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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ac172f2 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63766 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63766) diff --git a/old/63766-h.zip b/old/63766-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 5c05b7c..0000000 --- a/old/63766-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/63766-h/63766-h.htm b/old/63766-h/63766-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 5f54bbd..0000000 --- a/old/63766-h/63766-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2164 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Man nth, by Gardner F. 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Fox - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Man nth - -Author: Gardner F. Fox - -Release Date: November 14, 2020 [EBook #63766] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MAN NTH *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="titlepage"> - - -<h1>MAN<sup>Nth</sup></h1> - -<h2>By GARDNER F. FOX</h2> - -<p>From strange and distant worlds the master<br /> -beings came to Neeoorna, bringing with them<br /> -the science of the Universe. One by one<br /> -they fought the alien fire—and died. And<br /> -now Jonathan Morgan, the Earthling, whose<br /> -science was primitive compared to the others,<br /> -found himself facing the black flames.</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories Winter 1945.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>He stood alone in the laboratory, frightened, staring at the tiny motes -of dust that swirled lightly in the breeze. That dust had been a block -of solid lead a moment ago; before he had touched it, and concentrated.</p> - -<p>Jonathan Morgan licked his lips with a dry tongue. Things like this -shouldn't happen to the assistant to the Chief of the National -Foundation for Physics Research. It went against every law he had -studied so absorbedly for the past twelve years, ever since he had -decided in high school to make physics his life work.</p> - -<p>"I'm mad," he said to himself, knowing he was utterly sane; that was -what frightened, knowing his sanity.</p> - -<p>He removed a glass test-tube from a wooden rack before him, grasped it -firmly and furrowed his brows over his clear black eyes. If this works, -he thought savagely, I can chuck every law of physics and organic -chemistry into the junk heap, and become a tramp riding the rods of the -first train out of town....</p> - -<p>The glass in his hands stretched noticeably; grew and expanded to pint -size, to the size of a quart container.</p> - -<p>"<i>God!</i>"</p> - -<p>The glass shattered on the inlaid linoleum floor. Jonathan put out his -big hands and clung to the edge of the sandstone tabletop until his -muscles bunched in big ridges all along his hairy forearms.</p> - -<p>"Dr. Wooden!" he shouted hoarsely. "Dr. Wooden!"</p> - -<p>A big man came and stood in the doorway, staring at him, clad in white -smock with the sleeves rolled up to bare his wrists.</p> - -<p>"Did you call—Jonathan! What's wrong?"</p> - -<p>The Chief ran to him, his eyes intent in his white face, his features -tense.</p> - -<p>"You've had a shock. Tell me, did the rays react as we'd hoped?"</p> - -<p>"No, no. It isn't the rays. It's me. I—I'm <i>infinite</i>!"</p> - -<p>Dr. Wooden smiled, saying, "Sit down, boy. You've been working too -hard. You need a rest. Forget all about the calcatryte and how to bend -the rays it emanates. You need a change. Perhaps the shore. Or my -mountain lodge in the Adirondacks."</p> - -<p>Jonathan Morgan straightened, shaking his head, muttering, "No, no." -His brain was clearing, and he knew with a grim sureness that something -big had happened to him, for a reason. He lifted another block of lead, -and looked down at it.</p> - -<p>"Watch it, Doctor. Watch the lead."</p> - -<p>The lead block quivered strangely, undergoing some queer -transformation. Its outlines became blurred and vague. It shrank, -dissolved; became infinitesimal bits of dust in Morgan's palm. Jonathan -bent and blew on the dust and it fluttered away.</p> - -<p>He looked at Doctor Wooden with a wry smile.</p> - -<p>"I can do anything, Doctor. I can grow or become small. I can destroy -or I can—create!"</p> - -<p>"Well," the Chief breathed gustily. "I almost believe you. Whew! Man, -do you realize the vast vistas that are opening for you? With power -such as that ... oh, my God! How trite I am after seeing—that!"</p> - -<p>"Does sort of stun you," agreed Jonathan dryly. "Doctor, do you think -this gift was given to me for a—reason?"</p> - -<p>The Chief glanced sharply at his assistant, then nodded slightly.</p> - -<p>"Go on, Jonathan. Tell me what's on your mind."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jonathan Morgan stalked up and down the laboratory aisle, his tall -body graceful as the stalking panther, his great shoulders illy fitted -in the smeared lab smock. He was a big man. Conference football and -baseball had added lithe muscles to the frame that was his heritage -from a family of farmers. Black hair, cut crew above a high-cheeked, -tanned face, and coal black eyes that were alert as a watching cat, -added to his look of fitness.