutes of
+the injection the first had regained consciousness!
+
+The work went forward steadily and successfully. Every one of the
+passengers and crew was revived. And the Pirate had spoken the truth.
+The woman who had been suffering from cancer was free from pain for the
+first time in many months. Later, careful examination proved she was
+cured!
+
+The papers were issuing extras within five minutes of the time the great
+plane had landed, and the radio news service was broadcasting the first
+"break" in a particularly dead month. During all of June the news had
+been dead, and now July had begun with a bang!
+
+With time to think and investigate, the airport officials went over the
+ship with the Air Guard, using a fine-tooth comb. It was soon evident
+that the job had been done from the outside, as the Pirate had said. The
+emergency pilot testified that when he entered the ship, he found a
+small piece of wire securing the air lock from the outside. This had
+certainly been put on while the ship was in flight, and that meant that
+whoever had done this, had landed on the great ship with a small plane,
+had somehow anchored it, then had entered the plane through the air lock
+at the ten mile height. He had probably flown across the path of the
+plane, leaving a trail of gas in its way to be drawn in through the
+ventilator pumps. It had been washed out by the incoming good air later,
+for the emergency pilot had not been affected.
+
+Now the investigation led them to the mail-room. Despite the refractory
+nature of the metal, the door had been opened by melting or burning out
+the lock. And an opening had been burned into the safe itself! Opened by
+melting it through!
+
+A bond shipment was due the next day, and the airline officials planned
+to be on the watch for it. It would get through safely, they were sure,
+for men were put on board in steel chambers hermetically welded behind
+them, with oxygen tanks and automatic apparatus sealed within to supply
+them with clean air. The front of the tanks were equipped with
+bullet-proof glass windows, and by means of electrically operated
+controls the men inside could fire machine guns. Thus they were
+protected from the Pirate's gas and able to use their weapons.
+
+The ship was accompanied by a patrol of Air Guardsmen. Yet, despite,
+this, cancer cases were aboard with the hope of being gassed.
+
+When the plane reached the neighborhood of San Francisco, there had been
+no sign of an attack. The Pirate might well retire permanently on a
+million, if he were alone, as the singular signature indicated; but it
+seemed much more probable that he would attempt another attack in any
+case. Well, that just meant watching all the planes from now on, a
+tremendous job for the Air Guard to handle.
+
+The leader of the patrol turned in an easy bank to descend the ten miles
+to Earth, and his planes followed him. Then suddenly through the
+communicator came an unmistakable sound. _The plane automatically
+signaling for an emergency pilot!_ That could only mean that the plane
+had been gassed under the very eyes of his men!
+
+The bonds were gone and the passengers gassed, and incredibly, the men
+in the steel tanks were as thoroughly gassed as the rest.
+
+The note was brief, and as much to the point as was the absence of the
+bonds.
+
+
+    To the Officials of the Airport:
+
+    Restore as usual. The men in the tanks are asleep
+    also--I said the gas would penetrate _any_ material. It
+    does. A mask obviously won't do any good. Don't try that
+    C-32L mask. I warn you it will be fatal. My gas reacts
+    to produce a virulent poison when in contact with the
+    chemicals in the C-32L.
+
+                                                  The Pirate
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+
+On the thirty-ninth floor of a large New York apartment two young men
+were lounging about after a strenuous game of tennis. The blue tendrils
+of smoke from their pipes rose slowly, to be drawn away by the efficient
+ventilating system. The taller of the two seemed to be doing most of the
+talking. In the positions they had assumed it would have been rather
+difficult to be sure of which was the taller, but Robert Morey was a
+good four inches taller than Richard Arcot. Arcot had to suffer under
+the stigma of "runt" with Morey around--he was only six feet tall.
+
+The chosen occupation of each was physical research, and in that field
+Arcot could well have called Morey "runt", for Arcot had only one
+competitor--his father. In this case it had been "like father, like
+son". For many years Robert Arcot had been known as the greatest
+American physicist, and probably the world's greatest. More recently he
+had been known as the father of the world's greatest physicist. Arcot
+junior was probably one of the most brilliant men the world had ever
+seen, and he was aided in all his work by two men who could help him in
+a way that amplified his powers a thousand fold. His father and his best
+friend, Morey, were the complimentary and balancing minds to his great
+intelligence. His father had learned through years of work the easiest
+and best ways of performing the many difficult feats of laboratory
+experimentation. Morey could develop the mathematical theory of a
+hypothesis far more readily than Arcot could. Morey's mind was more
+methodical and exact than Arcot's, but Arcot could grasp the broad
+details of a problem and get the general method of solution developed
+with a speed that made it utterly impossible for his friend even to
+follow the steps he suggested.
+
+Since Arcot junior's invention of the multiple calculus, many new
+ramifications of old theories had been attained, and many developments
+had become possible.
+
+But the factor that made Arcot so amazingly successful in his line of
+work was his ability to see practical uses for things, an ability that
+is unfortunately lacking in so many great physicists. Had he collected
+the royalties his inventions merited, he would have been a billionaire
+twice or thrice over. Instead he had made contracts on the basis that
+the laboratories he owned be kept in condition, and that he be paid a
+salary that should be whatever he happened to need. Since he had sold
+all his inventions to Transcontinental Airways, he had been able to
+devote all his time to science, leaving them to manage his finances.
+Perhaps it was the fact that he did sell these inventions to
+Transcontinental that made these lines so successful; but at any rate,
+President Arthur Morey was duly grateful, and when his son was able to
+enter the laboratories he was as delighted as Arcot.
+
+The two had become boon companions. They worked, played, lived, and
+thought together.
+
+Just now they were talking about the Pirate. This was the seventh day of
+his discovery, and he had been growing steadily more menacing. It was
+the great Transcontinental Airways that had suffered most repeatedly.
+Sometimes it was the San Francisco Flyer that went on without a pilot,
+sometimes the New York-St. Louis expresses that would come over the
+field broadcasting the emergency signal. But always the people were
+revived with little difficulty, and each time more of the stock of
+"Piracy, Inc." was accumulated. The Air Guard seemed helpless. Time and
+time again the Pirate slipped in undetected. Each time he convinced
+them that it was an outside job, for the door was always sealed from the
+outside.
+
+"Dick, how do you suppose he gets away with the things he does right
+under the eyes of those Air Guardsmen? He must have some system; he does
+it every time."
+
+"I have a vague idea," Arcot answered. "I was going to ask you today, if
+your father would let us take passage on the next liner carrying any
+money. I understand the insurance rates have been boosted so high that
+they don't dare to send any cash by air any more. They've resorted to
+the slow land routes. Is there any money shipment in sight?"
+
+Morey shook his head. "No, but I have something that's just as good, if
+not better, for our purpose. The other day several men came into Dad's
+office, to charter a plane to San Francisco, and Dad naturally wondered
+why they had been referred to the president of the company. It seems the
+difficulty was that they wanted to hire the ship so they could be
+robbed! A large group of medical men and cancer victims were going for
+the 'treatment'. Each one of the twenty-five hundred going was to bring
+along one hundred dollars. That meant a total of a quarter of a million
+dollars, which is to be left on the table. They hoped the Pirate would
+gas them and thus cure them! Dad couldn't officially do this, but told
+them that if there were too many people for the San Francisco express,
+two sections would be necessary. I believe they are going on that second
+section. Only one hundred dollars! A low price for cancer cure!
+
+"Another thing: Dad asked me to tell you that he'd appreciate your help
+in stopping this ultra-modern pirate. If you go down to see him in the
+morning, you'll doubtless be able to make the necessary arrangements."
+
+"I'll do so gladly. I wonder, though, if you know more about this than I
+do. Did they try that C-32L mask on an animal?"
+
+"The Pirate was telling the truth. They tried it on a dog and he went to
+sleep forever. But do you have any idea how that gas does all it does?"
+
+Now Arcot shook his head. "I don't know what the gas is, but have a lead
+on how it works. You may know that carbon monoxide will seep through a
+solid plate of red-hot steel. That has been known for some three hundred
+years now, and I have to hand it to this Pirate for making use of it.
+Even in the war of 2075 they didn't find any practical application for
+the principle. He has just found some gas that induces sleep in very low
+concentrations, and at the same time is able to penetrate to an even
+greater extent than carbon monoxide."
+
+"I was wondering how he stores that stuff," Morey commented. "But I
+suppose he makes it as fast as he uses it, by allowing two or more
+constituents to react. It might well be simple enough to store them
+separately, and the air-stream blowing past him would carry the gas
+behind him, permitting him to lay a stream of it in front of the big
+plane. Is that about it?"
+
+"That was about what I had figured. One of the things I want to do when
+I go with that Invalid Special tomorrow is to get some samples for
+analysis."
+
+"That's a pretty big order, isn't it, Dick? How are you going to handle
+it, or even get it into your apparatus?"
+
+"Easily enough as far as getting the sample goes. I have already had
+some sample bottles made. I have one of them in the lab--excuse me a
+moment." Arcot left the room, to return a few minutes later with a large
+aluminum bottle, tightly closed. "This bottle has been pumped out to a
+very good vacuum. I then swept it out with helium gas. Then it was
+pumped out again. I hope to take this into some gas-filled region, where
+the gas will be able to leak in, but the air won't. When it comes to
+going out again, the gas will have to fight air pressure, and will
+probably stay in."
+
+"Hope it works. It would help if we knew what we were bucking."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next morning Arcot had a long conference with President Morey. At
+the end of it, he left the office, ascended to the roof, and climbed
+into his small helicopter. He rose to the local traffic level, and
+waiting his chance, broke into the stream of planes bound for the great
+airfields over in the Jersey district. A few minutes later he landed on
+the roof of the Transcontinental Airways shops, entered them, and went
+to the office of the Designing Engineer, John Fuller, an old schoolmate.
+They had been able to help each other before, for Fuller had not paid as
+much attention to theoretical physics as he might have, and though he
+was probably one of the outstanding aeronautical designers, he often
+consulted Arcot on the few theoretical details that he needed. Probably
+it was Arcot who derived the greatest benefit from this association, for
+the ability of the designer had many times brought his theoretical
+successes to practical commercial production. Now, however, he was
+consulting Fuller, because the plane he was to take that afternoon for
+San Francisco was to be slightly changed for him.
+
+He stayed in Fuller's office for the better part of an hour, then
+returned to the roof and thence to his own roof, where Morey junior was
+waiting for him.
+
+"Hello, Dick! I heard from Dad that you were going this afternoon, and
+came over here. I got your note and I have the things fixed up here. The
+plane leaves at one, and it's ten-thirty now. Let's eat lunch and then
+start."
+
+It was half-past eleven when they reached the flying field. They went
+directly to the private office which had been assigned to them aboard
+the huge plane. It was right next to the mail-room, and through the wall
+between the two a small hole had been cut. Directly beneath this hole
+was a table, on which the two men now set up a small moving picture
+camera they had brought with them.
+
+"How many of the gas sample bottles did you bring, Bob?" asked Arcot.
+
+"Jackson had only four ready, so I brought those. I think that will be
+enough. Have we got that camera properly placed?"
+
+"Everything's O.K., I believe. Nothing to do now but wait."
+
+Time passed--then they heard a faint whir; the ventilator machinery had
+started. This drew air in from outside, and pumped it up to the
+necessary pressure for breathing in the ship, no matter what the
+external pressure might be. There was a larger pump attached similarly
+to each of the engines to supply it with the necessary oxygen. Any loss
+in power by pumping the air in was made up by the lower back pressure on
+the exhaust. Now the engines were starting--they could feel the
+momentary vibration--vibration that would cease as they got under way.
+They could visualize the airtight door being closed; the portable
+elevator backing off, returning to the field house.
+
+Arcot glanced at his watch. "One o'clock. The starting signal is due."
+
+Morey sank back into a comfortable chair. "Well, now we have a nice long
+wait till we get to San Francisco and back, Dick, but you'll have
+something to talk about then!"
+
+"I hope so, Bob, and I hope we can return on the midnight plane from San
+Francisco, which will get us in at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, New
+York time. I wish you'd go right to your father's office and ask him
+over to our place for supper, and see if Fuller can come too. I think
+we'll be able to use that molecular controller on this job; it's almost
+finished, and with it we'll need a good designing engineer. Then our
+little movie show will no doubt be of interest!"
+
+There was a low rumble that quickly mounted to a staccato roar as the
+great propellers began whirling and the engines took up the load. The
+ground began to flash behind them; then suddenly, as flying speed was
+reached, there was a slight start, the roaring bark of the engine took
+on a deeper tone, the rocking stopped and the ground dropped away. Like
+some mighty wild bird, the plane was in the air, a graceful, sentient
+thing, wheeling in a great circle as it headed for San Francisco. Now
+the plane climbed steadily in a long bank; up, up, up she went, and
+gradually the terrific roar of the engine died to a low throbbing hum as
+the low pressure of the air silenced the noise.
+
+Below them the giant city contracted as the great ship rode higher. The
+tiny private helicops were darting about below them like streams of nigh
+invisible individuals, creeping black lines among the buildings of the
+city. The towering buildings shone in the noon sun in riotous hues as
+the colored tile facing reflected the brilliant sunlight with glowing
+warmth of color.
+
+It was a city of indescribable beauty now. It was one of the things that
+made this trip worthwhile.
+
+Now the shining city dropped behind them, and only the soft green of the
+Jersey hills, and the deep purple-black of the sky above were visible.
+The sun blazed high in the nigh-black heavens, and in the rarefied air,
+there was so little diffusion that the corona was readily visible with
+the aid of a smoked glass. Around the sun, long banners in space, the
+Zodiacal light gleamed dimly. Here and there some of the brighter stars
+winked in the dark sky.
+
+Below them the landscape swung slowly by. Even to these men who had made
+the trip dozens of times, the sight was fascinating, inspiring. It was a
+spectacle which had never been visible before the development of these
+super-planes. Whole flying observatories had been made that had taken
+photographs at heights of fifteen miles, where the air was so rarefied
+that the plane had to travel close to eight hundred miles an hour to
+remain aloft.
+
+Already ahead of them Arcot and Morey could see the great splotch of
+color that was Chicago, the mightiest city of Earth. Situated as it was
+in the heart of the North American continent, with great water and
+ground landing facilities and broad plains about it, it made a perfect
+airport. The sea no longer meant much, for it was now only a source of
+power, recreation and food. Ships were no longer needed. Planes were
+faster and more economical; hence seacoast cities had declined in
+importance. With its already great start toward ascendancy, Chicago had
+rapidly forged ahead, as the air lines developed with the great
+super-planes. The European planes docked here, and it was the starting
+point of the South American lines. But now, as they swung high above it,
+the glistening walls of soft-colored tiles made it a great mass of
+changing, flashing color beneath them. Now they could see a great air
+liner, twice the size of their plane, taking off for Japan, its six
+giant propellers visible only as flashing blurs as it climbed up toward
+them. Then it was out of sight.
+
+It was over the green plains of Nebraska that the Pirate usually worked,
+so there the men became more and more alert, waiting for the first sign
+of abnormal drowsiness. They sat quietly, not talking, listening
+intently for some new note, but knowing all the while that any sound the
+Pirate might make would be concealed by the whirring roar of the air
+sweeping past the giant airfoils of the plane.
+
+Suddenly Arcot realized he was unbearably sleepy. He glanced drowsily
+toward Morey who was already lying down. He found it a tremendous effort
+of the will to make himself reach up and close the switch that started
+the little camera whirring almost noiselessly. It seemed he never pulled
+his arm back--he just--lay there--and--
+
+A white uniformed man was bending over him as he opened his eyes. To one
+side of him he saw Morey smiling down at him.
+
+"You're a fine guard, Arcot. I thought you were going to stay awake and
+watch them!"
+
+"Oh, no, I left a much more efficient watchman! _It_ didn't go to
+sleep--I'm willing to bet!"
+
+"No, it may not have gone to sleep, but the doctor here tells me it has
+gone somewhere else. It wasn't found in our room when we woke up. I
+think the Pirate found it and confiscated it. All our luggage, including
+the gas sample bottles, is gone."
+
+"That's all right. I arranged for that. The ship was brought down by an
+emergency pilot and he had instructions from father. He took care of the
+luggage so that no member of the pirate's gang could steal it. There
+might have been some of them in the ground crew. They'll be turned over
+to us as soon as we see the emergency man. I don't have to lie here any
+longer, do I, doctor?"
+
+"No, Dr. Arcot, you're all right now. I would suggest that for the next
+hour or so you take it easy to let your heart get used to beating again.
+It stopped for some two hours, you know. You'll be all right, however."
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+
+Five men were seated about the Morey library, discussing the results of
+the last raid, in particular as related to Arcot and Morey. Fuller, and
+President Morey, as well as Dr. Arcot, senior, and the two young men
+themselves, were there. They had consistently refused to tell what their
+trip had revealed, saying that pictures would speak for them. Now they
+turned their attention to a motion picture projector and screen that
+Arcot junior had just set up. At his direction the room was darkened;
+and he started the projector. At once they were looking at the three
+dimensional image of the mail-room aboard the air liner.
+
+Arcot commented: "I have cut out a lot of useless film, and confined the
+picture to essentials. We will now watch the pirate at work."
+
+Even as he spoke they saw the door of the mail-room open a bit, and
+then, to their intense surprise, it remained open for a few seconds,
+then closed. It went through all the motions of opening to admit
+someone, yet no one entered!
+
+"Your demonstration doesn't seem to show much yet, son. In fact, it
+shows much less than I had expected," said the senior Arcot. "But that
+door seemed to open easily. I thought they locked them!"
+
+"They did, but the pirate just burned holes in them, so to save property
+they leave 'em unlocked."
+
+Now the scene seemed to swing a bit as the plane hit an unusually bad
+air bump, and through the window they caught a glimpse of one of the
+circling Air Guardsmen. Then suddenly there appeared in the air within
+the room a point of flame. It hung in the air above the safe for an
+instant, described a strangely complicated set of curves; then, as it
+hung for an instant in mid-air, it became a great flare. In an instant
+this condensed to a point of intensely brilliant crimson fire. This
+described a complex series of curves and touched the top of the safe. In
+an inconceivably short time, the eight-inch thickness of tungsto-iridium
+alloy flared incandescently and began to flow sluggishly. A large circle
+of the red flame sprang out to surround the point of brilliance, and
+this blew the molten metal to one side, in a cascade of sparks.
+
+In moments, the torch had cut a large disc of metal nearly free;
+seemingly on the verge of dropping into the safe. Now the flame left the
+safe, again retracting itself in that uncanny manner, no force seeming
+either to supply it with fuel or to support it thus, though it burned
+steadily, and worked rapidly and efficiently. Now, in mid-air, it hung
+for a second.
+
+"I'm going to work the projector for a few moments by hand so that you
+may see this next bit of film." Arcot moved a small switch and the
+machine blinked, giving a strange appearance to the seemingly solid
+images that were thrown on the screen.
+
+The pictures seemed to show the flame slowly descending till it again
+touched the metal. The tungsto-iridium glowed briefly; then, as suddenly
+as the extinguishing of a light, the safe was gone! It had disappeared
+into thin air! Only the incandescence of the metal and the flame itself
+were visible.
+
+"It seems the pirate has solved the secret of invisibility. No wonder
+the Air Guardsmen couldn't find him!" exclaimed Arcot, senior.
+
+The projector had been stopped exactly on the first frame, showing the
+invisibility of the safe. Then Arcot backed it up.
+
+"True, Dad," he said, "but pay special attention to this next frame."
+
+Again there appeared a picture of the room, the window beyond, the mail
+clerk asleep at his desk, everything as before, except that where the
+safe had been, _there was a shadowy, half visible safe_, the metal
+glowing brightly. Beside it there was visible a shadowy man, holding
+the safe with a shadowy bar of some sort. And through both of them the
+frame of the window was perfectly visible, and, ironically, an Air
+Guardsman plane.
+
+"It seems that for an instant his invisibility failed here. Probably it
+was the contact with the safe that caused it. What do you think, Dad?"
+asked Arcot, junior.
+
+"It does seem reasonable. I can't see off-hand how his invisibility is
+even theoretically possible. Have you any ideas?"
+
+"Well, Dad, I have, but I want to wait till tomorrow night to
+demonstrate them. Let's adjourn this meeting, if you can all come
+tomorrow."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next evening, however, it seemed that it was Arcot himself who could
+not be there. He asked Morey, junior, to tell them he would be there
+later, when he had finished in the lab.
+
+Dinner was over now, and the men were waiting rather impatiently for
+Arcot to come. They heard some noise in the corridor, and looked up, but
+no one entered.
+
+"Morey," asked Fuller, "what did you learn about that gas the pirate was
+using? I remember Arcot said he would have some samples to analyze."
+
+"As to the gas, Dick found out but little more than we had already
+known. It is a typical organic compound, one of the metal radical type,
+and contains one atom of thorium. This is a bit radioactive, as you
+know, and Dick thinks that this may account in part for its ability to
+suspend animation. However, since it was impossible to determine the
+molecular weight, he could not say what the gas was, save that the
+empirical formula was C_{62}TH H_{39}O_{27}N_{5}. It broke down at a
+temperature of only 89 deg. centigrade. The gases left consisted largely of
+methane, nitrogen, and methyl ether. Dick is still in the dark as to
+what the gas is." He paused, then exclaimed: "Look over there!"
+
+The men turned with one accord toward the opposite end of the room,
+looked, and seeing nothing particularly unusual, glanced back rather
+puzzled. What they then saw, or better, failed to see, puzzled them
+still more. Morey had disappeared!
+
+"Why--why where--ohhh! Quick work, Dick!" The senior Arcot began
+laughing heartily, and as his astonished and curious companions looked
+toward him, he stopped and called out, "Come on, Dick! We want to see
+you now. And tell us how it's done! I rather think Mr. Morey here--I
+mean the visible one--is still a bit puzzled."
+
+There was a short laugh from the air--certainly there could be nothing
+else there--then a low but distinct click, and both Morey and Arcot were
+miraculously present, coming instantaneously from nowhere, if one's
+senses could be relied on. On Arcot's back there was strapped a large
+and rather hastily wired mechanism--one long wire extending from it out
+into the laboratory. He was carrying a second piece of apparatus,
+similarly wired. Morey was touching a short metal bar that Arcot held
+extended in his hand, using a table knife as a connector, lest they get
+radio frequency burns on making contact.
+
+"I've been busy getting the last connection of this portable apparatus
+rigged up. I have the thing in working order, as you see--or rather,
+didn't see. This other outfit here is the thing that is more important
+to us. It's a bit heavy, so if you'll clear a space, I'll set it down.
+Look out for my power supply there--that wire is carrying a rather
+dangerously high E.M.F. I had to connect with the lab power supply to do
+this, and I had no time to rig up a little mechanism like the one the
+pirate must have.
+
+"I have duplicated his experiment. He has simply made use of a principle
+known for some time, but as there was no need for it, it hasn't been
+used. It was found back in the early days of radio, as early as the
+first quarter of the twentieth century, that very short wavelengths
+effected peculiar changes in metals. It was shown that the plates of
+tubes working on very short waves became nearly transparent. The waves
+were so short, however, that they were economically useless. They would
+not travel in usable paths, so they were never developed. Furthermore,
+existing apparatus could not be made to handle them. In the last war
+they tried to apply the idea for making airplanes invisible, but they
+could not get their tubes to handle the power needed, so they had to
+drop it. However, with the tube I recently got out on the market, it is
+possible to get down there. Our friend the pirate has developed this
+thing to a point were he could use it. You can see that invisibility,
+while interesting, and a good thing for a stage and television
+entertainment, is not very much of a commercial need. No one wants to be
+invisible in any honest occupation. Invisibility is a tremendous weapon
+in war, so the pirate just started a little private war, the only way he
+could make any money on his invention. His gas, too, made the thing
+attractive. The two together made a perfect combination for criminal
+operations.
+
+"The whole thing looks to me to be the work of a slightly unbalanced
+mind. He is not violently insane; probably just has this one particular
+obsession. His scientific bump certainly shows no sign of weakness. He
+might even be some new type of kleptomaniac. He steals things, and he
+has already stolen far more than any man could ever have any need of,
+and he leaves in its place a 'stock' certificate in his own company. He
+is not violent, for hasn't he carefully warned the men not to use the
+C-32L mask? You'll remember his careful instructions as to how to revive
+the people!
+
+"He has developed this machine for invisibility, and naturally he can
+fly in and out of the air guard, without their knowing he's there,
+provided their microphonic detectors don't locate him. I believe he uses
+some form of glider. He can't use an internal combustion engine, for the
+explosions in the cylinders would be as visible as though the cylinders
+were made of clear quartz. He cannot have an electric motor, for the
+storage cells would weigh too much. Furthermore, if he were using any
+sort of prop, or a jet engine, the noise would give him away. If he used
+a glider, the noise of the big plane so near would be more than enough
+to kill the slight sounds. The glider could hang above the ship, then
+dive down upon it as it passed beneath. He has a very simple system of
+anchoring the thing, as I discovered to my sorrow. It's a powerful
+electro-magnet which he turns on when he lands. The landing deck of the
+big plane was right above our office aboard, and I found my watch was
+doing all sorts of antics today. It lost an hour this morning, and this
+afternoon it gained two. I found it was very highly magnetized--I could
+pick up needles with the balance wheel. I demagnetized it; now it runs
+all right.
+
+"But to get back, he anchors his ship, then, leaving it invisible, he
+goes to the air lock, and enters. He wears a high altitude suit, and on
+his back he has a portable invisibility set and the fuel for his torch.
+The gas has already put everyone to sleep, so he goes into the ship,
+still invisible, and melts open the safe.
+
+"His power supply for the invisibility machine seems to be somewhat of a
+problem, but I think I would use a cylinder of liquid air, and have a
+small air turbine to run a high voltage generator. He probably uses the
+same system on a larger scale to run his big machine on the ship. He
+can't use an engine for that either.
+
+"That torch of his is interesting, too. We have had atomic hydrogen
+welding for some time, and atomic hydrogen releases some 100,000
+calories per mole of molecular hydrogen; two grains of gas give one
+hundred thousand calories. Oxygen has not been prepared in any
+commercial quantity in the atomic state. From watching that man's torch,
+from the color of the flame and other indications, I gather that he uses
+a flame of atomic oxygen-atomic hydrogen for melting, and surrounds it
+with a preheating jacket of atomic hydrogen. The center flame probably
+develops a temperature of some 4000 deg. centigrade, and will naturally make
+that tungsten alloy run like water.
+
+"As to the machine here--it is, as I said, a machine which impresses
+very high frequencies on the body it is connected with. This puts the
+molecules in vibration at a frequency approaching that of light, and
+when the light impinges upon it, it can pass through readily. You know
+that metals transmit light for short distances, but in order that the
+light pass, the molecules of metal must be set in harmonic vibration at
+a rate approaching the frequency of light. If we can impress such a
+vibration on a piece of matter, it will then transmit light very freely.
+If we impress this vibration on the matter, say the body, electrically,
+we get the same effect and the body becomes perfectly transparent. Now,
+since it is the vibration of the molecules that makes the light pass
+through the material, it must be stopped if we wish to see the machine.
+Obviously it is much easier to detect me here among solid surroundings,
+than in the plane high in the sky. What chance has one to detect a
+machine that is perfectly transparent when there is nothing but
+perfectly transparent air around it? It is a curious property of this
+vibrational system of invisibility that the index of refraction is made
+very low. It is not the same as that of air, but the difference is so
+slight that it is practically within the limits of observation error; so
+small is the difference that there is no 'rainbow' effect. The
+difference of temperature of the air would give equal effect.
+
+"Now, since this vibration is induced by radio impulse, is it not
+possible to impress another, opposing radio impulse, that will overcome
+this tendency and bring the invisible object into the field of the
+visible once more? It is; and this machine on the table is designed to
+do exactly that. It is practically a beam radio set, projecting a beam
+of a wavelength that alone would tend to produce invisibility. But in
+this case it will make me visible. I'm going to stand right here, and
+Bob can operate that set."
+
+Arcot strode to the middle of the room, and then Morey turned the
+reflector of the beam set on him. There was a low snap as Arcot turned
+on his set, then he was gone, as suddenly as the coming of darkness when
+a lamp is extinguished. He was there one moment, then they were staring
+at the chair behind him, knowing that the man was standing between them
+and it and knowing that they were looking through his body. It gave them
+a strange feeling, an uncomfortable tingling along the spine. Then the
+voice--it seemed to come from the air, or some disembodied ghost as the
+invisible man called to Morey.
+
+"All right, Bob, turn her on slowly."
+
+There was another snap as the switch of the disrupter beam was turned
+on. At once there was a noticeable fogginess in the air where Arcot had
+been. As more and more power was turned into the machine, they saw the
+man materialize out of thin air. First he was a mere shadowy outline
+that was never fully above the level of conscious vision. Then slowly
+the outlines of the objects behind became dimmer and dimmer, as the body
+of the man was slowly darkened, till at last there was only a wavering
+aura about him. With a snap Morey shut off his machine and Arcot was
+gone again. A second snap and he was solid before them. He had shut off
+his apparatus too.
+
+"You can see now how we intend to locate our invisible pirate. Of course
+we will depend on directional radio disturbance locating devices to
+determine the direction for the invisibility disrupter ray. But you are
+probably marvelling at the greatness of the genius who can design and
+construct this apparatus all in one day. I will explain the miracle. I
+have been working on short wave phenomena for some time. In fact, I had
+actually made an invisibility machine, as Morey will testify, but I
+realized that it had no commercial benefits, so I didn't experiment with
+it beyond the laboratory stunt stage. I published some of the theory in
+the Journal of the International Physical Society--and I wouldn't be
+surprised to learn that the pirate based his discovery on my report.
+
+"I am still working on a somewhat different piece of apparatus that I
+believe we will find very relevant to this business. I'll ask you to
+adjourn after tonight's meeting for another twenty-four hours till I can
+finish the apparatus I am working on. It is very important that you be
+here, Fuller. I am going to need you in the work to follow. It will be
+another problem of design if this works out, as I hope it will."
+
+"I'll certainly make every effort to be here, Arcot," Fuller assured
+him.
+
+"I can promise you a tough problem as well as an interesting one." Arcot
+smiled. "If the thing works, as I expect it to, you'll have a job that
+will certainly be a feather for your cap. Also it will be a change."
+
+"Well, with that inducement, I'll certainly be here. But I think that
+pirate could give us some hints on design. How does he get his glider
+ten miles up? They've done some high-altitude gliding already. The
+distance record took someone across the Atlantic in 2009, didn't it? But
+it seems that ten miles straight up is a bit too steep for a glider.
+There are no vertical air currents at that height."
+
+"I meant to say that his machine is not a true glider, but a
+semi-glider. He probably goes up ten miles or more with the aid of a
+small engine, one so small it probably takes him half a day to get
+there. And it would be easy for a plane to pass through the lower
+traffic lanes, then, being invisible, mount high and wait for the air
+liner. He can't use a very large engine, for it would drag him down, but
+one of the new hundred horsepower jobs would weigh only about fifty
+pounds. I think we can draw a pretty good picture of his plane from
+scientific logic. It probably has a tremendous wingspread and a very
+high angle of incidence to make it possible to glide at that height, and
+the engine and prop will be almost laughably small."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next evening the men got together for dinner, and there was
+considerable speculation as to the nature of the discovery that Arcot
+was going to announce, for even his father had no knowledge of what it
+was. The two men worked in separate laboratories, except when either had
+a particularly difficult problem that might be solved by the other. All
+knew that the new development lay in the field of short wave research,
+but they could not find out in what way it concerned the problem in
+hand.
+
+At last the meal was over, and Arcot was ready to demonstrate.
+
+"Dad, I believe that you have been trying to develop a successful solar
+engine. One that could be placed in the wings of a plane to generate
+power from the light falling on that surface. In all solar engines what
+is the greatest problem to be solved?"
+
+"Well, the more I investigate the thing, the more I wonder which is the
+greatest. There are a surprising number of annoying problems to be met.
+I should say, though, that the one big trouble with all solar engines,
+eliminating the obvious restriction that they decidedly aren't
+dependable for night work, is the difficulty of getting an area to
+absorb the energy. If I could get enough area, I could use a very low
+efficiency and still have cheap power, for the power is absolutely free.
+The area problem is the greatest difficulty, no doubt."
+
+"Well," Arcot junior said quietly, "I think you have a fairly good area
+to use, if you can only harness the energy it absorbs. I have really
+developed a very efficient solar engine. The engine itself requires no
+absorbing area, as I want to use it; it takes advantage of the fact that
+the Earth is absorbing quintillions of horsepower. I have merely tapped
+the power that the Earth has already absorbed for me. Come here."
+
+He led the way down the corridor to his laboratory, and switched on the
+lights. On the main laboratory bench was set up a complicated apparatus
+of many tubes and heavy bus bar connectors. From the final tube two thin
+wires ran to a long tubular coil. To the left of this coil was a large
+relay switch, and a rheostat control.
+
+"Turn on the relay, Dad, then slowly rotate the controller to the left.
+And remember that it is rather powerful; I know this doesn't look like a
+solar engine, and nine o'clock at night seems a peculiar hour to
+demonstrate such a thing, but I'll guarantee results--probably more than
+you expect."
+
+Dr. Arcot stepped up to the controls and closed the switch. The lights
+dimmed a bit, but immediately brightened again, and from the other end
+of the room came a low, steady hum as the big transformer took up the
+load.
+
+"Well, from the sound of that ten K.W. transformer there, if this engine
+is very efficient we ought to get a terrific amount of power out of it."
+Dr. Arcot was smiling amusedly at his son. "I can't very well control
+this except by standing directly in front of it, but I suppose you know
+what you're doing."
+
+"Oh, this is a laboratory model, and I haven't gotten the thing into
+shape really. Look at the conductors that lead to the coil; they
+certainly aren't carrying ten K.W."
+
+Dr. Arcot slowly rotated the rheostat. There was a faint hum from the
+coil; then it was gone. There seemed to be no other result. He rotated
+it a bit more; a slight draught sprang up within the room. He waited,
+but when nothing more startling occurred, he gave the rheostat a sharp
+turn. This time there was absolutely no doubt as to the result. There
+was a roar like a fifty-foot wind tunnel, and a mighty blast of cold air
+swept out of that coil like a six-inch model of a Kansas cyclone. Every
+loose piece of paper in the laboratory came suddenly alive and whirled
+madly before the blast of air that had suddenly leaped out. Dr. Arcot
+was forced back as by a giant hand; in his backward motion his hand was
+lifted from the relay switch, and with a thud the circuit opened. In an
+instant the roar of sound was cut off, and only a soft whisper of air
+told of the furious blast that had been there a moment before.
+
+The astonished physicist came forward and looked at the device a moment
+in silence, while each of the other men watched him. Finally he turned
+to his son, who was smiling at him with a twinkle in his eye.
+
+"Dick, I think you have 'loaded the dice' in a way that is even more
+lucrative than any other method ever invented! If the principle of this
+machine is what I think it is, you have certainly solved the secret of a
+sufficiently absorbing area for a solar engine."
+
+"Well," remarked the elderly Morey, shivering a bit in the chill air of
+the room, "loaded dice have long been noted for their ability to make
+money, but I don't see how that explains that working model of an Arctic
+tornado. _Burr_ it's still too cold in here. I think he'll need
+considerable area for heat absorption from the sun, for that engine
+certainly does cool things down! What's the secret?"
+
+"The principle is easy enough, but I had considerable difficulty with
+the application. I think it is going to be rather important though--"
+
+"Rather important," broke in the inventor's father, with a rare display
+of excitement. "It will be considerably more than that. It's the biggest
+thing since the electric dynamo! It puts airplanes in the junk heap! It
+means a new era in power generation. Why, we'll never have to worry
+about power! It will make interplanetary travel not only possible, but
+commercially economical."
+
+Arcot junior grinned broadly. "Dad seems to think the machine has
+possibilities! Seriously, I believe it will antiquate all types of
+airplanes, prop or jet. It's a direct utilization of the energy that the
+sun is kindly supplying. For a good many years now men have been trying
+to find out how to control the energy of atoms for air travel, or to
+release the energy of the constitution of matter.
+
+"But why do it at all? The sun is doing it already, and on a scale so
+gargantuan that we could never hope nor desire to approach it. Three
+million tons of matter go into that colossal furnace every second of
+time, and out of that comes two and a half decillion ergs of energy.
+With a total of two and a half million billion billion billions of ergs
+to draw on, man will have nothing to worry about for a good many years
+to come! That represents a flood of power vaster than man could
+comprehend. Why try to release any more energy? We have more than we can
+use; we may as well tap that vast ocean of power.
+
+"There is one thing that prevents us getting it out, the law of
+probability. That's why Dad mentioned loaded dice, for dice, as you
+know, are the classical example of probability when they aren't loaded.
+Once they are loaded, the law still holds, but the conditions are now so
+changed that it will make the problem quite different."
+
+Arcot paused, frowning, then resumed half apologetically, "Excuse the
+lecture--but I don't know how else to get the thought across. You are
+familiar with the conditions in a liter of helium gas in a container--a
+tremendous number of molecules, each dashing along at several miles a
+second, and an equal number dashing in the opposite direction at an
+equal speed. They are so thickly packed in there, that none of them can
+go very far before it runs into another molecule and bounces off in a
+new direction. How good is the chance that all the molecules should
+happen to move in the same direction at the same time? One of the old
+physicists of Einstein's time, a man named Eddington, expressed it very
+well:
+
+    'If an army of monkeys were playing on typewriters they
+    might write all the books in the British Museum. The
+    chance of their doing so is decidedly more favorable
+    than the chance that all the molecules in a liter of
+    gas should move in the same direction at the same
+    time.'
+
+The very improbability of this chance is the thing that is making our
+problem appear impossible.
+
+"But similarly it would be improbable--impossible according to the law
+of chance--to throw a string of aces indefinitely. It is
+impossible--unless some other force influences the happening. If the
+dice have bits of iridium stuck under the six spots, they will throw
+aces. Chance makes it impossible to have all the molecules of gas move
+in the same direction at the same time--unless we stack the chances. If
+we can find some way to influence them, they may do so.
+
+"What would happen to a metal bar if all the molecules in it decided to
+move in the same direction at the same time? Their heat motion is
+normally carrying them about at a rate of several miles a second, and if
+now we have them all go in one way, the entire bar must move in that
+direction, and it will start off at a velocity as great as the velocity
+of the individual molecules. But now, if we attach the bar to a heavy
+car, it will try to start off, but will be forced to drag the car with
+it, and so will not be able to have its molecules moving at the same
+rate. They will be slowed down in starting the mass of the car. But
+slowly moving molecules have a definite physical significance. Molecules
+move because of temperature, and lack of motion means lack of heat.
+These molecules that have been slowed down are then cold; they will
+absorb heat from the air about them, and since the molecule of hydrogen
+gas at room temperature is moving at about seven miles a second, when
+the molecules of the confined gas in our car, or the molecules of the
+metal bar are slowed down to but a few hundred miles an hour, their
+temperature drops to some hundreds of degrees below zero, and they
+absorb energy very rapidly, for the greater the difference in
+temperature, the greater the rate of heat absorption.
+
+"I believe we will be able to accelerate the car rapidly to a speed of
+several miles a second at very high altitudes, and as we will be able to
+use a perfectly enclosed streamlined car, we should get tremendous
+speeds. We'll need no wings, of course, for with a small unit pointed
+vertically, we'll be able to support the car in the air. It will make
+possible a machine that will be able to fly in reverse and so come to a
+quick stop. It will steer us or it will supply us with electrical power,
+for we merely have to put a series of small metal bars about the
+circumference of the generator, and get a tremendously powerful engine.
+
+"For our present need, it means a tremendously powerful engine--and one
+that we can make invisible.
+
+"I believe you can guess the source of that breeze we had there? It
+would make a wonderful air-conditioning unit."
+
+"Dick Arcot," began Morey, his voice tight with suppressed excitement,
+"I would like to be able to use this invention. I know enough of the
+economics of the thing, if not its science, to know that the apparatus
+before us is absolutely invaluable. I couldn't afford to buy the rights
+on it, but I want to use it if you'll let me. It means a new era in
+transcontinental air travel!"
+
+He turned sharply to Fuller. "Fuller, I want you to help Arcot with the
+ship to chase the Pirate. You'll get the contract to design the new
+airliners. Hang the cost. It'll run into billions--but there will be no
+more fuel bills, no oil bills, and the cost of operation will be
+negligible. Nothing but the Arcot short wave tubes to buy--and each one
+good for twenty-five thousand hours service!"
+
+"You'll get the rights on this if you want them, of course," said Arcot
+quietly. "You're maintaining these laboratories for me, and your son
+helped me work it out. But if Fuller can move over here tomorrow, it
+will help things a lot. Also I'd like to have some of your best
+mechanics to make the necessary machines, and to start the power units."
+
+"It's done," Morey snapped.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+
+Early the next morning Fuller moved his equipment over to the laboratory
+and set up his table for work. There Arcot and Morey joined him, and the
+designing of the new machine was started.
+
+"First, let's get some idea of the most advisable shape," Fuller began
+methodically. "We'll want it streamlined, of course; roughly speaking, a
+cylinder modified to fit the special uses to which it will be put. But
+you probably have a general plan in mind, Arcot. Suppose you sketch it
+for us."
+
+The big physicist frowned thoughtfully. "Well, we don't know much about
+this yet, so we'll have to work it out. You'll have plenty of fun
+figuring out strains in this machine, so let's be safe and use a factor
+of safety of five. Let's see what we'll need.
+
+"In the first place, our machine must be proof against the Pirate's gas,
+for we won't be riding a beam with instruments to guide us safely, if we
+pass out. I've thought that over, and I think that the best system is
+just what we used in the sample bottles--a vacuum. His gas is stopped by
+nothing, so to speak, but there is no substance that will stop it! It
+will no doubt penetrate the outer shell, but on reaching the vacuum, it
+will tend to stay there, between the inner and outer walls. Here it will
+collect, since it will be fighting air pressure in going either in or
+out. The pressure inside will force it back, and the pressure outside
+will force it in. If we did not pump it out, it would soon build up
+pressure enough to penetrate the interior wall. Now, since the stuff can
+leak through any material, what kind of a pump shall we use? It won't be
+pushed by a piston, for it will leak through either the cylinder walls
+or the piston. A centrifugal pump would be equally ineffective. A
+mercury vapor pump will take it out, of course, and keep a high vacuum,
+but we'd never make any progress.
+
+"Our new machine gives us the answer. With it we can just have a number
+of openings in the wall of the outer shell, and set in them one of these
+molecular motion directors, and direct the molecules into the outside
+air. They can't come in through it, and they will go out!"
+
+"But," Morey objected, "the vacuum that keeps out the gas will also keep
+out heat, as well! Since our generator is to run on heat energy, it will
+be rather chilly inside if we don't remedy that. Of course, our power
+units could be placed outside, where the blast of air will warm them,
+but we really won't have a very good streamline effect if we hang a big
+electric generator outside."
+
+"I've thought of that too," Arcot answered. "The solution is obvious--if
+we can't bring the generator to the air, we must bring the air to it."
