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diff --git a/20707.txt b/20707.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f058540 --- /dev/null +++ b/20707.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8515 @@ +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. + + + + +CLASSICS OF GREAT SCIENCE-FICTION from ACE BOOKS + + +F-295 (40c) THE WORLD OF NULL-A + by A. E. van Vogt + +F-296 (40c) GULLIVER OF MARS + by Edwin L. Arnold + +F-304 (40c) THE RADIO BEASTS + by Ralph Milne Farley + +F-306 (40c) EARTH'S LAST CITADEL + by C. L. Moore and Henry Kuttner + +G-547 (50c) THE BLIND SPOT + by Austin Hall and H. E. Flint + +F-312 (40c) THE RADIO PLANET + by Ralph Milne Farley + +F-313 (40c) A BRAND NEW WORLD + by Ray Cummings + +F-318 (40c) THE SPOT OF LIFE + by Austin Hall + +M-119 (45c) JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH + by Jules Verne + +F-319 (40c) CRASHING SUNS + by Edmond Hamilton + +F-321 (40c) MAZA OF THE MOON + by Otis Adelbert Kline + +F-327 (40c) THE DARK WORLD + by Henry Kuttner + +F-333 (40c) ROGUE QUEEN + by L. Sprague de Camp + +F-343 (40c) THE EXILE OF TIME + by Ray Cummings + +F-344 (40c) THE WELL OF THE WORLDS + by Henry Kuttner + +Available from Ace Books, Inc. (Dept. M M), 1120 Avenue of the Americas, +New York, N.Y. 10036. Send price indicated, plus 5c handling fee. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Black Star Passes, by John W Campbell + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLACK STAR PASSES *** + +***** This file should be named 20707.txt or 20707.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/7/0/20707/ + +Produced by V. L. Simpson, Greg Weeks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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