</p> - -<p>"I've known of this power since last night," he said slowly. "We were -at Mrs. Gordon's bridge, remember? I was sitting there with that blamed -cup on my knees wishing I didn't have to drink it, when my mind went -blank. Absolutely blank.</p> - -<p>"It was like being suspended in a dark vault, with someone working on -your mind. I could <i>feel</i> what they—or <i>it</i>, was doing to me. Oh, it -didn't hurt. It was just a sense of—awareness. As though someone were -operating on me with instruments of telepathy. Knowing just what to do, -and going there and getting it over with, quickly. When the feeling -went away, I was still sitting there. I hadn't moved, and no one had -noticed anything. It had been accomplished in an incredibly short space -of time.</p> - -<p>"I recall looking at the tea in the cup, and wishing with all my -heart it was a stiff drink. And when I put it to my lips, it was just -that—the best liquor I've ever tasted in my life.</p> - -<p>"I needed that drink. Especially in view of the fact that it was a -drink. Then I thought I heard a voice, whispering to me from far away. -I sat still and listened. But the voice, or whatever it was, couldn't -get through to me. It tried desperately to tell me something, but the -connection was wrong. It gave up after a while."</p> - -<p>Jonathan took the cigarette the doctor handed him and puffed in on it, -standing in a patch of sunlight, gazing down at the flooring.</p> - -<p>"On the way home, I got to wondering about what had happened. I -thought, maybe somebody's made a present to me of terrific mental -powers. I looked up at the moon, and wondered about it.</p> - -<p>"The idea came to me: why not concentrate on the moon, and see what -would happen. It was to be a test, you see.</p> - -<p>"I concentrated, all right.</p> - -<p>"The next thing I knew I was standing on it. And oh, boy! the Earth is -damn big, looking up, or down, at it."</p> - -<p>The Chief choked on cigarette smoke. He gasped finally, "You mean to -tell me you were on the moon?"</p> - -<p>"It was the moon, all right. I know. I scrambled right back here -on terra firma in a big hurry, too. There are some things on that -satellite of ours—</p> - -<p>"This morning I tried destroying matter. You saw how it worked. I've -tried making things grow. That works, too. It's unlimited, this power. -Anything that is limitless is—infinite."</p> - -<p>Doctor Wooden put his cigarette into a bowl of water. Jonathan flipped -his out the window, and watched it arc downwards. They stood silent, -frowning. Doctor Wooden roused himself slowly.</p> - -<p>"You can turn this gift into the greatest benefit to mankind the world -has ever known, Jonathan. You can investigate scientific mysteries at -the source. You could find cures. You could—"</p> - -<p>Jonathan waved a big hand.</p> - -<p>"I know. I've thought of all that. But I'm worried. I've a feeling that -this power was given to me for a certain purpose. To enable me to do -something even bigger. No force we know could have done this to me. It -came from outside, beyond the Earth. It <i>must</i> have. There is something -out there that needs—or wants—me. Maybe that voice did get in a few -subconscious suggestions, after all. Wherever it came from, I should -find that voice."</p> - -<p>"You could explore the universe," murmured Dr. Wooden thoughtfully.</p> - -<p>"I may have to. I'm going to search all space if need be. I can't hold -back. Perhaps the voice implanted that, too. An urge to go out there -among the stars and look for it. The wanderlust. It's a thing like -thirst and hunger, that is a part of you."</p> - -<p>"When do you intend leaving?"</p> - -<p>"Tonight. At once, perhaps. Why wait for night? Oh, God, I don't know -what to say, what to think. But I'm going."</p> - -<p>Dr. Wooden caught him by the arm, drawing him into the next room. It -was a smaller laboratory, bare but for long chrome tables with metal -cradles hung from tripods resting on their tops. In each cradle was -pouched a block of crystalline rock formation, semi-transparent, with -fine veins of iridescent color interlacing with each other to form -weird patterns in the milky depths.</p> - -<p>"You're young, Jonathan, and you're imaginative. I'm not trying to -dissuade you. I just want you to consider."</p> - -<p>He put his hands on the rocks in the cradles. These stones were -calcatryte, dredged accidently in a scoop shovel off Great Barrier Reef -and sent to the National Foundation for testing.</p> - -<p>Dr. Wooden bit his lips. Jonathan knew what restraint he was -exercising. This research institute was his heart's dream, with its -marble halls and linoleum lab floors, its chrome tables. He had two -things in his life: the Institute, and his theory. And Jonathan was -part of both.