+He began sketching rapidly on the pad before him, "We'll have all the
+power equipment in this room here in the back, and the control room up
+in front, here. The relays for controlling will be back here, so we can
+control electrically the operation of the power equipment from our warm,
+gas-tight room. If it gets too warm in there, we can cool it by using a
+little of the heat to help accelerate the ship. If it is too cold, we
+can turn on an electric heater run by the generator. The air for the
+generator can come in through a small sort of scoop on top, and leave
+through a small opening in the rear. The vacuum at the tail will assure
+us a very rapid circulation, even if the centrifugal pump action of the
+enclosed generator isn't enough."
+
+His thoughts began moving more rapidly than his words. "We'll want the
+generator greatly over power to run tests over a greater range. Won't
+need more than one hundred kilowatts altogether, but should install
+about a thousand--A.C., of course. Batteries in the keel for starting
+the generator.... Self-supporting when it's rolling....
+
+"But let's set down some actual figures on this."
+
+For the rest of the day the three men were working on the general plan
+of the new ship, calculating the strengths needed, supplementing
+mathematics with actual experiments with the machines on hand. The
+calculating machines were busy continuously, for there were few rules
+that experience could give them. They were developing something entirely
+new, and though they were a designing staff of three of the foremost
+mathematicians in the world, it was a problem that tested their
+ingenuity to the utmost.
+
+By the evening of the first day, however, they had been able to give the
+finished designs for the power units to the mechanics who were to make
+them. The order for the storage battery and the standard electrical
+equipment had been placed at once. By the time they had completed the
+drawings for the mail casting, the materials were already being
+assembled in a little private camp that Morey owned, up in the hills of
+Vermont. The giant freight helicopters could land readily in the wide
+field that had been cleared on the small plateau, in the center of which
+nestled a little blue lake and a winding trout brook.
+
+The mechanics and electrical engineers had been sent up there
+already--officially on vacation. The entire program could be carried out
+without attracting the least attention, for such orders from the great
+Transcontinental lines were so frequent that no importance was attached
+to them.
+
+Four days after the final plans had been completed the last of the
+supplies were being assembled in the portable metal shed that was to
+house the completed machine. The shining tungsto-steel alloy frame
+members were rapidly being welded in place by cathode ray welding
+torches in the hands of skilled artisans.
+
+Already at the other end of the shop the generator had been arranged for
+use with the molecular motion power units. The many power units to drive
+and support the ship were finished and awaiting installation as the crew
+quit work on the fourth evening. They would be installed on the frame in
+the morning, and the generator would be hoisted into place with the
+small portable crane. The storage batteries were connected, and in place
+in the hull. The great fused quartz windows rested in their cases along
+one wall, awaiting the complete application of the steel alloy plates.
+They were to be over an inch thick, an unnecessary thickness, perhaps,
+but they had no need to economize weight, as witnessed by their choice
+of steel instead of light metal alloys throughout the construction.
+
+The three men had arrived late that afternoon in a small helicopter, and
+had gone directly to the shops to see what progress had been made. They
+had been forced to remain in New York to superintend the shipment of the
+necessary supplies to the camp site, and since no trouble was
+anticipated in the making of the steel framework, they had not felt it
+necessary to come. But now they would be needed to superintend the more
+delicate work.
+
+"She's shaping up nicely, isn't she?" Arcot gazed at the rapidly
+rounding frame with a critical eye. Unhindered as they were by the
+traditional shapes, by wings or other protuberances, they had been able
+to design a machine of striking beauty. The ship was to retain its
+natural metallic sheen, the only protection being a coat of "passivity
+paint"--a liquid chemical that could be brushed or sprayed on iron,
+chromium, nickel or cobalt alloys, rendering them passive to practically
+all chemical agents. The new "paint" left the iron or steel as
+brilliantly glossy as ever, but overcast with a beautiful iridescence,
+and immune to the most powerful reagents.
+
+The three men walked around the rapidly growing hull, and looked with
+excited interest at the heavy welded joints and the great beams. The
+ship seemed capable of withstanding a fall of several hundred feet with
+little damage. The location of the power units was plainly visible and
+easily recognized, for at each point there came together four or five
+great beams, welded into one great mass of tough metal, and in it there
+were set heavy tungsten bolts that would hold the units in place.
+
+They inspected each joint minutely for signs of flaws, using a small
+portable X-ray fluoroscope to see the interior of the metal. Each joint
+seemed perfect. They retired, satisfied that everything was ready for
+the work of the next day.
+
+The morning began early with a long swim in the lake, and a hearty
+breakfast of country cured ham and eggs. Then the work on the great
+framework was continued, and that day saw the power units bolted in
+place, removable if change was thought advisable. Each power unit was
+equipped with long streamlined copper fins lying close to the rounded
+hull, that they might absorb heat more rapidly.
+
+Day by day the structure drew nearer completion, and, with the large
+crew of highly skilled workers, the craft was practically complete
+within a week. Only the instruments remained to be installed. Then at
+last even these had been put in place, and with the aid of Fuller, Morey
+junior, and his own father, Arcot had connected their many complicated
+circuits.
+
+"Son," remarked Arcot senior, looking critically at the great
+switchboard, with its maze of connections, its many rheostats and
+controls, and its heavy bus bar connectors behind it, "no one man can
+keep an eye on all those instruments. I certainly hope you have a
+good-sized crew to operate your controls! We've spent two days getting
+all those circuits together, and I'll admit that some of them still have
+me beat. I don't see how you intend to watch all those instruments, and
+at the same time have any idea what's going on outside."
+
+"Oh," laughed Arcot junior, "these aren't intended for constant
+watching. They're merely helps in a lot of tests I want to make. I want
+to use this as a flying laboratory so I can determine the necessary
+powers and the lowest factor of safety to use in building other
+machines. The machine is very nearly completed now. All we need is the
+seats--they are to be special air-inflated gyroscopically controlled
+seats, to make it impossible for a sudden twist of the ship to put the
+strain in the wrong direction. Of course the main gyroscopes will
+balance the ship laterally, horizontally, and vertically, but each chair
+will have a separate gyroscopic mounting for safety."
+
+"When do you expect to start after the Pirate?" Fuller asked.
+
+"I plan to practice the manipulation of the machine for at least four
+days," Arcot replied, "before I try to chase the Pirate. I'd ordinarily
+recommend the greatest haste, but the man has stolen close to ten
+million already, and he's still at it. That would not be done by anyone
+in his right mind. I suppose you've heard, the War Department considers
+his new gas so important that they've obtained a pardon for him on
+condition they be permitted to have the secret of it. They demand the
+return of the money, and I have no doubt he has it. I am firmly
+convinced that he is a kleptomaniac. I doubt greatly if he will stop
+taking money before he is caught. Therefore it will be safe to wait
+until we can be sure of our ability to operate the machine smoothly. Any
+other course would be suicidal. Also, I am having some of those
+tool-makers make up a special type of molecular motion machine for use
+as a machine gun. The bullets are steel, about three inches long, and as
+thick as my thumb. They will be perfectly streamlined, except for a
+little stabilizer at the tail, to guide 'em. They won't spin as a rifle
+bullet does, and so there will be no gyroscopic effect to hold them nose
+on, but the streamlining and the stabilizer will keep them on their
+course. I expect them to be able to zip right through many inches of
+armour plate, since they will have a velocity of over four miles a
+second.
+
+"They'll be fed in at the rate of about two hundred a minute--faster if
+I wish, and started by a small spring. They will instantly come into the
+field of a powerful molecular motion director, and will be shot out
+with terrific speed. It will be the first rifle ever made that could
+shoot bullets absolutely parallel to the ground.
+
+"But that is all we can do today. The guns will be mounted outside, and
+controlled electrically, and the charts will be installed tomorrow. By
+the day after tomorrow at eight A.M. I plan to take off!"
+
+The work the next day was rushed to completion far earlier than Arcot
+had dared to hope. All the men had been kept isolated at the farm, lest
+they accidentally spread the news of the new machine. It was with
+excited interest that they helped the machine to completion. The guns
+had not been mounted as yet, but that could wait. Mid-afternoon found
+the machine resting in the great construction shed, completely equipped
+and ready to fly!
+
+"Dick," said Morey as he strode up to him after testing the last of the
+gyroscopic seats, "she's ready! I certainly want to get her going--it's
+only three-thirty, and we can go around to the sunlight part of the
+world when it gets dark at the speeds we can travel. Let's test her
+now!"
+
+"I'm just as anxious to start as you are, Bob. I've sent for a U.S. Air
+Inspector. As soon as he comes we can start. I'll have to put an 'X'
+license indication on her now. He'll go with us to test it--I hope.
+There will be room for three other people aboard, and I think you and
+Dad and I will be the logical passengers."
+
+He pointed excitedly. "Look, there's a government helicopter coming.
+Tell the men to get the blocks from under her and tow her out. Two power
+trucks should do it. Get her at least ten feet beyond the end of the
+hangar. We'll start straight up, and climb to at least a five mile
+height, where we can make mistakes safely. While you're tending to that,
+I'll see if I can induce the Air Inspector to take a trip with us."
+
+Half an hour later the machine had been rolled entirely out of the shed,
+on the new concrete runway.
+
+The great craft was a thing of beauty shimmering in the bright sunlight
+The four men who were to ride in it on its maiden voyage stood off to
+one side gazing at the great gleaming metal hull. The long sweeping
+lines of the sides told a story of perfect streamlining, and implied
+high speed, even at rest. The bright, slightly iridescent steel hull
+shone in silvery contrast to the gleaming copper of the power units'
+heat-absorption fins. The great clear windows in the nose and the low,
+streamlined air intake for the generator seemed only to accentuate the
+graceful lines of the machine.
+
+"Lord, she's a beauty, isn't she, Dick!" exclaimed Morey, a broad smile
+of pleasure on his face.
+
+"Well, she did shape up nicely on paper, too, didn't she. Oh, Fuller,
+congratulations on your masterpiece. It's even better looking than we
+thought, now the copper has added color to it. Doesn't she look fast? I
+wish we didn't need physicists so badly on this trip, so you could go on
+the first ride with us."
+
+"Oh, that's all right, Dick, I know the number of instruments in there,
+and I realize they will mean a lot of work this trip. I wish you all
+luck. The honor of having designed the first ship like that, the first
+heavier-than-air ship that ever flew without wings, jets, or props--that
+is something to remember. And I think it's one of the most beautiful
+that ever flew, too."
+
+"Well, Dick," said his father quietly, "let's get under way. It should
+fly--but we don't really know that it will!"
+
+The four men entered the ship and strapped themselves in the gyroscopic
+seats. One by one they reported ready.
+
+"Captain Mason," Arcot explained to the Air Inspector, "these seats may
+seem to be a bit more active than one generally expects a seat to be,
+but in this experimental machine, I have provided all the safety devices
+I could think of. The ship itself won't fall, of that I am sure, but the
+power is so great it might well prove fatal to us if we are not in a
+position to resist the forces. You know all too well the effect of sharp
+turns at high speed and the results of the centrifugal force. This
+machine can develop such tremendous power that I have to make provision
+for it.
+
+"You notice that my controls and the instruments are mounted on the arm
+of the chair really; that permits me to maintain complete control of the
+ship at all times, and still permits my chair to remain perpendicular to
+the forces. The gyroscopes in the base here cause the entire chair to
+remain stable if the ship rolls, but the chair can continue to revolve
+about this bearing here so that we will not be forced out of our seats.
+I'm confident that you'll find the machine safe enough for a license.
+Shall we start?"
+
+"All right, Dr. Arcot," replied the Air Inspector. "If you and your
+father are willing to try it, I am."
+
+"Ready, Engineer?" asked Arcot.
+
+"Ready, Pilot!" replied Morey.
+
+"All right--just keep your eye on the meters, Dad, as I turn on the
+system. If the instruments back there don't take care of everything, and
+you see one flash over the red mark--yank open the main circuit. I'll
+call out what to watch as I turn them on."
+
+"Ready son."
+
+"Main gyroscopes!" There was a low snap, a clicking of relays in the
+rear compartment, and then a low hum that quickly ran up the scale.
+"Main generators!" Again the clicking switch, and the relays thudding
+into action, again the rising hum. "Seat-gyroscopes." The low click was
+succeeded by a quick shrilling sound that rose in moments above the
+range of hearing as the separate seat-gyroscopes took up their work.
+"Main power tube bank!" The low hum of the generator changed to a
+momentary roar as the relays threw on full load. In a moment the
+automatic controls had brought it up to speed.
+
+"Everything is working perfectly so far. Are we ready to start now,
+son?"
+
+"Main vertical power units!" The great ship trembled throughout its
+length as the lift of the power units started. A special instrument had
+been set up on the floor beside Arcot, that he might be able to judge
+the lift of his power units; it registered the apparent weight of the
+ship. It had read two hundred tons. Now all eyes were fixed on it, as
+the pointer dropped quickly to 150-100-75-50-40-20-10--there was a
+click and the instrument flopped back to 300--it was registering in
+pounds now! Then the needle moved to zero, and the mighty structure
+floated into the air, slowly moving down the field as a breeze carried
+it along the ground.
+
+The men outside saw it rise swiftly into the sky, straight toward the
+blue vault of heaven. In two or three minutes it was disappearing. The
+glistening ship shrank to a tiny point of light; then it was gone! It
+must have been rising at fully three hundred miles an hour!
+
+To the men in the car there had been a tremendous increase in weight
+that had forced them into the air cushions like leaden masses. Then the
+ground fell away with a speed that made them look in amazement. The
+house, the construction shed, the lake, all seemed contracting beneath
+them. So quickly were they rising that they had not time to adjust their
+mental attitude. To them all the world seemed shrinking about them.
+
+Now they were at a tremendous height; over twenty miles they had risen
+into the atmosphere; the air about them was so thin that the sky seemed
+black, the stars blazed out in cold, unwinking glory, while the great
+fires of the sun seemed reaching out into space like mighty arms seeking
+to draw back to the parent body the masses of the wheeling planets.
+About it, in far flung streamers of cold fire shone the mighty zodiacal
+light, an Aurora on a titanic scale. For a moment they hung there, while
+they made readings of the meters.
+
+Arcot was the first to speak and there was awe in his voice. "I never
+began to let out the power of this thing! What a ship! When these are
+made commercially, we'll have to use about one horsepower generators in
+them, or people will kill themselves trying to see how fast they can
+go."
+
+Methodically the machine was tried out at this height, testing various
+settings of the instruments. It was definitely proven that the values
+that Arcot and Morey had assigned from purely theoretical calculations
+were correct to within one-tenth of one percent. The power absorbed by
+the machine they knew and had calculated, but the terrific power of the
+driving units was far beyond their expectations.
+
+"Well, now we're off for some horizontal maneuvers," Arcot announced.
+"I'm sure we agree the machine can climb and can hold itself in the air.
+The air pressure controls seem to be working perfectly. Now we'll test
+her speed."
+
+Suddenly the seats swung beneath them; then as the ship shot forward
+with ever greater speed, ever greater acceleration, it seemed that it
+turned and headed upward, although they knew that the main stabilizing
+gyroscopes were holding it level. In a moment the ship was headed out
+over the Atlantic at a speed no rifle bullet had ever known. The radio
+speedometer needle pushed farther and farther over as the speed
+increased to unheard of values. Before they left the North American
+shoreline they were traveling faster than a mile a second. They were in
+the middle of the Atlantic before Arcot gradually shut off the
+acceleration, letting the seats drop back into position.
+
+A hubbub of excited comments rose from the four men. Momentarily, with
+the full realization of the historical importance of this flight, no one
+paid any attention to anyone else. Finally a question of the Air
+Inspector reached Arcot's ears.
+
+"What speed did we attain, Dr. Arcot? Look--there's the coast of Europe!
+How fast are we going now?"
+
+"We were traveling at the rate of three miles a second at the peak."
+Arcot answered. "Now it has fallen to two and a half."
+
+Again Arcot turned his attention to his controls. "I'm going to try to
+see what the ultimate ceiling of this machine is. It must have a
+ceiling, since it depends on the operation of the generator to operate
+the power-units. This, in turn, depends on the heat of the air, helped
+somewhat by the sun's rays. Up we go!"
+
+The ship was put into a vertical climb, and steadily the great machine
+rose. Soon, however, the generator began to slow down. The readings of
+the instruments were dropping rapidly. The temperature of the
+exceedingly tenuous air outside was so close to absolute zero that it
+provided very little energy.
+
+"Get up some forward speed," Morey suggested, "so that you'll have the
+aid of the air scoop to force the air in faster."
+
+"Right, Morey." Arcot slowly applied the power to the forward propulsion
+units. As they took hold, the ship began to move forward. The increase
+in power was apparent at once. The machine started rising again. But at
+last, at a height of fifty-one miles, her ceiling had been reached.
+
+The cold of the cabin became unbearable, for every kilowatt of power
+that the generator could get from the air outside was needed to run the
+power units. The air, too, became foul and heavy, for the pumps could
+not replace it with a fresh supply from the near-vacuum outside. Oxygen
+tanks had not been carried on this trip. As the power of the generator
+was being used to warm the cabin once more, they began to fall. Though
+the machine was held stable by the gyroscopes, she was dropping freely;
+but they had fifty miles to fall, and as the resistance of the denser
+air mounted, they could begin to feel the sense of weight return.
+
+"You've passed, but for the maneuvers, Dr. Arcot!" The Air Inspector was
+decidedly impressed. "The required altitude was passed so long ago--why
+we are still some miles above it, I guess! How fast are we falling?"
+
+"I can't tell unless I point the nose of the ship down, for the
+apparatus works only in the direction in which the ship is pointed. Hold
+on, everyone, I am going to start using some power to stop us."
+
+It was night when they returned to the little field in Vermont. They had
+established a new record in every form of aeronautical achievement
+except endurance! The altitude record, the speed record, the speed of
+climb, the acceleration record--all that Arcot could think of had been
+passed. Now the ship was coming to dock for the night. In the morning it
+would be out again. But now Arcot was sufficiently expert with the
+controls to maneuver the ship safely on the ground. They finally solved
+the wind difficulty by decreasing the weight of the ship to about fifty
+pounds, thus enabling the three men to carry it into the hanger!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next two days were devoted to careful tests of the power factors of
+the machine, the best operating frequency, the most efficient altitude
+of operation, and as many other tests as they had time for. Each of the
+three younger men took turns operating, but so great were the strains of
+the sudden acceleration, that Arcot senior decided it would be wisest
+for him to stay on the ground and watch.
+
+In the meantime reports of the Pirate became fewer and fewer as less and
+less money was shipped by air.
+
+Arcot spent four days practicing the manipulation of the machine, for
+though it handled far more readily than any other craft he had ever
+controlled, there was always the danger of turning on too much power
+under the stress of sudden excitement.
+
+The night before, Arcot had sailed the ship down and alighted on the
+roof of Morey senior's apartment, leaving enough power on to reduce the
+weight to but ten tons, lest it fall through the roof, while he went
+down to see the President of the Lines about some "bait" for the Pirate.
+
+"Send some cash along," said Arcot, when he saw Morey senior, "say a
+quarter of a million. Make it more or less public knowledge, and talk it
+up so that the Pirate may think there's a real haul on board. I am going
+to accompany the plane at a height of about a quarter of a mile above. I
+will try to locate him from there by means of radar, and if I have my
+apparatus on, I naturally can't locate him. I hope he won't be scared
+away--but I rather believe he won't. At any rate, you won't lose on the
+try!"
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+
+Again Morey and Arcot were looking at the great Jersey aerodrome, out on
+the fields that had been broad marshes centuries before. Now they had
+been filled in, and stretched for miles, a great landing field, close to
+the great city across the river.
+
+The men in the car above were watching the field, hanging inert, a point
+of glistening metal, high in the deep velvet of the purple sky, for
+fifteen miles of air separated them from the Transcontinental machine
+below. Now they saw through their field glasses that the great plane was
+lumbering slowly across the field, gaining momentum as it headed
+westward into the breeze. Then it seemed to be barely clearing the great
+skyscrapers that towered twenty-four hundred feet into the air, arching
+over four or five city blocks. From this height they were toys made of
+colored paper, soft colors glistening in the hot noon sunlight, and
+around and about them wove lines of flashing, moving helicopters, the
+individual lost in the mass of the million or so swiftly moving
+machines. Only the higher, steadily moving levels of traffic were
+visible to them.
+
+"Just look at that traffic! Thousands and thousands coming back into the
+city after going home to lunch--and every day the number of helicopters
+is increasing! If it hadn't been for your invention of this machine,
+conditions would soon be impossible. The airblast in the cities is
+unbearable now, and getting worse all the time. Many machines can't get
+enough power to hold themselves up at the middle levels; there is a down
+current over one hundred miles an hour at the 400-foot level in downtown
+New York. It takes a racer to climb fast there!
+
+"If it were not for gyroscopic stabilizers, they could never live in
+that huge airpocket. I have to drive in through there. I'm always afraid
+that somebody with an old worn-out bus will have stabilizer failure and
+will really smash things." Morey was a skillful pilot, and realized, as
+few others did, the dangers of that downward airblast that the countless
+whirring blades maintained in a constant roar of air. The office
+buildings now had double walls, with thick layers of sound absorbing
+materials, to stop the roar of the cyclonic blast that continued almost
+unabated twelve hours a day.
+
+"Oh, I don't know about that, Morey," replied Arcot. "This thing has
+some drawbacks. Remember that if we had about ten million of these
+machines hung in the air of New York City, there would be a noticeable
+drop in the temperature. We'd probably have an Arctic climate year in
+and year out. You know, though, how unbearably hot it gets in the city
+by noon, even on the coldest winter days, due to the heating effect of
+the air friction of all those thousands of blades. I have known the
+temperature of the air to go up fifty degrees. There probably will have
+to be a sort of balance between the two types of machines. It will be a
+terrific economic problem, but at the same time it will solve the
+difficulties of the great companies who have been fermenting grain
+residues for alcohol. The castor bean growers are also going to bring
+down their prices a lot when this machine kills the market. They will
+also be more anxious to extract the carbon from the cornstalks for
+reducing ores of iron and of other metals."
+
+As the ship flew high above the Transcontinental plane, the men
+discussed the economic values of the different applications of Arcot's
+discoveries from the huge power stations they could make, to the cooling
+and ventilating of houses.
+
+"Dick, you mentioned the cooling effect on New York City; with the
+millions on millions of these machines that there will be, with huge
+power plants, with a thousand other different applications in use, won't
+the terrific drain of energy from the air cause the whole world to
+become a little cooler?" asked Fuller.
+
+"I doubt it, Bob," said Arcot slowly. "I've thought of that myself.
+Remember that most of the energy we use eventually ends up as heat
+anyway. And just remember the decillions of ergs of energy that the sun
+is giving off! True, we only get an infinitesimal portion of that
+energy--but what we do get is more than enough for us. Power houses can
+be established very conveniently in the tropics, where they will cool
+the air, and the energy can be used to refine metals. That means that
+the surplus heat of the tropics will find a use. Weather control will
+also be possible by the direction-control of great winds. We could set
+huge director tubes on the tops of mountains, and blow the winds in
+whatever direction best suited us. Not the blown wind itself, but the
+vast volume of air it carried with it, would be able to cool the
+temperate zones in the summer from the cold of the poles, and warm it in
+winter with the heat of the tropics."
+
+After a thoughtful silence, Arcot continued, "And there is another thing
+it may make possible in the future--a thing that may be hard to accept
+as a commercial proposition. We have a practically inexhaustible source
+of energy now, but we have no sources of minerals that will last
+indefinitely. Copper is becoming more and more rare. Had it not been for
+the discoveries of the great copper fields of the Sahara and in Alaska,
+we wouldn't have any now. Platinum is exhausted, and even iron is
+becoming more and more valuable. We are facing a shortage of metals. Do
+you realize that within the next two centuries we will be unable to
+maintain this civilization unless we get new sources of certain basic
+raw materials?
+
+"But we have one other chance now. The solution is--there are nine
+planets in this solar system! Neptune and Uranus are each far vaster
+than Earth; they are utterly impossible for life as we know it, but a
+small colony might be established there to refine metals for the distant
+Earth. We might be able to build domed and sealed cities. But first we
+could try the nearer planets--Mars, Venus, or some satellites such as
+our Moon. I certainly hope that this machine will make it possible."
+
+For some time they sat in silence as they sped along, high above the
+green plains of Indiana. Chicago lay like some tremendous jewel far off
+on the horizon to the right and ahead. Five miles below them the huge
+bulk of the Transcontinental plane seemed a toy as it swung slowly
+across the fields--actually traveling over six hundred miles an hour.
+At last Morey spoke.
+
+"You're right, Arcot. We'll have to think of the interplanetary aspects
+of this some day. Oh, there's Chicago! We'd better start the vacuum gas
+protector. And the radar. We may soon see some action."
+
+The three men immediately forgot the somewhat distant danger of the
+metal shortage. There were a number of adjustments to be made, and these
+were quickly completed, while the machine forged evenly, steadily ahead.
+The generator was adjusted to maximum efficiency, and the various tubes
+were tested separately, for though they were all new, and each good for
+twenty-five thousand hours, it would be inconvenient, to say the least,
+if one failed while they were in action. Each tested perfect; and they
+knew from the smooth functioning of the various relays that governed the
+generator, as the loads on it varied, that it must be working perfectly,
+at something less than one-half maximum rating.
+
+Steadily they flew on, waiting tensely for the first sign of a glow from
+the tiny neon tube indicator on the panel before Morey.
+
+"This looks familiar, Dick," said Morey, looking about at the fields and
+the low line of the blue mountains far off on the western horizon. "I
+think it was about here that we took our little nap in the 'Flying Wheel
+chair', as the papers called it. It would be about here th-- LOOK! It is
+about here! Get ready for action, Fuller. You're taking the machine gun,
+I'll work the invisibility disrupter, and Arcot will run the ship. Let's
+go!"
+
+On the board before him the tiny neon tube flickered dully, glowed
+briefly like a piece of red-hot iron, then went out. In a moment it was
+glowing again, and then quickly its brilliance mounted till it was a
+line of crimson. Morey snapped the switch from the general radar to the
+beam receiver, that he might locate the machine exactly. It was fully a
+minute before the neon tube flashed into life once more. The pirate was
+flying just ahead of the big plane, very likely gassing them. All
+around him were the Air Guardsmen, unaware that the enemy was so near.
+As the disrupter beam could be projected only about a mile, they would
+have to dive down on the enemy at once; an instant later the great plane
+beneath them seemed to be rushing upward at a terrific speed.
+
+The two radar beams were kept focused constantly on the Pirate's craft.
+When they were about two miles from the two planes, the neon tube blazed
+brilliantly with a clash of opposing energy. The Pirate was trying to
+maintain his invisibility, while the rapidly growing strength of the
+machine above strove to batter it down. In moments the ammeter connected
+with the disrupter beam began to rise so rapidly that Morey watched it
+with some concern. Despite the ten-kilowatt set being used to project
+the beam, the resistance of the apparatus on board the pirate ship was
+amazing.
+
+Abruptly the three became aware of a rapidly solidifying cloud before
+them. The interference of the beam Morey was sending had begun breaking
+down the molecular oscillation that permitted the light to pass freely
+through the pirate's craft. Suddenly there was a circle of blue light
+about the shadow form, and a moment later the ionized air relapsed into
+normal condition as the pirate's apparatus broke down under the strain.
+At once Morey shut off his apparatus, convinced by the sudden change
+that the pirate's apparatus had blown out. He glanced up quickly as
+Arcot called to him, "Morey--look at him go!"
+
+Too late. Already the plane had shot off with terrific speed. It had
+flashed up and to their left, at a rate of climb that seemed
+unbelievable--except that the long trail of flaming gas told the story!
+The plane was propelled by rockets! The terrific acceleration carried it
+out of their range of vision in an instant, and as Arcot swung the ship
+to bring him again within sight of the windows, they gasped, for already
+he was many miles away.
+
+There was a terrific wrench as Arcot threw on all the power he dared,
+then quickly leveled the machine, following the pirate at lightning
+speed. He increased the acceleration further as the men grew accustomed
+to the force that weighed them down. Ahead of them the pirate was racing
+along, but quickly now they were overhauling him, for his machine had
+wings of a sort! They produced a tremendous amount of head resistance at
+their present velocity, for already the needle of the radio speedometer
+had moved over to one mile a second. They were following the fleet plane
+ahead at the rate of 3600 miles an hour. The roar of the air outside was
+a tremendous wave of sound, yet to them, protected by the vacuum of the
+double walls, it was detectable only by the vibration of the car.
+
+Rapidly the pirate's lead was cut down. It seemed but a moment before he
+would be within range of their machine gun. Suddenly he nosed down and
+shot for the ground, ten miles below, in a power dive. Instantly Arcot
+swung his machine in a loop that held him close to the tail of the
+pirate. The swift maneuvers at this speed were a terrific strain on both
+men and machines--the acceleration seemed crushing them with the weight
+of four men, as Arcot followed the pirate in a wide loop to the right
+that ended in a straight climb, the rocket ship standing on its tail,
+the rocket blast roaring out behind a stream of fire a half mile long.
+
+The pirate was climbing at a speed that would have distanced any other
+machine the world had ever seen, but the tenacious opponent behind him
+clung ever tighter to the tiny darting thing. He had released great
+clouds of his animation suspending gas. To his utter surprise, the ship
+behind him had driven right through it, entirely unaffected! He, who
+knew most about the gas, had been unable to devise a material to stop
+it, a mask or a tank to store it, yet in some way these men had
+succeeded! And that hurtling, bullet-shaped machine behind! Like some
+miniature airship it was, but with a speed and an acceleration that put
+even his ship to shame! It could twist, turn, dive, rise and shoot off
+on the straight-away with more flashing speed than anything aloft. Time
+and again he tried complicated maneuvers that strained him to the
+utmost, yet that machine always followed after him!
+
+There was one more thing to do. In outer space his rockets would support
+him. In a straight climb he shot up to the blazing sun above, out into
+space, while the sky around him grew black, and the stars shone in
+solemn splendor around him. But he had eyes for only one thing, the
+shining car that was rising with more than equal speed behind him. He
+knew he must be climbing over two thousand miles an hour, yet the
+tracker came ever closer. Just out of sighting range for the machine gun
+now ... in a moment ... but, she was faltering!
+
+The men in the machine behind sat white-lipped, tense, as the whirling
+shocks of sudden turns at terrific speed twisted the gyroscopic seats
+around like peas in a rolling ball. Up, down, left, right, the darting
+machine ahead was twisting with unbelievable speed. Then suddenly the
+nose was pointed for the zenith again, and with a great column of flame
+shooting out behind him, he was heading straight toward space!
+
+"If he gets there, I lose him, Morey!" said Arcot. The terrific
+acceleration of the climb seemed to press them to their seats with a
+deadly weight. It was labor to talk--but still the car ahead shot
+on--slowly they seemed to be overhauling him. Now that the velocities
+were perforce lowered by the effects of gravity, and the air resistance
+of the atmosphere was well nigh gone, only the acceleration that the
+human body could stand was considered. The man ahead was pushing his
+plane ahead with an acceleration that would have killed many men!
+
+Slowly the acceleration of the machine was falling. Arcot pushed the
+control over to the last ampere, and felt the slight surge, as greater
+power rushed through the coils momentarily. Soon this was gone too, as
+the generator behind faltered. The driving power of the atmospheric heat
+was gone. More than sixty miles below them they could see the Earth as a
+greenish brown surface, slightly convex, and far to the east they could
+distinguish a silvery line of water! But they had no eyes but for the
+column of shooting flame that represented the fleeing raider! Out in
+airless space now, he was safe from them. They could not follow. Arcot
+turned the plane once more, parallel to the Earth, watching the plane
+above through the roof window. Slowly the machine sank to the fifty-mile
+level, where there was just sufficient air to maintain it in efficient
+operation.
+
+"Well, he beat us! But there is only one thing for us to do. He must
+hang there on his rockets till we leave, and we can hang here
+indefinitely, if we can only keep this cabin decently warm. He has no
+air to cool him, and he has the sun to warm him. The only thing that is
+worrying him right now is the heat of his rockets. But he can throw most
+of that out with the gases. Lord, that's some machine! But eventually
+his rockets will give out, and down he will come, so we'll just hang
+here beneath him and--whoa--not so fast--he isn't going to stay there,
+it seems; he is angling his ship off a bit, and shooting along, so that,
+besides, holding himself up, he is making a little forward progress.
+We'll have to follow! He's going to do some speeding, it seems! Well, we
+can keep up with him, at our level."
+
+"Dick, no plane ever made before would have stood the terrific pulls and
+yanks that his plane got. He was steering and twisting on the standard
+type air rudders, and what strains he had! The unique type of plane must
+be extremely strong. I never saw one shaped like his before, though--it
+is the obvious shape at that! It was just a huge triangular arrowhead!
+Did you ever see one like it?"
+
+"Something like it, yes, and so have you. Don't you recognize that as
+the development of the old paper gliders you used to throw around as a
+kid? It has the same shape, the triangular wings with the point in the
+lead, except that he undoubtedly had a slight curve to the wings to
+increase the efficiency. Something like the flying wings of fifty years
+ago. I hope that man is only a kleptomaniac, because he can be cured of
+that, and I may then have a new laboratory partner. He has some
+exceedingly intelligent ideas!
+
+"He's an ingenious man, but I wish he didn't store quite so much fuel
+in his rocket tubes! It's unbearably cold in here, and I can't sacrifice
+any power just for comfort. The rocket ship up there seems to be getting
+more and more acceleration in the level. He has me dropping steadily to
+get air to run the generator. He is going fast enough!"
+
+They followed beneath the pirate, faster and faster as the rockets of
+the ship began to push it forward more and more.
+
+"Dick, why is it he didn't use all his rockets at first instead of
+gradually increasing the power this way?"
+
+"If you were operating the ship, Morey, you'd understand. Look at the
+speedometer a moment and see if you can figure it out."
+
+"Hmmm--4.5 miles per second--buzzing right along--but I don't see what
+that--good Lord! We never will get him at this rate! How do you expect
+to get him?"
+
+"I have no idea--yet. But you missed the important point. He is going
+4.5 miles a second. When he reaches 5 miles a second he will never come
+down from his hundred and fifty mile high perch! He will establish an
+orbit! He has so much centrifugal force already that he has very little
+weight. We are staying right beneath him, so we don't have much either.
+Well, there he goes in a last spurt. We are falling behind pretty
+fast--there we are catching up now--no--we are just holding parallel!
+He's done it! Look!"
+
+Arcot pulled out his watch and let go of it. It floated motionless in
+the air for a moment, then slowly drifted back toward the rear of the
+room. "I am using a bit of acceleration--a bit more than we need to
+maintain our speed. We are up high enough to make the air resistance
+almost nothing, even at this velocity, but we still require some power.
+I don't know--"
+
+There was a low buzz, repeated twice. Instantly Morey turned the dials
+of the radio receiving set--again the call signal sounded. In a moment a
+voice came in--low, but distinct. The power seemed fading rapidly.
+
+"I'm Wade--the Pirate--help if you can. Can you get outside the
+atmosphere? Exceed orbital speed and fall out? Am in an orbit and can't
+get out. Fuel reserve gage stuck, and used all my rockets. No more
+power. Can not slow down and fall. I am running out of compressed air
+and the generator for this set is going--will take animation suspending
+gas--will you be able to reach me before entering night?"
+
+"Quick, Morey--answer that we will."
+
+"We will try, Pirate--think we can make it!"
+
+"O.K.--power about gone--"
+
+The last of his power had failed! The pirate was marooned in space! They
+had seen his rockets go out, leaving the exhaust tube glowing for a
+moment before it, too, was dark, and only the sun shining on the silvery
+ship made it visible.
+
+"We have to hurry if we want to do anything before he reaches night!
+Radio the San Francisco fields that we will be coming in soon, and we
+need a large electro-magnet--one designed to work on about 500 volts
+D.C., and some good sized storage cells; how many will have to be
+decided later, depending on the room we will have for them. I'll start
+decelerating now so we can make the turn and circle back. We are
+somewhere west of Hawaii, I believe, but we ought to be able to do the
+trick if we use all the power we can."
+
+Morey at once set to work with the radio set to raise San Francisco
+airport. He was soon in communication with them, and told them that he
+would be there in about an hour. They promised all the necessary
+materials; also that they would get ready to receive the pirate once he
+was finally brought in to them.
+
+It was nearer an hour and a quarter later that the machine fell to the
+great San Francisco landing field, where the mechanics at once set to
+work bolting a huge electro-magnet on the landing skids on the bottom of
+the machine. The most serious problem was connecting the terminals
+electrically without making holes in the hull of the ship. Finally one
+terminal was grounded, and the radio aerial used as the other. Fuller
+was left behind on this trip, and a large number of cells were installed
+in every possible position. In the power room, a hastily arranged motor
+generator set was arranged, making it possible to run the entire ship
+from the batteries. Scarcely had these been battened down to prevent
+sliding under the accelerations necessary, than Arcot and Morey were
+off. The entire operation had required but fifteen minutes.
+
+"How are you going to catch him, Arcot?"
+
+"I'll overtake him going west. If I went the other way I'd meet him
+going at over 10 miles a second in relation to his machine. He had the
+right idea. He told me to fall out to him at a greater than orbital
+speed. I will go just within the Earth's atmosphere till I get just
+under him, holding myself in the air by means of a downward acceleration
+on the part of the regular lifting power units. I am going to try to
+reach eight miles a second. We will be overhauling him at three a
+second, and the ship will slow down to the right speed while falling out
+to him. We must reach him before he gets into the shadow of the Earth,
+though, for if he reaches 'night' he will be without heat, and he'll die
+of cold. I think we can reach him, Dick!"
+
+"I hope so. Those spare cells are all right, aren't they? We'll need
+them! If they don't function when we get out there, we'll fall clear off
+into space! At eight miles a second, we would leave Earth forever!"
+
+The ship was accelerating steadily at the highest value the men aboard
+could stand. The needle of the speedometer crept steadily across the
+dial. They were flying at a height of forty miles that they might have
+enough air and still not be too greatly hindered by air resistance. The
+black sky above them was spotted with points of glowing light, the
+blazing stars of space. But as they flew along, the sensation of weight
+was lost; they had reached orbital speed, and as the car steadily
+increased its velocity, there came a strange sensation! The Earth loomed
+gigantic above them! Below them shone the sun! The direction of up and
+down was changed by the terrific speed! The needle of the speedometer
+was wavering at 7.8 miles a second. Now it held steady!
+
+"I thought you were going to take it up to eight miles a second, Dick?"
+
+"Air resistance is too great! I'll have to go higher!"
+
+At a height of fifty miles they continued at 8.1 miles a second. It
+seemed hours before they reached the spot where the pirate's machine
+should be flying directly above them, and they searched the black sky
+for some sign of the shining dot of light. With the aid of field glasses
+they found it, far ahead, and nearly one hundred miles above.
+
+"Well, here we go! I'm going to fall up the hundred miles or so, till
+we're right in his path; the work done against gravity will slow us down
+a little, so I'll have to use the power units somewhat. Did you notice
+what I did to them?"
+
+"Yes, they're painted a dull black. What's the idea?"
+
+"We'll have no air from which to get heat for power out here, so we'll
+have to depend on the sunlight they can absorb. I'm using it now to slow
+us down as much as possible."
+
+At last the tiny silver dot had grown till it became recognizable as the
+pirate plane. They were drawing up to it now, slowly, but steadily. At
+last the little machine was directly beneath them, and a scant hundred
+yards away. They had long since been forced to run the machine on the
+storage batteries, and now they applied a little power to the vertical
+power units. Sluggishly, as they absorbed the sun's heat, the machine
+was forced lower, nearer to the machine below. At last a scant ten feet
+separated them.
+
+"All right, Morey."
+
+There was a snap, as the temporary switch was closed, and the current
+surged into the big magnet on the keel. At once they felt the ship jump
+a little under the impulse of the magnet's pull on the smaller machine.
+In a moment the little plane had drifted up to the now idle magnet,
+touched it and was about to bounce off, when Morey again snapped the
+switch shut and the two machines were locked firmly together!
+
+"I've got him, Dick!" Morey exclaimed. "Now slow down till it falls.
+Then we can go and wait for it. Being a glider, it ought to be quite
+manageable!"
+
+Now the energy of the power units on the roof of the machine began to
+slow down the two machines, the magnet grinding slightly as the momentum
+of the plane was thrust upon it. They watched the speedometer drop. The
+speed was sinking very slowly, for the area of the absorbing fins was
+not designed to absorb the sun's heat directly, and was very
+inefficient. The sun was indeed sinking below their horizon; they were
+just beginning to watch that curious phenomenon of seeing dawn backward,
+when they first struck air dense enough to operate the power units
+noticeably. Quickly the power was applied till the machines sank rapidly
+to the warmer levels, the only governing factor being the tendency of
+the glider to break loose from the grip of the magnet.
+
+At fifty miles the generator was started, and the heaters in the car at
+once became more active. There was no heat in the car below, but that
+was unavoidable. They would try to bring it down to warm levels quickly.
+
+"Whew, I'm glad we reached the air again, Dick. I didn't tell you
+sooner, for it wouldn't have done any good, but that battery was about
+gone! We had something like twenty amp-hours left! I'm giving the
+recharge generator all she will take. We seem to have plenty of power
+now."
+
+"I knew the cells were low, but I had no idea they were as low as that!
+I noticed that the magnet was weakening, but thought it was due to the
+added air strain. I am going to put the thing into a nose dive and let
+the glider go down itself. I know it would land correctly if it had a
+chance. I am going to follow it, of course, and since we are over the
+middle of Siberia we'd better start back."
+
+The return trip was necessarily in the lower level of the atmosphere,
+that the glider might be kept reasonably warm. At a height of but two
+miles, in the turbulent atmosphere, the glider was brought slowly home.
+It took them nearly twenty hours to go the short distance of twelve
+thousand miles to San Francisco, the two men taking turns at the
+controls. The air resistance of the glider forced them to go slowly;
+they could not average much better than six hundred an hour despite the
+fact that the speed of either machine alone was over twelve hundred
+miles an hour.
+
+At last the great skyscrapers of San Francisco appeared on their
+horizon, and thousands of private planes started out to meet them.
+Frantically Arcot warned them away, lest the air blast from their props
+tear the glider from the magnet. At last, however, the Air Guard was
+able to force them to a safe distance and clear a lane through one of
+the lower levels of the city traffic. The great field of the
+Transcontinental lines was packed with excited men and women, waiting to
+catch a glimpse of two of the greatest things the country had heard of
+in the century--Arcot's molecular motion machine and the Air Pirate!
+
+The landing was made safely in the circle of Air Guardsmen. There was a
+small hospital plane standing beside it in a moment, and as Arcot's ship
+released it, and then hung motionless, soundless above it, the people
+watched it in wonder and excitement. They wanted to see Arcot perform;
+they clamored to see the wonderful powers of this ship in operation. Air
+Guardsmen who had witnessed the flying game of tag between these two
+super-air machines had told of it through the press and over the radio.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Two weeks later, Arcot stepped into the office of Mr. Morey, senior.
+
+"Busy?"
+
+"Come on in; you know I'm busy--but not _too_ busy for you. What's on
+your mind?"
+
+"Wade--the pirate."
+
+"Oh--hmm. I saw the reports on his lab out on the Rockies, and also the
+psychomedical reports on him. And most particularly, I saw the request
+for his employment you sent through channels. What's your opinion on
+him? You talked with him."
+
+Arcot frowned slightly. "When I talked to him he was still two different
+identities dancing around in one body. Dr. Ridgely says the problem's
+settling down; I believe him. Ridgely's no more of a fool in his line
+than you and Dad are in your own lines, and Ridgely's business is
+healing mental wounds. We agreed some while back that the Pirate must be
+insane, even before we met him.
+
+"We also agreed that he had a tremendously competent and creative mind.
+As a personality in civilization, he'd evidently slipped several cogs.
+Ridgely says that is reparable.
+
+"You know, Newton was off the beam for about two years. Faraday was in a
+complete breakdown for nearly five years--and after his breakdown, came
+back to do some monumental work.
+
+"And those men didn't have the help of modern psychomedical techniques.
+
+"I think we'd be grade A fools ourselves to pass up the chance to get
+Wade's help. The man--insane or not--figured out a way of stabilizing
+and storing atomic hydrogen for his rockets. If he could do that in the
+shape he was then in...!
+
+"I'd say we'd be smart to keep the competition in the family."
+
+Mr. Morey leaned back in his chair and smiled up at Arcot. "You've got a
+good case there. I'll buy it. When Dr. Ridgely says Wade's got those
+slipped cogs replaced--offer him a job in your lab staff.
+
+"I'm a bit older than you are; you've grown up in a world where the
+psychomedical techniques really work. When I was growing up,
+psychomedical techniques were strictly rule of thumb--and the doctors
+were all thumbs." Mr. Morey sighed. Then, "In this matter, I think your
+judgment is better than mine."
+
+"I'll see him again, and offer him the job. I'm pretty sure he'll take
+it, as I said. I have a suspicion that, within six months, he'll be a
+lot saner than most people around. The ordinary man doesn't realize what
+a job of rechecking present techniques can do--and Wade is, naturally,
+getting a very thorough overhaul.
+
+"Somewhat like a man going in for treatment of a broken arm; in any
+decent hospital they'll also check for any other medical problems, and
+he'll come out healthier than if he had never had the broken arm.
+
+"Wade seems to have had a mind that made friends with molecules, and
+talked their language. After Ridgely shows him how to make friends with
+people--I think he'll be quite a man on our team!"
+
+
+
+
+BOOK TWO
+
+SOLARITE
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+
+The lights of great Transcontinental Airport were blazing in cheering
+splendor. Out there in the center of the broad field a dozen men were
+silhouetted in the white brilliance, looking up at the sky, where the
+stars winked cold and clear on the jet background of the frosty night. A
+slim crescent of moon gleamed in the west, a sickle of light that in no
+way dimmed the cold flame of the brilliant stars.
+
+One point of light now moved across the motionless field of far-off
+suns, flashing toward the airport in a long, swift curve. The men on the
+field murmured and pointed up at it as it swept low over the blazing
+lights of New York. Lower it swooped, the towering city behind it. Half
+a mile into the air the buildings rose in shining glory of colored tile
+that shone brightly in the sweeping play of floodlights.
+
+One of them picked out the descending machine, and it suddenly leaped
+out of the darkness as a shining, streamlined cylinder, a cylinder with
+a great halo of blue fire, as the beam of the searchlight set it off
+from the jet black night.
+
+In moments the ship was vast before the eyes of the waiting men; it had
+landed gently on the field, was floating smoothly, gracefully toward
+them.
+
+Twenty-four men climbed from the great ship, shivering in the icy blast
+that swept across the field, spoke a moment with the group awaiting
+their arrival, then climbed quickly into the grateful warmth of a field
+car. In a moment they were speeding toward the lights of the field
+house, half a mile off.
+
+Behind them the huge ship leaped into the sky, then suddenly pointed its
+nose up at an angle of thirty degrees and shot high into the air at an
+unbelievable speed. In an instant it was gone.
+
+At the field house the party broke up almost immediately.
+
+"We want to thank you, Mr. Morey, for your demonstration of the new ship
+tonight, and you, Dr. Arcot, for answering our many questions about it.
+I am sure we all appreciate the kindness you have shown the press." The
+reporters filed out quickly, anxious to get the news into the morning
+editions, for it was after one o'clock now. Each received a small slip
+of paper from the attendant standing at the exit, the official statement
+of the company. At last all had left but the six men who were
+responsible for the new machine.
+
+This night had witnessed the official demonstration of the first of the
+Arcot-Morey molecular motion ships. Small as she was, compared to those
+that were to come, yet she could carry over three thousand passengers,
+as many as could any existing winged plane, and her speed was immensely
+greater. The trip from the west coast to the eastern had been made in
+less than one hour. At a speed close to one mile a second the great ship
+had shot through the thin air, twenty-five miles above the Earth.
+
+In this vessel a huge bar of metal could be affected by an
+ultra-high-frequency generator. When so affected, its molecules all
+moved forward, taking the ship with them. Thus, a molecular motion drive
+vessel could, theoretically, approach the velocity of light as a limit.
+
+"Arcot," said Morey, Senior, after the pressmen had left the room, "as
+president of this company I certainly want to thank you for the
+tremendous thing you have given us to use. You have 'sold' us this
+machine--but how can we repay you? Before this, time and time again,
+you have sold us your inventions, the ideas that have made it possible
+for Transcontinental to attain its present high position in world
+transportation. All you have ever accepted is the laboratory you use,
+its upkeep, and a small annual income. What can we do to show our
+appreciation this time?"
+
+"Why," answered Arcot smiling, "you haven't stated the terms correctly.
+Actually, I have a fully equipped lab to putter around in, all the time
+I want for my own amusement, and all the money I want. What more could I
+ask?"
+
+"I suppose that's all true--but you draw only about six thousand a year
+for personal expenses--a good clerk could get that--and you, admittedly
+the most brilliant physicist of the Earth, are satisfied! I don't feel
+we're paying you properly!"
+
+Arcot's expression became suddenly serious. "You can repay me this
+time," he said, "for this latest discovery has made a new thing
+possible. I've always wanted to be able to visit other planets--as has
+many a scientist for the last three centuries. This machine has made it
+possible. If you are willing--we could start by the spring of 2117. I'm
+quite serious about this. With your permission, I want to start work on
+the first interplanetary ship. I'll need Fuller's help, of course. The
+proposition will be expensive, and that's where I must ask you to help
+me. I think, however, that it may be a paying proposition, at that, for
+there will certainly be something of commercial value on the other
+planets."
+
+They had walked out to the shed where Arcot's private molecular motion
+car stood, the first machine ever built that used the heat of the sun to
+drive it. Thoughtfully the president of the great Transcontinental Lines
+looked at it. It was small compared with the great machine that had just
+brought them east, but of the same swift type. It was a thing of
+graceful beauty even on the ground, its long curving streamlines giving
+it wonderful symmetry. They stood in thoughtful silence for a
+minute--the young men eager to hear the verdict of their prospective
+backer. Morey, always rather slow of speech, took an unusually long
+time to answer.
+
+"If it were only money you asked for, Arcot, I'd gladly give you double
+the sum, but that isn't the case. I know perfectly well that if you do
+go, my son will go with you, and Fuller and Wade will naturally go too."
+He looked at each in turn. "Each of you has come to mean a lot to me.
+You and Fuller have known Bob since college days. I've known Wade only
+three months, but every day I grow to like him more. There's no denying
+the fact that any such trip is a terrifically dangerous proposition. But
+if you were lost, there would be more than my personal loss. We would
+lose some of the most brilliant men on Earth. You, for instance, are
+conceded as being the world's most brilliant physicist; Fuller is one of
+the greatest designing engineers; Wade is rapidly rising into prominence
+as a chemist and as a physicist; and my son is certainly a good
+mathematician."
+
+He paused, frowning, weighing the situation. "But you men should know
+how to get out of scrapes just that much better. Certainly there are few
+men on Earth who would not be willing to back such a group of men--or
+any one of you, for that matter! I'll back your trip!" His words became
+more facetious. "I know that Arcot and you, Bob, can handle a gun fairly
+well, I don't know so much about Wade and Fuller. What experience have
+you two had?"
+
+Fuller shook his head. "I think I'll fit best in the galley on the trip,
+Mr. Morey. I've done the cooking on a number of camping trips, and food
+is an important factor in the success of any expedition. I can shoot a
+bit, too."
+
+Wade spoke rather hesitantly. "I come from the west, and have had a good
+bit of fun with a gun in the Rockies; there are still some mountain
+lions and some deer there, you know. I also have a sneaking acquaintance
+with the new gun, which Arcot developed in connection with his molecular
+motion. But there is so little you know about me--and most of it bad--I
+don't see how I really get in on this opportunity--but," he added
+hastily, "I certainly don't intend to keep the old boy knocking--I'm
+with you, since I'm invited!"
+
+Arcot smiled. "Then you'll definitely support us?"
+
+"Yes, I will," replied Morey, Senior, seriously, "for I think it's worth
+doing."
+
+The four young men climbed into the ship, to start for their apartment.
+Arcot was piloting, and under his sure touch the ship sped out into the
+cold night air, then up through the atmosphere, till they hung poised at
+a height of fifty miles on the upper edge of the airy blanket. They
+looked out in silent thought at the magnificent blazing stars of space.
+Here, where the dust-laden air could no longer mask their true colors,
+the stars shone unwinkingly, steadily, and in a glory that earth-bound
+men had never seen before. They shone in a wonderous riot of color, as
+varied and as beautiful as the display of colored floodlights in some
+great city. They were tiny pinpoints of radiance, red, green, orange,
+and yellow, shining with intense brilliance.
+
+Slowly Arcot let the machine settle to the blazing city miles below.
+
+"I love to come out here and look at those cold, pinpoint lights; they
+seem to draw me--the lure of other worlds. I've always had a sense of
+unfulfilled longing--the desire to go out there--and it's always been so
+hopeless. Now--I'll be out there by next spring!" Arcot paused and
+looked up at the mighty field of stars that arched over his head to be
+lost on either horizon. A wonderful night!
+
+"Where shall we go first, Dick?" asked Wade softly as he gazed out at
+the far-off suns of space, his voice unconsciously hushed by the
+grandeur of the spectacle.
+
+"I've thought of that for the last four months, and now that we are
+definitely going to go, we'll have to make a decision. Actually, it
+won't be too hard to decide. Of course we can't leave the solar system.
+And the outer planets are so far away that I think we had better wait
+till later trips. That leaves the choice really between Mars, Venus, and
+Mercury. Mercury isn't practical since it's so close to the sun. We know
+a fair bit about Mars from telescopic observation, while Venus, wrapped
+in perpetual cloud, is a mystery. What do you vote?"
+
+"Well," said Morey, "it seems to me it's more fun to explore a
+completely unknown planet than one that can be observed telescopically.
+I vote Venus." Each of the others agreed with Morey that Venus was the
+logical choice.
+
+By this time the machine had sunk to the roof of their apartment, and
+the men disembarked and entered. The next day they were to start the
+actual work of designing the space ship.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+
+"When we start this work," Arcot began next morning, "we obviously want
+to design the ship for the conditions we expect to meet, and for maximum
+convenience and safety. I believe I've thought about this trip longer
+than the rest of you, so I'll present my ideas first.
+
+"We don't actually _know_ anything about conditions on Venus, since no
+one has actually been there. Venus is probably a younger planet than
+Earth. It's far nearer the sun than we are, and it gets twice the heat
+we do. In the long-gone time when the planets were cooling I believe
+Venus required far longer than Earth, for the inpouring heat would
+retard its cooling. The surface temperature is probably about 150
+degrees Fahrenheit.
+
+"There is little land, probably, for with the cloud-mass covering Venus
+as it does, it's logical to visualize tremendous seas. What life has
+developed must be largely aquatic, and the land is probably far behind
+us in evolution. Of course, Venus is the planet of mystery--we don't
+know; we can only guess. But we do know what things we are going to need
+to cross space.
+
+"Obviously, the main driving force will be the power units. These will
+get their energy from the rays of the sun by absorbing them in copper
+discs about twelve feet in diameter--the ship will have to be more of a
+disc than a cylinder. I think a ship a hundred and eighty feet long,
+fifty feet wide, and twenty feet deep will be about the best dimensions.
+The power units will be strung along the top of the ship in double
+rows--one down each side of the hull. In the middle will be a series of
+fused quartz windows, opening into a large room just under the outer
+shell. We'll obviously need some source of power to activate the power
+tubes that run the molecular motion power units. We'll have a generator
+run by molecular motion power units in here, absorbing its heat from the
+atmosphere in this room. The air will be heated by the rays of the sun,
+of course, and in this way we'll get all our power from the sun itself.
+
+"Since this absorption of energy might result in making the ship too
+cool, due to the radiation of the side away from the sun, we'll polish
+it, and thus reduce the unlighted side's radiation.
+
+"The power units will not be able to steer us in space, due to their
+position, and those on the sides, which will steer us in the atmosphere
+by the usual method, will be unable to get the sun's power; they'll be
+shaded. For steering in space, we'll use atomic hydrogen rockets,
+storing the atomic gas by the Wade method in tanks in the hold. We'll
+also have a battery down there for starting the generator and for
+emergencies.
+
+"For protection against meteors, we'll use radar. If anything comes
+within a dozen miles of us, the radar unit covering that sector will at
+once set automatic machinery in operation, and the rockets will shoot
+the ship out of the path of the meteor."
+
+All that day Arcot and the others discussed the various pieces of
+apparatus they would need, and toward evening Fuller began to draw rough
+sketches of the different mechanisms that had been agreed upon.
+
+The next day, by late afternoon, they had planned the rough details of
+the ship and had begun the greater task of calculating the stresses and
+the power factors.
+
+"We won't need any tremendous strength for the ship while it is in
+space," Arcot commented, "for then there will be little strain on it.
+It will be weightless from the start, and the gentle acceleration will
+not strain it in the least, but we must have strength, so that it can
+maneuver in the atmosphere.
+
+"We'll leave Earth by centrifugal force, for I can make much better
+speed in the atmosphere where there is plenty of power to draw on;
+outside I must depend solely on sunlight. We'll circle the Earth,
+forming an orbit just within the atmosphere, at five miles a second.
+We'll gradually increase the speed to about ten miles a second, at which
+point the ship would normally fly off into space under its own
+centrifugal force. With the power units we'll prevent its release until
+the proper moment. When we release it, it will be entirely free of
+Earth, and no more work will be needed to overcome Earth's pull."
+
+The planning continued with exasperating slowness. The details of the
+work were complex, for all the machines were totally new. Several weeks
+passed before even the power units could be ordered and the first work
+on the ship started. After that orders for materials left the office
+daily. Still, it was late in November before the last order was sent
+out.
+
+Now they must begin work on other phases of the expedition--food
+supplies and the standard parts of the equipment.
+
+In the interval Arcot had decided to make a special ventilated suit for
+use on Venus. This was to make use of a small molecular motion director
+apparatus to cool the air, and blow it through the suit. The apparatus
+consisted of a small compressed air-driven generator and a power tube
+bank that could be carried on the back.
+
+"Arcot," Wade said when he saw the apparatus completed and the testing
+machine ready, "I've just noticed how similar this is to the portable
+invisibility apparatus I developed as the Pirate. I wonder if it might
+not be handy at times to be invisible--we could incorporate that with a
+slight change. It wouldn't add more than five pounds, and those tubes
+you are using I'm sure are easily strong enough to carry the extra
+load."
+
+"Great idea, Wade," said Arcot. "It might be very useful if we met
+hostile natives. The disappearance stunt might make us gods or something
+to primitive beings. And now that you mention it, I think we can install
+the apparatus in the ship. It will require almost no power, and might
+save our lives some time."
+
+The work went forward steadily at the great Transcontinental Shops where
+the space ship was being built. Its construction was being kept as much
+of a secret as possible, for Arcot feared the interference of the crowds
+that would be sure to collect if the facts were known, and since the
+shops directly joined the airfield, it meant that there would be
+helicopters buzzing about the Transatlantic and Transcontinental planes.
+
+The work to be done required the most careful manipulation and
+workmanship, for one defect could mean death. They calculated six weeks
+for the trip, and in the time before they could reach either planet,
+much might happen to a crippled ship.
+
+To the men who were making the trip, the waiting seemed most
+exasperating, and they spent the days before they could begin the
+installation of the electrical apparatus in purchasing the necessary
+standard equipment; the standard coils, tubes, condensers, the canned
+food supplies, clothes, everything that they could imagine as of
+possible utility. They were making the ship with a great deal of empty
+storage space, for Arcot hoped the trip would be a financial success,
+particularly supplying much-needed metals. Many vital elements were
+already excessively scarce, and no satisfactory substitutes had been
+found.
+
+On the outward trip some of this space would be filled with the many
+things they would consume en route. In addition they were carrying a
+great many spare parts, spare tubes, spare power units, spare
+condensers--a thousand and one odd parts. Arcot intended that they
+should be able to make an entire new power switchboard and motion
+director unit if anything should go wrong, and he certainly had all the
+apparatus.
+
+At last came the day when the final connection had been soldered, and
+the last joint welded. The atomic hydrogen tanks were full, and under
+the ship's own power the oxygen tanks were filled and the batteries
+charged. They were ready for a test flight!
+
+The great ship rested on the floor of the shed now, awaiting the start.
+
+"Oh fellows--come here a minute!" Arcot called to the other members of
+the party. "I want to show you something."
+
+The three walked quickly to the bow where Arcot stood, and following the
+line of his vision, looked in wonder to see that everything was right.
+They watched curiously as he drew from his coat a large glass bottle,
+tightly sealed.
+
+"What's that for?" asked Wade curiously.
+
+"We're about to start on the first cruise, and I've been wondering if it
+isn't time we gave the ship a name."
+
+"Great--I'd been thinking of that too--what are we going to name her?"
+
+"Well," said Arcot, "I had been thinking of Alexander--he longed for
+other worlds to conquer!"
+
+"Not bad," Morey commented. "I have been thinking of naming it too--I
+guess we all have--but I was thinking of Santa Maria--the first ship to
+discover the New World."
+
+"I was thinking more of its home," said Wade. "How about calling it
+Terrestrian?"
+
+"Well--it's your turn, Fuller--you designed it. What do you suggest for
+your masterpiece?" asked Arcot.
+
+"I was thinking also of its home--the home it will never leave. I like
+to think that we might find people on Venus, and I would like to have a
+name on it that might be translatable into more friendly and less
+foreign terms--why not call it Solarite?"
+
+"Solarite--a member of the solar system--it will be that, always. It
+will be a world unto itself when it makes its trips--it will take up an
+orbit about the sun--a true member of the solar system. I like it!"
+Arcot turned to the others. "How about it?" It was agreed upon
+unanimously.
+
+"But I'm still curious about that glass bottle, so carefully sealed."
+Morey commented with a puzzled smile. "What's in it? Some kind of gas?"
+
+"Wrong--no gas--practically nothing at all, in fact. What more
+appropriate for christening a space ship than a bottle of hard vacuum?
+
+"We can't have a pretty girl christen this ship, that's sure. A flying
+bachelor's apartment christened by a mere woman? Never! We will have the
+foreman of the works here do that. Since we can't have the ship slide
+down the ways or anything, we will get inside and move it when he
+smashes the bottle. But in the meantime, let's have a symbol set in
+contrasting metal on the bow. We can have a blazing sun, with nine
+planets circling it, the Earth indicated conspicuously; and below it the
+word SOLARITE."
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+
+It was shortly after noon when the newly christened _Solarite_ left on
+its first trip into space. The sun was a great ball of fire low in the
+west when they returned, dropping plummet-like from the depths of space,
+the rush of the air about the hull, a long scream that mounted from a
+half-heard sound in the outer limits of the Earth's atmosphere, to a
+roar of tortured air as the ship dropped swiftly to the field and shot
+into the hanger. Instantly the crew darted to the side of the great
+cylinder as the door of the ship opened.
+
+Fuller appeared in the opening, and at the first glimpse of his face,
+the hanger crew knew something was wrong. "Hey, Jackson," Fuller called,
+"get the field doctor--Arcot had a little accident out there in space!"
+In moments the man designated returned with the doctor, leading him
+swiftly down the long metal corridor of the _Solarite_ to Arcot's room
+aboard.
+
+There was a mean-looking cut in Arcot's scalp, but a quick, sure
+examination by the doctor revealed that there appeared to be no serious
+injury. He had been knocked unconscious by the blow that made the cut,
+and he had not yet recovered his senses.
+
+"How did this happen?" asked the doctor as he bathed the cut and deftly
+bandaged it.
+
+Morey explained: "There's a device aboard whose job it is to get us out
+of the way of stray meteors, and it works automatically. Arcot and I
+were just changing places at the controls. While neither of us was
+strapped into our seats, a meteor came within range and the rocket tubes
+shot the car out of the way. We both went tumbling head over heels and
+Arcot landed on his ear. I was luckier, and was able to break my fall
+with my hands, but it was a mean fall--at our speed we had about double
+weight, so, though it was only about seven feet, we might as well have
+fallen fourteen. We took turns piloting the ship, and Arcot was about to
+bring us back when that shock just about shook us all over the ship. We
+will have to make some changes. It does its job--but we need warning
+enough to grab hold."
+
+The doctor was through now, and he began to revive his patient. In a
+moment he stirred and raised his hand to feel the sore spot. In ten
+minutes he was conversing with his friends, apparently none the worse
+except for a very severe headache. The doctor gave him a mild opiate,
+and sent him to bed to sleep off the effects of the blow.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With the ship fully equipped, tested and checked in every possible way,
+the time for leaving was set for the following Saturday, three days off.
+Great supplies of stores had to be carried aboard in the meantime. Care
+had to be exercised in this work, lest the cargo slip free under varying
+acceleration of the _Solarite_, and batter itself to bits, or even wreck
+some vital part of the ship. At noon on the day chosen, the first ship
+ever to leave the bounds of the Earth's gravity was ready to start!
+
+Gently the heavily laden _Solarite_ rose from the hangar floor, and
+slowly floated out into the bright sunshine of the early February day.
+Beside it rode the little ship that Arcot had first built, piloted by
+the father of the inventor. With him rode the elder Morey and a dozen
+newsmen. The little ship was badly crowded now as they rose slowly, high
+into the upper reaches of the Earth's atmosphere. The sky about them
+was growing dark--they were going into space!
+
+At last they reached the absolute ceiling of the smaller ship, and it
+hung there while the _Solarite_ went a few miles higher; then slowly,
+but ever faster and faster they were plunging ahead, gathering speed.
+
+They watched the radio speedometer creep up--1-2-3-4-5-6--steadily it
+rose as the acceleration pressed them hard against the back of the
+seats--8-9--still it rose as the hum of the generator became a low
+snarl--10-11-12--they were rocketing at twelve miles a second, the
+tenuous air about the ship shrieking in a thin scream of protest as it
+parted on the streamlined bow.
+
+Slowly the speed rose--reached fifteen miles a second. The sun's pull
+became steadily more powerful; they were falling toward the fiery
+sphere, away from the Earth. A microphone recessed in the outer wall
+brought them the fading whisper of air from outside. Arcot shouted a
+sudden warning:
+
+"Hold on--we're going to lose all weight--out into space!"
+
+There was a click, and the angry snarl of the overworked generator died
+in an instant as the thudding relays cut it out of the circuit.
+Simultaneously the air scoop which had carried air to the generator
+switched off, transferring to solar heat as a source of power. They
+seemed to be falling with terrific and ever-increasing speed. They
+looked down--saw the Earth shrinking visibly as they shot away at more
+than five miles a second; they were traveling fifteen miles a second
+ahead and five a second straight up.
+
+The men watched with intensest interest as the heavens opened up before
+them--they could see stars now a scant degree from the sun itself, for
+no air diffused its blinding glory. The heat of the rays seemed to burn
+them; there was a prickling pleasantness to it now, as they looked at
+the mighty sea of flame through smoked glasses. The vast arms of the
+corona reached out like the tentacles of some fiery octopus through
+thousands of miles of space--huge arms of flaming gas that writhed out
+as though to reach and drag back the whirling planets to the parent
+body. All about the mighty sphere, stretching far into space, a wan glow
+seemed to ebb and flow, a kaleidoscope of swiftly changing color. It was
+the zodiacal light, an aurora borealis on a scale inconceivable!
+
+Arcot worked rapidly with the controls, the absence of weight that gave
+that continued sense of an unending fall, aiding him and his assistants
+in their rapid setting of the controls.
+
+At last the work was done and the ship flashed on its way under the
+control of the instruments that would guide it across all the millions
+of miles of space and land it on Venus with unerring certainty. The
+photo-electric telescopic eye watched the planet constantly, keeping the
+ship surely and accurately on the course that would get them to the
+distant planet in the shortest possible time.
+
+Work thereafter became routine requiring a minimum of effort, and the
+men could rest and use their time to observe the beauties of the skies
+as no man had ever seen them during all the billions of years of time
+that this solar system has existed. The lack of atmosphere made it
+possible to use a power of magnification that no terrestrial telescope
+may use. The blurred outlines produced by the shifting air prohibits
+magnifications of more than a few hundred diameters, but here in space
+they could use the greatest power of their telescope. With it they could
+look at Mars and see it more clearly than any other man had ever seen
+it, despite the fact that it was now over two hundred million miles
+away.
+
+But though they spent much time taking photographs of the planets and of
+the moon, and in making spectrum analyses of the sun, time passed very
+slowly. Day after day they saw measured on the clocks, but they stayed
+awake, finding they needed little sleep, for they wasted no physical
+energy. Their weightlessness eliminated fatigue. However, they
+determined that during the twelve hours before reaching Venus they must
+be thoroughly alert, so they tried to sleep in pairs. Arcot and Morey
+were the first to seek slumber--but Morpheus seemed to be a mundane god,
+for he did not reward them. At last it became necessary for them to
+take a mild opiate, for their muscles refused to permit their tired
+brains to sleep. It was twelve hours later when they awoke, to relieve
+Wade and Fuller.
+
+They spent most of the twelve hours of their routine watch in playing
+games of chess. There was little to be done. The silver globe before
+them seemed unchanging, for they were still so far away it seemed little
+larger than the moon does when seen from Earth.
+
+But at last it was time for the effects of the mild drug to wear off,
+and for Wade and Fuller to awaken from their sleep.
+
+"Morey--I've an idea!" There was an expression of perfect innocence on
+Arcot's face--but a twinkle of humor in his eyes. "I wonder if it might
+not be interesting to observe the reactions of a man waking suddenly
+from sleep to find himself alone in space?" He stared thoughtfully at
+the control that would make the ship perfectly transparent, perfectly
+invisible.
+
+"I wonder if it would?" said Morey grasping Arcot's idea. "What do you
+say we try it?" Arcot turned the little switch--and where there had been
+the ship, it was no more--it was gone!
+
+Fuller stirred uneasily in his bed, tightly strapped as he was. The
+effects of the drug were wearing off. Sleepily he yawned--stretched, and
+blindly, his heavy eyes still closed, released the straps that held him
+in bed. Yawning widely he opened his eyes--with a sudden start sat
+upright--then, with an excellent imitation of an Indian on the warpath,
+he leaped from his bed, and started to run wildly across the floor. His
+eyes were raised to the place where the ceiling should have been--he
+called lustily in alarm--then suddenly he was flying up--and crashed
+heavily against the invisible ceiling! His face was a picture of utter
+astonishment as he fell lightly to the floor--then slowly it changed,
+and took on a chagrined smile--he understood!
+
+He spun around as loud cries suddenly resounded from Wade's room across
+the hall--then there was a dull thud, as he too, forgetting the
+weightlessness, jumped and hit the ceiling. Then the cries were gone,
+like the snuffing of a candle. From the control room there rose loud
+laughter--and a moment later they felt more normal, as they again saw
+the four strong walls about them.
+
+Wade sighed heavily and shook his head.
+
+They were approaching the planet visibly now. In the twelve hours that
+had passed they had covered a million miles, for now they were falling
+toward the planet under its attraction. It glowed before them now in
+wonderous splendour, a mighty disc of molten silver.
+
+For the last twenty-four hours they had been reducing their speed
+relative to Venus, to insure their forming an orbit about the planet,
+rather than shoot around it and back into space. Their velocity had been
+over a hundred miles a second part of the way, but now it had been
+reduced to ten. The gravity of the planet was urging them forward at
+ever increasing speed, and their problem became more acute moment by
+moment.
+
+"We'll never make it on the power units alone, out here in space," said
+Arcot seriously. "We'll just shoot around the planet. I'll tell you how
+we can do it, though. We'll circle around it, entering its atmosphere on
+the daylight side, and shoot into the upper limits of its atmosphere.
+There the power units can find some heat to work on, and we can really
+slow down. But we'll have to use the rocket tubes to get the
+acceleration we'll need to drive the ship into the air."
+
+There was a sudden clanging of a bell, and everyone dived for a hold,
+and held on tightly. An instant later there was a terrific wrench as the
+rocket jets threw the plane out of the way of a meteor.
+
+"We're getting near a planet. This is the third meteor we've met since
+we were more than a million miles from Earth. Venus and Earth and all
+the planets act like giant vacuum cleaners of space, pulling into
+themselves all the space debris and meteors within millions of miles by
+their gravitational attraction."
+
+Swiftly the planet expanded below them--growing vaster with each passing
+moment. It had changed from a disc to a globe, and now, as the molten
+silver of its surface seemed swiftly clouding, it turned grey; then they
+saw its true appearance, a vast field of rolling, billowing clouds!
+
+The _Solarite_ was shooting around the planet now at ten miles a second,
+far more than enough to carry them away from the planet again, out into
+space once more if their speed was not checked.
+
+"Hold on everybody," Arcot called. "We're going to turn toward the
+planet now!" He depressed a small lever--there was a sudden shock, and
+all the space about them seemed to burst into huge, deep-red atomic
+hydrogen flames.
+
+The _Solarite_ reeled under the sudden pressure, but the heavy
+gyroscopic stabilizers caught it, held it, and the ship remained on an
+even keel. Then suddenly there came to the ears of the men a long drawn
+whine, faint--almost inaudible--and the ship began slowing down. The
+_Solarite_ had entered the atmosphere of Venus--the first man-made
+machine to thus penetrate the air of another world!
+
+Quickly Arcot snapped open the control that had kept the rockets
+flaming, turning the ship to the planet--driving it into the atmosphere.
+Now they could get their power from the air that each instant grew more
+dense about them.
+
+"Wade--in the power room--emergency control post--Morey--control board
+there--hang on, for we'll have to use some husky accelerations."
+
+Instantly the two men sprang for their posts--literally diving, for they
+were still almost weightless.
+
+Arcot pulled another lever--there was a dull snap as a relay in the
+power room responded--the lights wavered--dimmed--then the generator was
+once more humming smoothly--working on the atmosphere of Venus! In a
+moment the power units were again operating, and now as they sucked a
+plentitude of power from the surrounding air, they produced a force that
+made the men cling to their holds with almost frantic force. Around them
+the rapidly increasing density of the air made the whine grow to a roar;
+the temperature within the ship rose slowly, warmed by friction with
+the air, despite the extreme cold at this altitude, more than
+seventy-five miles above the surface of the planet.
+
+They began dropping rapidly now--their radio-speedometer had fallen from
+ten to nine--then slowly, but faster and faster as more heat could be
+extracted from the air, it had fallen 8--7--6--5--4. Now they were well
+below orbital speed, falling under the influence of the planet. The
+struggle was over--the men relaxed. The ship ran quietly now, the smooth
+hum of the air rushing over the great power units coming softly through
+the speaker to their ears, a humming melody--the song of a new world.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+
+Suddenly the blazing sun was gone and they were floating in a vast world
+of rolling mists--mists that brushed the car with tiny clicks, which,
+with the millions of particles that struck simultaneously, merged into a
+steady roar.
+
+"Ice--ice clouds!" Morey exclaimed.
+
+Arcot nodded. "We'll drop below the clouds; they're probably miles deep.
+Look, already they're changing--snow now--in a moment it will be
+water--then it'll clear away and we'll actually see Venus!"
+
+For ten miles--an endless distance it seemed--they dropped through
+clouds utterly impenetrable to the eye. Then gradually the clouds
+thinned; there appeared brief clear spots, spots into which they could
+see short distances--then here and there they caught glimpses of green
+below. Was it water--or land?
+
+With a suddenness that startled them, they were out of the clouds,
+shooting smoothly and swiftly above a broad plain. It seemed to stretch
+for endless miles across the globe, to be lost in the far distance to
+east and west; but to the north they saw a low range of hills that rose
+blue and misty in the distance.
+
+"Venus! We made it!" Morey cried jubilantly. "The first men ever to
+leave Earth--I'm going to start the old sender and radio back home!
+Man--look at that stretch of plain!" He jumped to his feet and started
+across the control room. "Lord--I feel like of ton of lead now--I sure
+am out of condition for walking after all that time just floating!"
+
+Arcot raised a restraining hand. "Whoa--wait a minute there, Morey--you
+won't get anything through to them now. The Earth is on the other side
+of Venus--it's on the night side, remember--and we're on the day side.
+In about twelve hours we'll be able to send a message. In the meantime,
+take the controls while I make a test of the air here, will you?"
+
+Relieved of the controls, Arcot rose and walked down the corridor to the
+power room where the chemical laboratory had been set up. Wade had
+already collected a dozen samples of air, and was working on them.
+
+"How is it--what have you tested for so far?" asked Arcot.
+
+"Oxygen and CO_{2}. The oxygen is about twenty-two per cent, or
+considering the slightly lower air pressure here, we will have just
+about the right amount of oxygen. The CO_{2} is about one-tenth of one
+per cent. The atmosphere is O.K. for terrestrial life apparently; that
+mouse there is living quite happily. Whatever the other seventy-five per
+cent or so of diluting gas is, I don't know, but it isn't nitrogen."
+
+Briefly Arcot and Wade discussed the unusual atmosphere, finally
+deciding that the inert gas was argon.
+
+"No great amount of nitrogen," Arcot concluded. "That means that life
+will have a sweet time extracting it from the air--but wherever there is
+life, it finds a way to do the impossible. Test it more accurately, will
+you--you try for nitrogen and I'll try the component inert gasses."
+
+They ran the analyses rapidly, and in a very short time--less than an
+hour--their results stood at 23 per cent oxygen, .1 per cent carbon
+dioxide, 68 per cent argon, 6 per cent nitrogen, 2 per cent helium, 5
+per cent neon, .05 per cent hydrogen, and the rest krypton and xenon
+apparently. The analyses of these inert gasses had to be done rather
+roughly in this short time, but it was sufficient to balance fairly
+accurately.
+
+The two chemists reported back to the control cabin.
+
+"Well, we'll be able to breathe the atmosphere of Venus with ease. I
+believe we can go on now. I have been surprised to see no water in
+sight, but I think I see my mistake now. You know the Mississippi has
+its mouth further from the center of the Earth than its source; it flows
+up hill! The answer is, of course, that the centrifugal force of the
+Earth's spin impels it to flow that way. Similarly, I am sure now that
+we will find that Venus has a vast belt of water about the middle, and
+to the north and south there will be two great caps of dry land. We are
+on the northern cap.
+
+"We have the microphone turned way down. Let's step up the power a bit
+and see if there are any sounds outside," said Arcot and walked over to
+the power control switch. An instant later a low hum came from the
+loudspeaker. There was a light breeze blowing. In the distance, forming
+a dull background for the hum, there came a low rumbling that seemed
+punctuated now and then by a greater sound.
+
+"Must be a long way off," said Arcot, a puzzled frown on his face.
+"Swing the ship around so we can see in what direction the sound is
+loudest," he suggested.
+
+Slowly Morey swung the ship around on its vertical axis. Without a
+doubt, something off in the direction of the hills was making a
+considerable noise.
+
+"Arcot, if that's a fight between two animals--two of those giant
+animals that you said might be here--I don't care to get near them!"
+Fuller's narrowed eyes strove to penetrate the haze that screened the
+low hills in the blue distance.
+
+The microphone was shut off while the _Solarite_ shot swiftly forward
+toward the source of the sound. Quickly the hills grew, the blue
+mistiness disappearing, and the jagged mounds revealing themselves as
+bleak harsh rock. As they drew nearer they saw beyond the hills,
+intermittent flashes of brilliant light, heard shattering blasts of
+sound.
+
+"A thunderstorm!" Wade began, but Arcot interrupted.
+
+"Not so fast, Wade--Fuller's animal _is_ there--the only animal in all
+creation that can make a noise like that! Look through the
+telescope--see those dots wheeling about there above the flashing
+lights? The only animal that can make that racket is man! There are men
+over there--and they aren't in a playful mood! Turn on the invisibility
+while we can, Morey--and let's get nearer!"
+
+"Look out--here we go!" Morey began to close a tiny switch set in one
+side of the instrument panel--then, before the relay below could move,
+he had flipped it back.
+
+"Here, you take it, Arcot--you always think about two steps ahead of
+me--you're quicker and know the machine better anyway."
+
+Quickly the two men exchanged places.
+
+"I don't know about that, Morey," said a voice from vacancy, for Arcot
+had at once thrown the ship into invisibility. "The longer we're here,
+the more mistakes I see we made in our calculations. I see what put me
+off so badly on my estimate of the intelligence of life found here! The
+sun gives it a double dose of heat--but also a double dose of other
+radiations--some of which evidently speed up evolution. Anyway, we may
+be able to find friends here more quickly if we aid one side or the
+other in the very lively battle going on there. Before we go any
+further, what's our decision?"
+
+"I think it is a fine idea," said Fuller. "But which side are we to
+aid--and what are the sides? We haven't even seen them yet. Let's go
+nearer and take a good look."
+
+"Yes--but are we going to join either side after looking?"
+
+"Oh, that's unanimous!" said Wade, excitedly.
+
+The invisible ship darted forward. They sped past the barrier of low
+hills, and were again high above a broad plain. With a startled gasp,
+Arcot cut their speed. There, floating high in the air, above a
+magnificent city, was a machine such as no man had ever before seen! It
+was a titanic airplane--monstrous, gargantuan, and every other word that
+denoted immensity. Fully three-quarters of a mile the huge metal wings
+stretched out in the dull light of the cloudy Venerian day; a machine
+that seemed to dwarf even the vast city beneath it. The roar of its
+mighty propellers was a rumbling thunder to the men in the _Solarite_.
+From it came the flashing bursts of flame.
+
+On closer inspection, the watchers saw what seemed to be a swarm of tiny
+gnats flying about the mighty plane. They appeared to be attacking the
+giant as vainly as gnats might attack an eagle, for they could not
+damage the giant machine. The flashing bombs burst in blasts of yellow
+flame as harmlessly as so many firecrackers.
+
+All that mighty plane was covered with heavy metal plates, fully ten
+inches thick, and of metal so tough that when the powerful bombs hit it
+they made no impression, though they blasted tremendous craters in the
+soil below. From it poured a steady stream of bombs that burst with a
+great flash of heat and light, and in an instant the tiny planes they
+struck streaked down as incandescent masses of metal.
+
+Yet the giant seemed unable to approach the city--or was it defending
+it? No, for it was from the city that the vainly courageous little ships
+poured out. But certainly it was not these ships that kept the titanic
+battleship of the air at bay!
+
+Tensely the men watched the uneven conflict. The rain of bombs
+continued, though all fell short of the city. But slowly around the
+metropolis there appeared an area of flaring, molten lava, and steadily
+this moved toward the beautiful buildings. Suddenly the battleship
+turned toward the city and made a short dash inward on its circling
+path. As though awaiting this maneuver, a battery of hissing, flaming
+swords of white light flashed upward, a few hundred feet from the ring
+of molten rock. As the titanic plane rolled, side-slipped out of the
+way, they passed, harmlessly, barely missing a monstrous wing.
+
+"Which?" Arcot demanded. "I say the city. No one should destroy anything
+so magnificent."
+
+Not a dissenting voice was raised, so Arcot sent the _Solarite_ nearer.
+
+"But what in the world can we do to that huge thing?" Fuller's voice
+came eerily out of the emptiness. "It has perfect invulnerability
+through size alone."
+
+There was sudden silence among the Terrestrials as one of the tiny
+planes darted forward and dove at full speed directly toward one of the
+giant's propellers. There were fifty of these strung along each great
+wing. If enough of them could be destroyed, the plane must crash. There
+came a terrific crash--a flare of light--and splintered fragments of
+flaming wreckage plummeted down. Yet the mighty blades continued
+whirling as smoothly as ever!
+
+What could the _Solarite_ do against the giant monoplane? Evidently
+Arcot had a plan. Under his touch their machine darted high into the sky
+above the great plane. There was a full mile between them when he
+released the sustaining force of the _Solarite_ and let it drop,
+straight toward the source of the battle--falling freely, ever more and
+more rapidly. They were rushing at the mighty plane below at a pace that
+made their hearts seem to pause--then suddenly Arcot cried out, "Hold
+on--here we stop!"
+
+They seemed a scant hundred feet from the broad metal wings of the
+unsuspecting plane, when suddenly there was a tremendous jerk, and each
+man felt himself pressed to the floor beneath a terrific weight that
+made their backs crack with the load. Doggedly they fought to retain
+their senses; the blackness receded.
+
+Below them they saw only a mighty sea of roaring red flames--a hell of
+blazing gas that roared like a score of bombs set off at once. The
+_Solarite_ was sitting down on her rocket jets! All six of the rocket
+tubes in the base of the ship had been opened wide, and streaming from
+them in a furious blast of incandescent gas, the atomic hydrogen shot
+out in a mighty column of gas at 3500 degrees centigrade. Where the gas
+touched it, the great plane flared to incandescence; and in an
+immeasurable interval the fall of the _Solarite_ ended, and it rebounded
+high into the air. Arcot, struggling against the weight of six
+gravities, pulled shut the little control that had sent those mighty
+torches blasting out. An instant later they sped away lest the plane
+shoot toward the gas columns.
+
+From a safe distance they looked back at their work. No longer was the
+mighty plane unscathed, invulnerable, for now in its top gaped six great
+craters of incandescent metal that almost touched and coalesced. The
+great plane itself reeled, staggering, plunging downward; but long
+before it reached the hard soil below, it was brought into level flight,
+and despite many dead engines, it circled and fled toward the south. The
+horde of small planes followed, dropping a rain of bombs into the
+glowing pits in the ship, releasing their fury in its interior. In
+moments the beings manning the marauder had to a large extent recovered
+from the shock of the attack and were fighting back. In a moment--just
+before the ship passed over the horizon and out of sight--the
+Terrestrians saw the great props that had been idle, suddenly leap into
+motion, and in an instant the giant had left its attackers
+behind--fleeing from its invisible foe.
+
+Under Arcot's guidance the ship from Earth, still invisible, returned to
+the approximate spot where they had destroyed the invulnerability of the
+Giant. Then suddenly, out of nothing, the _Solarite_ appeared. In an
+instant a dozen of the tiny two-man planes darted toward it. Just that
+they might recognize it, Arcot shot it up a bit higher with the aid of
+the keel rockets at one-third power. The typical reddish flame of atomic
+hydrogen, he knew, would be instantaneously recognizable.
+
+Little these planes were, but shaped like darts, and swifter than any
+plane of Earth. They shot along at 1000 miles an hour readily, as Arcot
+soon found out. It was not a minute before they had formed a long line
+that circled the _Solarite_ at minimum speed, then started off in the
+direction of the city. On impulse Arcot followed after them, and
+instantly the planes increased their velocity, swiftly reaching 1000
+miles per hour.
+
+The city they were approaching was an inspiring sight. Mighty towers
+swept graceful lines a half mile in the air, their brightly colored
+walls gleaming in rainbow hues, giving the entire city the aspect of a
+gigantic jewel--a single architectural unit. Here was symmetry and
+order, with every unit in the city built around the gigantic central
+edifice that rose, a tremendous tower of black and gold, a full half
+mile in the air.