</p> - -<p>His theory was this: that somewhere in the world there is an element, a -substance, that would emit <i>straight</i> light as one of its properties. -Light that did not curve as all light did. Light that would, by its -very rigidity, cut through the atomic structure of other matter by -the sheer energy of its photons, cutting a path in a thing by ripping -electrons from their beds. A light to outmode all cutting and sawing -instruments; a ray that would be easy to handle, and inexpensive to -operate.</p> - -<p>Many elements they had tested and tried; many tested, many thrown -aside. When the calcatryte had been brought in, they had not even -hoped. But <i>it</i> gave off straight light.</p> - -<p>"The credit is yours, Jonathan," the doctor was saying. "You've done -a lot. It was your discovery, the tungsten beam that heated the rocks -to the pitch high enough to rip those rays from it. Uncurvable rays. A -series of lines of unbendable light. I'll harness that light, soon."</p> - -<p>"I know. But there's that urge in me. The wanderlust."</p> - -<p>"You're giving up a lot. Fame. Maybe fortune."</p> - -<p>Jonathan grinned a little, saying, "Maybe I've gotten a lot more in -exchange."</p> - -<p>"Damn it, Jonathan. What the hell's the matter with me? I'm <i>jealous</i>, -boy. If I were in your boots, I'd kick the ribs out of any old codger -that tried to talk me out of the greatest experience in the history of -mankind!"</p> - -<p>Jonathan put his big hand on the other's shoulder and squeezed it, -hard. The Chief took out his handkerchief and blew his nose.</p> - -<p>"Let's go," he said hoarsely. "There's no sense in hanging around here -any longer. Not when you can go—where you're going."</p> - -<p>It was a Saturday afternoon. There was no one in the great quadrangle -between the buildings. They walked along a path, smoking their -farewells together; headed toward the quad.</p> - -<p>Jonathan stepped onto the lawn. He bent and undressed, and handed his -clothes and shoes to Dr. Wooden.</p> - -<p>"I left a letter for you," he said. "And a power of attorney. I don't -know when I'll be back. Or—whether."</p> - -<p>Jonathan turned, stood erect; sunlight glinted on the white tones of -his flesh, shading the ribs and the ridges of muscle on arms and legs, -on shoulder and belly. He lifted his arms, and his face grew hard with -his effort at concentration.</p> - -<p>Watching, Dr. Wooden smothered a curse. Before his eyes the form of -Jonathan Morgan was expanding, growing. Its substance swelled and -rippled outward in a vast cloud of tiny motes of matter shimmering and -glittering with opalescent hues.</p> - -<p>"He's turned his structure into gas," he muttered.</p> - -<p>The gas that was a man swept upward and onward with the speed of -thought itself.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">II</p> - -<p>Eternal night glimmered black and velvety, flecked with dots of pale -blue-white. All around lay the vast universe; silent, but alive with -glaring suns and great orbs that were the planets, known and unknown. -Here teemed life among the far reaches of vast space.</p> - -<p>And like an immortal, living ether, Jonathan Morgan sped onward and -outward into that space. Black meteors went through him and harmed him -not. Somehow he found himself aware of them, knowing that they only -pushed the gaseous components of his form aside; that when they had -passed, his body resumed its former shape. He did know that they could -not hurt him; but why, he was unaware.</p> - -<p>The infinitely tiny motes of matter that were Jonathan Morgan swelled -and grew and expanded. He fled upward and downward with the speed of -thought. He grew and towered, and the Earth dropped away below the mad -onrush of this strange, galactic giant.</p> - -<p>He passed Mars swiftly, casting a curious glance at its canals, seeing -half-buried cities beneath ancient sea-bottoms. Beyond the asteroid -belt he found frozen Jupiter, and Saturn with its ring, and saw strange -forms of life that eked out existences on icy worlds.</p> - -<p>In a moment he passed over Pluto and the dark planet beyond it. There -was life here, too, of a queer, alien sort. Not flesh, but another form -of matter. He thought idly that he would like to study it, but he had -not the time.</p> - -<p>For the call that had been vague on Earth was now grown peremptory, -summoning.</p> - -<p>In answer to that call, he fled onward in a rush of gas that seemed to -whisper as it sped through the cold voids of space.</p> - -<p>In short seconds he was beyond the outermost limits of Sol's domain, -ever expanding....</p> - -<p>Proxima, nearest star to Sol, glowed brilliant in his path. Beyond it -he could see Alpha Centauri, huge and bright. The other stars, too, he -recognized. For he was out among the star trails now, and Sol was a dot -behind him.</p> - -<p>And ever as he flew onward, always as his height grew and grew until -he straddled a thousand worlds, the call came clearer. He <i>knew</i> now -that he had been summoned from the Earth; knew that ahead of him was an -intelligence demanding his presence.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus1.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>They knew they had been summoned, that far ahead something demanded their presence.</i></p> - </div> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Insanely he flung himself out and up, searching the odd and sometimes -terrible worlds that flitted past his eyes. Alien life, spawning on -planets so far from Earth that they were undreamed, lived and died -beneath his gaze as he shot by.</p> - -<p>The call came clarion clear, at last.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It said: "Creature of the Third Planet of the sun named Sol. Heed me. -You have done well to find me, very well. Turn your gaze this way, -Earthling. A little further. Yes, right there.</p> - -<p>"The pale yellow planet. You see it? Then hasten, join us. For we have -need of every aid that the universe contains. Hurry, Earthling!"</p> - -<p>He swirled downward toward the atmospheric belt of the amber orb -that swung lazily about a double sun. Even as he compressed his body -together, he caught a flicker of queer black lights off to one side in -the corners of his eyes. They quivered and throbbed, and almost touched -the yellow planet.</p> - -<p>Then he was contracting, willing the motes and particles of his body -together, shooting downward toward a vast stretch of green sward and -rounded white buildings that sprawled gracefully over mile after mile -of land.</p> - -<p>The black flames burned, forgotten.</p> - -<p>He dropped lightly onto his feet on the smooth lawn, felt it give -beneath his feet.</p> - -<p>"Congratulations," said a deep voice behind him, and Jonathan whirled.</p> - -<p>A gigantic lizard faced him. It stood fifteen feet high, possessed of -powerful legs and massive, armoured body. The great reptilian head -swayed slightly in regarding him, and the eyes on either side of the -broad nostrils were alive with intelligence.</p> - -<p>"You—you're a reptile!" Jonathan gasped.</p> - -<p>"And you—a man," replied the creature.</p> - -<p>Jonathan grinned and said, "I think I was prepared for any form of life -but yours. Even pure thought, or beings of non-carbon basic formation. -I—hmm. Strikes me we understand each other pretty well."</p> - -<p>The reptile looked puzzled, then grunted.</p> - -<p>"I forgot you came from Earth. Earth is a young planet. -Her—ah—inhabitants have not made the progress some of our other -neighbors have. That is why—why you were changed, a little. I'll tell -you of that, later.</p> - -<p>"But now you must come with me and rest. While your body is -unaffected, your mind has been under a terrific concentrative strain. -It would cause a reaction unless rested. You see, you do not have -certain—ah—facilities as yet. Being as you are is too new."</p> - -<p>"Just what am I? I understand your language, or your thoughts, and I've -done things I'd have said were impossible, two weeks ago."</p> - -<p>"You will learn. Now you must rest."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jonathan walked with the lumbering being along a crushed stone walk -between hedges adroop with riotously colored fruits. Ahead of them -glimmered a building, translucently white in the hot beams of the great -double-sun now low on the horizon.</p> - -<p>"Life forms vary," said the big reptile. "Here on Neeoorna the reptile -life that became extinct on Earth flourished. It evolved more swiftly, -due to atmospheric and other conditions. Its intelligence kept pace. In -other systems there are things of thought, there are beings with liquid -helium in their veins, there are certain others with no veins at all.</p> - -<p>"And then, to cheer you, there are still others who might well be named -men. They are men, too. They are what you would call human. They have -bodies exactly similar to your own. You shall meet them. All manner of -beings live on Neeoorna these days."</p> - -<p>His voice was heavy. Jonathan glanced quickly at him, sympathetic.</p> - -<p>"Something wrong?"</p> - -<p>The reptile shook his head soberly, saying, "You will learn, in time."</p> - -<p>A thick glassine door slid noiselessly apart as Jonathan and the -Neeoornian neared it. They passed into cool halls of veined green -marble lighted so brilliantly that Jonathan remarked it.</p> - -<p>"Filaments of glass containing electrified carbon-dioxide gases exuded -by specially reared plants. Carbon dioxide emits a light much like -ordinary daylight. We have perfected that until our inner and outer -light is the same."</p> - -<p>A rounded chamber whose cool blue walls reflected heat and absorbed -moisture contained chairs and tables so similar to Earth products that -Jonathan started.</p> - -<p>"They look like a futurist's dream, but they're remarkably like our -own," he acknowledged.</p> - -<p>"This is the Court of Counsellors for bipeds. The other courts are -different, naturally, being suited to the individual needs of the -various visitors Neeoorna plays host to. Were you or a Zarathzan to -enter some of them, you would die instantly from cold and deadly gases, -or terrific heat. That is, unless you were forewarned as to what to -expect."</p> - -<p>Jonathan puzzled over that for a moment. No amount of foreknowledge -made deadly cold any hotter, nor did it turn noxious fumes into pure -air. He shrugged. He must be tired, after all. Maybe a rest was what he -needed.