+
+The outer parts of the city were evidently the residential districts,
+the low buildings and the wide streets with the little green lawns
+showing the care of the individual owner. Then came the apartment houses
+and the small stores; these rose in gentle slopes, higher and higher,
+merging at last with the mighty central pinnacle of beauty. The city was
+designed as a whole, not in a multitude of individually beautiful, but
+inharmonious units, like some wild mixture of melodies, each in itself
+beautiful, but mutually discordant.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+
+The Terrestrians followed their escort high above these great buildings,
+heading toward the great central tower. In a moment they were above it,
+and in perfect order the ships of the Venerians shot down to land
+smoothly, but at high speed. On the roof of the building they slowed
+with startling rapidity, held back by electromagnets under the top
+dressing of the roof landing, as Arcot learned later.
+
+"We can't land on that--this thing weighs too much--we'd probably sink
+right through it! The street looks wide enough for us to land there."
+Arcot maneuvered the _Solarite_ over the edge of the roof, and dropped
+it swiftly down the half mile to the ground below. Just above the
+street, he leveled off, and descended slowly, giving the hurrying crowds
+plenty of time to get from beneath it.
+
+Landing finally, he looked curiously at the mass of Venerians who had
+gathered in the busy street, coming out of buildings where they
+evidently had sought shelter during the raid. The crowd grew rapidly as
+the Terrestrians watched them--people of a new world.
+
+"Why," exclaimed Fuller in startled surprise, "they look almost like
+us!"
+
+"Why not?" laughed Arcot. "Is there any particular reason why they
+shouldn't look like us? Venus and Earth are very nearly the same size,
+and are planets of the same parent sun. Physical conditions here appear
+to be very similar to conditions back home, and if there's anything to
+Svend Arrehenius' theory of life spores being sent from world to world
+by sunlight, there's no reason why humanoid races cannot be found
+throughout the universe. On worlds, that is, suitable for the
+development of such life forms."
+
+"Look at the size of 'em," Fuller commented.
+
+Their size was certainly worth noting, for in all that crowd only the
+obviously young were less than six feet tall. The average seemed to be
+seven feet--well-built men and women with unusually large chests, who
+would have seemed very human indeed, but for a ghastly, death-like blue
+tinge to their skin. Even their lips were as bright a blue as man's lips
+are red. The teeth seemed to be as white as any human's, but their
+mouths were blue.
+
+"They look as if they'd all been eating blueberries!" laughed Wade. "I
+wonder what makes their blood blue? I've heard of blue-blooded families,
+but these are the first I've ever seen!"
+
+"I think I can answer that," said Morey slowly. "It seems odd to us--but
+those people evidently have their blood based on hemocyanin. In us, the
+oxygen is carried to the tissues, and the carbon dioxide carried away by
+an iron compound, hemoglobin, but in many animals of Earth, the same
+function is performed by a copper compound, hemocyanin, which is an
+intense blue. I am sure that that is the explanation for these strange
+people. By the way, did you notice their hands?"
+
+"Yes, I had. They strike me as having one too many fingers--look
+there--that fellow is pointing--why--his hand hasn't too many fingers,
+but too many thumbs! He has one on each side of his palm! Say, that
+would be handy in placing nuts and bolts, and such fine work, wouldn't
+it?"
+
+Suddenly a lane opened in the crowd, and from the great black and gold
+building there came a file of men in tight-fitting green uniforms; a
+file of seven-foot giants. Obviously they were soldiers of some
+particular branch, for in the crowd there were a number of men dressed
+in similar uniforms of deep blue.
+
+"I think they want one or more of us to accompany them," Arcot said.
+"Let's flip a coin to decide who goes--two better stay here, and two go.
+If we don't come back inside of a reasonable period of time, one of you
+might start making inquiries; the other can send a message to Earth, and
+get out of harm's way till help can come. I imagine these people are
+friendly now, however--else I wouldn't go."
+
+The leader of the troop stepped up to the door of the _Solarite_, and
+coming to what was obviously a position of attention, put his left hand
+over his right breast in an equally obvious salute, and waited.
+
+The coin was flipped with due ceremony--it would decide which of them
+were to have the distinction of being the first Terrestrians to set foot
+on Venus. Arcot and Morey won, and they quickly put on the loose-fitting
+ventilated cooling suits that they might live comfortably in the hot air
+outside--for the thermometer registered 150 deg.!
+
+The two men quickly walked over to the airlock, entered, closed it
+behind them, and opened the outer door. There was a slight rush of air,
+as the pressure outside was a bit lower than that inside. There was a
+singing in their ears, and they had to swallow several times to equalize
+the pressure.
+
+The guards at once fell into a double row on either side of them, and
+the young officer strode ahead. He himself had curbed his curiosity
+after the single startled glance he had given these strange men. Only
+their hands were visible, for the cooling suits covered them almost
+completely, but the strange pink color must indeed have been startling
+to the eyes; also their dwarf stature, and the strange suits they wore.
+The men of his little troop, however, as well as the people in the crowd
+about them, were not so disinterested. They were looking in eager
+amazement at these men who had just saved their city, these strange
+small men with their queer pink skin. And most surprising of all,
+perhaps, the inner thumb was missing from each hand!
+
+But soon they had passed beyond the sight of the crowd, which was held
+in check by a handful of the deep blue uniformed men.
+
+"Those fellows would never hold such a Terrestrial crowd back if
+visitors from another planet landed!" remarked Morey wonderingly.
+
+"How do they know we are visitors from another planet?" Arcot objected.
+"We suddenly appeared out of nowhere--they don't even know our direction
+of approach. We might be some strange race of Venerians as far as they
+know."
+
+They walked briskly up to the massive gold and black entrance, and
+passed through the great doors that seemed made of solid copper, painted
+with some clear coating that kept the metal lustrous, the rich color
+shining magnificently. They stood open wide now, as indeed they always
+were. Even the giant Venerians were dwarfed by these mighty doors as
+they passed through into an equally vast hall, a tremendous room that
+must have filled all the front half of the ground floor of the gigantic
+building, a hall of graceful columns that hid the great supporting
+members. The stone, they knew, must serve the Venerians as marble serves
+us, but it was a far more handsome stone. It was a rich green, like the
+green of thick, heavy grass in summer when the rain is plentiful. The
+color was very pleasing to the eye, and restful too. There was a
+checker-board floor of this green stone, alternated with another, a
+stone of intense blue. They were hard, and the colors made a very
+striking pattern, pleasingly different from what they had been
+accustomed to, but common to Venus, as they later learned.
+
+At last the party had crossed the great hall, and stopped beside a large
+doorway. The officer halted for a moment, and gestured toward two of his
+men, who remained, while the others walked quickly away. The diminished
+party stepped through the doorway into a small room whose walls were
+lined with copper, and an instant later, as the officer pushed a small
+button, there was a low hiss of escaping air, and a copper grating
+sprang quickly up across the opening of the elevator. He touched another
+button, and there was the familiar sinking feeling as the car rose, a
+low hum seeming to come from its base.
+
+The elevator rose swiftly through a very considerable distance--up--up,
+endlessly.
+
+"They must have some wonderfully strong cables here on Venus!" Morey
+exclaimed. "The engineers of Terrestrial buildings have been wondering
+for some time how to get around the difficulty of shifting elevators.
+The idea of changing cars doesn't appeal to me, either--but we must have
+risen a long way!"
+
+"I should say so--I wonder how they do it. We've been rising for a
+minute and a half at a very fair clip--there we are; end of the line--I
+want to look at this car!" Arcot stepped over to the control board,
+looked at it closely, then stepped out and peered down between the car
+and the shaft as the copper grating fell, simultaneously pulling down
+with it the door that had blocked off the hallway.
+
+"Come here, Morey--simple system at that! It would be so, of course.
+Look--they have tracks, and a regular trolley system, with cog rails
+alongside, and the car just winds itself up! They have a motor
+underneath, I'll bet, and just run it up in that way. They have never
+done that on Earth because of the cost of running the car up without too
+much power. I think I see the solution--the car has electro-dynamical
+brakes, and descending, just slows itself down by pumping power into the
+line to haul some other car up. This is a mighty clever scheme!"
+
+As Arcot straightened, the officer beckoned to him to follow, and
+started down the long corridor which was lined on either side with large
+doorways, much like a very exotic earthly office building. Passing
+through a long series of branching corridors they at last reached one
+that terminated in a large office, into which the young officer led
+them. Snapping to attention, he spoke briefly and rapidly, saluted and
+retired with his two men.
+
+The man before whom the Terrestrians stood was a tall, kindly-faced old
+gentleman. His straight black hair was tinged with bluish gray, and the
+kindly face bore the lines of age, but the smiling eyes, and the air of
+sincere interest gave his countenance an amazingly youthful air. It was
+warm and friendly despite its disconcerting blueness. He looked
+curiously, questioningly at the two men before him, looked at their
+hands, his eyes widening in surprise; then he stepped quickly forward,
+and extended his hand, at the same time looking toward Arcot.
+
+Smiling, Arcot extended his own. The Venerian grasped it--then with an
+exclamation on the part of each, they mutually released each other,
+Arcot feeling an uncomfortable sensation of heat, just as the Venerian
+felt a flash of intense cold! Each stared from his hand to the hand of
+the other in surprise, then a smile curved the blue lips of the Venerian
+as he very emphatically put his hand at his side. Arcot smiled in turn,
+and said to Morey in an animated tone:
+
+"They have a body temperature of at least 170 deg. Fahrenheit. It would
+naturally be above room temperature, which is 150 deg. here, so that they
+are most unpleasantly hot to us. Marvelous how nature adapts herself to
+her surroundings!" He chuckled. "I hope these fellows don't have fevers.
+They'd be apt to boil over!"
+
+The Venerian had picked up a small rectangle of black material, smooth
+and solid. He drew quickly upon it with what appeared to be a pencil of
+copper. In a moment he handed the tablet to Arcot, who reached out for
+it, then changed his mind, and motioned that he didn't want to burn his
+fingers. The old Venerian held it where Arcot could see it.
+
+"Why, Morey, look here--I didn't think they had developed astronomy to
+any degree, because of the constant clouds, but look at this. He has a
+nice little map of the solar system, with Mercury, Venus, Earth, the
+Moon, Mars, and all the rest on it. He has drawn in several of the
+satellites of Jupiter and of Saturn too."
+
+The Venerian pointed to Mars and looked inquisitively at them. Arcot
+shook his head and pointed quickly to Earth. The Venetian seemed a bit
+surprised at this, then thought a moment and nodded in satisfaction. He
+looked at Arcot intently. Then to the latter's amazement, there seemed
+to form in his mind a thought--at first vague, then quickly taking
+definite form.
+
+"Man of Earth," it seemed to say, "we thank you--you have saved our
+nation. We want to thank you for your quick response to our signals. We
+had not thought that you could answer us so soon." The Venerian seemed
+to relax as the message was finished. It obviously had required great
+mental effort.
+
+Arcot looked steadily into his eyes now, and tried to concentrate on a
+message--on a series of ideas. To him, trained though he was in deep
+concentration on one idea, the process of visualizing a series of ideas
+was new, and very difficult. But he soon saw that he was making some
+progress.
+
+"We came in response to no signals--exploration only--we saw the
+battle--and aided because your city seemed doomed, and because it seemed
+too beautiful to be destroyed."
+
+"What's it all about, Arcot?" asked Morey wonderingly, as he watched
+them staring at each other.
+
+"Mental telepathy," Arcot answered briefly. "I'm terribly thick from his
+point of view, but I just learned that they sent signals to Earth--why,
+I haven't learned--but I'm making progress. If I don't crack under the
+strain, I'll find out sooner or later--so wait and see." He turned again
+to the Venerian.
+
+The latter was frowning at him rather dubiously. With sudden decision he
+turned to his desk, and pulled down a small lever. Then again he looked
+intently at Arcot.
+
+"Come with me--the strain of this conversation is too great--I see you
+do not have thought transference on your world."
+
+"Come along, Morey--we're going somewhere. He says this thought
+transference is too much for us. I wonder what he is going to do?"
+
+Out into the maze of halls they went again, now led by the kindly
+seven-foot Venerian. After walking through a long series of halls, they
+reached a large auditorium, where already there had gathered in the
+semi-circle of seats a hundred or so of the tall, blue-tinged Venerians.
+Before them, on a low platform, were two large, deeply-cushioned chairs.
+To these chairs the two Terrestrians were led.
+
+"We will try to teach you our language telepathically. We can give you
+the ideas--you must learn the pronunciation, but this will be very much
+quicker. Seat yourselves in these chairs and relax."
+
+The chairs had been designed for the seven-footers. These men were six
+feet and six feet six, respectively, yet it seemed to them, as they sank
+into the cushions, that never had they felt such comfortable chairs.
+They were designed to put every muscle and every nerve at rest.
+Luxuriously, almost in spite of themselves, they relaxed.
+
+Dimly Arcot felt a wave of sleepiness sweep over him; he yawned
+prodigiously. There was no conscious awareness of his sinking into a
+deep slumber. It seemed that suddenly visions began to fill his
+mind--visions that developed with a returning consciousness--up from the
+dark, into a dream world. He saw a mighty fleet whose individual planes
+were a mile long, with three-quarters of a mile wingspread--titanic
+monoplanes, whose droning thunder seemed to roar through all space. Then
+suddenly they were above him, and from each there spurted a great stream
+of dazzling brilliance, an intense glow that reached down, and touched
+the city. An awful concussion blasted his ears. All the world about him
+erupted in unimaginable brilliance; then darkness fell.
+
+Another vision filled his mind--a vision of the same fleet hanging over
+a giant crater of molten rock, a crater that gaped angrily in a plain
+beside low green hills--a crater that had been a city. The giants of the
+air circled, turned, and sped over the horizon. Again he was with
+them--and again he saw a great city fuse in a blazing flash of blinding
+light--again and yet again--until around all that world he saw smoking
+ruins of great cities, now blasted crimson craters in a world of fearful
+desolation.
+
+The destroyers rode up, up, up--out of the clouds--and he was with them.
+Out beyond the swirling mists, where the cold of space seemed to reach
+in at them, and the roaring of the mighty propellers was a thin
+whine--then suddenly that was gone, and from the tail of each of the
+titanic machines there burst a great stream of light, a blazing column
+that roared back, and lit all space for miles around--rocket jets that
+sent them swiftly across space!
+
+He saw them approaching another world, a world that shone a dull red,
+but he saw the markings and knew that it was Earth, not Mars. The great
+planes began falling now--falling at an awful speed into the upper air
+of the planet, and in an instant the rocket flares were gone, fading and
+dying in the dense air. Again there came the roar of the mighty
+propellers. Then swiftly the fleet of giants swooped down, lower and
+lower. He became aware of its destination--a spot he knew must be New
+York--but a strangely distorted New York--a Venerian city, where New
+York should have been. And again, the bombs rained down. In an instant
+the gigantic city was a smoking ruin.
+
+The visions faded, and slowly he opened his eyes, looked about him. He
+was still in the room of the circle of chairs--he was still on
+Venus--then with sudden shock, understanding came. He knew the meaning
+of these visions--the meaning of that strangely distorted New York, of
+that red earth. It meant that this was what the Venerians believed was
+to happen! They were trying to show him the plans of the owners and
+builders of those gigantic ships! The New York he had seen was New York
+as these men imagined it.
+
+Startled, confused, his forehead furrowed, he rose unsteadily to his
+feet. His head seemed whirling in the throes of a terrific headache. The
+men about him were looking anxiously at him. He glanced toward Morey. He
+was sleeping deeply in the seat, his features now and again reflecting
+his sensations. It was his turn to learn this new language and see the
+visions.
+
+The old Venerian who had brought them there walked up to Arcot and spoke
+to him in a softly musical language, a language that was sibilant and
+predominated in liquid sounds; there were no gutturals, no nasals; it
+was a more musical language than Earth men had ever before heard, and
+now Arcot started in surprise, for he understood it perfectly; the
+language was as familiar as English.
+
+"We have taught you our language as quickly as possible--you may have a
+headache, but you must know what we know as soon as possible. It may
+well be that the fate of two worlds hangs on your actions. These men
+have concentrated on you and taught you very rapidly with the massed
+power of their minds, giving you visions of what we know to be in
+preparation. You must get back to your wonderful ship as quickly as
+possible; and yet you must know what has happened here on our world in
+the last few years, as well as what happened twenty centuries ago.
+
+"Come with me to my office, and we will talk. When your friend has also
+learned, you may tell him."
+
+Quickly Arcot followed the Venerian down the long corridors of the
+building. The few people they met seemed intent on their own business,
+paying little attention to them.
+
+At last they seated themselves in the office where Arcot had first met
+his escort; and there he listened to a new history--the history of
+another planet.
+
+"My name is Tonlos," the old man said. "I am a leader of my
+people--though my title and position are unimportant. To explain would
+entail a prolonged discussion of our social structure, and there is no
+time for that. Later, perhaps--but now to our history.
+
+"Twenty centuries ago," Tonlos continued, "there were two great rival
+nations on this planet. The planet Turo is naturally divided so that
+there would be a tendency toward such division. There are two enormous
+belts of land around the globe, one running from about 20 degrees north
+of the equator to about 80 degrees north. This is my country, Lanor. To
+the south there is a similar great belt of land, of almost identical
+size, Kaxor. These two nations have existed for many thousands of our
+years.
+
+"Two thousand years ago a great crisis arose in the affairs of the
+world--a great war was in process of starting--but a Lanorian developed
+a weapon that made it impossible for the Kaxorians to win--and war was
+averted. The feeling was so strong, however, that laws were passed which
+stopped all intercourse between the two nations for these thousands of
+years. By devious ways we've learned that Kaxor has concentrated on the
+study of physics, perhaps in hopes of finding a weapon with which they
+could threaten us once more. Lanor has studied the secrets of the human
+mind and body. We have no disease here any longer; we have no insanity.
+We are students of chemistry, but physics has been neglected to a great
+extent. Recently, however, we have again taken up this science, since it
+alone of the main sciences had not received our study. Only twenty-five
+years have been spent on these researches, and in that short time we
+cannot hope to do what the Kaxorians have done in two thousand.
+
+"The secret of the heat ray, the weapon that prevented the last war, had
+been almost forgotten. It required diligent research to bring it to life
+again, for it is a very inefficient machine--or was. Of late, however,
+we have been able to improve it, and now it is used in commerce to smelt
+our ores. It was this alone that allowed this city to put up the slight
+resistance that we did. We were surely doomed. This is the capital of
+Lanor, Sonor. We--and the nation--would have fallen but for you.
+
+"We have had some warning that this was coming. We have spies in Kaxor
+now, for we learned of their intentions when they flew the first of
+their giant planes over one of our cities and dropped a bomb! We have
+been trying, since we discovered the awful scope of their plans, to send
+you a warning if you could not help us. That you should come here at
+this particular time is almost beyond belief--a practically impossible
+coincidence--but perhaps there is more than coincidence behind it? Who
+knows?" He paused briefly; went on with a heavy sigh: "Since you drove
+that plane away, we can expect a new raid at any moment, and we must be
+prepared. Is there any way you can signal your planet?"
+
+"Yes--we can signal easily," Arcot answered; he struggled with the newly
+acquired language. "I do not know the word in your tongue--it may be
+that you do not have it--radio we call it--it is akin to light, but of
+vastly longer wavelength. Produced electrically, it can be directed like
+light and sent in a beam by means of a reflection. It can penetrate all
+substances except metals, and can leak around them, if it be not
+directional. With it I can talk readily with the men of Earth, and this
+very night I will."
+
+Arcot paused, frowning thoughtfully, then continued, "I know there's
+definite need for haste, but we can't do anything until Morey has
+received the knowledge you've given me. While we're waiting here, I
+might just as well learn all I can about your planet. The more I know,
+the more intelligently I'll be able to plan for our defense."
+
+In the conversation which followed, Arcot gained a general knowledge of
+the physical makeup of Venus. He learned that iron was an exceedingly
+rare element on the planet, while platinum was relatively plentiful.
+Gold, though readily available, was considered a nuisance, since it was
+of no practical value due to its softness, excessive weight and its
+affinity for many catalysts. Most of the other metallic elements were
+present in quantities approximating those of Earth, except for an
+element called "morlus". When Tonlos mentioned this, Arcot said:
+
+"Morlus--I have the word in your language--but I do not know the
+element. What is it?"
+
+"Why--here is some!"
+
+Tonlos handed Arcot a small block of metal that had been used as a
+weight on a table in one corner of the room. It seemed fairly dense,
+about as heavy as iron, but it had a remarkably bluish tint. Obviously,
+it was the element that composed the wings of the airplane they had
+seen that afternoon. Arcot examined it carefully, handicapped somewhat
+by its heat. He picked up a small copper rod and tried to scratch it but
+there was no noticeable effect.
+
+"You cannot scratch it with copper," said Tonlos. "It is the second
+hardest metal we know--it is not as hard as chromium, but far less
+brittle. It is malleable, ductile, very very strong, very tough,
+especially when alloyed with iron, but those alloys are used only in
+very particular work because of iron's rarity."
+
+Indicating the bluish block, Arcot said, "I'd like to identify this
+element. May I take it back to the ship and test it?"
+
+"You may, by all means. You will have considerable difficulty getting it
+into solution, however. It is attacked only by boiling selenic acid
+which, as you must know, dissolves platinum readily. The usual test for
+the element is to so dissolve it, oxidize it to an acid, then test with
+radium selenate, when a brilliant greenish blue salt is--"
+
+"Test with radium selenate!" Arcot exclaimed. "Why, we have no radium
+salts whatever on Earth that we could use for that purpose. Radium is
+exceedingly rare!"
+
+"Radium is by no means plentiful here," Tonlos replied, "but we seldom
+have to test for morlus, and we have plenty of radium salts for that
+purpose. We have never found any other use for radium--it is so active
+that it combines with water just as sodium does; it is very soft--a
+useless metal, and dangerous to handle. Our chemists have never been
+able to understand it--it is always in some kind of reaction no matter
+what they do, and still it gives off that very light gas, helium, and a
+heavy gas, niton, and an unaccountable amount of heat."
+
+"Your world is vastly different from ours," Arcot commented. He told
+Tonlos of the different metals of Earth, the non-metals, and their
+occurrence. But try as he would, he could not place the metal Tonlos had
+given him.
+
+Morey's arrival interrupted their discussion. He looked very tired, and
+very serious. His head ached from his unwonted mental strain, just as
+Arcot's had. Briefly Arcot told him what he had learned, concluding with
+a question as to why Morey thought the two planets, both members of the
+same solar family, should be so different.
+
+"I have an idea," said Morey slowly, "and it doesn't seem _too_ wacky.
+As you know, by means of solar photography, astronomers have mapped the
+sun, charting the location of the different elements. We've seen
+hydrogen, oxygen, silicon and others, and as the sun aged, the elements
+must have been mixed up more and more thoroughly. Yet we have seen the
+vast areas of single elements. Some of those areas are so vast that they
+could easily be the source of an entire world! I wonder if it is not
+possible that Earth was thrown off from some deposit rich in iron,
+aluminum and calcium, and poor in gold, radium and those other
+metals--and particularly poor in one element. We have located in the sun
+the spectrum of an element we have named coronium--and I think you have
+a specimen of coronium in your hand there! I'd say Venus came from a
+coronium-rich region!"
+
+The discussion ended there, for already the light outside had deepened
+to a murky twilight. The Terrestrians were led quickly down to the
+elevator, which dropped them rapidly to the ground. There was still a
+large crowd about the _Solarite_, but the way was quickly cleared for
+them. As the men passed through the crowd, a peculiar sensation struck
+them very forcibly. It seemed that everyone in the crowd was wishing
+them the greatest success--the best of good things in every wish.
+
+"The ultimate in applause! Morey, I'll swear we just received a silent
+cheer!" exclaimed Arcot, as they stood inside the airlock of the ship
+once more. It seemed home to them now! In a moment they had taken off
+the uncomfortable ventilating suits and stepped once more into the room
+where Wade and Fuller awaited them.
+
+"Say--what were you fellows doing?" Wade demanded. "We were actually
+getting ready to do some inquiring about your health!"
+
+"I know we were gone a long time--but when you hear the reason you'll
+agree it was worth it. See if you can raise Earth on the radio, Morey,
+will you, while I tell these fellows what happened? If you succeed, tell
+them to call in Dad and your father, and to have a couple of tape
+recorders on the job. We'll want a record of what I have to send. Say
+that we'll call back in an hour." Then, while Morey was busy down in the
+power room sending the signals out across the forty million miles of
+space that separated them from their home planet, Arcot told Wade and
+Fuller what they had learned.
+
+Morey finally succeeded in getting his message through, and returned to
+say that they would be waiting in one hour. He had had to wait eight
+minutes after sending his message to get any answer, however, due to
+time required for radio waves to make the two-way trip.
+
+"Fuller," Arcot said, "as chef, suppose you see what you can concoct
+while Wade and I start on this piece of coronium and see what there is
+to learn."
+
+At the supper table Wade and Arcot reported to the others the curious
+constants they had discovered for coronium. It was not attacked by any
+acid except boiling selenic acid, since it formed a tremendous number of
+insoluble salts. Even the nitrate violated the long-held rule that "all
+nitrates are soluble"--it wouldn't dissolve. Yet it was chemically more
+active than gold.
+
+But its physical constants were the most surprising. It melted at 2800 deg.
+centigrade, a very high melting point indeed. Very few metals are solid
+at that temperature. But the tensile strength test made with a standard
+bar they finally turned out by means of a carbaloy tool, gave a reading
+of more than one million, three hundred thousand pounds per square inch!
+It was far stronger than iron--stronger than tungsten, the strongest
+metal heretofore known. It was twice as strong as the Earth's strongest
+metal!
+
+Fuller whistled in awe. "No wonder they can make a plane like that when
+they have such a metal to work with." The designing engineer had visions
+of a machine after his own heart--one in which half the weight was
+_not_ employed in holding it together!
+
+It was a little later that they got communication through to Earth, and
+the men went to the power room. The television screen was struggling to
+form a clear image despite the handicap of forty million miles of space.
+In a moment it had cleared, though, and they saw the face of Dr. Arcot.
+He showed plainly that he was worried about the startling news that had
+reached him already, sketchy though it was. After brief though warm
+greetings, his son rapidly outlined to him the full extent of their
+discoveries, and the force that Earth would have to meet.
+
+"Dad, these Kaxorians have planes capable of far more than a thousand
+miles an hour in the air. For some reason the apparatus they use to
+propel them in space is inoperative in air, but their propellers will
+drive them forward faster than any plane Earth ever saw. You must start
+at once on a fleet of these molecular motion planes--and a lot of the
+gas Wade developed--you know how to make it--the animation suspending
+gas. They don't have it--and I believe it will be useful. I'll try to
+develop some new weapons here. If either of us makes any progress along
+new lines--we'll report to the other. I must stop now--a Lanorian
+delegation is coming." After a few words of farewell, Arcot severed
+connections with the Earth and arose to await the arrival of the
+visitors.
+
+Since the return of the Terrestrians to the _Solarite_, a great crowd of
+Venerians had gathered around it, awaiting a glimpse of the men, for the
+news had spread that this ship had come from Earth. Now, the crowd had
+divided, and a group of men was approaching, clothed in great heavy
+coats that seemed warm enough to wear in Terrestrial arctic regions!
+
+"Why--Arcot--what's the idea of the winter regalia?" asked Fuller in
+surprise.
+
+"Think a moment--they are going to visit a place whose temperature is
+seventy degrees colder than their room temperature. In the bargain,
+Venus never has any seasonal change of temperature, and a heavy bank of
+clouds that eternally cover the planet keeps the temperature as constant
+as a thermocouple arrangement could. The slight change from day to night
+is only appreciable by the nightly rains--see--the crowd is beginning to
+break up now. It's night already, and there is a heavy dew settling.
+Soon it will be rain, and the great amount of moisture in the air will
+supply enough heat, in condensing, to prevent a temperature drop of more
+than two or three degrees. These men are not used to changes in
+temperature as we are and hence they must protect themselves far more
+fully."
+
+Three figures now entered the airlock of the _Solarite_, and muffled in
+heavy garments as they were, large under any conditions, they had to
+come through one at a time.
+
+Much that Arcot showed them was totally new to them. Much he could not
+explain to them at all, for their physics had not yet reached that
+stage.
+
+But there was one thing he could show them, and he did. There were no
+samples of the liquids he wanted, but their chemistry was developed to a
+point that permitted the communication of the necessary data and Arcot
+told them the formula of Wade's gas. Its ability to penetrate any
+material at ordinary temperatures, combined with its anesthetic
+properties, gave it obvious advantages as a weapon for rendering the
+opposing forces defenseless.
+
+Since it was able to penetrate all substances, there was no means of
+storing it. Hence it was made in the form of two liquids which reacted
+spontaneously and produced the gas, which was then projected to the spot
+where needed.
+
+Arcot asked now that the Venerian chemists make him a supply of these
+two liquids; and they promptly agreed. He felt he would have a fighting
+chance in combatting the enemy if he could but capture one of their
+flying forts. It seemed a strange task! Capturing so huge a machine with
+only the tiny _Solarite_--but Arcot felt there was a good possibility of
+his doing it if he but had a supply of that gas.
+
+There was one difficulty--one step in the synthesis required a
+considerable quantity of chlorine. Since chlorine was rare on Venus,
+the men were forced to sacrifice most of their salt supply; but this
+chlorine so generated could be used over and over again.
+
+It was quite late when the Venerians left, to go again into the scalding
+hot rain, rain that seemed to them to be a cold drizzle. After they had
+gone, the Terrestrians turned in for the night, leaving a telephone
+connection with the armed guard outside.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The dull light of the Venerian day was filtering in through the windows
+the next morning when the Terrestrians awoke. It was eight o'clock, New
+York time, but Sonor was working on a twenty-three hour day. It happened
+that Sonor and New York had been in opposition at midnight two nights
+ago, which meant that it was now ten o'clock Sonorian time. The result
+was that Arcot left the car to speak to the officer in charge of the
+guard about the ship.
+
+"We need some pure water--water free of copper salts. I think it would
+be best if you can get me some water that has been distilled. That is,
+for drinking. Also we need about two tons of water of any kind--the
+ship's tanks need recharging. I'd like about a ton of the drinking
+water." Arcot had to translate the Terrestrian measures into the
+corresponding Venerian terms, of course, but still the officer seemed
+puzzled. Such a large amount of water would create a real problem in
+transportation. After apparently conferring by telepathic means with his
+superiors, the officer asked if the _Solarite_ could be moved to some
+more accessible place.
+
+Arcot agreed to have it moved to a spot just outside the city, where the
+water could be procured directly from a stream. The drinking water would
+be ready when he returned to the city.
+
+The _Solarite_ was moved to the bank of the little river and the
+electrolysis apparatus was set up beside it. During the previous day,
+and ever since they had landed on Venus, all their power had been coming
+from the storage cells, but now that the electrolysis apparatus was to
+establish such a heavy and constant drain, Arcot started the generator,
+to both charge the cells, and to do the work needed.
+
+Throughout the day there could be heard the steady hum of the generator,
+and the throb-throb-throb of the oxygen pump, as the gas was pumped into
+the huge tanks. The apparatus they were using produced the gas very
+rapidly, but it was near nightfall before the huge tanks had again been
+filled. Even then there was a bit more room for the atomic hydrogen that
+was simultaneously formed, although twice as much hydrogen as oxygen was
+produced. Its task completed, the _Solarite_ rose again and sped toward
+the distant city.
+
+A soft red glow filled the sky now, for even through the miles of clouds
+the intense sun was able to force some direct rays, and all the city was
+lighted with that warm radiance. The floodlights had not yet been turned
+on, but the great buildings looming high in the ruddy light were
+wonderfully impressive, the effect being heightened by the planned
+construction, for there were no individual spires, only a single mass
+that grew from the ground to tower high in the air, like some man-made
+mountain.
+
+Back at the Capital the _Solarite_ again settled into the broad avenue
+that had been cut off to traffic now, and allotted to it as its resting
+place. Tonlos met them shortly after they had settled into place, and
+with him were five men, each carrying two large bottles.
+
+"Ah-co," as Tonlos pronounced the Terrestrian name, "we have not been
+able to make very much of the materials needed for your gas, but before
+we made any very great amount, we tried it out on an animal, whose blood
+structure is the same as ours, and found it had the same effect, but
+that in our case the iodide of potassium is not as effective in
+awakening the victim as is the sorlus. I do not know whether you have
+tried that on Terrestrial animals or not. Luckily sorlus is the most
+plentiful of the halogen groups; we have far more of it than of
+chlorine, bromine or iodine."
+
+"Sorlus? I do not know of it--it must be one of the other elements that
+we do not have on Earth. What are its properties?"
+
+"It, too, is much like iodine, but heavier. It is a black solid melting
+at 570 degrees; it is a metallic looking element, will conduct
+electricity somewhat, oxidizes in air to form an acidic oxide, and forms
+strong oxygen acids. It is far less active than iodine, except toward
+oxygen. It is very slightly soluble in water. It does not react readily
+with hydrogen, and the acid where formed is not as strong as HI."
+
+"I have seen so many new things here, I wonder if it may not be the
+element that precedes niton. Is it heavier than that?"
+
+"No," replied Tonlos; "it is just lighter than that element you call
+niton. I think you have none of it."
+
+"Then," said Arcot, "it must be the next member of the halogen series,
+Morey. I'll bet they have a number of those heavier elements."
+
+The gas was loaded aboard the _Solarite_ that evening, and when Wade saw
+the quantity that they had said was "rather disappointingly small" he
+laughed heartily.
+
+"Small! They don't know what that gas will do! There's enough stuff
+there to gas this whole city. Why, with that, we can bring down any
+ship! But tell them to go on making it, for we can use it on the other
+ships."
+
+Again that night they spoke with Earth, and Morey, Senior, told them
+that work was already under way on a hundred small ships. They were
+using all their own ships already, while the Government got ready to act
+on the idea of danger. It had been difficult to convince them that
+someone on Venus was getting ready to send a force to Earth to destroy
+them; but the weight of their scientific reputation had turned the
+trick. The ships now under construction would be ready in three weeks.
+They would be unable to go into space, but they would be very fast, and
+capable of carrying large tanks of the gas-producing chemicals.
+
+It was near midnight, Venerian time, when they turned in. The following
+day they planned to start for the Kaxorian construction camp. They had
+learned from Tonlos that there were but five of the giant planes
+completed now, but there were fifteen more under construction, to make
+up the fleet of twenty that was to attack Earth. These fifteen others
+would be ready in a week--or less. When they were ready, the _Solarite_
+would stand small chance. They must capture one of the giants and learn
+its secrets, and then, if possible, with the weapons and knowledge of
+two worlds, defeat them. A large order!
+
+Their opportunity came sooner than they had hoped for--or wanted. It was
+about three o'clock in the morning when the telephone warning hummed
+loudly through the ship. Arcot answered.
+
+Far to the east and south of them the line of scout planes that
+patrolled all the borders of Lanor had been broken. Instantaneously, it
+seemed, out of the dark, its lights obscured, the mighty Kaxorian craft
+had come, striking a tiny scout plane head on, destroying it utterly
+before the scout had a chance to turn from the path of the titanic ship.
+But even as the plane spun downward, the pilot had managed to release a
+magnesium flare, a blindingly brilliant light that floated down on a
+parachute, and in the blaze of the white light it gave off, the other
+scouts at a few miles distance had seen the mighty bulk of the Kaxorian
+plane. At once they had dropped to the ground and then, by telephone
+lines, had sent their report to far off Sonor.
+
+In moments the interior of the _Solarite_ became a scene of swift
+purposeful activity. All day the Terrestrians had been able to do so
+little in preparation for the conflict they knew must come, the battle
+for two worlds. They had wanted action, but they had no weapons except
+their invisibility and the atomic hydrogen. It would not sink a plane.
+It would only break open its armor, and they hoped, paralyze its crew.
+And on this alone they must pin their hopes.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+
+Arcot lifted the _Solarite_ at once high into the air, and started
+toward the point on the border, where the plane had been seen crossing.
+In a short time Wade relieved him at the controls while he dressed.
+
+They had been flying on in silence for about an hour, when suddenly Wade
+made out in the distance the great bulk of the plane, against the dull
+gray of the clouds, a mile or so above them. It seemed some monstrous
+black bat flying there against the sky, but down to the sensitive
+microphone on the side of the _Solarite_ came the drone of the hundred
+mighty propellers as the great plane forged swiftly along.
+
+Just how rapidly these giants moved, Arcot had not appreciated until he
+attempted to overtake this one. It was going over a mile a second now--a
+speed that demanded only that it move its own length in about
+five-eights of a second! It made this tremendous speed by streamlining
+and through sheer power.
+
+The _Solarite_ hovered high above the dark ship at length, the roar of
+the terrific air blast from its propellers below coming up to them as a
+mighty wave of sound that made their own craft tremble! The hundred
+gigantic propellers roaring below, however, would distribute their gas
+perfectly.
+
+"We're going invisible," Arcot exclaimed. "Look out!" There was a click
+as the switch shut, and the _Solarite_ was as transparent as the air
+above it. Arcot drove his ship swiftly, above and ahead of the mighty
+colossus, then released the gas. There was a low hiss from the power
+room, barely detectable despite the vacuum that shut them off from the
+roar of the Kaxorian plane. The microphone had long since been
+disconnected. Out of the gas vent streamed a cloud of purplish gas,
+becoming faintly visible as it left the influence of the invisibility
+apparatus, but only to those who knew where to look for it. The men in
+that mighty plane could not see it as their machine bore down into the
+little cloud of gas.
+
+Tensely the Terrestrians waited. Moments--and the gigantic plane
+wobbled! There was a sudden swerve that ended in a nose dive, straight
+toward Venus seven miles below.
+
+That the ship should crash into the ground below was not at all Arcot's
+plan, and he was greatly relieved when it flattened its dive and started
+to climb, its incalculable mass rapidly absorbing its kinetic energy.
+Down from its seven mile height it glided, controlling itself perfectly
+as Arcot released the last of the first four containers of the liquid
+gas makers, putting to sleep the last man on the ship below.
+
+In a long glide that carried it over many miles, the great ship
+descended. It had sunk far, and gone smoothly, but now there loomed
+ahead of it a range of low hills! It would certainly crash into the
+rocky cliffs ahead! Nearer and nearer drew the barrier while Arcot and
+the others watched with rigid attention. It might skim above those low
+hills at that--just barely escaping.... The watchers cringed as head on,
+at nearly two thousand miles an hour, the machine crashed into the
+rocks. Arcot had snapped the loud speaker into the circuit once more,
+and now as they looked at the sudden crash below, there thundered up to
+them mighty waves of sound!
+
+The giant plane had struck about twenty feet from the top of a nearly
+perpendicular cliff. The terrific crash was felt by seismographs in
+Sonor nearly two thousand miles away! The mighty armored hull plowed
+into the rocks like some gigantic meteor, the hundreds of thousands of
+tons crushing the rocky precipice, grinding it to powder, and shaking
+the entire hill. The cliff seemed to buckle and crack. In moments the
+plane had been brought to rest, but it had plowed through twenty feet of
+rock for nearly an eighth of a mile. For an instant it hung motionless,
+perched perilously in the air, its tail jutting out over the little
+valley, then slowly, majestically it sank, to strike with a
+reverberating crash that shattered the heavy armor plate!
+
+For another instant the great motors continued turning, the roar of the
+propellers like some throbbing background to the rending crashes as the
+titanic wreck came to rest. Suddenly, with a series of roaring
+explosions, the bank of motors in the left wing blew up with awful
+force. There was a flash of indescribable brilliance that momentarily
+blinded the watching Terrestrians; then there came to the microphone
+such waves of sound as it could not reproduce. From the rock on which
+rested the fused mass of metal that they knew had been the wing, rose a
+great cloud of dust. Still the motors on the other side of the ship
+continued roaring and the giant propellers turned. As the blast of air
+blew the dust away, the Terrestrians stared in unbounded amazement. Up
+from the gaping, broken wing lanced a mighty beam of light of such
+dazzling intensity that Arcot swiftly restored them to visibility that
+they might shut it out. There was a terrific hissing, crackling roar.
+The plane seemed to wobble as it lay there, seemingly recoiling from
+that flaming column. Where it touched the cliff there was intense
+incandescence that made the rock glow white hot, then flow down in a
+sluggish rivulet of molten lava! For five minutes longer this terrific
+spectacle lasted, while Arcot withdrew the _Solarite_ to a safer
+distance.
+
+The fifty motors of the remaining wing seemed slowing down now--then
+suddenly there was such a crash and towering flash of light as no human
+being had ever seen before! Up--up into the very clouds it shot its
+mighty flame, a blazing column of light that seemed to reach out into
+space. The _Solarite_ was hurled back end over end, tumbling, falling.
+Even the heavy gyroscopes could not hold it for an instant, but quickly
+the straining motors brought them to rest in air that whirled and whined
+about them. They were more than twenty miles from the scene of the
+explosion, but even at that distance they could see the glow of the
+incandescent rock. Slowly, cautiously they maneuvered the _Solarite_
+back to the spot, and looked down on a sea of seething lava!
+
+Morey broke the awed silence. "Lord--what power that thing carries! No
+wonder they could support it in the air! But--how can they control such
+power? What titanic forces!"
+
+Slowly Arcot sent the _Solarite_ away into the night--into the kindly
+darkness once more. His voice when he spoke at last was oddly
+restrained.
+
+"I wonder what those forces were--they are greater than any man has ever
+before seen! An entire hill fused to molten, incandescent rock, not to
+mention the tons and tons of metal that made up that ship.
+
+"And such awful forces as these are to be released on our Earth!" For an
+interminable period they sat silent as the panorama of hills glided by
+at a slow two-hundred miles an hour. Abruptly Arcot exclaimed, "We
+_must_ capture a ship. We'll try again--we'll either destroy or capture
+it--and either way we're ahead!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Aimlessly they continued their leisurely course across a vast plain.
+There were no great mountains on Venus, for this world had known no such
+violent upheaval as the making of a moon. The men were lost in thought,
+each intent on his own ideas. At length Wade stood up, and walked slowly
+back to the power room.
+
+Suddenly the men in the control room heard his call:
+
+"Arcot--quick--the microphone--and rise a mile!"
+
+The _Solarite_ gave a violent lurch as it shot vertically aloft at
+tremendous acceleration. Arcot reached over swiftly and snapped the
+switch of the microphone. There burst in upon them the familiar roaring
+drone of a hundred huge propellers. No slightest hum of motor, only the
+vast whining roar of the mighty props.
+
+"Another one! They must have been following the first by a few minutes.
+We'll get this one!" Arcot worked swiftly at his switches. "Wade--strap
+yourself in the seat where you are--don't take time to come up here."
+
+They followed the same plan which had worked so well before. Suddenly
+invisible, the _Solarite_ flashed ahead of the great plane. The titanic
+wave of rushing sound engulfed them--then again came the little hiss of
+the gas. Now there were no hills in sight, as far as the eye could see.
+In the dim light that seemed always to filter through these gray clouds
+they could see the distant, level horizon.