</p> - -<p>The reptile gestured Jonathan to a glassine couch covered with the -spotted fur of some jungle beast. It looked soft. It invited him, -dumbly. Jonathan dropped on it and stretched out his legs.</p> - -<p>"Neeoornians call me Shar Bytu," said the reptile, gazing down at -him. "If you need aught, mention my name. Tell them you are the -representative of Earth."</p> - -<p>Jonathan knew his eyelids were blotting out sight of the great lizard. -He tried to mumble thanks, but a gentle torpor crept about him, -embracing his brain, his tired, tired brain. He was <i>so</i> tired....</p> - -<p>A soft hand on his forearm awakened him; brought him up sharply, -alarmed, like a panther.</p> - -<p>The girl who bent above him drew back in alarm, her violet eyes wide, -thin nostrils flared, a cry hovering on her wet red mouth. She looked -at Jonathan again and read the swift admiration in his eyes, and smiled.</p> - -<p>"You frightened me," she accused softly, her lips undecided between a -pout and a smile. "You are so big, so strong—like a dappled claw-thing -of my native Zarathza."</p> - -<p>So this was a Zarathzan. Jonathan found her good to look at. Her -skin was a pale lavender, so delicately flushed that it seemed some -strange, rare satin. Her hair was black, and coiled in coronas about -her intelligent, shapely head. Her deeply glowing eyes were bright with -laughter, and Jonathan thought her mouth would be perfect for kisses.</p> - -<p>"We are not fighters, we Zarathzans. At least with our bodies, like you -Earthlings," she said, looking at him sidewise. "It has been long since -our kind were—beasts."</p> - -<p>Jonathan grinned hugely.</p> - -<p>"It's been a long time since a girl called me that. Must be something -about me."</p> - -<p>"Oh," whispered the girl hurriedly, putting a soft hand to his arm, "I -do not mean to offend. Sometimes I admire the—beasts."</p> - -<p>Well, he was getting on. He was keenly aware of her warm hand on his -forearm. The girl felt his thought; flushed a little and stood up.</p> - -<p>"Shar Bytu sent me to you," she informed him.</p> - -<p>"My thanks to Shar Bytu," replied Jonathan, throwing aside the fur and -rising. Someone had clothed him while he slept. He wore thin trousers -that clung to his ankles and bellied outward as they went up. A broad -leathern belt fitted snugly around his waist. His great chest was -naked. Fur sandals protected his feet.</p> - -<p>The girl was likewise clad, with bare midriff and a halter of white fur -about her breasts.</p> - -<p>"This is the universal garb for counsellors of our make," the girl -said. "Others wear different clothes. Still others wear none, having -no sex."</p> - -<p>"I'm Jonathan Morgan. Do Zarathzans—er—have any names?"</p> - -<p>"Silly. Of course. I'm Adatha Za."</p> - -<p>Jonathan grinned and said, "Glad to know you. And now that -introductions are over, suppose you let me in on the big secret around -here. Just what am I doing on Neeoorna?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Adatha Za was startled.</p> - -<p>"You do not know? Didn't Shar Bytu tell—but perhaps he left that to -me, seeing that I am not a—reptile."</p> - -<p>Jonathan looked her over and laughed, "I'm mighty glad you're not," and -he noticed that Adatha Za—whose civilization was eons beyond that of -Earth—looked pleased.</p> - -<p>They walked toward a balcony overlooking a bed of scarlet flowers -patterned between strips of green grass. Great lights beamed into the -blackness of the Neeoornian night from high on the parapets, lighting -the scene before them. And high in the heavens, black and moving -against the blue of the starry sky, strange shadows chased one another -between the stars.</p> - -<p>Adatha Za lifted a bare arm and pointed to that great blotch in the -heavens. Her arm trembled against Jonathan even as she pointed, and he -read stark fear in her eyes and in the drooping corners of her scarlet -mouth.</p> - -<p>"You see those black flames? No one knows what they are. They kill us, -one by one, when we attempt to fight them. They are growing. Already -they have eaten one of the moons of this planet. Soon they will reach -Neeoorna itself—indeed, they are past the fringe of the heavenside. -And after Neeoorna they will eat the twin suns, and other suns and -other planets. Zarathza and Earth, too. There will be nothing beyond -the black flames, Earthling. It will eat our entire universe!"</p> - -<p>Jonathan was aware that his spine tingled, looking up. He felt deep -inside him, the <i>alienness</i> of those dancing darknesses. They were not -of the known universe. They came from somewhere outside, from another -world. So different from Earth that their mere presence spelled doom -for anything normal to his world. Unhidden, they had emerged from some -deeper space, and were voyaging across his, advancing inexorably, like -flames of fire lapping across thin paper.</p> - -<p>The girl's bare shoulder pressed his, trembling.</p> - -<p>"I'm frightened, Earthman," she whispered. "When I think of Zarathza in -the path of that—those blights from hell, I—oh, I don't know how to -say it!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," he answered soberly. "It isn't nice to think of Earth waiting -her turn, either. Not knowing. Happy until realization comes—"</p> - -<p>Earth! It was so far away, so secure and homey. Unaware of this -danger growing millions of light years from it, a danger threatening -extinction to men and the pursuits of men, eating like a living monster -into the suns and planets. Jonathan put an arm around the girl; held -her against him. Lonely, they stood together, awed.</p> - -<p>The girl lifted her head and smiled tremulously. She tossed her head -and her hair brushed her shoulders.</p> - -<p>"Let's forget them," she brightened. "I succeed pretty well. It's -just—at times—that I feel low down."</p> - -<p>"I feel low myself. Don't anyone know anything about them? Can't -somebody think of something?"</p> - -<p>Adatha Za leaned back against the marble rail of the balcony and -looked at him and said, "You are big and strong. What would you do to -something that was threatening you?"</p> - -<p>"I'd fight," he grunted.</p> - -<p>"We fight, too. But our opponent always wins. And when we fight, we -always die."</p> - -<p>Adatha Za sighed. Looking down at her, seeing the sweetly curved mouth -that not quite pouted and the straight thin nostrils and deep, dark -eyes fringed with long lashes, Jonathan realized she was a rarely -beautiful girl. He felt suddenly as though he had been jabbed sharply -under the ribs.</p> - -<p>"Seeing you makes me want to fight something," he grinned, laughing a -little. "Funny, I haven't felt like this since I was in high school. -It's like the little boy who turns somersaults before the pretty little -girl who's just moved next door. I guess I never noticed the little -girl before."</p> - -<p>Adatha Za looked at him, her dark eyes alight; but her thin brows -raised, faintly questioning.</p> - -<p>"Some-somersaults? What is that?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, just a way of showing off. Putting your head down and—here, I'll -show you."</p> - -<p>He dropped to the tiled flooring of the balcony and tumbled. Halfway -over, he found himself looking upside-down at a tall figure who glared -down at him incredulously. Jonathan flushed hotly and landed hard.</p> - -<p>He sat there and felt foolish.</p> - -<p>Adatha Za started up, catching her breath in her throat.</p> - -<p>Jonathan drew a deep breath. There was a strange malignancy in the eyes -of this man who stood in the arched entranceway and looked down at -him. Malignancy and contempt, and his thin lips sneered with the livid -disdain that moved him.</p> - -<p>"You're just asking for trouble, mac," he said quietly, getting to his -feet. "I'm not used to being looked at like that."</p> - -<p>The man stood straight and haughty, but his eyes blazed. Jonathan felt -as though he had been spat at. He started forward; felt Adatha Za's -hand on his arm, squeezing him hard.</p> - -<p>"This is Morka Kar, Jonathan. He is from Zarathza. This is the -Earthling, Jonathan Morgan."</p> - -<p>The Zarathzan did not incline his head. He flashed an irritated look at -Adatha Za, then looked back at Jonathan.</p> - -<p>"The guests of Shar Bytu have gathered to meet the barbarian," he -snapped. "He sent me to see if he were awake. I see he is. Be good -enough to show him the Temple, Adatha Za."</p> - -<p>He swung on his heel and walked away. Jonathan quivered and took a step -after him, but the girl beside him tugged on his arm, saying, "It is -always his way. He is abrupt, and so self-controlled that anything like -gaiety annoys him."</p> - -<p>Jonathan grunted. His lips that had been hard, slowly softened.</p> - -<p>"That baby was just begging for a left hook," he growled. "And -something tells me he'll get it, too."</p> - -<p>"Morka Kar is a great scientist. I came in his retinue from Zarathza, -to help fight the flames."</p> - -<p>"I still don't like him!" Jonathan drew a deep breath and asked, -"He—he isn't your husband? Mate, I mean. Or—your fiance?"</p> - -<p>Adatha Za laughed.</p> - -<p>"You use quaint expressions. But I follow your thoughts. No, he is not -my husband, nor my engaged. But he <i>does</i> want me. You see, on Zarathza -I am <i>tapu</i>. Sworn to science research, forbidden to wed a Zarathzan."</p> - -<p>Jonathan reflected on that for a moment. He glanced sidewise at her and -grinned, "What about an—Earthman?"</p> - -<p>Adatha Za pinched his arm and laughed, "Strictly, there's nothing -against it. Zarathza never even heard of Earth until recently!"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">III</p> - -<p>The Temple of Embassy gleamed in ethereal beauty under the beams of -Neeoorna's five moons. Its ivory pillars lifted slender fingers to the -black basalt dome. About its periphery an arched court circled to the -entrance where its massive metal gates were embossed with crouching -griffins.</p> - -<p>Jonathan and Adatha Za passed along the magnificently marbled corridors -and entered a deep council room tiered with seats. He paused in the -doorway and stared.