+
+Several dragging minutes passed before there was any evident effect; the
+men from Earth were waiting for that great ship to waver, to wobble from
+its course. Suddenly Arcot gave a cry of surprise. Startled amazement
+was written all over his face, as his companions turned in wonderment to
+see that he was partially visible! The _Solarite_, too, had become a
+misty ghost ship about them; they were becoming visible! Then in an
+instant it was gone--and they saw that the huge black bulk behind them
+was wavering, turning; the thunderous roar of the propellers fell to a
+whistling whine; the ship was losing speed! It dipped, and shot down a
+bit--gained speed, then step by step it glided down--down--down to the
+surface below. The engines were idling now, the plane running more and
+more slowly.
+
+They were near the ground now--and the watchers scarcely breathed. Would
+this ship, too, crash? It glided to within a half mile of the
+plain--then it dipped once more, and Arcot breathed his relief as it
+made a perfect landing, the long series of rollers on the base of the
+gigantic hull absorbing the shock of the landing. There were small
+streams in the way--a tree or two, but these were obstacles unnoticed by
+the gargantuan machine. Its mighty propellers still idling slowly, the
+huge plane rolled to a standstill.
+
+Swooping down, the _Solarite_ landed beside it, to be lost in the vast
+shadows of the mighty metal walls.
+
+Arcot had left a small radio receiver with Tonlos in Sonor before he
+started on this trip, and had given him directions on how to tune in on
+the _Solarite_. Now he sent a message to him, telling that the plane had
+been brought down, and asking that a squadron of planes be sent at once.
+
+Wade and Arcot were elected to make the first inspection of the Kaxorian
+plane, and clad in their cooling suits, they stepped from the
+_Solarite_, each carrying, for emergency use, a small hand torch,
+burning atomic hydrogen, capable of melting its way through even the
+heavy armor of the great plane.
+
+As they stood beside it, looking up at the gigantic wall of metal that
+rose sheer beside them hundreds of feet straight up, it seemed
+impossible that this mighty thing could fly, that it could be propelled
+through the air. In awed silence they gazed at its vast bulk.
+
+Then, like pygmies beside some mighty prehistoric monster, they made
+their way along its side, seeking a door. Suddenly Wade stopped short
+and exclaimed: "Arcot, this is senseless--we can't do this! The machine
+is so big that it'll take us half an hour of steady walking to go around
+it. We'll have to use the _Solarite_ to find an entrance!"
+
+It was well that they followed Wade's plan, for the only entrance, as
+they later learned, was from the top. There, on the back of the giant,
+the _Solarite_ landed--its great weight having no slightest effect on
+the Kaxorian craft. They found a trap-door leading down inside. However,
+the apparatus for opening it was evidently within the hull, so they had
+to burn a hole in the door before they could enter.
+
+What a sight there was for these men of Earth. The low rumble of the
+idling engines was barely audible as they descended the long ladder.
+
+There was no resemblance whatever to the interior of a flying machine;
+rather, it suggested some great power house, where the energies of half
+a nation were generated. They entered directly into a vast hall that
+extended for a quarter of a mile back through the great hull, and
+completely across the fuselage. To the extreme nose it ran, and
+throughout there were scattered little globes that gave off an intense
+white light, illuminating all of the interior. Translucent bull's-eyes
+obscured the few windows.
+
+All about, among the machines, lay Venerians. Dead they seemed, the
+illusion intensified by their strangely blue complexions. The two
+Terrestrians knew, however, that they could readily be restored to life.
+The great machines they had been operating were humming softly, almost
+inaudibly. There were two long rows of them, extending to the end of
+the great hall. They suggested mighty generators twenty feet high. From
+their tops projected two-feet-thick cylinders of solid fused quartz.
+From these extended other rods of fused quartz, rods that led down
+through the floor; but these were less bulky, scarcely over eight inches
+thick.
+
+The huge generator-like machines were disc-shaped. From these, too, a
+quartz rod ran down through the floor. The machines on the further row
+were in some way different; those in the front half of the row had the
+tubes leading to the floor below, but had no tubes jutting into the
+ceiling. Instead, there were many slender rods connected with a vast
+switchboard that covered all of one side of the great room. But
+everywhere were the great quartz rods, suggesting some complicated water
+system. Most of them were painted black, though the main rods leading
+from the roof above were as clear as crystal.
+
+Arcot and Wade looked at these gigantic machines in hushed awe. They
+seemed impossibly huge; it was inconceivable that all this was but the
+power room of an airplane!
+
+Without speaking, they descended to the level below, using a quite
+earthly appearing escalator. Despite the motionless figures everywhere,
+they felt no fear of their encountering resistance. They knew the
+effectiveness of Wade's anesthetic.
+
+The hall they entered was evidently the main room of the plane. It was
+as long as the one above, and higher, yet all that vast space was taken
+by one single, titanic coil that stretched from wall to wall! Into it,
+and from it there led two gigantic columns of fused quartz. That these
+were rods, such as those smaller ones above was obvious, but each was
+over eight feet thick!
+
+Short they were, for they led from one mighty generator such as they had
+seen above, but magnified on a scale inconceivable! At the end of it,
+its driving power, its motor, was a great cylindrical case, into which
+led a single quartz bar ten inches thick. This bar was alive with
+pulsing, glowing fires, that changed and maneuvered and died out over
+all its surface and through all its volume. The motor was but five feet
+in diameter and a scant seven feet long, yet obviously it was driving
+the great machine, for there came from it a constant low hum, a deep
+pitched song of awful power. And the huge quartz rod that led from the
+titanic coil-cylinder was alive with the same glowing fires that played
+through the motor rod. From one side of the generator, ran two objects
+that were familiar, copper bus bars. But even these were _three feet
+thick_!
+
+The scores of quartz tubes that come down from the floor above joined,
+coalesced, and ran down to the great generator, and into it.
+
+They descended to another level. Here were other quartz tubes, but these
+led down still further, for this floor contained individual sleeping
+bunks, most of them unoccupied, unready for occupancy, though some were
+made up.
+
+Down another level; again the bunks, the little individual rooms.
+
+At last they reached the bottom level, and here the great quartz tubes
+terminated in a hundred smaller ones, each of these leading into some
+strange mechanism. There were sighting devices on it, and there were
+ports that opened in the floor. This was evidently the bombing room.
+
+With an occasional hushed word, the Terrestrians walked through what
+seemed to be a vast city of the dead, passing sleeping officers, and
+crewmen by the hundreds. On the third level they came at last to the
+control room. Here were switchboards, control panels, and dozens of
+officers, sleeping now, beside their instruments. A sudden dull thudding
+sound spun Arcot and Wade around, nerves taut. They relaxed and
+exchanged apologetic smiles. An automatic relay had adjusted some
+mechanism.
+
+They noted one man stationed apart from the rest. He sat at the very
+bow, protected behind eight-inch coronium plates in which were set
+masses of fused quartz that were nearly as strong as the metal itself.
+These gave him a view in every direction except directly behind him.
+Obviously, here was the pilot.
+
+Returning to the top level, they entered the long passages that led out
+into the titanic wings. Here, as elsewhere, the ship was brightly
+lighted. They came to a small room, another bunk room. There were great
+numbers of these down both sides of the long corridor, and along the two
+parallel corridors down the wing. In the fourth corridor near the back
+edge of the wing, there were bunk rooms on one side, and on the other
+were bombing posts.
+
+As they continued walking down the first corridor, they came to a small
+room, whence issued the low hum of one of the motors. Entering, they
+found the crew sleeping, and the motor idling.
+
+"Good Lord!" Wade exclaimed. "Look at that motor, Arcot! No bigger than
+the trunk of a man's body. Yet a battery of these sends the ship along
+at a mile a second! What power!"
+
+Slowly they proceeded down the long hall. At each of the fifty engine
+mountings they found the same conditions. At the end of the hall there
+was an escalator that led one level higher, into the upper wing. Here
+they found long rows of the bombing posts and the corresponding quartz
+rods.
+
+They returned finally to the control room. Here Arcot spent a long time
+looking over the many instruments, the controls, and the piloting
+apparatus.
+
+"Wade," he said at last, "I think I can see how this is done. I am going
+to stop those engines, start them, then accelerate them till the ship
+rolls a bit!" Arcot stepped quickly over to the pilots seat, lifted the
+sleeping pilot out, and settled in his place.
+
+"Now, you go over to that board there--that one--and when I ask you to,
+please turn on that control--no, the one below--yes--turn it on about
+one notch at a time."
+
+Wade shook his head dubiously, a one-sided grin on his face. "All right,
+Arcot--just as you say--but when I think of the powers you're playing
+with--well, a mistake might be unhealthy!"
+
+"I'm going to stop the motors now," Arcot announced quietly. All the
+time they had been on board, they had been aware of the barely inaudible
+whine of the motors. Now suddenly, it was gone, and the plane was still
+as death!
+
+Arcot's voice sounded unnaturally loud. "I did it without blowing the
+ship up after all! Now we're going to try turning the power on!"
+
+Suddenly there was a throaty hum; then quickly it became the low whine;
+then, as Arcot turned on the throttle before him, he heard the tens of
+thousands of horsepower spring into life--and suddenly the whine was a
+low roar--the mighty propellers out there had became a blur--then with
+majestic slowness the huge machine moved off across the field!
+
+Arcot shut off the motors and rose with a broad, relieved smile, "Easy!"
+he said. They made their way again up through the ship, up through the
+room of the tremendous cylinder coil, and then into the power room. Now
+the machines were quiet, for the motors were no longer working.
+
+"Arcot, you didn't shut off the biggest machine of all down there. How
+come?"
+
+"I couldn't, Wade. It has no shut-off control, and if it did have, I
+wouldn't use it. I will tell you why when we get back to the
+_Solarite_."
+
+At last they left the mighty machine; walked once more across its broad
+metal top. Here and there they now saw the ends of those quartz
+cylinders. Once more they entered the _Solarite_, through the air lock,
+and took off the cumbersome insulating suits.
+
+As quickly as possible Arcot outlined to the two who had stayed with the
+_Solarite_, the things they had seen, and the layout of the great ship.
+
+"I think I can understand the secret of all that power, and it's not so
+different from the _Solarite_, at that. It, too, draws its power from
+the sun, though in a different way, and it stores it within itself,
+which the _Solarite_ does not try to do.
+
+"Light of course, is energy, and therefore, has mass. It exerts
+pressure, the impact of its moving units of energy--photons. We have
+electrons and protons of matter, and photons of light. Now we know that
+the mass of protons and electrons will attract other protons and
+electrons, and hold them near--as in a stone, or in a solar system. The
+new idea here is that the photons will attract each other ever more and
+more powerfully, the closer they get. The Kaxorians have developed a
+method of getting them so close together, that they will, for a while at
+least, hold themselves there, and with a little 'pressure', will stay
+there indefinitely.
+
+"In that huge coil and cylinder we found there we saw the main power
+storage tank. That was full of gaseous light-energy held together by its
+own attraction, plus a little help of the generator!"
+
+"A little help?" Wade exclaimed. "Quite a little! I'll bet that thing
+had a million horsepower in its motor!"
+
+"Yes--but I'll bet they have nearly fifty pounds of light condensed
+there--so why worry about a little thing like a million horsepower? They
+have plenty more where that comes from.
+
+"I think they go up above the clouds in some way and collect the sun's
+energy. Remember that Venus gets twice as much as Earth. They focus it
+on those tubes on the roof there, and they, like all quartz tubes,
+conduct the light down into the condensers where it is first collected.
+Then it is led to the big condenser downstairs, where the final power is
+added, and the condensed light is stored.
+
+"Quartz conducts light just as copper conducts electricity--those are
+bus bars we saw running around there.
+
+"The bombs we've been meeting recently are, of course, little knots of
+this light energy thrown out by that projector mechanism we saw. When
+they hit anything, the object absorbs their energy--and is very promptly
+volatilized by the heat of the absorption.
+
+"Do you remember that column of hissing radiance we saw shooting out of
+the wrecked plane just before it blew up? That was the motor connection,
+broken, and discharging free energy. That would ordinarily have
+supplied all fifty motors at about full speed. Naturally, when it cut
+loose, it was rather violent.
+
+"The main generator had been damaged, no doubt, so it stopped working,
+and the gravitational attraction of the photons wasn't enough, without
+its influence to hold them bound too long. All those floods of energy
+were released instantaneously, of course.
+
+"Look--there come the Lanorians now. I want to go back to Sonor and
+think over this problem. Perhaps we can find something that will release
+all that energy--though honestly, I doubt it."
+
+Arcot seemed depressed, overawed perhaps, by the sheer magnitude of the
+force that lay bound up in the Kaxorian ship. It seemed inconceivable
+that the little _Solarite_ could in any way be effective against the
+incredible machine.
+
+The Lanorian planes were landing almost like a flock of birds, on the
+wings, the fuselage, the ground all about the gigantic ship. Arcot
+dropped into a chair, gazing moodily into emptiness, his thoughts on the
+mighty giant, stricken now, but only sleeping. In its vast hulk lay such
+energies as intelligence had never before controlled; within it he knew
+there were locked the powers of the sun itself. What could the
+_Solarite_ do against it?
+
+"Oh, I almost forgot to mention it." Arcot spoke slowly, dejectedly. "In
+the heat of the attack back there it went practically unnoticed. Our
+only weapon beside the gas is useless now. Do you remember how the ship
+seemed to lose its invisibility for an instant? I learned why when we
+investigated the ship. Those men are physicists of the highest order. We
+must realize the terrible forces, both physical and mental that we are
+to meet. They've solved the secret of our invisibility, and now they can
+neutralize it. They began using it a bit too late this time, but they
+had located the radio-produced interference caused by the ship's
+invisibility apparatus, and they were sending a beam of interfering
+radio energy at us. We are invisible only by reason of the vibration of
+the molecules in response to the radio impressed oscillations. The
+molecules vibrate in tune, at terrific frequency, and the light can pass
+perfectly. What will happen, however, if someone locates the source of
+the radio waves? It'll be simple for them to send out a radio beam and
+touch our invisible ship with it. The two radio waves impressed on us
+now will be out of step and the interference will instantly make us
+visible. We can no longer attack them with our atomic hydrogen blast, or
+with the gas--both are useless unless we can get close to them, and we
+can't come within ten miles of them now. Those bombs of theirs are
+effective at that distance."
+
+Again he fell silent, thinking--hoping for an idea that would once more
+give them a chance to combat the Kaxorians. His three companions,
+equally depressed and without a workable idea, remained silent. Abruptly
+Arcot stood up.
+
+"I'm going to speak with the Commander-in-Field here. Then we can start
+back for Sonor--and maybe we had better head for home. It looks as
+though there is little we can do here."
+
+Briefly he spoke to the young Venerian officer, and told him what he had
+learned about the ship. Perhaps they could fly it to Sonor; or it could
+be left there undestroyed if he would open a certain control just before
+he left. Arcot showed him which one--it would drain out the power of the
+great storage tank, throwing it harmlessly against the clouds above. The
+Kaxorians might destroy the machine if they wanted to--Arcot felt that
+they would not wish to. They would hope, with reason, they might
+recapture it! It would be impossible to move that tremendous machine
+without the power that its "tank" was intended to hold.
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+
+Slowly they cruised back to Sonor, Arcot still engrossed in thought.
+Would it be that Venus would fall before the attack of the mighty
+planes, that they would sweep out across space, to Earth--to Mars--to
+other worlds, a cosmic menace? Would the mighty machines soon be
+circling Earth? Guided missiles with atomic warheads could combat them,
+perhaps, as could the molecular motion machines. Perhaps these could be
+armored with twenty-inch steel walls, and driven into the great
+propellers, or at miles a second, into the ship itself! But these ships
+would require long hours, days, even weeks to build, and in that time
+the Kaxorian fleet would be ready. It would attack Earth within six days
+now! What hope was there to avert incalculable destruction--if not
+outright defeat?
+
+In despair Arcot turned and strode quickly down the long hallway of the
+_Solarite_. Above him he could hear the smooth, even hum of the sweetly
+functioning generator, but it only reminded him of the vastly greater
+energies he had seen controlled that night. The thudding relays in the
+power room, as Wade maneuvered the ship, seemed some diminutive mockery
+of the giant relays he had seen in the power room of the Kaxorian plane.
+
+He sat down in the power room, looking at the stacked apparatus, neatly
+arranged, as it must be, to get all this apparatus in this small space.
+Then at last he began to think more calmly. He concentrated on the
+greatest forces known to man--and there were only two that even occurred
+to him as great! One was the vast energies he had that very night
+learned of; the other was the force of the molecules, the force that
+drove his ship.
+
+He had had no time to work out the mathematics of the light compression,
+mathematics that he now knew would give results. There remained only the
+molecular motion. What could he do with it that he had not done?
+
+He drew out a small black notebook. In it were symbols, formulas, and
+page after page of the intricate calculus that had ended finally in the
+harnessing of this great force that was even now carrying him smoothly
+along.
+
+Half an hour later he was still busy--covering page after page with
+swiftly written formulas. Before him was a great table of multiple
+integers, the only one like it known to exist in the System, for the
+multiple calculus was an invention of Arcot's. At last he found the
+expression he wanted, and carefully he checked his work, excitedly
+though now, with an expression of eager hope--it seemed logical--it
+seemed correct--
+
+"Morey--oh, Morey," he called, holding his enthusiasm in check, "if you
+can come here--I want you to check some math for me. I've done it--and I
+want to see if you get the same result independently!" Morey was a more
+careful mathematician than he, and it was to him Arcot turned for
+verification of any new discovery.
+
+Following the general directions Arcot gave him, Morey went through the
+long series of calculations--and arrived at the same results. Slowly he
+looked up from the brief expression with which he had ended.
+
+It was not the formula that astonished him--it was its physical
+significance.
+
+"Arcot--do you think we can make it?"
+
+There was a new expression in Arcot's eyes, a tightness about his mouth.
+
+"I hope so, Morey. If we don't, Lanor is lost beyond a doubt--and
+probably Earth is, too. Wade--come here a minute, will you? Let Fuller
+take the controls, and tell him to push it. We have to get to work on
+this."
+
+Rapidly Arcot explained their calculations--and the proof he had gotten.
+
+"Our beam of molecular motion-controlling energy directs all molecular
+motion to go at right angles to it. The mechanism so far has been a
+field inside a coil really, but if these figures are right, it means
+that we can project that field to a considerable distance even in air.
+It'll be a beam of power that will cause all molecules in its path to
+move at right angles to it, and in the direction we choose, by reversing
+the power in the projector. That means that no matter how big the thing
+is, we can tear it to pieces; we'll use its own powers, its own
+energies, to rip it, or crush it.
+
+"Imagine what would happen if we directed this against the side of a
+mountain--the entire mass of rock would at once fly off at unimaginable
+speed, crashing ahead with terrific power, as all the molecules suddenly
+moved in the same direction. Nothing in all the Universe could hold
+together against it! It's a disintegration ray of a sort--a ray that
+will tear, or crush, for we can either make one half move away from the
+other--or we can reverse the power, and make one half drive toward the
+other with all the terrific power of its molecules! It is
+omnipotent--hmmm--" Arcot paused, narrowing his eyes in thought.
+
+"It has one limitation. Will it reach far in the air? In vacuum it
+should have an infinite range--in the atmosphere all the molecules of
+the air will be affected, and it will cause a terrific blast of icy
+wind, a gale at temperatures far below zero! This will be even more
+effective here on Venus!
+
+"But we must start designing the thing at once! Take some of the
+Immorpho and give me some, and we can let the sleep accumulate till we
+have more time! Look--we're in Sonor already! Land us, Fuller--right
+where we were, and then come back here. We're going to need you!"
+
+The gorgeous display of a Venerian dawn was already coloring the east as
+the great buildings seemed to rise silently about them. The sky, which
+had been a dull luminous gray, a gray that rapidly grew brighter and
+brighter, was now like molten silver, through which were filtering the
+early rays of the intense sun. As the sun rose above the horizon, though
+invisible for clouds, it still was traceable by the wondrous shell pink
+that began to suffuse the ten mile layer of vapor. The tiny droplets
+were, however, breaking the clear light into a million rainbows, and all
+about the swiftly deepening pink were forming concentric circles of
+blue, of green, orange, and all the colors of the rainbow, repeated time
+after time--a wondrous halo of glowing color, which only the doubly
+intense sun could create.
+
+"It's almost worth missing the sun all day to see their sunrises and
+sunsets," Fuller commented. The men were watching it, despite their
+need for haste. It was a sight the like of which no Earthman had ever
+before seen.
+
+Immediately, then, they plunged into the extremely complex calculation
+of the electrical apparatus to produce the necessary fields. To get the
+effect they wanted, they must have two separate fields of the director
+ray, and a third field of a slightly different nature, which would cause
+the director ray to move in one direction only. It would be
+disconcerting, to say the least, if the director ray, by some mistake,
+should turn upon them!
+
+The work went on more swiftly than they had considered possible, but
+there was still much to be done on the theoretical end of the job alone
+when the streets about them began to fill. They noticed that a large
+crowd was assembling, and shortly after they had finished, after some of
+these people had stood there for more than an hour and a half, the crowd
+had grown to great size.
+
+"From the looks of that collection, I should say we are about to become
+the principals in some kind of a celebration that we know nothing about.
+Well, we're here, and in case they want us, we're ready to come."
+
+The guard that always surrounded the _Solarite_ had been doubled, and
+was maintaining a fairly large clear area about the ship.
+
+Shortly thereafter they saw one of the high officials of Lanor come down
+the walk from the governmental building, walking toward the _Solarite_.
+
+"Time for us to appear--and it may as well be all of us this time. I'll
+tell you what they say afterward, Wade. They've evidently gone to
+considerable trouble to get up this meeting, so let's cooperate. I hate
+to slow up the work, but we'll try to make it short."
+
+The four Terrestrians got into their cooling suits, and stepped outside
+the ship. The Lanorian dignitary left his guard, walked up to the
+quartet from Earth with measured tread, and halted before them.
+
+"Earthmen," he began in a deep, clear voice, "we have gathered here this
+morning to greet you and thank you for the tremendous service you have
+done us. Across the awful void of empty space you have journeyed forty
+million miles to visit us, only to discover that Venerians were making
+ready to attack your world. Twice your intervention has saved our city.
+
+"There is, of course, no adequate reward for this service; we can in no
+way repay you, but in a measure we may show our appreciation. We have
+learned from the greatest psychologist of our nation, Tonlos, that in
+your world aluminum is plentiful, but gold and platinum are rare, and
+that morlus is unknown. I have had a small token made for you, and your
+friends. It is a little plaque, a disc of morlus, and on it there is a
+small map of the Solar System. On the reverse side there is a globe of
+Venus, with one of Earth beside it, as well as our men could copy the
+small globe you have given us. The northern hemisphere of each is
+depicted--America, your nation, and Lanor, ours, thus being shown. We
+want you, and each of your friends, to accept these. They are symbols of
+your wonderful flight across space!" The Venerians turned to each of the
+Terrestrians and presented each with a small metal disc.
+
+Arcot spoke for the Terrestrians.
+
+"On behalf of myself and my friends here, two of whom have not had an
+opportunity to learn your language, I wish to thank you for your great
+help when we most needed it. You, perhaps, have saved more than a
+city--you may have made it possible to save a world--our Earth. But the
+battle here has only begun.
+
+"There are now in the Kaxorian camp eighteen great ships. They have been
+badly defeated in the three encounters they have had with the _Solarite_
+so far. But no longer will they be vulnerable to our earlier methods of
+attack. Your spies report that the first plane, the plane which was
+first attacked by the _Solarite_, is still undergoing repairs. These
+will be completed within two days, and then, when they can leave a base
+guard of two ships, they will attack once more. Furthermore, they will
+attack with a new weapon. They have destroyed the usefulness of our
+weapon, invisibility, and in turn, now have it to use against us! We
+must seek out some new weapon. I hope we are on the right track now, but
+every moment is precious, and we must get back to the work. This address
+must be short. Later, when we have completed our preliminary work, we
+will have to give plans to your workmen, which you will be able to turn
+into metal, for we lack the materials. With this help we may succeed,
+despite our handicap."
+
+The address was terminated at once. The Lanorians were probably
+disappointed, but they fully realized the necessity for haste.
+
+"I wish Terrestrian orators spoke like that," remarked Morey as they
+returned to the ship. "He said all there was to say, but he didn't run
+miles of speech doing it. He was a very forceful speaker, too!"
+
+"People who speak briefly and to the point generally are," Arcot said.
+
+It was nearly noon that day before the theoretical discussion had been
+reduced to practical terms. They were ready to start work at once, but
+they had reason to work cheerfully now. Even through air they had found
+their ray would be able to reach thirty-five miles! They would be well
+out of the danger zone while attacking the gigantic planes of Kaxor.
+
+Morey, Wade and Arcot at once set to work constructing the electrical
+plant that was to give them the necessary power. It was lucky indeed
+that they had brought the great mass of spare apparatus! They had more
+than enough to make all the electrical machinery. The tubes, the coils,
+the condensers, all were there. The generator would easily supply the
+power, for the terrific forces that were to destroy the Kaxorian ships
+were to be generated in the plane itself. It was to destroy itself; the
+_Solarite_ would merely be the detonator to set it off!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+While the physicists were busy on this, Fuller was designing the
+mechanical details of the projector. It must be able to turn through a
+spherical angle of 180 degrees, and was necessarily controlled
+electrically from the inside. The details of the projector were worked
+out by six that evening, and the numerous castings and machined pieces
+that were to be used were to be made in the Venerian machine shops.
+
+One difficulty after another arose and was overcome. Night came on, and
+still they continued work. The Venerian workmen had promised to have the
+apparatus for them by ten o'clock the next morning--or what corresponded
+to ten o'clock.
+
+Shortly after three o'clock that morning they had finished the
+apparatus, had connected all the controls, and had placed the last of
+the projector directors. Except for the projector they were ready, and
+Morey, Wade and Fuller turned in to get what sleep they could. But
+Arcot, telling them there was something he wished to get, took another
+dose of Immorpho and stepped out into the steaming rain.
+
+A few minutes after ten the next morning Arcot came back, followed by
+half a dozen Venerians, each carrying a large metal cylinder in a
+cradle. These were attached to the landing gear of the _Solarite_ in
+such fashion that the fusing of one piece of wire would permit the
+entire thing to drop free.
+
+"So _that's_ what you hatched out, eh? What is it?" asked Wade as he
+entered the ship.
+
+"Just a thing I want to try out--and I'm going to keep it a deep, dark
+secret for a while. I think you'll get quite a surprise when you see
+those bombs in action! They're arranged to be released by turning
+current into the landing lights. We'll have to forgo lights for the
+present, but I needed the bombs more.
+
+"The mechanics have finished working on your projector parts, Fuller,
+and they'll be over here in a short time. Here comes the little gang I
+asked to help us. You can direct them." Arcot paused and scowled with
+annoyance. "Hang it all--when they drill into the outer wall, we'll lose
+the vacuum between the two walls, and all that hot air will come in.
+This place will be roasting in a short time. We have the molecular
+motion coolers, but I'm afraid they won't be much good. Can't use the
+generator--it's cut off from the main room by vacuum wall.
+
+"I think we'd better charge up the gas tanks and the batteries as soon
+as this is done. Then tonight we'll attack the Kaxorian construction
+camp. I've just learned that no spy reports have been coming in, and I'm
+afraid they'll spring a surprise."
+
+Somewhat later came the sound of drills, then the whistling roar as the
+air sucked into the vacuum, told the men inside that the work was under
+way. It soon became uncomfortably hot as, the vacuum destroyed, the heat
+came in through all sides. It was more than the little molecular coolers
+could handle, and the temperature soon rose to about a hundred and
+fifteen. It was not as bad as the Venerian atmosphere, for the air
+seemed exceedingly dry, and the men found it possible to get along
+without cooling suits, if they did not work. Since there was little they
+could do, they simply relaxed.
+
+It was nearly dark before the Lanorians had finished their work, and the
+gas tanks had been recharged. All that time Arcot had spent with Tonlos
+determining the position of the Kaxorian construction camp. Spy reports
+and old maps had helped, but it was impossible to do very accurate work
+by these means.
+
+It was finally decided that the Kaxorian construction camp was about
+10,500 miles to the southwest. The _Solarite_ was to start an hour after
+dark. Travelling westward at their speed, they hoped to reach the camp
+just after nightfall.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+
+The _Solarite_ sped swiftly toward the southwest. The sky slowly grew
+lighter as the miles flashed beneath them. They were catching up with
+the sun. As they saw the rolling ocean beneath them give way to low
+plains, they realized they were over Kaxorian land. The _Solarite_ was
+flying very high, and as they showed no lights, and were not using the
+invisibility apparatus, they were practically undetectable. Suddenly
+they saw the lights of a mighty city looming far off to the east.
+
+"It's Kanor. Pass well to the west of it. That's their capital. We're on
+course." Arcot spoke from his position at the projector, telling Wade
+the directions to follow on his course to the berth of the giant planes.
+
+The city dropped far behind them in moments, followed by another, and
+another. At length, veering southward into the dusk, they entered a
+region of low hills, age-old folds in the crust of the planet, rounded
+by untold millennia of torrential rains.
+
+"Easy, Wade. We are near now." Mile after mile they flashed ahead at
+about a thousand miles an hour--then suddenly they saw far off to the
+east a vast glow that reached into the sky, painting itself on the
+eternal clouds miles above.
+
+"There it is, Wade. Go high, and take it easy!"
+
+Swiftly the _Solarite_ climbed, hovering at last on the very rim of the
+cloud blanket, an invisible mote in a sea of gray mist. Below them they
+saw a tremendous field carved, it seemed, out of the ancient hills. From
+this height all sense of proportion was lost. It seemed but an ordinary
+field, with eighteen ordinary airplanes resting on it. One of these now
+was moving, and in a moment it rose into the air! But there seemed to be
+no men on all the great field. They were invisibly small from this
+height.
+
+Abruptly Arcot gave a great shout. "That's their surprise! They're ready
+far ahead of the time we expected! If all that armada gets in the air,
+we're done! Down, Wade, to within a few hundred feet of the ground, and
+close to the field!"
+
+The _Solarite_ flashed down in a power dive--down with a sickening
+lurch. A sudden tremendous weight seemed to crush them as the ship was
+brought out of the dive not more than two hundred feet from the ground.
+Close to blacking out, Wade nevertheless shot it in as close to the
+field as he dared. Anxiously he called to Arcot, who answered with a
+brief "Okay!" The planes loomed gigantic now, their true proportions
+showing clearly against the brilliant light of the field. A tremendous
+wave of sound burst from the loudspeaker as the planes rolled across the
+ground to leap gracefully into the air--half a million tons of metal!
+
+From the _Solarite_ there darted a pale beam of ghostly light, faintly
+gray, tinged with red and green--the ionized air of the beam. It moved
+in a swift half circle. In an instant the whirr of the hundreds,
+thousands of giant propellers was drowned in a terrific roar of air.
+Great snowflakes fell from the air before them; it was white with the
+solidified water vapor. Then came a titanic roar and the planet itself
+seemed to shake! A crash, a snapping and rending as a mighty fountain of
+soil and rock cascaded skyward, and with it, twisting, turning, hurled
+in a dozen directions at once, twelve titanic ships reeled drunkenly
+into the air!
+
+For a barely perceptible interval there was an oppressive silence as the
+ray was shut off. Then a bedlam of deafening sound burst forth anew, a
+mighty deluge of unbearable noise as the millions of tons of pulverized
+rock, humus and metal fell back. Some of it had ascended for miles; it
+settled amid a howling blizzard--snow that melted as it touched the
+madly churned airfield.
+
+High above there were ten planes flying about uncertainly. Suddenly one
+of these turned, heading for the ground far below, its wings screaming
+their protest as the motors roared, ever faster, with the gravity of the
+planet aiding them. There was a rending, crackling crash as the wings
+suddenly bent back along the sides. An instant later the fuselage tore
+free, rocketing downward; the wings followed more slowly--twisting,
+turning, dipping in mile-long swoops.
+
+The _Solarite_ shot away from the spot at maximum speed--away and up,
+with a force that nailed the occupants to the floor. Before they could
+turn, behind them flared a mighty gout of light that struck to the very
+clouds above, and all the landscape, for miles about, was visible in the
+glare of the released energy.
+
+As they turned, they saw on the plain, below a tremendous crater, in
+its center a spot that glowed white and bubbled like the top of a huge
+cauldron.
+
+Nine great planes were circling in the air; then in an instant they were
+gone, invisible. As swiftly the _Solarite_ darted away with a speed that
+defied the aim of any machine.
+
+High above the planes they went, for with his radar Arcot could trace
+them. They were circling, searching for the _Solarite_.
+
+The tiny machine was invisible in the darkness, but its invisibility was
+not revealed by the Kaxorian's radio detectors. In the momentary lull,
+Fuller asked a question.
+
+"Wade, how is it that those ships can be invisible when they are driven
+by light, and have the light stored in them? They're perfectly
+transparent. Why can't we see the light?"
+
+"They are storing the light. It's bound--it can't escape. You can't see
+light unless it literally hits you in the eye. Their stored light can't
+reach you, for it is held by its own attraction and by the special field
+of the big generators."
+
+They seemed to be above one of the Kaxorian planes now. Arcot caught the
+roar of the invisible propellers.
+
+"To the left, Wade--faster--hold it--left--ah!" Arcot pushed a button.
+
+Down from the _Solarite_ there dropped a little canister, one of the
+bombs that Arcot had prepared the night before. To hit an invisible
+target is ordinarily difficult, but when that target is far larger than
+the proverbial side of a barn, it is not very difficult, at that. But
+now Arcot's companions watched for the crash of the explosion, the flash
+of light. What sort of bomb was it that Arcot hoped would penetrate that
+tremendous armor?
+
+Suddenly they saw a great spot of light, a spot that spread with
+startling rapidity, a patch of light that ran, and moved. It flew
+through the air at terrific speed. It was a pallid light, green and wan
+and ghostly, that seemed to flow and ebb.
+
+For an instant Morey and the others stared in utter surprise. Then
+suddenly Morey burst out laughing.
+
+"Ho--you win, Arcot. That was one they didn't think of, I'll bet!
+Luminous paint--and by the hundred gallon! Radium paint, I suppose, and
+no man has ever found how to stop the glow of radium. That plane sticks
+out like a sore thumb!"
+
+Indeed, the great luminous splotch made the gigantic plane clearly
+evident against the gray clouds. Visible or not, that plane was marked.
+
+Quickly Arcot tried to maneuver the _Solarite_ over another of the great
+ships, for now the danger was only from those he could not see. Suddenly
+he had an idea.
+
+"Morey--go back to the power room and change the adjustment on the
+meteorite avoider to half a mile!" At once Morey understood his plan,
+and hastened to put it into effect.
+
+The illuminated plane was diving, twisting wildly now. The _Solarite_
+flashed toward it with sickening speed, then suddenly the gigantic bulk
+of the plane loomed off to the right of the tiny ship, the great metal
+hull, visible now, rising in awesome might. They were too near; they
+shot away to a greater distance--then again that ghostly beam reached
+out--and for just a fraction of a second it touched the giant plane.
+
+The titanic engine of destruction seemed suddenly to be in the grip of
+some vastly greater Colossus--a clutching hand that closed! The plane
+jumped back with an appalling crash, a roar of rending metal. For an
+instant there came the sound like a mighty buzz-saw as the giant
+propellers of one wing cut into the body of the careening plane. In that
+instant, the great power storage tank split open with an impact like the
+bursting of a world. The _Solarite_ was hurled back by an explosion that
+seemed to rend the very atoms of the air, and all about them was a
+torrid blaze of heat and light that seemed to sear their faces and hands
+with its intensity.
+
+Then in a time so brief that it seemed never to have happened, it was
+gone, and only the distant drone of the other ships' propellers came to
+them. There was no luminous spot. The radium paint had been destroyed
+in the only possible way--it was volatilized through all the atmosphere!
+
+The Terrestrians had known what to expect; had known what would happen;
+and they had not looked at the great ship in that last instant. But the
+Kaxorians had naturally been looking at it. They had never seen the sun
+directly, and now they had been looking at a radiance almost as
+brilliant. They were temporarily blinded; they could only fly a straight
+course in response to the quick order of their squadron commander.
+
+And in that brief moment that they were unable to watch him, Arcot
+dropped two more bombs in quick succession. Two bright spots formed in
+the black night. No longer did these planes feel themselves
+invulnerable, able to meet any foe! In an instant they had put on every
+last trace of power, and at their top speed they were racing west, away
+from their tiny opponent--in the only direction that was open to them.
+
+But it was useless. The _Solarite_ could pick up speed in half the time
+they could, and in an instant Arcot again trained his beam on the mighty
+splotch of light that was a fleeing plane.
+
+Out of the darkness came a ghostly beam, for an instant of time so short
+that before the explosive shells of the other could be trained on it,
+the _Solarite_ had moved. Under that touch the mighty plane began
+crumbling, then it splintered beneath the driving blow of the great
+wing, as it shot toward the main body of the plane at several miles a
+second--driving into and through it! The giant plane twisted and turned
+as it fell swiftly downward into the darkness--and, again there came
+that world-rocking explosion, and the mighty column of light.
+
+Again and yet again the _Solarite_ found and destroyed Kaxorian
+super-planes, protected in the uneven conflict by their diminutive size
+and the speed of their elusive maneuvering.
+
+But to remind the men of the _Solarite_ that they were not alone, there
+came a sudden report just behind them, and they turned to see that one
+of the energy bombs had barely fallen short! In an instant the
+comparative midget shot up at top speed, out of danger. It looped and
+turned, hunting, feeling with its every detector for that other ship.
+The great planes were spread out now. In every direction they could be
+located--and all were leaving the scene of the battle. But one by one
+the _Solarite_ shot after them, and always the speed of the little ship
+was greater.
+
+Two escaped. They turned off their useless invisibility apparatus and
+vanished into the night.
+
+The _Solarite_, supported by her vertical lift units, coasted toward a
+stop. The drone of the fleeing super-planes diminished and was gone, and
+for a time the thrum of the generator and the tap-dance of relays
+adjusting circuits was the only sound aboard.
+
+Wade sighed finally. "Well, gentlemen, now we've got it, what do we do
+with it?"
+
+"What do you mean?" Morey asked.
+
+"Victory. The Jack-pot. Having the devices we just demonstrated, we are
+now the sole owners, by right of conquest, of one highly disturbed
+nation of several million people. With that gadget there, we can pick it
+up and throw it away.
+
+"Personally, I have a feeling that we've just won the largest white
+elephant in history. We don't just walk off and leave it, you know. We
+don't want it. But we've got it.
+
+"Our friends in Sonor are not going to want the problem either; they
+just wanted the Kaxorians combed out of their hair.
+
+"As I say--we've got it, now--but what do we do with it?"
+
+"It's basically their problem, isn't it?" protested Fuller. Morey looked
+somewhat stricken, and thoroughly bewildered. "I hadn't considered that
+aspect very fully; I've been too darned busy trying to stay alive."
+
+Wade shook his head. "Look, Fuller-it was their problem before, too,
+wasn't it? How'd they handle it? If you just let them alone, what do
+you suppose they'll do with the problem this time?"
+
+"The same thing they did before," Arcot groaned. "I'm tired. Let's get
+some sleep first, anyway."
+
+"Sure; that makes good sense," Wade agreed. "Sleep on it, yes. But go to
+sleep on it--well, that's what the not-so-bright Sonorans tried doing.
+
+"And off-hand, I'd say we were elected. The Kaxorians undoubtedly have a
+nice, two thousand year old hatred for the Sonorans who so snobbishly
+ignored them, isolated them, and considered them unfit for association.
+The Sonorans, on the other hand, are now thoroughly scared, and will be
+feeling correspondingly vindictive. They won this time by a fluke--our
+coming. I can just see those two peoples getting together and settling
+any kind of sensible, long-term treaty of mutual cooperation!"
+
+Arcot and Morey both nodded wearily. "That is so annoyingly correct,"
+Morey agreed. "And you know blasted well none of us is going to sleep
+until we have some line of attack on this white elephant disposal
+problem. Anybody any ideas?"
+
+Fuller looked at the other three. "You know, in design when two
+incompatible materials must be structurally united, we tie each to a
+third material that is compatible with both.
+
+"Sonor didn't win this fight. Kaxor didn't win it. Earth--in the
+_persona_ of the _Solarite_--did. Earth isn't mad at anybody, hasn't
+been damaged by anybody, and hasn't been knowingly ignoring anybody.
+
+"The Sonorans want to be let alone; it won't work, but they can learn
+that. I think if we run the United Nations in on this thing, we may be
+able to get them to accept our white elephant for us.
+
+"They'll be making the same mistake Sonor did if they don't--knowingly
+ignoring the existence of a highly intelligent and competent race. It
+doesn't seem to work, judging from history both at home and here."
+
+The four looked at each other, and found agreement.
+
+"That's something more than a problem to sleep on," Morey said. "I'll
+get in touch with Sonor and tell 'em the shooting is over, so they can
+get some sleep too.
+
+"It's obvious a bunch of high-power research teams are going to be
+needed in both countries. Earth has every reason to respect Sonoran
+mental sciences as well as Kaxorian light-engineering. And Earth--as we
+just thoroughly demonstrated--has some science of her own. Obviously,
+the interaction of the three is to the maximum advantage of each--and
+will lead to a healing of the breach that now exists."
+
+Arcot looked up and yawned. "I'm putting this on autopilot at twenty
+miles up, and going to sleep. We can kick this around for a month
+anyway--and this is not the night to start."
+
+"The decision is unanimous," Wade grinned.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK THREE
+
+THE BLACK STAR PASSES
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE
+
+
+Taj Lamor gazed steadily down at the vast dim bulk of the ancient city
+spread out beneath him. In the feeble light of the stars its mighty
+masses of up-flung metal buildings loomed strangely, like the shells of
+some vast race of crustacea, long extinct. Slowly he turned, gazing now
+out across the great plaza, where rested long rows of slender, yet
+mighty ships. Thoughtfully he stared at their dim, half-seen shapes.
+
+Taj Lamor was not human. Though he was humanoid, Earth had never seen
+creatures just like him. His seven foot high figure seemed a bit
+ungainly by Terrestrial standards, and his strangely white, hairless
+flesh, suggesting unbaked dough, somehow gave the impression of
+near-transparency. His eyes were disproportionately large, and the black
+disc of pupil in the white corneas was intensified by contrast. Yet
+perhaps his race better deserved the designation _homo sapiens_ than
+Terrestrians do, for it was wise with the accumulated wisdom of
+uncounted eons.
+
+He turned to the other man in the high, cylindrical, dimly lit tower
+room overlooking the dark metropolis, a man far older than Taj Lamor,
+his narrow shoulders bent, and his features grayed with his years. His
+single short, tight-fitting garment of black plastic marked him as one
+of the Elders. The voice of Taj Lamor was vibrant with feeling:
+
+"Tordos Gar, at last we are ready to seek a new sun. Life for our race!"
+
+A quiet, patient, imperturbable smile appeared on the Elder's face and
+the heavy lids closed over his great eyes.
+
+"Yes," he said sadly, "but at what cost in tranquility! The discord, the
+unrest, the awakening of unnatural ambitions--a dreadful price to pay
+for a questionable gain. Too great a price, I think." His eyes opened,
+and he raised a thin hand to check the younger man's protest. "I know--I
+know--in this we do not see as one. Yet perhaps some day you will learn
+even as I have that to rest is better than to engage in an endless
+struggle. Suns and planets die. Why should races seek to escape the
+inevitable?" Tordos Gar turned slowly away and gazed fixedly into the
+night sky.