</p> - -<p>On saltwhite benches the representatives of a thousand worlds turned -and looked at him. There were reptiles from Neeoorna, lavendar-tinted -Zarathzans, blobous creatures from distant Sarboola, thought things of -far galaxies, ethereal Tartulians, and queer black beasts that had the -intelligence of genius. Against one wall glass enclosures held beings -from planets so cold they needed artificial refrigeration to live here. -Near the opposite side of the chamber, steamy glass vases held other -life forms whose structure needed tremendous heat to exist.</p> - -<p>There was a tall round rostrum of some glimmering metal raised like a -throne in the center of the room. There stood Shar Bytu, towering over -the assembled hundreds. There was a flash of his greenish forearm, and -Jonathan stepped forward.</p> - -<p>"Approach us, Jonathan Morgan," Shar Bytu called. "We of Neeoorna and -the worlds of our universes have waited for you. You are the only Earth -creature we could contact, though we tried many. Come, join us."</p> - -<p>As he went down the aisle, Jonathan cast sidewise glances at the -utterly alien beings that stood and looked at him. Here and there, -though, he saw others like himself and the Zarathzans. Humans. Men with -two arms and two legs. Women with lissome figures and soft red mouths. -He felt a little warmer, and held his head higher, after seeing them.</p> - -<p>He came up the steps and stood beside Shar Bytu. The reptile nodded, -smiling somewhat.</p> - -<p>"We had set great hopes on you. Earthling. Before your eyes you see -creatures of bafflement and wonder tinged with a near-despair. The -shadowy flames are a mystery and a menace to us. We had hoped—we had -hoped strongly, that you might bring the solution to their strange -deadliness. I know now they are as queer to you as to us."</p> - -<p>"There's more than those flames that's queer to me," replied Jonathan -grimly. "First on the list is how I ever managed to get here at all. -Where I got all those tricky powers from—"</p> - -<p>"That," deprecated Shar Bytu by a gesture of his six-clawed hand. "That -is but a simple explanation. You will understand it when I point it -out. You are merely the ultimate goal of evolution."</p> - -<p>"Oh," nodded Jonathan, and wondered if he looked blank.</p> - -<p>"What is the ultimate goal of evolution but perfection?" resumed the -reptile. "On Earth Nature has experimented with the dinosaur, the bird, -the fish. One by one she discarded them because they were not fit to -survive their environment. But all the while Nature was learning. It -was making strides. It tested and discarded. The reptile and the early -forms of bird and fish and insect life were tossed into the discard. -Nature knew there was something lacking.</p> - -<p>"She made man. She gave man the inherent ability to fit himself to any -environment. She gave man a brain, a brain that gave off energy in the -form of thought. Measured energy. Electrical energy. Energy that can -be measured and graphed. But Nature, prodigal in her gifts, was also -prodigal with man's mind. She gave man nine million brain cells—far -more than he ever used. Only a great genius used one percent of those -cells!</p> - -<p>"Then why was Nature so lavish? In man she had reached her absolute -ultimate. There only remained for man to perfect the tremendous, -unguessed power of his brain. By thought! By sending out beams of sheer -solid thought, by dipping into those millions of brain cells for the -ultimate power, the power that would make man—perfect!"</p> - -<p>Jonathan closed his eyes, shuddering. He opened his eyes and looked at -Shar Bytu.</p> - -<p>"How do you know all this?" he whispered.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He thought in the frightened core of him of changes in the space-time -continuum, that unguessable eons may have rolled past since last he -left the Earth. That Earth was old beyond thought—</p> - -<p>Shar Bytu chuckled, "No, I do not have the gift of prophecy, nor am -I repeating history. Except by analogy. For as Nature has treated -us of a hundred and sixteen suns, so Nature will treat man. Nature -and evolution are inexorable, being linked with time. And so she -will produce the perfect man—the man absolutely adapted to his own -environment.</p> - -<p>"We of Neeoorna did this to you, by certain—ah—methods. We operated -on you by means known to our scientists for ages. When we have an -atavar in our clinics, we open his mind fully to enable him to throw -off all connection with past ages. So it was with you. It was not -difficult.</p> - -<p>"As a result, you are a man immune to harm. You have absolute control -over your body, over inanimate objects that exist about you. Once you -are aware of what danger threatens, you may avert it by so arranging -the electronic groupings within your body either to merge and blend -with the danger, or harden into a shield of antidote or corrective.