+
+Taj Lamor checked an impatient retort and sighed resignedly. It was this
+attitude that had made his task so difficult. Decadence. A race on an
+ages-long decline from vast heights of philosophical and scientific
+learning. Their last external enemy had been defeated millennia in the
+past; and through easy forgetfulness and lack of strife, ambition had
+died. Adventure had become a meaningless word.
+
+Strangely, during the last century a few men had felt the stirrings of
+long-buried emotion, of ambition, of a craving for adventure. These were
+throwbacks to those ancestors of the race whose science had built their
+world. These men, a comparative handful, had been drawn to each other by
+the unnatural ferment within them; and Taj Lamor had become their
+leader. They had begun a mighty struggle against the inertia of ages of
+slow decay, had begun a search for the lost secrets of a
+hundred-million-year-old science.
+
+Taj Lamor raised his eyes to the horizon. Through the leaping curve of
+the crystal clear roof of their world glowed a blazing spot of yellow
+fire. A star--the brightest object in a sky whose sun had lost its
+light. A point of radiance that held the last hopes of an incredibly
+ancient race.
+
+The quiet voice of Tordos Gar came through the semidarkness of the
+room, a pensive, dreamlike quality in its tones.
+
+"You, Taj Lamor, and those young men who have joined you in this futile
+expedition do not think deeply enough. Your vision is too narrow. You
+lack perspective. In your youth you cannot think on a cosmic scale." He
+paused as though in thought, and when he continued, it seemed almost as
+though he were speaking to himself.
+
+"In the far, dim past fifteen planets circled about a small, red sun.
+They were dead worlds--or rather, worlds that had not yet lived. Perhaps
+a million years passed before there moved about on three of them the
+beginnings of life. Then a hundred million years passed, and those
+first, crawling protoplasmic masses had become animals, and plants, and
+intermediate growths. And they fought endlessly for survival. Then more
+millions of years passed, and there appeared a creature which slowly
+gained ascendancy over the other struggling life forms that fought for
+the warmth of rays of the hot, red sun.
+
+"That sun had been old, even as the age of a star is counted, before its
+planets had been born, and many, many millions of years had passed
+before those planets cooled, and then more eons sped by before life
+appeared. Now, as life slowly forced its way upward, that sun was nearly
+burned out. The animals fought, and bathed in the luxury of its rays,
+for many millennia were required to produce any noticeable change in its
+life-giving radiations.
+
+"At last one animal gained the ascendancy. Our race. But though one
+species now ruled, there was no peace. Age followed age while
+semi-barbaric peoples fought among themselves. But even as they fought,
+they learned.
+
+"They moved from caves into structures of wood and stone--and
+engineering had its beginning. With the buildings came little chemical
+engines to destroy them; warfare was developing. Then came the first
+crude flying-machines, using clumsy, inefficient engines. Chemical
+engines! Engines so crude that one could watch the flow of their fuel!
+One part in one hundred thousand million of the energy of their
+propellents they released to run the engines, and they carried fuel in
+such vast quantities that they staggered under its load as they left the
+ground! And warfare became world-wide. After flight came other machines
+and other ages. Other scientists began to have visions of the realms
+beyond, and they sought to tap the vast reservoirs of Nature's energies,
+the energies of matter.
+
+"Other ages saw it done--a few thousand years later there passed out
+into space a machine that forced its way across the void to another
+planet! And the races of the three living worlds became as one--but
+there was no peace.
+
+"Swiftly now, science grew upon itself, building with ever faster steps,
+like a crystal which, once started, forms with incalculable speed.
+
+"And while that science grew swiftly greater, other changes took place,
+changes in our universe itself. Ten million years passed before the
+first of those changes became important. But slowly, steadily our
+atmosphere was drifting into space. Through ages this gradually became
+apparent. Our worlds were losing their air and their water. One planet,
+less favored than another, fought for its life, and space itself was
+ablaze with the struggles of wars for survival.
+
+"Again science helped us. Thousands of years before, men had learned how
+to change the mass of matter into energy, but now at last the process
+was reversed, and those ancestors of ours could change energy into
+matter, any kind of matter they wished. Rock they took, and changed it
+to energy, then that energy they transmuted to air, to water, to the
+necessary metals. Their planets took a new lease of life!
+
+"But even this could not continue forever. They must stop that loss of
+air. The process they had developed for reformation of matter admitted
+of a new use. Creation! They were now able to make new elements,
+elements that had never existed in nature! They designed atoms as, long
+before, their fathers had designed molecules. At last their problem was
+solved. They made a new form of matter that was clearer than any
+crystal, and yet stronger and tougher than any metal known. Since it
+held out none of the sun's radiations, they could roof their worlds with
+it and keep their air within!
+
+"This was a task that could not be done in a year, nor a decade, but all
+time stretched out unending before them. One by one the three planets
+became tremendous, roofed-in cities. Only their vast powers, their
+mighty machines made the task possible, but it was done."
+
+The droning voice of Tordos Gar ceased. Taj Lamor, who had listened with
+a mixture of amusement and impatience to the recital of a history he
+knew as well as the aged, garrulous narrator, waited out of the inborn
+respect which every man held for the Elders. At length he exclaimed: "I
+see no point--"
+
+"But you will when I finish--or, at least, I hope you will." Tordos
+Gar's words and tone were gently reproving. He continued quietly:
+
+"Slowly the ages drifted on, each marked by greater and greater triumphs
+of science. But again and again there were wars. Some there were in
+which the population of a world was halved, and all space for a billion
+miles about was a vast cauldron of incandescent energy in which
+tremendous fleets of space ships swirled and fused like ingredients in
+some cosmic brew. Forces were loosed on the three planets that sent even
+their mighty masses reeling drunkenly out of their orbits, and space
+itself seemed to be torn by the awful play of energies.
+
+"Always peace followed--a futile peace. A few brief centuries or a few
+millennia, and again war would flame. It would end, and life would
+continue.
+
+"But slowly there crept into the struggle a new factor, a darkening
+cloud, a change that came so gradually that only the records of
+instruments, made during a period of thousands of years, could show it.
+Our sun had changed from bright red to a deep, sullen crimson, and ever
+less and less heat poured from it. It was waning!
+
+"As the fires of life died down, the people of the three worlds joined
+in a conflict with the common menace, death from the creeping cold of
+space. There was no need for great haste; a sun dies slowly. Our
+ancestors laid their plans and carried them out. The fifteen worlds were
+encased in shells of crystal. Those that had no atmosphere were given
+one. Mighty heating plants were built--furnaces that burned matter,
+designed to warm a world! At last a state of stability had been reached,
+for never could conditions change--it seemed. All external heat and
+light came from far-off stars, the thousands of millions of suns that
+would never fail.
+
+"Under stress of the Great Change one scarcely noticed, yet almost
+incredible, transformation had occurred. We had learned to live with
+each other. We had learned to think, and enjoy thinking. As a species we
+had passed from youth into maturity. Advancement did not stop; we went
+on steadily toward the goal of all knowledge. At first there was an
+underlying hope that we might some day, somehow, escape from these
+darkened, artificial worlds of ours, but with the passing centuries this
+grew very dim and at length was forgotten.
+
+"Gradually as millennia passed, much ancient knowledge was also
+forgotten. It was not needed. The world was unchanging, there was no
+strife, and no need of strife. The fifteen worlds were warm, and
+pleasant, and safe. Without fully realizing it, we had entered a period
+of rest. And so the ages passed; and there were museums and libraries
+and laboratories; and the machines of our ancestors did all necessary
+work. So it was--until less than a generation ago. Our long lives were
+pleasant, and death, when it came, was a sleep. And then--"
+
+"And then," Taj Lamor interrupted, a sharp edge of impatience in his
+tone, "some of us awakened from our stupor!"
+
+The Elder sighed resignedly. "You cannot see--you cannot see. You would
+start that struggle all over again!" His voice continued in what Taj
+Lamor thought of as a senile drone, but the younger man paid scant
+attention. His eyes and thoughts were centered on that brilliant yellow
+star, the brightest object in the heavens. It was that star, noticeably
+brighter within a few centuries, that had awakened a few men from their
+mental slumbers.
+
+They were throwbacks, men who had the divine gift of curiosity; and
+sparked by their will to know, they had gone to the museums and looked
+carefully at the ancient directions for the use of the telectroscope,
+the mighty electrically amplified vision machine, had gazed through it.
+They had seen a great sun that seemed to fill all the field of the
+apparatus with blazing fire. A sun to envy! Further observation had
+revealed that there circled about the sun a series of planets, five,
+definitely; two more, probably; and possibly two others.
+
+Taj Lamor had been with that group, a young man then, scarcely more than
+forty, but they had found him a leader and they had followed him as he
+set about his investigation of the ancient books on astronomy.
+
+How many, many hours had he studied those ancient works! How many times
+had he despaired of ever learning their truths, and gone out to the roof
+of the museum to stand in silent thought looking out across the awful
+void to the steady flame of the yellow star! Then quietly he had
+returned to his self-set task.
+
+With him as teacher, others had learned, and before he was seventy there
+were many men who had become true scientists, astronomers. There was
+much of the ancient knowledge that these men could not understand, for
+the science of a million centuries is not to be learned in a few brief
+decades, but they mastered a vast amount of the forgotten lore.
+
+They knew now that the young, live sun, out there in space, was speeding
+toward them, their combined velocities equalling more than 100 miles
+each second. And they knew that there were not seven, but nine planets
+circling about that sun. There were other facts they discovered; they
+found that the new sun was far larger than theirs had ever been; indeed,
+it was a sun well above average in size and brilliance. There were
+planets, a hot sun--a home! Could they get there?
+
+When their ancestors had tried to solve the problem of escape they had
+concentrated their work on the problem of going at speeds greater than
+that of light. This should be an impossibility, but the fact that the
+ancients had tried it, seemed proof enough to their descendants that it
+was possible, at least in theory. In the distant past they had needed
+speeds exceeding that of light, for they must travel light years; but
+now this sun was coming toward them, and already was less than two
+hundred and fifty billion miles away!
+
+They would pass that other star in about seventy years. That was
+scarcely more than a third of a man's lifetime. They could make the
+journey with conceivable speeds--but in that brief period they must
+prepare to move!
+
+The swift agitation for action had met with terrific resistance. They
+were satisfied; why move?
+
+But, while some men had devoted their time to arousing the people to
+help, others had begun doing work that had not been done for a long,
+long time. The laboratories were reopened, and workshops began humming
+again. They were making things that were new once more, not merely
+copying old designs.
+
+Their search had been divided into sections, search for weapons with
+which to defend themselves in case they were attacked, and search for
+the basic principles underlying the operation of their space ships. They
+had machines which they could imitate, but they did not understand them.
+Success had been theirs on these quests. The third section had been less
+successful. They had also been searching for secrets of the apparatus
+their forefathers had used to swing the planets in their orbits, to move
+worlds about at will. They had wanted to be able to take not only their
+space ships, but their planets as well, when they went to settle on
+these other worlds and in this other solar system.
+
+But the search for this secret had remained unrewarded. The secret of
+the spaceships they learned readily, and Taj Lamor had designed these
+mighty ships below there with that knowledge. Their search for weapons
+had been satisfied; they had found one weapon, one of the deadliest that
+their ancestors had ever invented. But the one secret in which they were
+most interested, the mighty force barrage that could swing a world in
+its flight through space, was lost. They could not find it.
+
+They knew the principles of the driving apparatus of their ships, and it
+would seem but a matter of enlargement to drive a planet as a ship, but
+they knew this was impossible; the terrific forces needed would easily
+be produced by their apparatus, but there was no way to apply them to a
+world. If applied in any spot, the planet would be torn asunder by the
+incalculable strain. They must apply the force equally to the entire
+planet. Their problem was one of application of power. The rotation of
+the planet made it impossible to use a series of driving apparatus, even
+could these be anchored, but again the sheer immensity of the task made
+it impossible.
+
+Taj Lamor gazed down again at the great ships in the plaza below. Their
+mighty bulks seemed to dwarf even the huge buildings about them. Yet
+these ships were his--for he had learned their secrets and designed
+them, and now he was to command them as they flew out across space in
+that flight to the distant star.
+
+He turned briefly to the Elder, Tordos Gar. "Soon we leave," he said, a
+faint edge of triumph in his voice. "We will prove that our way is
+right."
+
+The old man shook his head. "You will learn--" he began, but Taj Lamor
+did not want to hear.
+
+He turned, passed through a doorway, and stepped into a little
+torpedo-shaped car that rested on the metal roof behind him. A moment
+later the little ship rose, and then slanted smoothly down over the edge
+of the roof, straight for the largest of the ships below. This was the
+flagship. Nearly a hundred feet greater was its diameter, and its mile
+and a quarter length of gleaming metal hull gave it nearly three hundred
+feet greater length than that of the ships of the line.
+
+This expedition was an expedition of exploration. They were prepared to
+meet any conditions on those other worlds--no atmosphere, no water, no
+heat, or even an atmosphere of poisonous gases they could rectify, for
+their transmutation apparatus would permit them to change those gases,
+or modify them; they knew well how to supply heat, but they knew too,
+that that sun would warm some of its planets sufficiently for their
+purposes.
+
+Taj Lamor sent his little machine darting through the great airlock in
+the side of the gigantic interstellar ship and lowered it gently to the
+floor. A man stepped forward, opened the door for the leader, saluting
+him briskly as he stepped out; then the car was run swiftly aside, to be
+placed with thousands of others like it. Each of these cars was to be
+used by a separate investigator when they reached those other worlds,
+and there were men aboard who would use them.
+
+Taj Lamor made his way to a door in the side of a great metal tube that
+threaded the length of the huge ship. Opening the door he sat down in
+another little car that shot swiftly forward as the double door shut
+softly, with a low hiss of escaping air. For moments the car sped
+through the tube, then gently it slowed and came to rest opposite
+another door. Again came the hissing of gas as the twin doors opened,
+and Taj Lamor stepped out, now well up in the nose of the cruiser. As he
+stepped out of the car the outer and inner doors closed, and, ready now
+for other calls, the car remained at this station. On a ship so long,
+some means of communication faster than walking was essential. This
+little pneumatic railway was the solution.
+
+As Taj Lamor stepped out of the tube, a half-dozen men, who had been
+talking among themselves, snapped quickly to attention. Following the
+plans of the long-gone armies of their ancestors, the men of the
+expedition had been trained to strict discipline; and Taj Lamor was
+their technical leader and the nominal Commander-in-Chief, although
+another man, Kornal Sorul, was their actual commander.
+
+Taj Lamor proceeded at once to the Staff Cabin in the very nose of the
+great ship. Just above him there was another room, walled on all sides
+by that clear, glass-like material, the control cabin. Here the pilot
+sat, directing the motions of the mighty ship of space.
+
+Taj Lamor pushed a small button on his desk and in a moment a gray disc
+before him glowed dimly, then flashed into life and full, natural color.
+As though looking through a glass porthole, Taj Lamor saw the interior
+of the Communications Room. The Communications Officer was gazing at a
+similar disc in which Taj Lamor's features appeared.
+
+"Have they reported from Ohmur, Lorsand, and Throlus, yet, Morlus Tal?"
+asked the commander.
+
+"They are reporting now, Taj Lamor, and we will be ready within two and
+one half minutes. The plans are as before; we are to proceed directly
+toward the Yellow Star, meeting at Point 71?"
+
+"The plans are as before. Start when ready."
+
+The disc faded, the colors died, and it was gray again. Taj Lamor pulled
+another small lever on the panel before him, and the disc changed,
+glowed, and was steady; and now he saw the preparations for departure,
+as from an eye on the top of the great ship. Men streamed swiftly in
+ordered columns all about and into the huge vessels. In an incredibly
+short time they were in, and the great doors closed behind them.
+Suddenly there came a low, dull hum through the disc, and the sound
+mounted quickly, till all the world seemed humming to that dull note.
+The warning!
+
+Abruptly the city around him seemed to blaze in a riot of colored light!
+The mighty towering bulks of the huge metal buildings were polished and
+bright, and now, as the millions of lights, every color of the spectrum,
+flashed over all the city from small machines in the air, on the ground,
+in windows, their great metal walls glistening with a riot of flowing
+color. Then there was a trembling through all the frame of the mighty
+ship. In a moment it was gone, and the titanic mass of glistening metal
+rose smoothly, quickly to the great roof of their world above them. On
+an even keel it climbed straight up, then suddenly it leaped forward
+like some great bird of prey sighting its victim. The ground beneath
+sped swiftly away, and behind it there came a long line of ships,
+quickly finding their position in the formation. They were heading
+toward the giant airlock that would let them out into space. There was
+but one lock large enough to permit so huge a ship to pass out, and they
+must circle half their world to reach it.
+
+On three other worlds there were other giant ships racing thus to meet
+beyond their solar system. There were fifty ships coming from each
+planet; two hundred mighty ships in all made up this Armada of Space,
+two hundred gargantuan interstellar cruisers.
+
+One by one the giant ships passed through the airlock and out into
+space. Here they quickly reformed as they moved off together, each ship
+falling into its place in the mighty cone formation, with the flagship
+of Taj Lamor at the head. On they rushed through space, their speed ever
+mounting. Suddenly there seemed to leap out of nowhere another mass of
+shining machines that flew swiftly beside them. Like some strange,
+shining ghosts, these ships seemed to materialize instantly beside and
+behind their fleet. They fell in quickly in their allotted position
+behind the Flagship's squadron. One--two more fleets appeared thus
+suddenly in the dark, and together the ships were flashing on through
+space to their goal of glowing fire ahead!
+
+Hour after hour, day after day the ships flashed on through the awful
+void, the utter silence relieved by the communications between
+themselves and the slowly weakening communications from the far-off home
+planets.
+
+But as those signals from home grew steadily weaker, the sun before them
+grew steadily larger. At last the men began to feel the heat of those
+rays, to realize the energy that that mighty sea of flame poured forth
+into space, and steadily they watched it grow nearer.
+
+Then came a day when they could make out clearly the dim bulk of a
+planet before them, and for long hours they slowed down the flying speed
+of the ships. They had mapped the system they were approaching; there
+were nine planets of varying sizes, some on the near and some on the
+far side of the sun. There were but three on the near side; one that
+seemed the outermost of the planets, about 35,000 miles in diameter, was
+directly in their path, while there were two more much nearer the sun,
+about 100,000,000 and 70,000,000 miles distant from it, each about seven
+to eight thousand miles in diameter, but they were on opposite sides of
+the sun. These more inviting and more accessible worlds were numbers two
+and three of the planetary system. It was decided to split the
+expedition into two parts; one part was to go to planet two, and the
+other to three. Taj Lamor was to lead his group of a hundred ships to
+the nearer planet at once.
+
+In a very brief time the great ships slanted down over what seemed to be
+a mighty globe of water. They were well in the northern hemisphere, and
+they had come near the planet first over a vast stretch of rolling
+ocean. The men had looked in wonder at such vast quantities of the
+fluid. To them it was a precious liquid, that must be made artificially,
+and was to be conserved, yet here they saw such vast quantities of
+natural water as seemed impossible. Still, their ancient books had told
+of such things, and of other strange things, things that must have been
+wondrously beautiful, though they were so old now, these records, that
+they were regarded largely as myths.
+
+Yet here were the strange proofs! They saw great masses of fleecy water
+vapor, huge billowy things that seemed solid, but were blown lightly in
+the wind. And natural air! The atmosphere extended for hundreds of miles
+off into space; and now, as they came closer to the surface of this
+world the air was dense, and the sky above them was a beautiful blue,
+not black, even where there were stars. The great sun, so brilliantly
+incandescent when seen from space, and now a glowing globe of
+reddish-yellow.
+
+And as they came near land, they looked in wonder at mighty masses of
+rock and soil that threw their shaggy heads high above the surrounding
+terrain, huge masses that rose high, like waves in the water, till they
+towered in solemn grandeur miles into the air! What a sight for these
+men of a world so old that age long erosion had washed away the last
+traces of hills, and filled in all of the valleys!
+
+In awe they looked down at the mighty rock masses, as they swung low
+over the mountains, gazing in wonder at the green masses of the strange
+vegetation; strange, indeed, for they for uncounted ages had grown only
+mushroom-like cellulose products, and these mainly for ornament, for all
+their food was artificially made in huge factories.
+
+Then they came over a little mountain lake, a body of water scarcely
+large enough to berth one of their huge ships, but high in the clear air
+of the mountains, fed by the melting of eternal snows. It was a
+magnificent sapphire in a setting green as emerald, a sparkling lake of
+clear water, deep as the sea, high in a cleft in the mountains.
+
+In wonder the men looked down at these strange sights. What a marvelous
+home!
+
+Steadily the great machines proceeded, and at last the end of the giant
+mountain was reached, and they came to a great plain. But that plain was
+strangely marked off with squares, as regularly as though plotted with a
+draftsman's square. This world must be inhabited by intelligent beings!
+
+Suddenly Taj Lamor saw strange specks off in the far horizon to the
+south, specks that seemed to grow in size with terrific velocity; these
+must be ships, the ships of these people, coming to defend their home.
+The strangely pallid face of Taj Lamor tightened into lines of grim
+resolution. This was a moment he had foreseen and had dreaded. Was he to
+withdraw and leave these people unmolested, or was he to stand and fight
+for this world, this wonderfully beautiful home, a home that his race
+could live in for millions of years to come? He had debated this
+question many times before in his mind, and he had decided. There would
+never, never be another chance for his people to gain a new home. They
+must fight.
+
+Swiftly he gave his orders. If resistance came, if an attack were made,
+they were to fight back at once, with every weapon at their disposal.
+
+The strangers' ships had grown swiftly larger to the eye, but still,
+though near now, they seemed too small to be dangerous. These giant
+interstellar cruisers were certainly invulnerable to ships so small;
+their mere size would give them protection! These ships were scarcely as
+long as the diameter of the smaller of the interstellar ships--a bare
+two hundred and fifty feet for the largest.
+
+The interstellar cruisers halted in their course, and waited for the
+little ships to approach. They were fast, for they drew alongside
+quickly, and raced to the front of the flagship. There was one small one
+that was painted white, and on it there was a large white banner,
+flapping in the wind of its passage. The rest of the ships drew off as
+this came forward, and stopped, hanging motionless before the control
+room of the giant machine. There were men inside--three strange men,
+short and oddly pink-skinned--but they were gesturing now, motioning
+that the giant machine settle to the ground beneath. Taj Lamor was
+considering whether or not to thus parley with the strangers, when
+suddenly there leaped from the white craft a beam of clear white--a beam
+that was directed toward the ground, then swung up toward the great
+cruiser in a swift arc!
+
+As one, a dozen swift beams of pale red flared out from the giant and
+bathed the pigmy craft. As they reached it, the white ray that had been
+sweeping up suddenly vanished, and for an instant the ship hung poised
+in the air; then it began to swing crazily, like the pendulum of a
+clock--swung completely over--and with a sickening lurch sped swiftly
+for the plain nearly five miles below. In moments there came a brief
+flare, then there remained only a little crater in the soft soil.
+
+But the red beams had not stopped with the little ship; they had darted
+out to the other machines, trying to reach them before they could bring
+those strange white rays into play. The cruisers obviously must win, for
+they carried dozens of projectors, but they might be damaged, their
+flight delayed. They must defeat those strangers quickly. The rays of
+Taj Lamor's ship lashed out swiftly, but almost before they had
+started, all the other ships, a full hundred, were in action, and the
+flagship was darting swiftly up and away from the battle. Below, those
+pale red rays were taking a swift toll of the little ships, and nearly
+twenty of them rolled suddenly over, and dashed to destruction far
+below.
+
+But now the little ships were in swift darting motion. Because of their
+small size, they were able to avoid the rays of the larger interstellar
+cruisers, and as their torpedo-shaped hulls flashed about with
+bewildering speed, they began to fight back. They had been taken utterly
+by surprise, but now they went into action with an abandon and swiftness
+that took the initiative away from the gigantic interstellar liners.
+They were in a dozen places at once, dodging and twisting, unharmed, out
+of the way of the deadly red beams, and were as hard to hit as so many
+dancing feathers suspended over an air jet.
+
+And if the pilots were skillful in avoiding enemy rays, their ray men
+were as accurate in placing theirs. But then, with a target of such vast
+size, not so much skill was necessary.
+
+These smaller vessels were the ships of Earth. The people of the dark
+star had entered the solar system quite unannounced, except that they
+had been seen in passing the orbit of Mars, for a ship had been out
+there in space, moving steadily out toward Neptune, and the great
+interstellar cruisers, flashing in across space, away from that frigid
+planet, had not seen the tiny wanderer. But he had seen those mighty
+hulks, and had sent his message of danger out on the ether, warning the
+men of Earth. They had relayed it to Venus, and the ships that had gone
+there had received an equally warm reception, and were even now finding
+their time fully occupied trying to beat off the Interplanetary Patrol.
+
+The battle ended as swiftly as it began, for Taj Lamor, in his machine
+high above, saw that they were outclassed, and ordered them to withdraw
+at once. Scarcely ten minutes had elapsed, yet they had lost twenty-two
+of their giant ships.
+
+The expedition that had gone to Venus reported a similarly active
+greeting. It was decided at once that they should proceed cautiously to
+the other planets, to determine which were inhabited and which were not,
+and to determine the chemical and physical conditions on each.
+
+The ships formed again out in space, on the other side of the sun,
+however, and started at once in compact formation for Mercury.
+
+Their observations were completed without further mishap, and they set
+out for their distant home, their number depleted by forty-one ships,
+for nineteen had fallen on Venus.
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+
+The Terrestrian and Venerian governments had met in conference, a grim,
+businesslike discussion with few wasted words. Obviously, this was to be
+a war of science, a war on a scale never before known on either world.
+Agreements were immediately drawn up between the two worlds for a
+concerted, cooperative effort. A fleet of new and vastly more powerful
+ships must be constructed--but first they must have a complete report on
+the huge invading craft that had fallen in western Canada, and on Venus,
+for they might conceivably make their secrets their own.
+
+They called for the scientists whose work had made possible their
+successful resistance of the marauders: Arcot, Morey and Wade. They
+found them working in the Arcot Laboratories.
+
+"Wade," called Arcot tensely as he snapped the switch of the
+televisophone, "bring Morey and meet me at the machine on the roof at
+once. That was a call from Washington. I'll explain as soon as you get
+there."
+
+On the roof Arcot opened the hangar doors, and entered the
+five-passenger molecular motion ship inside. Its sleek, streamlined
+sides spoke of power and speed. This was a special research model,
+designed for their experiments, and carrying mechanisms not found in
+commercial crafts. Among these were automatic controls still in the
+laboratory stage, but permitting higher speed, for no human being could
+control the ship as accurately as these.
+
+It took the trio a little less than a quarter of an hour to make the
+5,000 mile trip from New York to the battlefield of Canada. As they sped
+through the air, Arcot told them what had transpired. The three were
+passed through the lines at once, and they settled to the ground beside
+one of the huge ships that lay half buried in the ground. The force of
+the impact had splashed the solid soil as a stone will splash soft mud,
+and around the ship there was a massive ridge of earth. Arcot looked at
+the titanic proportions of this ship from space, and turned to his
+friends:
+
+"We can investigate that wreck on foot, but I think it'll be far more
+sensible to see what we can do with the car. This monster is certainly a
+mile or more long, and we'd spend more time in walking than in
+investigation. I suggest, we see if there isn't room for the car inside.
+This beats even those huge Kaxorian planes for size." Arcot paused, then
+grinned. "I sure would have liked to mix in the fight they must have had
+here--nice little things to play with, aren't they?"
+
+"It would make a nice toy," agreed Wade as he looked at the rows of
+wicked-looking projectors along the sides of the metal hull, "and I
+wonder if there might not be some of the crew alive in there? If there
+are, the size of the ship would prevent their showing themselves very
+quickly, and since they can't move the ship, it seems to me that they'll
+let us know shortly that they're around. Probably, with the engines
+stopped, their main weapons are useless, but they would doubtless have
+some sort of guns. I'm highly in favor of using the car. We carry a
+molecular director ray, so if the way is blocked, we can make a new
+one."
+
+Wade's attention was caught by a sudden flare of light a few miles
+across the plain. "Look over there--that ship is still flaming--reddish,
+but almost colorless. Looks like a gas flame, with a bit of calcium in
+it. Almost as if the air in the ship were combustible. If we should do
+any exploring in this baby, I suggest we use altitude suits--they can't
+do any harm in any case."
+
+Three or four of the great wrecks, spread over a wide area, were burning
+now, hurling forth long tongues of colorless, intensely hot flame.
+Several of the ships had been only slightly damaged; one had been
+brought down by a beam that had torn free the entire tail of the ship,
+leaving the bow in good condition. Apparently this machine had not
+fallen far; perhaps the pilot had retained partial control of the ship,
+his power failing when he was only a comparatively short distance from
+Earth. This was rather well to one side of the plain, however, and they
+decided to investigate it later.
+
+The ship nearest them had crashed nose first, the point being crushed
+and shattered. Arcot maneuvered his craft cautiously toward the great
+hole at the nose of the ship, and they entered the mighty vessel slowly,
+a powerful spotlight illuminating the interior. Tremendous girders,
+twisted and broken by the force of impact, thrust up about them. It soon
+became evident that there was little to fear from any living enemies,
+and they proceeded more rapidly. Certainly no creature could live after
+the shock that had broken these huge girders! Several times metal beams
+blocked their path, and they were forced to use the molecular director
+ray to bend them out of the way.
+
+"Man," said Arcot as they stopped a moment to clear away a huge member
+that was bent across their path, "but those beams do look as if they
+were built permanently! I'd hate to ram into one of them! Look at that
+one--if that has anywhere near the strength of steel, just think of the
+force it took to bend it!"
+
+At last they had penetrated to the long tube that led through the length
+of the ship, the communication tube. This admitted the small ship
+easily, and they moved swiftly along till they came to what they
+believed to be about the center of the invader. Here Arcot proposed that
+they step out and see what there was to be seen.
+
+The others agreed, and they at once put on their altitude suits of heavy
+rubberized canvas, designed to be worn outside the ship when at high
+altitude, or even in space. They were supplied with oxygen tanks that
+would keep the wearer alive for about six hours. Unless the atmosphere
+remaining in the alien ship was excessively corrosive, they would be
+safe. After a brief discussion, they decided that all would go, for if
+they met opposition, there would be strength in numbers.
+
+They met their first difficulty in opening the door leading out of the
+communication tube. It was an automatic door, and resisted their every
+effort--until finally they were forced to tear it out with a ray. It was
+impossible to move it in any other way. The door was in what was now the
+floor, since the ship seemed to have landed on one side rather than on
+its keel.
+
+They let themselves through the narrow opening one at a time, and landed
+on the sloping wall of the corridor beyond.
+
+"Lucky this wasn't a big room, or we'd have had a nice drop to the far
+wall!" commented Wade. The suits were equipped with a thin vibrating
+diaphragm that made speech easy, but Wade's voice came through with a
+queerly metallic ring.
+
+Arcot agreed somewhat absently, his attention directed toward their
+surroundings. His hand light pierced the blackness, finally halting at a
+gaping opening, apparently the entrance to a corridor. As they examined
+it, they saw that it slanted steeply downward.
+
+"It seems to be quite a drop," said Wade as he turned his light into it,
+"but the surface seems to be rather rough. I think we can do it. I
+notice that you brought a rope, Morey; I think it'll help. I'll go
+first, unless someone else wants the honor."
+
+"You go first?" Arcot hesitated briefly. "But I don't know--if we're
+all going, I guess you had better, at that. It would take two ordinary
+men to lower a big bulk like you. On the other hand, if anybody is going
+to stay, you're delegated as elevator boy!
+
+"Hold everything," continued Arcot. "I have an idea. I think none of us
+will need to hold the weight of the others with the rope. Wade, will you
+get three fairly good-sized pieces of metal, something we can tie a rope
+to? I think we can get down here without the help of anyone else. Morey,
+will you cut the rope in three equal pieces while I help Wade tear loose
+that girder?"
+
+Arcot refused to reveal his idea till his preparations were complete,
+but worked quickly and efficiently. With the aid of Wade, he soon had
+three short members, and taking the rope that Morey had prepared, he
+tied lengths of cord to the pieces of metal, leaving twenty foot lengths
+hanging from each. Now he carefully tested his handiwork to make sure
+the knots would not slip.
+
+"Now, let's see what we can do." Arcot put a small loop in one end of a
+cord, thrust his left wrist through this, and grasped the rope firmly
+with his hand. Then he drew his ray pistol, and adjusted it carefully
+for direction of action. The trigger gave him control over power.
+Finally he turned the ray on the block of metal at the other end of the
+rope. At once the metal pulled vigorously, drawing the rope taut, and as
+Arcot increased the power, he was dragged slowly across the floor.
+
+"Ah--it works." He grinned broadly over his shoulder. "Come on, boys,
+hitch your wagon to a star, and we'll go on with the investigation. This
+is a new, double action parachute. It lets you down easy, and pulls you
+up easier! I think we can go where we want now." After a pause he added,
+"I don't have to tell you that too much power will be very bad!"
+
+With Arcot's simple brake, they lowered themselves into the corridor
+below, descending one at a time, to avoid any contact with the ray,
+since the touch of the beam was fatal.
+
+The scene that lay before them was one of colossal destruction. They had
+evidently stumbled upon the engine room. They could not hope to
+illuminate its vast expanse with their little hand lights, but they
+could gain some idea of its magnitude, and of its original layout. The
+floor, now tilted at a steep angle, was torn up in many places, showing
+great, massive beams, buckled and twisted like so many wires, while the
+heavy floor plates were crumpled like so much foil. Everywhere the room
+seemed covered with a film of white silvery metal; it was silver, they
+decided after a brief examination, spattered broadcast over the walls of
+the room.
+
+Suddenly Morey pointed ceilingward with his light. "That's where the
+silver came from!" he exclaimed. A network of heavy bars ran across the
+roof, great bars of solid silver fully three feet thick. In one section
+gaped a ragged hole, suggesting the work of a disintegration ray, a hole
+that went into the metal roof above, one which had plainly been fused,
+as had the great silver bars.
+
+Arcot looked in wonder at the heavy metal bars. "Lord--bus bars three
+feet thick! What engines they must have! Look at the way those were
+blown out! They were short circuited by the crash, just before the
+generator went out, and they were volatilized! Some juice!"
+
+With the aid of their improvised elevators, the three men attempted to
+explore the tremendous chamber. They had scarcely begun, when Wade
+exclaimed:
+
+"Bodies!"
+
+They crowded around his gruesome find and caught their first glimpse of
+the invaders from space. Anatomical details could not be distinguished
+since the bodies had been caught under a rain of crushing beams, but
+they saw that they were not too different from both Terrestrians and
+Venerians--though their blood seemed strangely pallid, and their skin
+was of a ghastly whiteness. Evidently they had been assembled before an
+unfamiliar sort of instrument panel when catastrophe struck; Morey
+indicated the dials and keys.
+
+"Nice to know what you're fighting," Arcot observed. "I've a hunch that
+we'll see some of these critters alive--but not in this ship!"
+
+They turned away and resumed their examination of the shattered
+mechanisms.
+
+A careful examination was impossible; they were wrecks, but Arcot did
+see that they seemed mainly to be giant electrical machines of standard
+types, though on a gargantuan scale. There were titanic masses of
+wrecked metal, iron and silver, for with these men silver seemed to
+replace copper, though nothing could replace iron and its magnetic uses.
+
+"They are just electrical machines, I guess," said Arcot at last. "But
+what size! Have you seen anything really revolutionary, Wade?"
+
+Wade frowned and answered. "There are just two things that bother me.
+Come here." As Arcot jumped over, nearly suspended by his ray pistol,
+Wade directed his light on a small machine that had fallen in between
+the cracks in the giant mass of broken generators. It was a little
+thing, apparently housed in a glass case. There was only one objection
+to that assumption. The base of a large generator lay on it, metal fully
+two feet thick, and that metal was cracked where it rested on the case,
+and the case, made of material an inch and a half thick, was not dented!
+
+"Whewww--that's a nice kind of glass to have!" Morey commented. "I'd
+like to have a specimen for examination. Oh--I wonder--yes, it must be!
+There's a window in the side up there toward what was the bow that
+seemed to me to be the same stuff. It's buried about three feet in solid
+earth, so I imagine it must be."
+
+The three made their way at once to where they had seen the window. The
+frame appeared to be steel, or some such alloy, and it was twisted and
+bent under the blow, for this was evidently the outer wall, and the
+impact of landing had flattened the rounded side. But that "glass"
+window was quite undisturbed! There was, as a further proof, a large
+granite boulder lying against it on the outside--or what had been a
+boulder, though it had been shattered by the impact.
+
+"Say--that's some building material!" Arcot indicated the transparent
+sheet. "Just look at that granite rock--smashed into sand! Yet the
+window isn't even scratched! Look how the frame that held it is
+torn--just torn, not broken. I wonder if we can tear it loose
+altogether?" He stepped forward, raising his pistol. There was a thud as
+his metal bar crashed down when the ray was shut off. Then, as the
+others got out of the way, he stepped toward the window and directed his
+beam toward it. Gradually he increased the power, till suddenly there
+was a rending crash, and they saw only a leaping column of earth and
+sand and broken granite flying up through the hole in the steel shell.
+There was a sudden violent crash, then a moment later a second equally
+violent crash as the window, having flown up to the ceiling, came
+thumping back to the floor.
+
+After the dust had settled they came forward, looking for the window.
+They found it, somewhat buried by the rubbish, lying off to one side.
+Arcot bent down to tilt it and sweep off the dirt; he grasped it with
+one hand, and pulled. The window remained where it was. He grasped it
+with both hands and pulled harder. The window remained where it was.
+
+"Uh--say, lend a hand will you, Wade." Together the two men pulled, but
+without results. That window was about three feet by two feet by one
+inch, making the total volume about one-half a cubic foot, but it
+certainly was heavy. They could not begin to move it. An equal volume of
+lead would have weighed about four hundred pounds, but this was
+decidedly more than four hundred pounds. Indeed, the combined strength
+of the three men did not do more than rock it.
+
+"Well--it certainly is no kind of matter we know of!" observed Morey.
+"Osmium, the heaviest known metal, has a density of twenty-two and a
+half, which would weigh about 730 pounds. I think we could lift that, so
+this is heavier than anything we know. At least that's proof of a new
+system. Between Venus and Earth we have found every element that occurs
+in the sun. These people must have come from another star!"
+
+"Either that," returned Arcot, "or proof of an amazing degree of
+technological advancement. It's only a guess, of course--but I have an
+idea where this kind of matter exists in the solar system. I think you
+have already seen it--in the gaseous state. You remember, of course,
+that the Kaxorians had great reservoirs for storing light-energy in a
+bound state in their giant planes. They had bound light, light held by
+the gravitational attraction for itself, after condensing it in their
+apparatus, but they had what amounted to a gas--gaseous light. Now
+suppose that someone makes a light condenser even more powerful than the
+one the Kaxorians used, a condenser that forces the light so close to
+itself, increases its density, till the photons hold each other
+permanently, and the substance becomes solid. It will be matter, matter
+made of light--light matter--and let us call it a metal. You know that
+ordinary matter is electricity matter, and electricity matter metals
+conduct electricity readily. Now why shouldn't our 'light matter' metal
+conduct light? It would be a wonderful substance for windows."
+
+"But now comes the question of moving it," Wade interposed. "We can't
+lift it, and we certainly want to examine it. That means we must take it
+to the laboratory. I believe we're about through here--the place is
+clearly quite permanently demolished. I think we had better return to
+the ship and start to that other machine we saw that didn't appear to be
+so badly damaged. But--how can we move this?"
+
+"I think a ray may do the trick." Arcot drew his ray pistol, and stepped
+back a bit, holding the weapon so the ray would direct the plate
+straight up. Slowly he applied the power, and as he gradually increased
+it, the plate stirred, then moved into the air.
+
+"It works! Now you can use your pistol, Morey, and direct it toward the
+corridor. I'll send it up, and let it fall outside, where we can pick it
+up later." Morey stepped forward, and while Arcot held it in the air
+with his ray, Morey propelled it slowly with his, till it was directly
+under the corridor leading upward. Then Arcot gave a sudden increase in
+power, and the plate moved swiftly upward, sailing out of sight. Arcot
+shut off his ray, and there came to their ears a sudden crash as the
+plate fell to the floor above.
+
+The three men regained their ropes and "double action parachutes" as
+Arcot called them, and floated up to the next floor. Again they started
+the process of moving the plate. All went well till they came to the
+little car itself. They could not use the ray on the car, for fear of
+damaging the machinery. They had to use some purely mechanical method of
+hoisting it in.
+
+Finally they solved the problem by using the molecular director ray to
+swing a heavy beam into the air, then one man pulled on the far end of
+it with a rope, and swung it till it was resting on the door of the ship
+on one end, and the other rested in a hole they had torn in the lining
+of the tube.
+
+Now they maneuvered the heavy plate till it was resting on that beam;
+then they released the plate, and watched it slide down the incline,
+shooting through the open doorway of the car. In moments the job was
+done. The plate at last safely stowed, the three men climbed into the
+car, and prepared to leave.
+
+The little machine glided swiftly down the tube through the mighty ship,
+finally coming out through the opening that had admitted them. They rose
+quickly into the air, and headed for the headquarters of the government
+ships.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+
+A great number of scientists and military men were already gathered
+about the headquarters ship. As Arcot's party arrived, they learned that
+each of the wrecks was being assigned to one group. They further learned
+that because of their scientific importance, they were to go to the
+nearly perfect ship lying off to the west. Two Air Patrolmen were to
+accompany them.
+
+"Lieutenant Wright and Lieutenant Greer will go with you," said the
+Colonel. "In the event of trouble from possible--though
+unlikely--survivors, they may be able to help. Is there anything further
+we can do?"
+
+"These men are armed with the standard sidearms, aren't they?" Arcot
+asked. "I think we'll all be better off if I arm them with some of the
+new director-ray pistols. I have several in my boat. It will be all
+right, I suppose?"
+
+"Certainly, Dr. Arcot. They are under your command."
+
+The party, increased to five now, returned to the ship, where Arcot
+showed the men the details of the ray pistols, and how to use them. The
+control for direction of operation was rather intricate in these early
+models, and required considerable explanation. The theoretical range of
+even these small hand weapons was infinity in space, but in the
+atmosphere the energy was rather rapidly absorbed by ionization of the
+air, and the dispersion of the beam made it ineffective in space over a
+range of more than thirty-five miles.
+
+Again entering the little molecular motion car, they went at once to the
+great hull of the fallen ship. They inspected it cautiously from
+overhead before going too close, for the dreadnought, obviously, had
+landed without the terrific concussion that the others had experienced,
+and there was a possibility that some of the crew had survived the
+crash. The entire stern of the huge vessel had been torn off, and
+evidently the ship was unable to rise, but there were lights glowing
+through the portholes on the side, indicating that power had not failed
+completely.
+
+"I think we'd better treat that monster with respect," remarked Wade,
+looking down at the lighted windows. "They have power, and the hull is
+scarcely dented except where the stern was caught by a beam. It's lucky
+we had those ray projector ships! They've been in service only about
+four months, haven't they, Lieutenant?"
+
+"Just about that, sir," the Air Patrolman replied. "They hadn't gotten
+the hand weapons out in sufficient quantities to be issued to us as
+yet."
+
+Morey scowled at the invader. "I don't like this at all. I wonder why
+they didn't greet us with some of their beams," he said in worried
+tones. It did seem that there should be some of the rays in action now.
+They were less than a mile from the fallen giant, and moving rather
+slowly.
+
+"I've been puzzled about that myself," commented Arcot, "and I've come
+to the conclusion that either the ray projectors are fed by a separate
+system of power distribution, which has been destroyed, or that the
+creatures from space are all dead."
+
+They were to learn later, in their exploration of the ship, that the
+invaders' ray projectors were fed from a separate generator, which
+produced a special form of alternating current wave for them. This
+generator had been damaged beyond use.
+
+The little machine was well toward the stern of the giant now, and they
+lowered it till it was on a level with the torn metal. It was plain that
+the ship had been subjected to some terrific tension. The great girders
+were stretched and broken, and the huge ribs were bent and twisted. The
+central tube, which ran the length of the ship, had been drawn down to
+about three quarters of its original diameter, making it necessary for
+them to use their ray to enter. In moments their speedster glided into
+the dark tunnel. The searchlight reaching ahead filled the metal tunnel
+with a myriad deceptive reflections. The tube was lighted up far ahead
+of them, and seemed empty. Cautiously they advanced, with Arcot at the
+controls.
+
+"Wade--Morey--where will we stop first?" he asked. "The engines? They'll
+probably be of prime importance. We know their location. What do you
+say?"
+
+"I agree," replied Wade, and Morey nodded his approval.
+
+They ran their craft down the long tube till they reached the door they
+knew must be the engine room landing, and stepped out, each wearing an
+altitude suit. This ship had landed level, and progress would be much
+easier than in the other one. They waited a moment before opening the
+door into the engine room, for this led into a narrow corridor where
+only one could pass. Caution was definitely in order. The Air Patrolmen
+insisted on leading the way. They had been sent along for the express
+purpose of protecting the scientists, and it was their duty to lead.
+After a brief argument Arcot agreed.
+
+The two officers stepped to the door, and standing off to one side, tore
+it open with a ray from their pistols. It fell with a clatter to the
+rounded metal floor of the tube, and lay there vibrating noisily, but no
+rays of death lanced out from beyond it. Cautiously they peered around
+the corner of the long corridor, then seeing nothing, entered. Wade came
+next, then Arcot, followed by Morey.
+
+The corridor was approximately thirty feet long, opening into the great
+engine room. Already the men could hear the smooth hum of powerful
+machines, and could see the rounded backs of vast mechanisms. But there
+was no sign of life, human or otherwise. They halted finally at the
+threshold of the engine room.
+
+"Well," Arcot said softly. "We haven't seen anyone so far, and I hope no
+one has seen us. The invaders may be behind one of those big engines,
+quite unaware of us. _If_ they're there, and they see us, they'll be
+ready to fight. Now remember, those weapons you have will tear loose
+anything they hit, so take it easy. You know something about the power
+of those engines, so don't put them out of commission, and have them
+splash us all over the landscape.
+
+"But look out for the crew, and get them if they try to get you!"
+
+Cautiously but quickly they stepped out into the great room, forming a
+rough half circle, pistols ready for action. They walked forward
+stealthily, glancing about them--and simultaneously the enemies caught
+sight of each other. There were six of the invaders, each about seven
+feet tall, and surprisingly humanoid. They somewhat resembled
+Venerians, but they weren't Venerians, for their skin was a strange
+gray-white, suggesting raw dough. It seemed to Arcot that these strange,
+pale creatures were advancing at a slow walk, and that he stood still
+watching them as they slowly raised strange hand weapons. He seemed to
+notice every detail: their short, tight-fitting suits of some elastic
+material that didn't hamper their movements, and their strange flesh,
+which just seemed to escape being transparent. Their eyes were strangely
+large, and the black spot of the pupil in their white corneas created an
+unnatural effect.
+
+Then abruptly their weapons came up--and Arcot responded with a sudden
+flick of his ray, as he flung himself to one side. Simultaneously his
+four companions let their beams fly toward the invaders. They glowed
+strangely red here, but they were still effective. The six beings were
+suddenly gone--but not before they had released their own beams. And
+they had taken toll. Lieutenant Wright lay motionless upon the floor.
+
+The Terrestrians scarcely had a chance to notice this, for immediately
+there was a terrific rending crash, and clean daylight came pouring in
+through a wide opening in the wall of the ship. The five rays had not
+stopped on contact with the enemy, but had touched the wall behind them.
+An irregular opening now gaped in the smooth metal.
+
+Suddenly there came a second jarring thud, a dull explosion; then a
+great sheet of flame filled the hole--a wall of ruddy flame swept
+rapidly in. Arcot swung up his ray pistol, pointing it at the mass of
+flaming gas. A mighty column of air came through the narrow corridor
+from the tube, rushing toward the outside, and taking the flame with it.
+A roaring mass of gas hovered outside of the ship.
+
+"Lieutenant," said Arcot, swiftly, "turn your ray on that hole, and keep
+it there, blowing that flame outside with it. You'll find you can't put
+the fire out, but if you keep it outside the ship, I believe we'll be
+reasonably safe." The Patrolman obeyed instantly, relieving Arcot.
+
+Wade and Morey were already bending over the fallen man.
+
+"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for him," the latter said grimly,
+"and every moment here is dangerous. Let's continue our investigation
+and carry him back to the ship when we leave." Arcot nodded silently.
+
+Solemnly they turned away from the motionless figure on the floor and
+set out on their investigation.
+
+"Arcot," began Morey after a moment, "why is that gas burning like that?
+Can't we put it out?"
+
+"Let's get through with this job first," replied Arcot somewhat tersely.
+"The discussion comes after."
+
+The bodies of the invaders were gone, so they could not examine them
+now. That was a matter for the doctors and biologists, anyway. The
+engines were their main interest, huge things which overshadowed
+everything about them.
+
+It must have been the concealment afforded by the engines that permitted
+three of the enemy to get so close. The only warning the Terrestrians
+had was a faint pink haze as they stepped around the corner of an
+engine; and a sudden feeling of faintness swept over them. They leaped
+back, out of sight, peering around the corner with nerves and muscles
+tensed. There was no sign of movement.
+
+As they watched, they saw a pallid hand reaching out with a ray gun; and
+Wade swiftly pointed his own weapon. There came a sudden crash of metal,
+a groan and quiet. Two other aliens leaped from behind the great engine
+just as the Terrestrians dodged further back; as swiftly, they too found
+concealment.
+
+Arcot swung his ray up, and was about to pull the trigger that would
+send the huge engine toppling over upon them, when he saw that it was
+running. He thought of the unknown energies in the machine, the
+potential destruction, and he shook his head. Cautiously he looked
+around the edge of the towering mass, waiting--his beam flashed out, and
+there was a snapping sound as the ray caught a reaching hand and hurled
+its owner against a mighty transformer of some sort. For an instant the
+huge mass tottered, then was still. In the low concentration of power
+that Arcot had used, only a small portion had been touched, and the
+molecules of this portion had not been enough to tip over its tremendous
+weight.
+
+Only one enemy remained; and Arcot learned swiftly that he was still in
+action, for before he could dodge back there came that now-familiar pink
+haziness. It touched Arcot's hand, outstretched as it had been when he
+fired, and a sudden numbness came over it. His pistol hand seemed to
+lose all feeling of warmth or cold. It was there; he could still feel
+the weapon's deadened weight. Reflex action hurled him back, his hand
+out of range of the ray. In seconds feeling began to return, and in less
+than ten his hand was normal again.
+
+He turned to the others with a wry grin. "Whew--that was a narrow
+squeak! I must say their ray is a gentlemenly sort of thing. It either
+kills you, or doesn't injure you at all. There it goes again!"
+
+A shaft of pink radiance reached the end of the engine, just grazing it,
+evidently absorbed by its mass. "Pinning us down," Wade grated. They
+certainly couldn't step out into the open space--but they couldn't stay
+where they were indefinitely, either. Reinforcements might arrive!
+
+"Look," Wade pointed with his pistol, "he's under that big metal bar--up
+there in the roof--see it? I'll pull it down; he may get nervous and
+come into sight." Swiftly Arcot sprang forward and caught his arm.
+
+"Lord--don't do that, Wade--there's too much stuff here that we don't
+know anything about. Too much chance of your smashing us with him. I'm
+going to try to get around to the other side of this machine and see
+what I can do, while you fellows keep him occupied."
+
+Arcot disappeared around the black humming giant. Interminably the
+others waited for something to happen; then suddenly the beam that had
+been playing at irregular intervals across the end of the machine, swung
+quickly to the other side; and simultaneously another ray seemed to leap
+from the machine itself. They met and crossed. There came a momentary
+crashing arc, then both went dead, as the apparatus that generated them
+blew out under terrific overload.
+
+The invader evidently carried a spare, for the watchers saw him dart
+from concealment, clawing at his pocket pouch. They turned their rays on
+him, and just as his projector came free, a ray hurled him violently to
+the left. He crashed into a huge motor, and the result was not nice.
+
+The projector had been jerked from his hand and lay off to the side.
+Arcot ran to it and picked it up just as they heard the Lieutenant call
+an alarmed inquiry.
+
+"I think we're okay now," Arcot answered. "I hope there are no more--but
+by all means stay where you are, and use as little power as possible in
+blowing that flame outside. It uses up the atmosphere of the ship, and
+though we don't need it, I think we'd better take things easy. Call us
+if anything looks odd to you."
+
+For several minutes the three scientists looked about them in awe-struck
+wonder. They were the first men of Earth to see the driving equipment of
+one of the tremendous Kaxorian planes, and they felt tiny beside its
+great bulk; but now, as they examined this engine room, they realized
+that even the huge plane shrank into insignificance beside this
+interstellar cruiser.
+
+All about them loomed the great rounded backs of giant electric
+motor-generators of some sort. Across the roof ran a network of gigantic
+metal bars, apparently conductors, but so large that they suggested
+heavy structural members. The machines they ran into loomed fully thirty
+feet into the air; they were longer than cylinders, thirty feet in
+diameter, and there was a group of four main machines fully a hundred
+twenty feet long! There were many smaller mechanisms--yet these smaller
+ones would easily have constituted a complete power supply for the
+average big city. Along each wall ran a bank of transformers, cast in
+the same heroic mold. These seemed connected with the smaller machines,
+there being four conductors leading into each of the minor units, two
+intake, and two, apparently, output leads, suggesting rotary converters.
+The multiple units and the various types and sizes of transformers made
+it obvious that many different frequencies were needed. Some of the
+transformers had air cores, and led to machines surrounded with a
+silvery white metal instead of the usual iron. These, apparently, were
+generating current at an extremely high frequency.
+
+"Well," Morey commented, "they ought to have power enough. But do you
+notice that those four main units have their leads radiating in
+different directions? The one on the left there seems to lead to that
+big power board at the front--or better, bow. I think it would be worth
+investigating."
+
+Arcot nodded. "I had the same idea. You notice that two of the main
+power units are still working, but that those other two have stopped?
+Probably the two dead ones have something to do with the motion of the
+ship. But there's one point I think is of even greater interest. All the
+machines we have seen, all the conspicuous ones, are secondary power
+sources. There are no primary sources visible. Notice that those two
+main conduits lead over to the right, and toward the bow. Let's check
+where they go to."
+
+As they talked they followed the huge conductors back to their point of
+convergence. Suddenly they rounded one of the huge main power units, and
+saw before them, at the center of square formed by these machines, a low
+platform of transparent light-metal. At the exact center of this
+platform, which was twenty feet in diameter, there was a table, about
+seven feet across and raised about five feet above the level of the
+platform on stout light-metal legs. On the table were two huge cubes of
+solid silver, and into these cubes ran all the conductors they had seen.
+
+In the space of about six inches left between the blocks of metal, there
+was a small box constructed of some strange new material. It was the
+most perfect reflecting surface that any of the men had ever imagined.
+Indeed, it was so perfect a reflector that they were unable to see it,
+but could detect its presence only by the mirror images, and the fact
+that it blotted out objects behind it.
+
+Now they noticed that through the huge blocks of metal there were two
+small holes, and two thin wires of this same reflecting material led
+into those holes. The wires led directly up to the roof, and, suspended
+on three-foot hangers of the light-metal, continued on toward the bow.
+
+Could this be the source of power for the entire ship? It seemed
+impossible, yet there were many other seeming impossible things here,
+among them that strangely reflecting matter.
+
+There was a low railing about the central platform, apparently intended
+to keep observers at a safe distance, so they decided against any more
+detailed investigation. As they were about to discuss their unusual
+find, the Lieutenant called that he heard sounds behind him.
+
+At once the three ran rapidly toward the narrow corridor that had given
+them entrance. The flaming gas was still shooting through the hole in
+the wall of the ship, and the rush of air through the corridor made it
+difficult to hear any sounds there, and exceedingly difficult to walk.
+
+"Turn on more power, Lieutenant, and see if we can't draw out the
+enemy," suggested Arcot, while they braced themselves around the tube
+exit.
+
+As the Patrolman increased the power of his beam, the moan of the air
+through the corridor increased suddenly to a terrific roar, and a
+cyclonic gale swept through. But none of the invaders were drawn out.
+
+After the Lieutenant had shut off the blast from his pistol at Arcot's
+signal, the latter said: "I don't think anything less than a war tank
+could stand that pressure. It's probable that we'll be attacked if we
+stay here much longer, though--and we may not be able to get out at all.
+I think, Lieutenant, I'll ask you to stay here while we go out and get
+the ship ready to leave." He paused, grinning. "Be sure to keep that
+flame outside. You'll be in the position of Hercules after Atlas left
+him holding the skies on his shoulders. You can't shut off the ray for
+long or we'll have a first-rate explosion. We'll signal when we're ready
+by firing a revolver, and you make it to the ship as fast as you can
+travel."
+
+Arcot's expression became solemn. "We'll have to carry Wright back to
+the ship. He was a brave man, and he certainly deserves burial in the
+soil of his own world. And, Morey, we'll have to look up his family.
+Your father's company will have to take care of them if they need help."
+
+Slowly the men forced their way back toward their ship, fighting against
+the roaring column of air, their burden hindering them somewhat; but at
+last they reached the open tunnel. Even here the air was in violent
+motion.
+
+They got into their boat as quickly as possible, and set the controls
+for reverse flight. Then Wade fired the signal shot. In moments they saw
+Lieutenant Greer bucking against the current of air, continuing under
+its own momentum.
+
+By the time he was in the ship an ominous calm had fallen. Swiftly they
+sped down the corridor, and had almost reached the open air, when
+suddenly there was a dull rumble behind them, and they were caught on a
+wave of pressure that hurled them along at terrific speed. In a flash
+they sped into the open air, the great tunnel with its thick walls and
+flared opening acting like a gigantic blunderbus, with the ship as its
+bullet. Arcot made no attempt to slow down the little craft, but pressed
+his foot heavily on the vertical accelerator. The ship rocketed up with
+terrific speed, and the acceleration pinned the men down to their seats
+with tripled weight.
+
+Anxiously they watched the huge invader as they sped away from it. At
+Arcot's direction Morey signaled the other groups of scientists to get
+out of danger with all speed, warning of the impending blow-up. As the
+moments sped by the tension mounted. Arcot stared fixedly into the
+screen before him, keeping the giant space ship in focus. As they sped
+mile upon miles away from it, he began to relax a bit.
+
+Not a word was spoken as they watched and waited. Actually, very little
+time passed before the explosion, but to the watchers the seconds
+dragged endlessly. Then at twenty-seven miles, the screen flared into a
+sheet of blinding white radiance. There was a timeless instant--then a
+tremendous wave of sound, a roaring, stunning concussion smote the ship,
+shaking it with unrestrained fury--to cease as abruptly as it came.
+
+Immediately they realized the reason. They were rushing away from the
+explosion faster than the sound it made, hence could not hear it. After
+the first intolerable flash, details became visible. The great ship
+seemed to leap into countless tremendous fragments, each rushing away
+from the point of the blow-up. They did not go far; the force was not
+sustained long enough, nor was it great enough to overcome the inertia
+of so vast a mass for more than moments. Huge masses rained to earth, to
+bury themselves in the soil.
+
+There came a momentary lull. Then suddenly, from the mass which
+evidently held the wrecked engine room, there shot out a beam of intense
+white light that swept around in a wide, erratic arc. Whatever it
+touched fused instantly into a brilliantly glowing mass of liquid
+incandescence. The field itself, fragments of the wreckage, fused and
+mingled under its fury. The beam began to swing, faster and faster, as
+the support that was holding it melted; then abruptly it turned upon
+itself. There came a sudden blast of brilliance to rival that of the
+sun--and the entire region became a molten lake. Eyes streaming,
+temporarily blinded, the men turned away from the screen.
+
+"That," said Arcot ruefully, "is that! It seems that our visitors don't
+want to leave any of their secrets lying around for us to investigate.
+I've an idea that all the other wrecks will go like this one did." He
+scowled. "You know, we really didn't learn much. Guess we'd better call
+the headquarters ship and ask for further instructions. Will you attend
+to it, Lieutenant Greer?"
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+
+Swiftly Arcot's sleek cruiser sped toward New York and the Arcot
+Laboratories. They had halted briefly at the headquarters ship of the
+Earth-Venus forces to report on their experience; and alone again, the
+three scientists were on their way home.
+
+With their course set, Arcot spoke to the others. "Well, fellows, what
+are your opinions on--what we've seen? Wade, you're a chemist--tell us
+what you think of the explosion of the ship, and of the strange color of
+our molecular ray in their air."
+
+Wade shook his head doubtfully. "I've been trying to figure it out, and
+I can't quite believe my results. Still, I can't see any other
+explanation. That reddish glow looked like hydrogen ions in the air. The
+atmosphere was certainly combustible when it met ours, which makes it
+impossible for me to believe that their air contained any noticeable
+amount of oxygen, for anything above twenty per cent oxygen and the rest
+hydrogen would be violently explosive. Apparently the gas had to mix
+liberally with our air to reach that proportion. That it didn't explode
+when ionized, showed the absence of hydro-oxygen mixture.
+
+"All the observed facts except one seem to point to an atmosphere
+composed largely of hydrogen. That one--there are beings living in it! I
+can understand how the Venerians might adapt to a different climate, but
+I can't see how anything approaching human life can live in an
+atmosphere like that."
+
+Arcot nodded. "I have come to similar conclusions. But I don't see too
+much objection to the thought of beings living in an atmosphere of
+hydrogen. It's all a question of organic chemistry. Remember that our
+bodies are just chemical furnaces. We take in fuel and oxidize it, using
+the heat as our source of power. The invaders live in an atmosphere of
+hydrogen. They eat oxidizing fuels, and breathe a reducing atmosphere;
+they have the two fuel components together again, but in a way different
+from our method. Evidently, it's just as effective. I'm sure that's the
+secret of the whole thing."
+
+"Sounds fairly logical." Wade agreed. "But now I have a question for
+you. Where under the sun did these beings come from?"
+
+Arcot's reply came slowly. "I've been wondering the same thing. And the
+more I wonder, the less I believe they did come from--under our sun.
+Let's eliminate all the solar planets--we can do that at one fell swoop.
+It's perfectly obvious that those ships are by no means the first crude
+attempts of this race to fly through space. We're dealing with an
+advanced technology. If they have had those ships even as far away as
+Pluto, we should certainly have heard from them by now.
+
+"Hence, we've got to go out into interstellar space. You'll probably
+want to ram some of my arguments down my throat--I know there is no star
+near enough for the journey to be made in anything less than a couple of
+generations by all that's logical; and they'd freeze in the interstellar
+cold doing it. There is no _known_ star close enough--but how about
+unknowns?"
+
+"What have they been doing with the star?" Morey snorted. "Hiding it
+behind a sun-shade?"
+
+Arcot grinned. "Yes. A shade of old age. You know a sun can't radiate
+forever; eventually they die. And a dead sun would be quite black, I'm
+sure."
+
+"And the planets that circle about them are apt to become a wee bit cool
+too, you know."
+
+"Agreed," said Arcot, "and we wouldn't be able to do much about it. But
+give these beings credit for a little higher order of intelligence. We
+saw machines in that space ship that certainly are beyond us! They are
+undoubtedly heating their planets with the same source of energy with
+which they are running their ships.
+
+"I believe I have confirmation of that statement in two things. They are
+absolutely colorless; they don't even have an opaque white skin. Any
+living creature exposed to the rays of a sun, which is certain to emit
+some chemical rays, is subject to coloration as a protection against
+those rays. The whites, who have always lived where sunlight is weakest,
+have developed a skin only slightly opaque. The Orientals, who live in
+more tropical countries, where less clothes and more sun is the motto,
+have slightly darker skins. In the extreme tropics Nature has found it
+necessary to use a regular blanket of color to stop the rays. Now
+extrapolating the other way, were there no such rays, the people would
+become a pigmentless race. Since most proteins are rather translucent,
+at least when wet, they would appear much as these beings do. Remember,
+there are very few colored proteins. Hemoglobin, such as in our blood,
+and hemocyanin, like that in the blue blood of the Venerians, are
+practically unique in that respect. For hydrogen absorption, I imagine
+the blood of these creatures contains a fair proportion of some highly
+saturated compound, which readily takes on the element, and gives it up
+later.
+
+"But we can kick this around some more in the lab."
+
+Before starting for New York, Arcot had convinced the officer in charge
+that it would be wise to destroy the more complete of the invaders'
+ships at once, lest one of them manage to escape. The fact that none of
+them had any rays in operation was easily explained; they would have
+been destroyed by the Patrol if they had made any show of weapons. But
+they might be getting some ready, to be used in possible escape
+attempts. The scientists were through with their preliminary
+investigations. And the dismembered sections would remain for study,
+anyway.
+
+The ships had finally been rayed apart, and when the three had left,
+their burning atmosphere had been sending mighty tongues of flame a mile
+or more into the air. The light gas of the alien atmosphere tended to
+rise in a great globular cloud, a ball that quickly burned itself out.
+It had not taken long for the last of the machines to disintegrate under
+the rays. There would be no more trouble from them, at any rate!
+
+Now Morey asked Arcot if he thought that they had learned all they could
+from the ships; would it not have been wiser to save them, and
+investigate more fully later, taking a chance on stopping any sudden
+attack by surviving marauders by keeping a patrol of Air Guards there.
+
+To which Arcot replied, "I thought quite a bit before I suggested their
+destruction, and I conferred for a few moments with Forsyth, who's just
+about tops in biology and bacteriology. He said that they had by no
+means learned as much as they wished to, but they'd been forced to leave
+in any event. Remember that pure hydrogen, the atmosphere we were
+actually living in while on the ship, is quite as inert as pure
+oxygen--when alone. But the two get very rough when mixed together. The
+longer those ships lay there the more dangerously explosive they became.
+If we hadn't destroyed them, they would have wrecked themselves. I still
+think we followed the only logical course.
+
+"Dr. Forsyth mentioned the danger of disease. There's a remote
+possibility that we might be susceptible to their germs. I don't believe
+we would be, for our chemical constitution is so vastly different. For
+instance, the Venerians and Terrestrians can visit each other with
+perfect freedom. The Venerians have diseases, and so do we, of course;
+but there are things in the blood of Venerians that are absolutely
+deadly to any Terrestrian organism. We have a similar deadly effect on
+Venerian germs. It isn't immunity--it's simply that our respective
+constitutions are so different that we don't need immunity. Similarly,
+Forsyth thinks we would be completely resistant to all diseases brought
+by the invaders. However, it's safer to remove the danger, if any,
+first, and check afterward."
+
+The three men sped rapidly back to New York, flying nearly sixty miles
+above the surface of the Earth, where there would be no interfering
+traffic, till at length they were above the big city, and dropping
+swiftly in a vertical traffic lane.
+
+Shortly thereafter they settled lightly in the landing cradle at the
+Arcot Laboratories. Arcot's father, and Morey's, were there, anxiously
+awaiting their return. The elder Arcot had for many years held the
+reputation of being the nation's greatest physicist, but recently he had
+lost it--to his son. Morey Senior was the president and chief
+stockholder in the Transcontinental Air Lines. The Arcots, father and
+son, had turned all their inventions over to their close friends, the
+Moreys. For many years the success of the great air lines had been
+dependent in large part on the inventions of the Arcots; these new
+discoveries enabled them to keep one step ahead of competition, and as
+they also made the huge transport machines for other companies, they
+drew tremendous profits from these mechanisms. The mutual interest,
+which had begun as a purely financial relationship, had long since
+become a close personal friendship.
+
+As Arcot stepped from his speedster, he called immediately to his
+father, telling of their find, the light-matter plate.
+
+"I'll need a handling machine to move it. I'll be right back." He ran to
+the elevator and dropped quickly to the heavy machinery lab on the lower
+floor. In a short time he returned with a tractor-like machine equipped
+with a small derrick, designed to get its power from the electric mains.
+He ran the machine over to the ship. The others looked up as they heard
+the rumble and hum of its powerful motor. From the crane dangled a
+strong electro-magnet.
+
+"What's that for?" asked Wade, pointing to the magnet. "You don't expect
+this to be magnetic, do you?"
+
+"Wait and see!" laughed Arcot, maneuvering the handling machine into
+position. One of the others made contact with the power line, and the
+crane reached into the ship, lowering the magnet to the plate of
+crystal. Then Arcot turned the power into the lifting motor. The hum
+rose swiftly in volume and pitch till the full load began to strain the
+cables. The motor whined with full power, the cables vibrating under the
+tension. The machine pulled steadily, until, to Arcot's surprise, the
+rear end of the machine rose abruptly from the floor, tipping forward.
+
+"Well--it _was_ magnetic, but how did you know?" asked the surprised
+Wade. Since the ship was made of the Venerian metal, coronium, which was
+only slightly magnetic, the plate was obviously the magnet's only load.
+
+"Never mind. I'll tell you later. Get an I-beam, say about twenty feet
+long, and see if you can't help lift that crazy mass. I think we ought
+to manage it that way."
+
+And so it proved. With two of them straddling the I-beam, the leverage
+was great enough to pull the plate out. Running it over to the elevator,
+they lowered the heavy mass, disconnected the cable, and rode down to
+Arcot's laboratory. Again the I-beam and handling machine were brought
+into play, and the plate was unloaded from the car. The five men
+gathered around the amazing souvenir from another world.
+
+"I'm with Wade in wondering how you knew the plate was magnetic, son,"
+commented the elder Arcot. "I can accept your explanation that the stuff
+is a kind of matter made of light, but I know you too well to think it
+was just a lucky guess. How did you know?"
+
+"It really was pretty much of a guess, Dad, though there was some logic
+behind the thought. You ought to be able to trace down the idea! How
+about you, Morey?" Arcot smiled at his friend.
+
+"I've kept discreetly quiet," replied Morey, "feeling that in silence I
+could not betray my ignorance, but since you ask me, I can guess too. I
+seem to recall that light is affected by a powerful magnet, and I can
+imagine that that was the basis for your guess. It has been known for
+many years, as far back as Clerk Maxwell, that polarized light can be
+rotated by a powerful magnet."
+
+"That's it! And now we may as well go over the whole story, and tell Dad
+and your father all that happened. Perhaps in the telling, we can
+straighten out our own ideas a bit."
+
+For the next hour the three men talked, each telling his story, and
+trying to explain the whys and wherefores of what he had seen. In the
+end all agreed on one point: if they were to fight this enemy, they
+_must_ have ships that could travel though space with speed to match
+that of the invaders, ships with a self-contained source of power.
+
+During a brief lull in the conversation, Morey commented rather
+sarcastically: "I wonder if Arcot will now kindly explain his famous
+invisible light, or the lost star?" He was a bit nettled by his own
+failure to remember that a star could go black. "I can't see what
+connection this has with their sudden attack. If they were there, they
+must have developed when the star was bright, and as a star requires
+millions of years to cool down, I can't see how they could suddenly
+appear in space."
+
+Before answering, Arcot reached into a drawer of his desk and pulled out
+an old blackened briar pipe. Methodically he filled it, a thoughtful
+frown on his face; then carefully lighting it, he leaned back, puffing
+out a thin column of gray smoke.
+
+"Those creatures must have developed on their planets before the sun
+cooled." He puffed slowly. "They are, then, a race millions of years
+old--or so I believe. I can't give any scientific reason for this
+feeling; it's merely a hunch. I just have a feeling that the invaders
+are old, older than our very planet! This little globe is just about two
+billion years old. I feel that that race is so very ancient they may
+well have counted the revolutions of our galaxy as, once every twenty or
+thirty million years, it swung about its center.
+
+"When I looked at those great machines, and those comparatively little
+beings as they handled their projectors, they seemed out of place. Why?"
+He shrugged. "Again, just a hunch, an impression." He paused again, and
+the slow smoke drifted upward.
+
+"If I'm granted the premise that a black, dead star is approaching the
+Solar System, then my theorizing may seem more logical. You agree?" The
+listeners nodded and Arcot continued. "Well--I had an idea--and when I
+went downstairs for the handling machine, I called the Lunar
+Observatory." He couldn't quite keep a note of triumph out of his voice.
+"Gentlemen--some of the planets have been misbehaving! The outermost
+planets, and even some of those closer to the sun have not been moving
+as they should. A celestial body of appreciable mass _is_ approaching
+the System; though thus far nothing has been seen of the visitor!"
+
+A hubbub of excited comment followed this startling revelation. Arcot
+quieted them with an upraised hand. "The only reason you and the world
+at large haven't heard about this as yet is the fact that the
+perturbation of the planets is so very slight that the astronomers
+figured they might have made an error in calculation. They're
+rechecking now for mistakes.
+
+"To get back to my visualization--It must have been many millions of
+years ago that life developed on the planets of the black star, a warm
+sun then, for it was much younger. It was probably rather dim as suns go
+even its younger days. Remember, our own sun is well above average in
+brilliance and heat radiation.
+
+"In those long-gone ages I can imagine a race much like ours developing,
+differing chemically, in their atmosphere of hydrogen; but the chemical
+body is not what makes the race, it's the thought process. They must
+have developed, and then as their science grew, their sun waned. Dimmer
+and dimmer it became, until their planets could not maintain life
+naturally. Then they had to heat them artificially. There is no question
+as to their source of power; they had to use the energy of matter--so
+called atomic energy--for no other source would be great enough to do
+what had to be done. It is probable that their science had developed
+this long before their great need arose.
+
+"With this must also have come the process of transmutation, and the
+process they use in driving their interstellar cruisers. I am sure those
+machines are driven by material energy.
+
+"But at last their star was black, a closed star, and their cold, black
+planets must circle a hot, black sun forever! They were trapped for
+eternity unless they found a way to escape to some other stellar system.
+They could not travel as fast as light, and they could escape only if
+they found some near-by solar system. Their star was dead--black. Let's
+call it Nigra--the Black One--since like every other star it should have
+a name. Any objection?"
+
+There was none, so Arcot continued:
+
+"Now we come to an impossibly rare coincidence. That two suns in their
+motion should approach each other is beyond the point of logic. That
+both suns have a retinue of planets approaches the height of the
+ridiculous. Yet that is what is happening right now. And the Nigrans--if
+that's the correct term--have every intention of taking advantage of
+the coincidence. Since our sun has been visible to them for a long, long
+time, and the approaching proximity of the suns evident, they had lots
+of time to prepare.
+
+"I believe this expedition was just an exploratory one; and if they can
+send such huge machines and so many of them, for mere exploration, I'm
+sure they must have quite a fleet to fight with.
+
+"We know little about their weapons. They have that death ray, but it's
+not quite as deadly as we might have feared, solely because our ships
+could outmaneuver them. Next time, logically, they'll bring with them a
+fleet of little ships, carried in the bellies of those giants, and
+they'll be a real enemy. We'll have to anticipate their moves and build
+to circumvent them.
+
+"As for their ray, I believe I have an idea how it works. You're all
+familiar with the catalytic effects of light. Hydrogen and chlorine will
+stand very peacefully in the same jar for a long time, but let a strong
+light fall on them, and they combine with terrific violence. This is the
+catalytic effect of a vibration, a wave motion. Then there is such a
+thing as negative catalysis. In a certain reaction, if a third element
+or compound is introduced, all reaction is stopped. I believe that's the
+principle of the Nigran death ray; it's a catalyst that simply stops the
+chemical reactions of a living body, and these are so delicately
+balanced that the least resistance will upset them."
+
+Arcot halted, and sat puffing furiously for a moment. During his
+discourse the pipe had died to an ember; with vigorous puffing he tried
+to restore it. At last he had it going and continued.
+
+"What other weapons they have we cannot say. The secret of invisibility
+must be very old to them. But we'll guard against the possibility by
+equipping our ships against it. The only reason the patrol ships aren't
+equipped already is that invisibility is useless with modern criminals;
+they all know the secret and how to fight it."
+
+Morey interrupted with a question.
+
+"Arcot, it's obvious that we have to get out into space to meet the
+enemy--and we'll have to have freedom of movement there. How are we
+going to do it? I was wondering if we could use Wade's system of storing
+the atomic hydrogen in solution. That yields about 100,000 calories for
+every two grams, and since this is a method of storing heat energy, and
+your molecular motion director is a method of converting heat into
+mechanical work with 100 per cent efficiency, why not use that? All we
+need, really, is a method of storing heat energy for use while we're in
+space."
+
+Arcot exhaled slowly before answering, watching the column of smoke
+vanish into the air.
+
+"I thought of that, and I've been trying to think of other, and if
+possible, better, cheaper, and quicker ways of getting the necessary
+power.
+
+"Let's eliminate the known sources one by one. The usual ones, the ones
+men have been using for centuries, go out at once. The atomic hydrogen
+reaction stores more energy per gram than any other chemical reaction
+known. Such things as the storage battery, the electro-static condenser,
+the induction coil, or plain heat storage, are worthless to us. The only
+other method of storing energy we know of is the method used by the
+Kaxorians in driving their huge planes.
+
+"They use condensed light-energy. This is efficient to the ultimate
+maximum, something no other method can hope to attain. Yet they need
+huge reservoirs to store it. The result is still ineffective for our
+purpose; we want something we can put in a small space; we want to
+condense the light still further. That will be the ideal form of energy
+storage, for then we will be able to release it directly as a heat ray,
+and so use it with utmost efficiency. I think we can absorb the released
+energy in the usual cavity radiator."
+
+A queer little smile appeared on Arcot's face. "Remember--what we want
+is light in a more condensed form, a form that is naturally stable, and
+that does not need to be held in a bound state, but actually requires
+urging to bring about the release of energy. For example--"
+
+A shout from Wade interrupted him. "That's really rare! _Whoo_--I have
+to hand it to you! That takes all the prizes!" He laughed delightedly.
+In puzzled wonder Morey and the two older men looked at him, and at
+Arcot who was grinning broadly now.
+
+"Well, I suppose it must be funny," Morey began, then hesitated. "Oh--I
+see--say, that _is_ good!" He turned to his father. "I see now what he's
+been driving at. It's been right here under our noses all the time.
+
+"The light-matter windows we found in the wrecked enemy ships contain
+enough bound light-energy to run all the planes we could make in the
+next ten years! We're going to have the enemy supply us with power we
+can't get in any other way. I can't decide, Arcot, whether you deserve a
+prize for ingenuity, or whether we should receive booby-prizes for our
+stupidity."
+
+Arcot Senior smiled at first, then looked dubiously at his son.
+
+"There's definitely plenty of the right kind of energy stored there--but
+as you suggested, the energy will need encouragement to break free. Any
+ideas?"
+
+"A couple. I don't know how they'll work, of course; but we can try."
+Arcot puffed at his pipe, serious now as he thought of the problems
+ahead.
+
+Wade interposed a question. "How do you suppose they condense that light
+energy in the first place, and, their sun being dead, whence all the
+light? Back to the atom, I suppose."
+
+"You know as much as I do, of course, but I'm sure they must break up
+matter for its energy. As for the condensation problem, I think I have a
+possible solution of that too--it's the key to the problem of release.
+There's a lot we don't know now--but we'll have a bigger store of
+knowledge before this war is over--if we have anything at all!" he added
+grimly. "It's possible that man may lose knowledge, life, his planets
+and sun--but there's still plenty of hope. We're not finished yet."
+
+"How do you think they got their energy loose?" asked
+
+Wade. "Do you think those big blocks of what appeared to be silver were
+involved in the energy release?"
+
+"Yes, I do. Those blocks were probably designed to carry away the power
+once it was released. How the release was accomplished, though, I don't
+know. They couldn't use material apparatus to start their release of
+material energy; the material of the apparatus might 'catch fire' too.
+They had to have the disintegrating matter held apart from all other
+matter. This was quite impossible, if you are going to get the energy
+away by any method other than by the use of fields of force. I don't
+think that is the method. My guess is that a terrific current of
+electricity would accomplish it if anything would.
+
+"How then are we going to get the current to it? The wires will be
+subject to the same currents. Whatever they do to the matter involved,
+the currents will do to the apparatus--except in one case. If that
+apparatus is made of _some other kind of matter_, then it wouldn't be
+affected. The solution is obvious. Use some of the light-matter. What
+will destroy light-matter, won't destroy electricity-matter, and what
+will destroy electricity-matter, won't disturb light-matter.
+
+"Do you remember the platform of light-metal, clear as crystal? It must
+have been an insulating platform. What we started as our assumptions in
+the case of the light-metal, we can now carry further. We said that
+electricity-metals carried electricity, so light-metals would carry or
+conduct light. Now we know that there is no substance which is
+transparent to light, that will carry electricity by metallic
+conduction. I mean, of course, that there is no substance transparent to
+light, and at the same time capable of carrying electricity by
+electronic transmission. True, we have things like NaCl solutions in
+ordinary H_{2}O which will carry electricity, but here it's ionic
+conduction. Even glass will carry electricity very well when hot; when
+red hot, glass will carry enough electricity to melt it very quickly.
+But again, glass is not a solid, but a viscous liquid, and it is again
+carried by ionic conduction. Iron, copper, sodium, silver, lead--all
+metals carry the current by means of electron drift through the solid
+material. In such cases we can see that no transparent substance
+conducts electricity.
+
+"Similarly, the reverse is true. No substance capable of carrying
+electricity by metallic conduction is transparent. All are opaque, if in
+any thickness. Of course, gold is transparent when in leaf form--but
+when it's that thin it won't conduct very much! The peculiar condition
+we reach in the case of the invisible ship is different. There the
+effects are brought about by the high frequency impressed. But you get
+my point.
+
+"Do you remember those wires that we saw leading to that little box of
+the reflecting material? So perfectly reflecting it was that we didn't
+see it. We only saw where it must be; we saw the light it reflected.
+That was no doubt light-matter, a non-metal, and as such, non-conductive
+to light. Like sulphur, an electric non-metal, it reflected the base of
+which it was formed. Sulphur reflects the base of which it was formed.
+Sulphur reflects electricity and--in the crystalline form--passes light.
+This light-non-metal did the same sort of thing; it reflected light and
+passed electricity. It was a conductor.
+
+"Now we have the things we need, the matter to disintegrate, and the
+matter to hold the disintegrating material in. We have two different
+types of matter. The rest is obvious--but decidedly not easy. They have
+done it, though; and after the war is over, there should be many of
+their machines drifting about in space waiting to give up their
+secrets."
+
+Arcot Senior clapped his son on the back. "A fair foundation on which to
+start, anyway. But I think it's time now that you got working on your
+problem; and since I'm officially retired, I'm going downstairs. You
+know I'm working in my lab on a method to increase the range and power
+of your projector for the molecular motion field. Young Norris is
+helping me, and he really has ideas. I'll show you our math later."
+
+The party broke up, the three younger men staying in their own labs, the
+older men leaving.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+
+The three immediately set to work. At Arcot's suggestion, Wade and Morey
+attacked the plate of crystal in an attempt to tear off a small piece,
+on which they might work. Arcot himself went into the televisophone room
+and put through a second call to the Tychos Observatory, the great
+observatory that had so recently been established on the frigid surface
+of the Moon. The huge mirror, twenty feet in diameter, allowed an
+immense magnification, and stellar observations were greatly
+facilitated, for no one bothered them, and the "seeing" was always
+perfect.
+
+However, the great distance was rather a handicap to the ordinary
+televisophone stations, and all calls put through to the astronomers had
+to be made through the powerful sending station in St. Louis, where all
+interplanetary messages were sent and received, while that side of the
+Earth was facing the station; and from Constantinople, when that city
+faced the satellite. These stations could bridge the distance readily
+and clearly.
+
+For several minutes Arcot waited while connections were being made with
+the Moon; then for many more minutes he talked earnestly with the
+observer in this distant station, and at last satisfied, he hung up.
+
+He had outlined his ideas concerning the black star, based upon the
+perturbation of the planets; then he had asked them to investigate the
+possibilities, and see if they could find any blotting out of stars by a
+lightless mass.
+
+Finally he returned to Morey and Wade who had been working on the
+crystal plate. Wade had an expression of exasperation on his face, and
+Morey was grinning broadly.
+
+"Hello, Arcot--you missed all the fun! You should have seen Wade's
+struggle with that plate!" The plate, during his absence, had been
+twisted and bent, showing that it had undergone some terrific stresses.
+Now Wade began to make a series of highly forceful comments about the
+properties of the plate in language that was not exactly scientific. It
+had value, though, in that it seemed to relieve his pent-up wrath.
+
+"Why, Wade, you don't seem to like that stuff. Maybe the difficulty lies
+in your treatment, rather than in the material itself. What have you
+tried?"
+
+"Everything! I took a coronium hack saw that will eat through molybdenum
+steel like so much cheese, and it just wore its teeth off. I tried some
+of those diamond rotary saws you have, attached to an electric motor,
+and it wore out the diamonds. That got my goat, so I tried using a
+little force. I put it in the tension testing machine, and clamped
+it--the clamp was good for 10,000,000 pounds--but it began to bend, so I
+had to quit. Then Morey held it with a molecular beam, and I tried
+twisting it. Believe me, it gave me real pleasure to see that thing
+yield under the pressure. But it's not brittle; it merely bends.
+
+"And I can't cut it, or even get some shavings off the darned thing. You
+said you wanted to make a Jolly balance determination of the specific
+gravity, but the stuff is so dense you'd need only a tiny scrap--and I
+can't break it loose!" Wade looked at the plate in thorough disgust.
+
+Arcot smiled sympathetically; he could understand his feelings, for the
+stuff certainly was stubborn. "I'm sorry I didn't warn you fellows about
+what you'd run into, but I was so anxious to get that call through to
+the Moon that I forgot to tell you how I expected to make it workable.
+Now, Wade, if you'll get another of those diamond-tooth rotary saws,
+I'll get something that may help. Put the saw on the air motor. Use the
+one made of coronium."
+
+Wade looked after the rapidly disappearing Arcot with raised eyebrows,
+then, scratching his head, he turned and did as Arcot had asked.
+
+Arcot returned in about five minutes with a small handling machine, and
+a huge magnet. It must have weighed nearly half a ton. This he quickly
+connected to the heavy duty power lines of the lab. Now, running the
+handling machine into position, he quickly hoisted the bent and twisted
+plate to the poles of the magnet, with the aid of the derrick. Then
+backing the handling machine out of the way, he returned briskly to his
+waiting associates.
+
+"Now we'll see what we will see!" With a confident smile Arcot switched
+on the current of the big magnet. At once a terrific magnetic flux was
+set up through the light-metal. He took the little compressed-air saw,
+and applied it to the crystal plate. The smooth hiss of the air deepened
+to a harsh whine as the load came on it, then the saw made contact with
+the refractory plate.
+
+Unbelievingly Wade saw the little diamond-edge saw bite its way slowly
+but steadily into the plate. In a moment it had cut off a little corner
+of the light-matter, and this fell with a heavy thud to the magnet pole,
+drawn down by the attraction of the magnet and by gravity.
+
+Shutting off the magnet, Arcot picked up a pair of pliers and gripped
+the little fragment.
+
+"Whew--light-metal certainly isn't light metal! I'll bet this little
+scrap weights ten pounds! We'll have to reduce it considerably before we
+can use it. But that shouldn't be too difficult."
+
+By using the magnet and several large diamond faceplates they were able
+to work the tough material down to a thin sheet; then with a heavy
+press, they cut some very small fragments, and with these, determined
+the specific gravity.
+
+"Arcot," Wade asked finally, "just how does the magnet make that stuff
+tractable? I'm not physicist enough to figure out what takes place
+inside the material."
+
+"Magnetism worked as it did," Arcot explained, "because in this
+light-matter every photon is affected by the magnetism, and every photon
+is given a new motion. That stuff can be made to go with the speed of
+light, you know. It's the only solid that could be so affected. This
+stuff should be able, with the aid of a molecular motion beam, which
+will make all the photons move in parallel paths, to move at the full
+speed of each photon--186,000 miles a second. The tremendous speed of
+these individual photons is what makes the material so hard. Their
+kinetic impulse is rather considerable! It's the kinetic blow that the
+molecules of a metal give that keeps other metal from penetrating it.
+This simply gives such powerful impulse that even diamonds wouldn't cut
+it.
+
+"You know that an iron saw will cut platinum readily, yet if both are
+heated to say, 1600 degrees, the iron is a liquid, and the platinum very
+soft--but now the platinum cuts through the iron!
+
+"Heat probably won't have any effect on this stuff, but the action of
+the magnet on the individual photons corresponds to the effect of the
+heat on the individual atoms and molecules. The mass is softened, and we
+can work it. At least, that's the way I figure it out.
+
+"But now, Wade, I wish you'd see if you can determine the density of the
+stuff. You're more used to those determinations and that type of
+manipulation than we are. When you get through, we may be able to show
+you some interesting results ourselves!"
+
+Wade picked up a tiny chip of the light-metal and headed for his own
+laboratory. Here he set up his Jolly balance, and began to work on the
+fragment. His results were so amazing that he checked and rechecked his
+work, but always with the same answer. Finally he returned to the main
+lab where Arcot and Morey were busy at the construction of a large and
+complicated electro-static apparatus.
+
+"What did you find?" called out Arcot, as he saw Wade reenter the room.
+"Hold your report a second and give us a hand here, will you? I have a
+laboratory scale apparatus of the type the Kaxorians used in the storage
+of light. They've known, ever since they began working with them, that
+their machines would release the energy with more than normal violence,
+if certain changes were made in them. That is, the light condenser, the
+device that stored the photons so close to each other, would also serve
+to urge them apart. I've made the necessary changes, and now I'm trying
+to set up the apparatus to work on solid light-matter. It was developed
+for gaseous material, and it's a rather tricky thing to change it over.
+But I think we've almost got it.
+
+"Wade, will you connect that to the high frequency oscillator
+there--no--through that counterbalanced condenser. We may have to change
+the oscillator frequency quite a bit, but a variable condenser will do
+that.
+
+"Now, what results did you get?"
+
+Wade shook his head doubtfully. "We all know it's amazing stuff--and of
+course, it must be heavy--but still--well, anyway, I got a density of
+103.5!"
+
+"Whewww--103.5! Lord! That's almost five times as heavy as the heaviest
+metal hitherto known. There's about half a cubic foot of the material;
+that would mean about 4000 pounds for the whole mass, or two tons. No
+wonder we couldn't lift the plate!"
+
+They stopped their work on the Kaxorian apparatus to discuss the amazing
+results of the density test, but now they fell to again, rapidly
+assembling the device, for each was a trained experimenter. With all but
+the final details completed, Arcot stood back and surveyed their
+handiwork.
+
+"I think we'll have enough urge to cause disintegration right here," he
+said, "but I want to make sure, and so, before we set up the case over
+it, I think we may as well put that big magnet in place, and have it
+there to help in the work of disintegration, if need be."
+
+At last the complete apparatus was set up, and the tiny bit of
+light-matter they were to work on was placed on the table of a powerful
+Atchinson projector microscope, the field of view being in the exact
+center of the field of both the magnet and the coil. Carefully, then,
+step by step, Arcot, Morey and Wade went over their work, checking and
+rechecking.
+
+"Well, we're ready," said Arcot finally, as he placed the projector
+screen in position and dimmed the lights in the room. A touch of the
+switch, and the projection screen was illuminated with the greatly
+enlarged image of the tiny scrap of light-metal.
+
+With his hand on the switch, Arcot spoke to the other two. "I won't say
+there's _no_ danger, since we haven't done this before; and if all the
+energy should be released at once, it'll blow the top out of the
+building. But I'm reasonably sure that it will work safely. Any
+objections?"
+
+Wade shook his head, and Morey said: "I can't see any flaws in our
+work."
+
+Arcot nodded, and unconsciously tensing, he closed the switch. This put
+the powerful Arcot oscillator tubes into action, and the power was ready
+for application.
+
+Slowly he closed the rheostat and put the power into the coil. The
+little sliver of metal on the slide seemed to throb a bit, and its
+outline grew hazy; but at last, with full power on, the release was so
+slow as to be imperceptible.
+
+"Guess we need the magnet after all; I'll put it on this time."
+
+He opened the coil circuit and closed the magnet circuit at half
+voltage, then again he increased the current through the rheostat. This
+time the plate throbbed quite violently, it took the appearance of a bit
+of iodine. Dense vapors began pouring from it, and instantly those
+vapors became a blindingly brilliant flood of light. Arcot had snapped
+open the switch the moment he saw this display start, and it had had
+little time to act, for the instant the circuit was opened, it subsided.
+But even in that brief time, the light aluminum screen had suddenly
+become limp and slumped down, molten! The room was unbearably hot, and
+the men were half blinded by the intensity of the light.
+
+"It works!" yelled Wade. "It works! That sure was hot, too--it's
+roasting in here." He flung open a window. "Let's have some air."
+
+Arcot and Morey gripped hands with a broad grin. That display meant that
+Earth and Venus would have space ships with which to fight space ships.
+Reason enough for their joy.
+
+Though they had made an unusual amount of progress already, there was
+still a great deal of development work to be done. Fuller was needed,
+Arcot decided, so he called the elder Morey and requested his services
+if he could be spared from his present work. He could, and would arrive
+later that day.
+
+When Fuller appeared about mid-afternoon, he found the three friends
+already at work on the development of a more compact apparatus than the
+makeshift hookup used in making that first release mechanism.
+
+"And so you can see," said Arcot as he finished his summary of their
+work to that point, "we still have quite a job ahead of us. I'm now
+trying to find some data for you to work on, but I can tell you this:
+We'll need a ship that has plenty of strength and plenty of speed. There
+will be the usual power plant, of course; the generators, the power-tube
+board, and the electro-magnetic relays for the regular molecular motion
+controls. Then, in addition, we must have controls for the ray
+projector, though that must wait a while, for Dad is working on a method
+of doubling our range.... Oh yes, the driving units will be inside the
+ship now, for all our power will come from the energy of the
+light-matter."
+
+They spent the next hour in discussing the manifold details involved in
+the design of their space ship: the mechanism involved in transferring
+the light-energy to the drivers; a means of warming the ship in
+interstellar space; a main horizontal drive for forward and backward
+motion as well as braking; three smaller vertical power units to give
+them freedom of direction in climb or descent; other smaller horizontal
+power units for turning and moving sideways.
+
+The ships, they decided, must be capable of six or seven thousand miles
+a second. They would need three types of ships: a small single-man
+speedster, without bunk or living quarters, simply a little power plant
+and weapon. Designed for speed and mobility, it would be very hard to
+hit, and because of its own offensive power would be dangerous to the
+enemy. They would need a fleet of mother ships--ships that would hold
+both the speedsters and their pilots--say thirty to a cruiser. There
+would also be some ten-man scouts, operating in the same manner as the
+larger cruisers, but with a smaller fleet of speedsters dependent on
+them.
+
+"For defense," Arcot concluded, "we'll have to depend on armor as heavy
+as we can make and still remain within the bounds of practical
+construction. I don't believe we'll be able to build up enough mass to
+insulate against their negative catalysis ray. We'll have to depend on
+mobility and offense.
+
+"But now let's get back to work. I think, Fuller, that you might call in
+the engineers of all the big aircraft and machine tool manufacturers and
+fabricators, and have them ready to start work at once when the plans
+are finally drawn up. You'd better get in touch with the Venerian
+producers, too. Those new works in Sorthol, Kaxor, will certainly be
+able to help a lot.
+
+"I suppose the Interplanetary Patrol men will have something to say, so
+they better be called in. Likewise the Venerian Council. Morey, maybe
+your dad can handle some of this."
+
+As one they arose and set to work on their respective tasks--the
+planning and building of the Earth-Venus war fleet.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+
+Despite their utmost endeavor and the hard work of the industrial might
+of two worlds, it was nearly six weeks before the fleet had grown to a
+thing of importance. The tests to which they subjected the tiny
+speedsters had been more than satisfactory. They behaved wonderfully,
+shooting about at terrific speed, and with all the acceleration a pilot
+could stand. These speedsters were literally piloted projectiles, and
+their amazing mobility made them a powerful arm of offense.
+
+There came into being a special corp dubbed, oddly enough, the "Rocket
+Squad", a group of men who could stand plenty of "G's". This "Rocket
+Squad" was composed solely of Terrestrians, for they were accustomed to
+the gravity of Earth and could stand greater acceleration strains than
+could the Venerians. The pick of the Air Patrol formed the nucleus of
+this new military organization; and in short order, so great is the
+appeal of the new and novel, the cream of the young men of the planet
+were competing for a place among the Rocketeers.
+
+Each ship, both speedster and mother craft, was equipped with an
+invisibility locator, a sensitive short-wave directional receiver, that
+would permit the operator to direct his rays at invisible targets. The
+ships themselves could not be made invisible, since they depended in
+their very principle on the absorption of light-energy. If the walls of
+every part of the ship were perfectly transparent, they could absorb no
+energy at all, and they would still be plainly visible--even more so
+than before! They must remain visible, but they could also force the
+enemy to remain visible.
+
+Each ten-man ship carried an old-fashioned cannon that was equipped to
+hurl cannisters carrying the luminous paint. They decided that these
+would have advantages, even if the invaders did not use invisibility,
+for in space a ship is visible only because it reflects or emits light.
+For this reason the ships were not equipped with any portholes except in
+the pilot room and at the observation posts. No light could escape. To
+reduce the reflection to the absolute minimum, the ships had each been
+painted with a 99% absorptive black. In space they would be exceedingly
+difficult targets.
+
+The heating effect of the sun on the black pigment when near the great
+star was rather disagreeably intense, and to cool the speedsters they
+had installed molecular director power units, which absorbed the heat
+and used the energy to drive the ship. Heaters offset the radiation loss
+of the black surface when too far from the sun.
+
+Each of the speedsters was equipped with a small machine-gun shooting
+luminous paint bullets. One of these, landing on another craft, made it
+visible for at least two hours, and since they could cover an area of
+about thirty feet, they were decidedly effective.
+
+It was found that ray practice was rather complicated. The government
+had ranges set up in great mountain districts away from any valuable
+property, but they soon found that spatial warplay could not be carried
+on on Earth. The rays very quickly demolished the targets, and in a
+short time made good progress toward demolishing the mountains as well.
+The problem was solved by using the barren surface of the moon and the
+asteroid belt beyond Mars as a proving ground.
+
+The ships were sent out in squadrons as fast as they could be finished
+and the men could be brought together and trained. They were
+establishing a great shield of ships across all that section of the
+system whence the Nigrans had appeared, and they hoped to intercept the
+next attack before it reached Earth, for they were certain the next
+attack would be in full force.
+
+Arcot had gone to the conference held on Venus with the other men who
+had investigated the great wrecks, and each scientist had related his
+view of things and had offered suggestions. Arcot's idea of the black
+star was not very favorably received. As he later told Wade and Morey,
+who had not gone, there was good reason for their objection to his idea.
+Though the scientists were willing to admit that the invaders must have
+come from a great distance, and they agreed that they lived in an
+atmosphere of hydrogen, and judging from their pale skins, that they
+were not used to the rays of a sun, they still insisted on the theory of
+an outer planet of Sol.
+
+"You remember," explained Arcot, "several years ago there was
+considerable discussion about the existence of a planet still further
+out from the sun than Pluto. It is well known that there are a number of
+irregularities in the orbits of Neptune and Pluto that can't be caused
+by known planets, and an outer planet could have the necessary mass and
+orbit to account for them.
+
+"This attack from outer space was immediately taken as proof of that
+theory, and it was very easily supported, too. My one good point that
+stood for any length of time under their attacks was the fact that those
+ships weren't developed in a year, nor a century, and that the chemical
+constitution of the men was so different. There were no new elements
+discovered, except the light-matter, but they are rather wondering about
+the great difference of earthly chemical constitution and the
+constitution of these invaders.
+
+"They had one argument that was just about enough to throw mine out,
+though they pointed to the odds against the thing happening. You know,
+of course, how planets are formed? They are the results of tidal action
+on two passing suns.
+
+"You can imagine two mighty stars careening through space and then
+drawing slowly nearer, till at last they come within a few billion miles
+of each other, and their gigantic masses reach out and bind them with a
+mighty chain of gravity. Their titanic masses swing about each other,
+each trying to pull free, and continue its path about the center of the
+galactic system. But as their huge bulks come nearer, the chains that
+bind them become stronger and stronger, and the tremendous pull of the
+one gargantuan fire ball on the other raises titanic tides of flame.
+Great streamers of gas shoot out, and all the space about is lighted by
+the flaming suns. The pull of gravity becomes more and more intense, and
+as the one circles the other, the tide is pulled up, and the mighty ball
+of fire, which, for all its existence has been practically motionless as
+far as rotation goes, begins to acquire a greater and greater rotational
+speed as the tidal drag urges it on. The flames begin to reach higher
+and higher, and the tides, now urged from the sun by centrifugal force,
+rise into an ever greater crest, and as the swinging suns struggle to
+break loose, the flaming gas is pulled up and up, and becomes a mighty
+column of fire, a column that reaches out across three--four--a dozen
+millions of miles of space and joins the two stars at last, as
+stalactites and stalagmites grow together. A flaming tie of matter joins
+them, two titanic suns, and a mighty rope of fire binds them, while far
+mightier chains of gravity hold them together.
+
+"But now their original velocity reasserts itself, and having spiraled
+about each other for who can say how long--a year--a million years
+seems more probable--but still only an instant in the life of a
+star--they begin to draw apart, and the flaming column is stretched out,
+and ever thinner it grows, and the two stars at last separate. But now
+the gas will never fall back into the sun. Like some giant flaming cigar
+it reaches out into space and it will stay thus, for it has been set in
+rotation about the sun at such a speed as is needed to form an orbit.
+The giant mass of gas is, however, too cool to continue to develop
+energy from matter, for it was only the surface of the sun, and cool. As
+it cools still further, there appear in it definite condensations, and
+the beginnings of the planets are there. The great filament that
+stretched from the sun to sun was cigar-shaped, and so the matter is
+more plentiful toward the center, and larger planets develop. Thus
+Jupiter and Saturn are far larger than any of the others. The two ends
+are tapering, thus Earth is larger than Venus, which is larger than
+Mercury, and Uranus and Neptune are both smaller than Saturn, Pluto
+being smaller than either.
+
+"Mars and the asteroids are hard to explain. Perhaps it is easier to
+understand when we remember that the planets thus formed must
+necessarily have been rotating in eccentric orbits when they were first
+born, and these planets came too near the sun while gaseous, or nearly
+so, and Mars lost much of its matter, while the other, which now exists
+only as the asteroids, broke up.
+
+"But now that other flaming star has retired, wandering on through
+space. The star has left its traces, for behind it there are planets
+where none existed before. But remember that it, too, must have planets
+now.
+
+"All this happened some 2,000 million years ago.
+
+"But in order that it might happen, it requires that two stars pass
+within the relatively short distance of a few billion miles of each
+other. Space is not overcrowded with matter, you know. The density of
+the stars has been compared with twenty tennis balls roaming about
+8,000-mile sphere that the Earth fills up--twenty tennis balls in some
+270 billion cubic miles of space. Now imagine two of those tennis
+balls--with plenty of room to wander in--passing within a few yards of
+each other. The chances are about as good as the chances of two stars
+passing close enough to make planets.
+
+"Now let us consider another possibility.
+
+"The Black Star, as I told you, has planets. That means that it must
+have thus passed close to another star. Now we have it coming close to
+another sun that has been similarly afflicted. The chances of that
+happening are inconceivably small. It is one chance in billions that the
+planets will form. Two stars must pass close to each other, when they
+have all space to wander about in. Then those afflicted stars separate,
+and one of them passes close by a new star, which has thus been
+similarly afflicted with that one chance in billions--well, that is then
+a chance in billions of billions.
+
+"So my theory was called impossible. I don't know but what it is.
+Besides, I thought of an argument the other men didn't throw at me. I'm
+surprised they didn't, too--the explanation of the strange chemical
+constitution of these men of a solar system planet would not be so
+impossible. It is quite possible that they live on a planet revolving
+about the sun which is, nevertheless, a planet of another star. It is
+quite conceivable to me that the chemical constitution of Neptune and
+Pluto will be found to be quite different from that of the rest of our
+planets. The two filaments drawn out from the suns may not have mingled,
+though I think they did, but it is quite conceivable that, just before
+parting, our sun tore one planet, or even two or three, from the other
+star.
+
+"And that would explain these strange beings.
+
+"My other ideas were accepted. The agreed-on plan for the release of
+energy, and the source of the power." Arcot puffed on his pipe
+meditatively for several moments, then stood up and stretched.
+
+"Ho--I wish they'd let me go on active duty with the space fleet! A
+scientific reputation can be an awful handicap at times," he grinned. He
+had been rejected very emphatically when he had tried to enlist. The
+Interplanetary governments had stated flatly that he was too important
+as a scientist to be risked as a pilot of a space ship.
+
+On two worlds the great construction plants were humming with activity.
+Civilian production of all but the barest essentials had been put aside
+for the duration of the emergency. Space ships were being turned out at
+top speed, getting their fuel from the wrecks of the invaders' cruisers.
+Each ship needed only a small amount of the light-metal, for the energy
+content was tremendous. And those ships had been gigantic.
+
+Already there was a fleet of speedsters and mother ships out there in
+space, and with every passing hour others left the home planets, always
+adding to the fighting force that was to engage the attackers deep in
+space, where no stray ships might filter through to destroy the cities
+of Earth or Venus. Assembly lines were now turning out ships so rapidly
+that the training of their operators was the most serious problem. This
+difficulty had finally been overcome by a very abbreviated training
+course in the actual manipulation of the controls on the home planets,
+and subsequent training as the squadrons raced on their outward courses.
+
+It was soon decided that there must be another service beside that of
+the ordinary ships. One plant was devoted to making huge interstellar
+liners. These giants, made on Venus, were nearly a quarter of a mile
+long, and though diminutive in comparison with the giant Nigran ships,
+they were still decidedly large. Twelve of these could be completed
+within the next month, it was found; and one was immediately set aside
+as an officers' headquarters ship. It was recognized that the officers
+must be within a few hundred thousand miles of the actual engagements,
+for decisions would have to be made without too much loss of time in the
+transmission of reports.
+
+The ship must not be brought too near the front lest the officers be
+endangered and the entire engagement lost for want of the organizing
+central headquarters. The final solution had been the huge central
+control ship.
+
+The other large vessels were to be used to carry food and supplies. They
+were not to enter the engagement, for their huge size would make them as
+vulnerable to the tiny darting mites of space as the Nigran ships had
+been to the Interplanetary Patrol. The little ships could not
+conveniently stock for more than a week of engagement, then drop back to
+these warehouses of space, and go forward again for action.
+
+Throughout the long wait the officers of the Solarian forces organized
+their forces to the limit of their ability, planning each move of their
+attack. Space had been marked off into a great three-dimensional map,
+and each ship carried a small replica, the planets moving as they did in
+their orbits. The space between the planets was divided off into
+definite points in a series of Cartesian co-ordinates, the sun being the
+origin, and the plane of the elliptic being the X-Y plane.
+
+The OX line was taken pointing toward one of the brightest of the fixed
+stars that was in the plane of the elliptic. The entire solar system was
+thus marked off as had been the planets long ages before, into a system
+of three dimensional latitude and longitude. This was imperative, in
+order to assure the easy location of the point of first attack, and to
+permit the entire fleet to come into position there. A scattered guard
+was to remain free, to avoid any false attacks and a later attack from a
+point millions of miles distant. Earth and Venus were each equipped with
+gigantic ray projectors, mighty weapons that could destroy anything,
+even a body as large as the Moon, at a distance of ten thousand miles.
+Still, a ship might get through, and with the death ray--what fearful
+toll might be exacted from a vast city such as Chicago--with its thirty
+millions! Or Karos, on Venus, with its fifteen and one half millions!
+
+The tension became greater and greater as with each passing day the
+populace of two worlds awaited the call from the far-flung guard. The
+main bulk of the fleet had been concentrated in the center of their
+great spherical shell of ships. They could only wait--and watch--and
+prepare! Hundreds of miles apart, yet near enough so that no ship
+except perhaps a one-man craft could pass them undetected; and behind
+them were ships with delicate apparatus that could detect any foreign
+body of any size whatever within a hundred thousand miles of them.
+
+The Solar System was prepared to repel boarders from the vast sea of
+space!
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+
+Taj Lamor gazed down at the tremendous field below him. In it lay close
+packed a great mass of ships, a concourse of Titans of Space,
+dreadnoughts that were soon to set out to win--not a nation, not even a
+world, but to conquer a solar system, and to win for their owners a vast
+new sun, a sun that would light them and heat them for long ages to
+come.
+
+Momentarily Taj Lamor's gaze followed the retreating figure of Tordos
+Gar, the Elder; a figure with stooped shoulders and bowed head. His
+quiet yet vibrant parting words still resounded in his ears:
+
+"Taj Lamor, remember what I tell you. If you win this awful war--you
+lose. As will our race. Only if you lose will you win."
+
+With a frown Taj Lamor stared down at the vast metal hulls glistening
+softly in the dull light of far-off stars, the single brightly beaming
+star that was their goal, and the dim artificial lighting system. From
+the distance came to him the tapping and humming of the working machines
+below as they strove to put the finishing touches to the great ships.
+
+He raised his eyes toward the far-off horizon, where a great yellow star
+flamed brilliantly against the black velvet of space. He thought of that
+planet where the sky had been blue--an atmosphere of such intensity that
+it colored the sky!
+
+Thoughtfully he gazed at the flaming yellow point.
+
+He had much to consider now. They had met a new race, barbarians in
+some ways, yet they had not forgotten the lessons they had learned; they
+were not decadent. Between his eon-old people and their new home stood
+these strange beings, a race so young that its age could readily be
+counted in millennia, but withal a strong, intelligent form of life. And
+to a race that had not known war for so many untold ages, it was an
+unthinkable thing that they must kill other living, intelligent beings
+in order that they might live.
+
+They had no need of moving, Tordos Gar and many others had argued; they
+could stay where they were forever, and never find any need for leaving
+their planet. This was the voice of decadence, Taj Lamor told himself;
+and he had grown to hate that voice.
+
+There were other men, men who had gone to that other solar system, men
+who had seen vast oceans of sparkling water, showering from their
+ruffled surfaces the brilliant light of a great, hot sun. They had seen
+towering masses of mountains that reached high into the blue sky of a
+natural atmosphere, their mighty flanks clothed with green growth;
+natural plants in abundance.
+
+And best of all, they had fought and seen action, such as no member of
+their race had known in untold ages. They knew Adventure and Excitement,
+and they had learned things that no member of their ancient race had
+known for millennia. They had learned the meaning of advancement and
+change. They had a new ardor, a new strength, a new emotion to drive
+them, and those who would have held them back became enthusiasts
+themselves. Enthusiasm may be contagious, but the spirit of their
+decadence was rapidly failing before this new urge. Here was their last
+chance and they must take it; they would!
+
+They had lost many men in that battle on the strange world, but their
+race was intelligent; they learned quickly, the small ships had been
+very hard targets, while their big ships were too easy to strike. They
+must have small ships, yet they must have large ships for cargo, and for
+the high speed driving apparatus. The small ships were not able to
+accelerate to the terrific speed needed. Once their velocity had been
+brought up to the desired value, it was easy to maintain it with the
+infinitely small friction of space as the only retarding force; one atom
+per cubic inch was all they must meet. This would not hold them up, but
+the great amount of fuel and the power equipment needed to accelerate to
+the desired speed could not be packed into the small ship. Into the vast
+holds of the huge ships the smaller ones were packed, long shining rows
+of little metal projectiles. Tiny they were, but they could dart and
+twist and turn as swiftly as could the ships they had met on that other
+world--tiny ships that flashed about with incredible suddenness, a
+target that seemed impossible to hit. These ships would be a match for
+those flashing motes of the Yellow Sun. Now it might be that their great
+transport and battle ships could settle down to those worlds and arrange
+them for their own people!
+
+And they had discovered new weapons, too. One of their mightiest was a
+very old apparatus, one that had been forgotten for countless ages. A
+model of it was in existence in some forgotten museum on a deserted
+planet, and with it long forgotten tomes that told of its principles,
+and of its consequences. Invisibility was now at their command. It was
+an ancient weapon, but might be exceedingly effective!
+
+And one other. They had developed a new thing! They had not learned of
+it in books, it was their invention! They did not doubt that there were
+other machines like it in their museums, but the idea was original with
+them. It was a beam of electrical oscillatory waves, projected with
+tremendous energy, and it would be absorbed by any conductor. They could
+melt a ship with this!
+
+And thus that great field had been filled with Giants of Space! And in
+each of these thousand great warships there nestled three thousand tiny
+one-man ships.
+
+Here was a sight to inspire any race!
+
+Taj Lamor watched as the last of the working machines dragged its slow
+way out of the great ships. They were finished! The men were already in
+them, waiting to start, and now there was an enthusiasm and an activity
+that had not been before; now the men were anxious to get that long
+journey completed and to be there, in that other system!
+
+Taj Lamor entered his little special car and shot swiftly down to the
+giant cruisers. He stepped out of his little craft and walked over to
+the tube conveyor ready for the trip to the nose of the great vessel.
+Behind him attendants quickly moved his car to a locked cradle berth
+beside long rows of similar vehicles.
+
+A short while later those who were to remain on the dark planet saw the
+first of the monsters of space rise slowly from the ground and leap
+swiftly forward; then as methodically as though released by automatic
+machinery, the others leaped in swift pursuit, rushing across half a
+world to the tremendous space lock that would let them out into the
+void. In a long, swift column they rushed on. Then one at a time they
+passed out into the mighty sea of space. In space they quickly formed
+and set out.
+
+As though by magic, far to the left of their flight, there suddenly
+appeared a similar flight of giant ships, and then to the right, and
+above them, another seemed to leap out of nothingness as the ships of
+other planets came into sight. Quickly they formed a vast cone about
+their leader's ship, a protecting screen, yet a powerful offensive
+formation.
+
+Endlessly, it seemed, they sped on through the darkness. Then as the
+yellow star flamed brighter and brighter before them, they slowed their
+ships till the small fliers could safely be released into space.
+
+Like a swarm of insects flying about giant birds of space the little
+ships circled the mighty masses of the battle cruisers. So huge were
+they, that in the combined mass of the fleet there rested sufficient
+gravitational attraction to force the little fliers to form orbits about
+them. And so they sped on through the void, the vast conical fleet with
+its slowly circling belt of little ships. A fleet whose counterpart had
+never entered the Solar System.
+
+It was well beyond the orbit of Pluto that the first of the Solarian
+scouts detected the approaching invasion fleet. The tension that had
+gripped Earth and Venus and their guardian ships for so long a time
+suddenly snapped; and like a great machine set into sudden motion, or a
+huge boulder, balanced, given the last push that sends it spinning with
+destructive violence down a slope, the fleet went into action.
+
+It was merely a little scout, a ten-man cruiser, that sent in the
+message of attack, and then, upon receiving headquarters' permission,
+went into action. Some of the tacticians had wanted to try to get the
+entire fleet into battle range for a surprise attack in power; but
+others felt that this could not possibly succeed. Most important, they
+decided, was the opportunity of learning if the invaders had any new
+weapons.
+
+The Nigrans had no warning, for a ten-man cruiser was invisible to them,
+though the vast bulk of their own ships stood out plainly, lighted by a
+blazing sun. No need here to make the sun stand still while the battle
+was finished! There was no change out here in all time! The first
+intimation of attack that the Nigrans had was the sudden splitting and
+destruction of the leading ship. Then, before they could realize what
+was happening, thirty-five other destructive molecular motion beams were
+tearing through space to meet them! The little ten-man cruiser and its
+flight of speedsters was in action! Twenty-one great ships crumpled and
+burst noiselessly in the void, their gases belching out into space in a
+great shining halo of light as the sun's light struck it.
+
+Unable to see their tiny enemies, who now were striking as swiftly, as
+desperately as possible, knowing that death was practically certain,
+hoping only to destroy a more equal number of the giants, they played
+their beams of death about them, taking care to miss their own ships as
+much as possible.
+
+Another ship silently crumpled, and suddenly one cruiser right in the
+line of the flight was brought to a sudden halt as all its molecules
+were reversed. The ships behind it, unable to stop so suddenly, piled
+up on it in chaotic wreckage! A vast halo of shining gas spread out
+fifty thousand miles about, blinding further the other ships, the
+radiance about them making it impossible to see their tiny enemies.
+
+Now other of the Solarian ships were coming swiftly to the attack.
+Suddenly a combination of three of the ten-man cruisers stopped another
+of the great ships instantaneously. There was another soundless crash,
+and the giant mass of wreckage that heaped suddenly up glowed dully red
+from the energy of impact.
+
+But now the little ships of the invaders got into action. They had been
+delayed by the desperate attempts of the dreadnaughts to wipe out their
+enemies with the death rays, and they could not cover the great
+distances without some delay.
+
+When a battle spreads itself out through a ten-thousand mile cube of
+space--through a thousand billion cubic miles of space--it is impossible
+to cover it instantaneously with any machine.
+
+Already nearly a hundred and fifty of the giant liners had gone into
+making that colossal mass of junk in space. They must protect the
+remaining cruisers! And it was that flight of small ships that did
+protect them. Many of the Solarians went down to death under their rays.
+The death rays were exceedingly effective, but the heat rays were not
+able to get quite as long a range, and they were easily detected by the
+invisibility locators, which meant certain destruction, for a molecular
+motion ray would be there in moments, once they had been located.
+
+The main fleet of the Solar System was already on its way, and every
+moment drew closer to this running battle, for the great ships of the
+Nigrans had, although they were entering the system cautiously, been
+going at a very high speed, as interplanetary speeds are measured. The
+entire battle had been a running encounter between the two forces. The
+Solarian force, invisible because of its small size, was certainly
+getting the better of the encounter thus far, but now that the odds were
+changing, now that the small ships had come into the fray, engaging
+them at close range, they were not having so easy time of it.
+
+It would be many hours before the full strength of the Solarian fleet
+could be brought to bear on the enemy. They were not able to retire and
+await their arrival, for they _must_ delay the Nigran fleet. If even one
+of those great ships should safely reach the two planets behind them--!
+
+But within a half hour of the original signal, the Rocket Squad had
+thrown itself into the battle with a fervor and abandon that has given
+that famous division a name that will last forever.
+
+The small fliers of the Nigrans were beginning to take an appalling toll
+in the thinning ranks of the Solarians. The coming of the Rocket Squad
+was welcome indeed! They were able to maneuver as swiftly as the enemy;
+the speedsters were harder to spot than the Solarian ten-man and
+thirty-man boats. The Solarian speedsters were even smaller than the
+comparable Nigran craft, and some of these did a tremendous amount of
+damage. The heat ray was quite ineffective against the ten-man ships,
+even when working at full capacity, when produced by the small
+generators of the Nigran one-man boats. The cruisers could absorb the
+heat and turn it into power faster than the enemy could supply it. Beams
+from the monster interstellar liners were another matter, of course.
+
+But the one-man speedsters had a truly deadly plan of attack against the
+liners. The plan was officially frowned upon because of the great risks
+the pilots must take. They directed their boats at one of the monster
+ships, all the power units on at full drive. As close to target as
+possible the man jumped from his ship, clothed, of course, in an
+altitude suit equipped with a radio transmitter and receiver.
+
+Death rays could not stop the speedsters, and with their momentum, the
+invaders could not make it less deadly with their heat beam, for,
+molten, it was still effective. A projectile weighing twenty-two tons,
+moving a hundred miles a second, can destroy anything man can lift off a
+planet! Their very speed made it impossible to dodge them, and usually
+they found their mark. As for the risk, if the Solarian forces were
+victorious, the pilots could be picked up later, provided too long a
+time had not elapsed!
+
+In the midst of the battle, the Solarians began to wonder why the Nigran
+fleet was decreasing so rapidly--certainly they had not caused all that
+damage! Then suddenly they found the answer. One of their ships--then
+another--and another fell victim to a pale red ray that showed up like a
+ghostly pillar of luminosity coming from nowhere and going nowhere! The
+answer? The invaders' ships were becoming invisible! The invisibility
+detectors were being overloaded now, and the hunt was hard, while the
+Nigrans were slipping past them and silently destroying Solarian ships!
+The molecular motion rays were quite effective on an invisible
+ship--once it had been found. They were destroying the Nigrans as
+rapidly as they were being destroyed, but they were letting some of them
+slip past! The luminous paint bombs and bullets were now called into
+play. All enemy ships were shot at with these missiles, and invisibility
+was forestalled.
+
+At long last the dark bulk of the main fleet approached, a scarcely
+visible cloud of tiny darting metal ships. The battle so far had been a
+preliminary engagement. The huge ships of the Nigrans were forced to
+stop their attack, and releasing the last of the fliers, to retire to a
+distance, protected by a screen of small ships, for they were helpless
+against the Solarian speedsters. Invisibility fell into disfavor, too,
+now that there were plenty of Solarian ships, for the Nigrans were more
+conspicuous when invisible than when visible. The radio detector could
+pick them out at once.
+
+The entire Nigran fleet was beginning to reveal the disorder and
+uncertainty that arose from desperation, for they were cornered in the
+most undesirable position possible. They were outside the Solarian
+fleet, and their ships were lighted by the glare of the sun. The
+defenders, on the other hand, were in such a position that the enemy
+could see only the "night" side of them--the shadowed side--and, as
+there was no air to diffuse the light, they were exceedingly hard to
+find. In the bargain, the radium paint was making life for the Nigrans a
+brief and flitting thing!
+
+The invaders began to pay an awful toll in this their first real
+engagement. They lacked the necessary power to cover the entire Solarian
+fleet with their death rays, and their heat weapons were of little help.
+The power of the small ships did not count for much--and the big liners
+could not use their weapons effectively for their small fliers must be
+between them and their adversary. Despite this, however, the Nigrans so
+greatly outnumbered the Earth-Venus forces that it looked as though a
+long and costly war lay ahead.
+
+At last the Solarian generals tried a ruse, a ruse they hoped would work
+on these beings; but they who never before had to plan a war in space,
+were not sure that their opponents had not had experience in the art.
+True, the Nigrans hadn't revealed any especially striking
+generalship--had, in fact, committed some inexcusable blunders--but they
+couldn't be sure. Though they didn't know it, the Solarians had the
+advantage of thousands of years of planetary warfare to rely on. This
+stood them in good stead now.
+
+The Nigrans were rallying rapidly. To their surprise, the forces of the
+Solarians were dwindling, and no matter how desperately this remnant
+fought, they could not hold back the entire force of the Nigran fliers.
+At last it appeared certain that the small ships could completely engage
+the Solarian fleet!
+
+Quickly the giant cruisers formed a great dense cone of attack, and at a
+given signal, the fliers cleared a hole for them through the great
+disc-shaped shield of the defenders. And with all their rays fanned out
+in a 100% overlap ahead of them, the Nigran fleet plunged through the
+disc of ships at close to four hundred miles per second. They broke
+through--were on their way to the unprotected planets!
+
+The Solarian ships closed the gap behind them, and eighteen of the giant
+ships burst into wreckage as powerful beams found them, but for the most
+part the remnant of the defending forces were far too busy with the
+fliers to attack the large ships. Now, as the monster engines of
+destruction raced on toward the planets still approximately two billion
+miles away, they knew that, far behind them, their fliers were engaging
+the Solarians. They had left their guard--but the guard was keeping the
+enemy occupied while they were free to drive in!
+
+Then from nowhere came the counterattack! Nearly five thousand
+thirty-man ships of Earth and Venus, invisible in the darkness of space,
+suddenly leaped into action as the dreadnoughts sped past. Their
+destroying rays played over the nigh-helpless giants, and the huge ships
+were crumbling into colossal derelicts. With the last of their guard
+stripped from them, they fell easy prey to the attackers. Faster than
+they could keep count they were losing their warships of space!
+
+The ruse had worked perfectly! Nearly all of the ten-man and one-man
+ships had been left behind them in the original disc, while all the
+thirty-man light cruisers, and a few hundred each of the ten-man and
+one-man crafts sped away to form a great ring twenty thousand miles
+farther back. The Nigran fleet had flown blindly into the ambush.
+
+There was only one thing left for them to do. They were defeated. They
+must return to their far-off black star and leave the Solarians in
+possession of their worlds. For all battle purposes their great force
+was nearly wiped out, only the fliers remained in force; and these could
+no longer be carried in the remnant of the great liners. Swiftly they
+fell back, passing again through the disc, losing thirty more vessels,
+then raced swiftly away from the fleet of their enemies.
+
+The Solarians, however, were not content. Their ships were forming in a
+giant hollow cylinder, and as the sphere of the Nigrans retreated, their
+beams playing behind them, the cylinder moved forward until it
+surrounded them, and they raced together toward the distant lightless
+sun. The Solar end of the cylinder swiftly closed, blocked by a group of
+huge ships which had taken no visible part in the battle. The Nigrans
+had stopped using their rays; and the Solarians followed in armed
+readiness, not molesting as long as they were not molested.
+
+Many days this strange flight lasted, till at last the great yellow sun,
+Sol, had faded in the distance to an unusually brilliant star. Then,
+suddenly visible out of the darkness, a strange black world loomed
+ahead, and the Nigran ships settled swiftly toward it. Through the
+airlocks the great liners settled to their planet. No action was taken
+so long as the Solarian ships were not menaced, but for eight long
+months the darting ships hung above the four englobed worlds of Nigra.
+
+Then at last the astronomers of Earth and Venus sent through the
+billions of miles of ether their message of safety. The guard could
+return home, for the sun they had been guarding would soon be too far
+from Earth or Venus to make any attack logical. Despite this, for years
+to come the fleet would guard the rim of the System, just to be sure;
+but it appeared that the suns had passed, never again to meet.
+
+A strange thing had happened during the passing of the stars. Pluto no
+longer circled Sol; it had been captured by Nigra! The great fleet
+returned to a changed Solar system. Sol was still at its center, but
+there were now ten planets, including two new ones that the sun had
+captured from Nigra in return for Pluto; and all the planets had shifted
+a bit in their orbits.
+
+What the ultimate effect on the planets will be, we cannot say as yet.
+The change thus far is certainly not very great, though a somewhat
+warmer climate exists now on Earth, and it is a bit cooler on Venus. The
+long-range difference, however, will be exceedingly interesting.
+
+The Solar System has just passed through an experience which is probably
+unique in all the history of the mighty nebula of which our sun is an
+infinitesimal part. The chances that one star, surrounded by a system of
+planets, should pass within a hundred billion miles of another star,
+similarly accompanied, was one in billions of billions. That both
+systems should have been inhabited by intelligent races--
+
+It is easy to understand why the scientists could not believe Arcot's
+theory of attack from another sun until they had actually seen those
+other worlds.
+
+In that war between two solar systems we learned much and lost much.
+Yet, in all probability we gained more than we lost, for those two
+new-old planets will mean tremendous things to us. Already scientists
+are at work in the vast museums and ancient laboratories that are on
+them, and every day new things are being discovered. We lost many men,
+but we saved our worlds, and we learned many invaluable secrets from the
+invaders. In addition, we have but scratched the surface of a science
+that is at least a thousand million years old!
+
+
+
+
+EPILOGUE
+
+
+Taj Lamor looked out across the void of space toward a fading point of
+yellow light. Far in the distance it glowed, and every second moved it
+many more miles farther from him. They had lost their struggle for life
+and a new sun, he had thought when he turned back, defeated, from that
+distant sun. But time had brought new hope.
+
+They had lost many men in that struggle, and their dwindling resources
+had been strained to the limit, but now there was hope, for a new spirit
+had been born in their race. They had fought, and lost, but they had
+gained a spirit of adventure that had been dormant for millions of
+years.
+
+Below him, in the great dim mass that was their city, he knew that many
+laboratories were in the full swing of active work. Knowledge and its
+application were being discovered and rediscovered. New uses were being
+found for old things, and their daily life was changing. It was again a
+race awake, rejuvenated by a change!
+
+As the great sea of yellow fire that was that strange sun had faded
+behind their fleeing ships, leaving their dead planets still circling a
+dead sun, he had thought their last chance was gone forever. But hope
+had reawakened, with the birth of new ideas, new ways of doing things.
+
+Tordos Gar had been right! They had lost--but in the losing, they had
+won!
+
+Taj Lamor shifted his gaze to a blazing point of light, where a titanic
+sea of flame was burning with a brilliance and power that, despite the
+greater distance, made the remote yellow sun seem pale and dim. The
+blue-white glow told of a monster star, a star far brighter than the one
+they had just left. It had become the brightest star in their heavens.
+On their ancient star charts it was listed as a red giant, named
+Tongsil-239-e, which meant it was of the fifth magnitude and very
+distant. But in the long ages that had passed since it was classified,
+it had become a mighty sun--a star in its prime.
+
+How were they to reach it? It was eight and one half light years away!
+
+Their search for the force that would swing a world from its orbit had
+at last been successful. The knowledge had come too late to aid them in
+their fight for the yellow sun, but they might yet use it--they might
+even tear their planets from their orbits, and drive them as free bodies
+across the void. It would take ages to make the trip--but long ages had
+already passed as their dark planet swung through the void. What
+difference would it make if they were or were not accompanied by a dead
+star?
+
+True, the star that was now their goal was a double star; their planets
+could not find orbits about it, but they might remedy that--they could
+tear one star free and hurl it into space, making the remaining sun
+suitable for their use.
+
+But they _would_ escape this dead sun.
+
+
+
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+End of Project Gutenberg's The Black Star Passes, by John W Campbell
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