</p> - -<p>"Of course, as your brain evolved, it needed the body to feed it, to -give it energy. Thus the body became an essential part of it. But the -body changed, too, the body will respond to any environment, as a -necessary corollary of the brain.</p> - -<p>"In short, you are the ultimate evolution. It became the perfect tool -of the mind. It did <i>anything</i> the mind ordered it to. So of the third -planet of the Sun Duryu. Or Sol."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jonathan drew a deep breath. He knew with deepest conviction that he -had heard truth, bizarre as it was. He was not a man any more. He knew -that, within himself. He was as far beyond man, or would be now, with -study, as men were above the Neanderthals. He was ultimate man. Man in -his final stage. Man multiplied by all the powers that be. Man to the -<i>n</i>th degree.</p> - -<p>Man n<i>th</i>!</p> - -<p>"Now that I'm here, I've failed you," he grunted hoarsely.</p> - -<p>"Not yet. Oh, no. Many of us have failed. They are no longer—here. We -still hope that you may, out of your experiences on Earth, construct us -an edifice upon which our scientists may find some clue, some hint. All -we ask is some idea as to what it is we face. Just a thought. One tiny -clue.</p> - -<p>"But now you must see how we fight ourselves."</p> - -<p>A gigantic, bulbous being, a fishbelly-white due to the heavy cloud -formation that sheathed its native planet five light years from -Neeoorna, rose to his feet. He turned his many-faceted eyes to the -rostrum.</p> - -<p>"Shar Bytu," he intoned sonorously, "I ask the right of test for us of -the planet Moratoyo. We would seek to cast a shower of atoms at the -flames. We have made recent improvements over our former weapon—"</p> - -<p>Shar Bytu nodded, and his clawed hand brought an ebony mallet upon the -rosewood pulpit where he stood.</p> - -<p>"So granted. Session adjourned. The guests of Neeoorna will meet at the -proving grounds."</p> - -<p>In silence the scientists filed from their seats. Jonathan caught sight -of Adatha Za among the Zarathzan delegates, and ran to her. Her hand -nestled warmly in his. She flashed her dark eyes at him and smiled.</p> - -<p>"I'm more out of place here than an Atheist in church," he said. "Stick -to me. I still have to get my bearings."</p> - -<p>Her fingers tensed on his, squeezing. He heard her whispered, "I will."</p> - -<p>The proving grounds lay semi-circular behind a great green spread -of lawn. At the north end of the vast field an arc of white marble -terraces lifted rosy columns to the sky. Below the pillars stretched -marble benches, now rapidly filling with emissaries.</p> - -<p>The Moratoyons marched to a gleaming gun set in concrete in the center -of the dusty field behind the lawn. The gun shone a queer white, with -two red domes surmounting its breech, and fitted on either side with -knobs and levers. It quivered and gleamed in the heat haze that shifted -over the proving sands.</p> - -<p>Jonathan felt Adatha Za press against him with thigh and shoulder. -She choked a whisper to his ears, "It is their atom-gun. It cannot be -compared with some others we have seen, but if they've improved it—" -her voice broke with a soundless sob. "We hope it may work. But we -are—afraid."</p> - -<p>Jonathan could almost feel the anxiety and hope around him like a -living thing. From the somewhat transparent thought beings of Sallarsee -to the robotmen of Kankang, each sat watchful; grim, intent. Those who -had lips tensed them to thin lines. Those who had eyes narrowed them -expectantly. The others floated or stood, quiescent.</p> - -<p>The Moratoyons on the field moved swiftly. They clamped brakes and -levers down and locked them; spun wheels and twisted dials. From the -steel and cement cradle where it rested, the great cylinder of dull -white metal lifted its blunt nose slowly, almost cautiously, and aimed -it at the sky.</p> - -<p>"It shoots atoms supercharged with light-photons," whispered Adatha Za.</p> - -<p>The chief scientist of all Moratoyo paused and looked at Shar Bytu, who -nodded. The Moratoyon whirled, shouting harshly, watching his men leap -for the firing dials.</p> - -<p>One after another the dials spun.</p> - -<p>The firing pin was punched.</p> - -<p>"God!" choked Jonathan hoarsely, staring in numb horror.</p> - -<p>Where once the gun stood bright and shining there was a faint red mist -that hung close to earth, beating bloodily in the flood of the arc -carbon-dioxide lamps as though welling with life. Then it began to -dissipate as a faint breeze wafted across the field.</p> - -<p>There was a little hole in the ground, where the gun had been.</p> - -<p>Jonathan became aware slowly of Adatha Za's hand that clung like a -vise about his left wrist. He looked at her, saw her eyes convulsively -closed; saw two tears trickling from beneath her long dark lashes.</p> - -<p>Her moist red mouth trembled as she whispered, "They all fail. All of -them. Like that. One moment they are here. Then they are gone. It is -almost as if they destroyed themselves."</p> - -<p>Jonathan put an arm around her naked shoulders and hugged her against -his chest.</p> - -<p>"Buck up," he grated. "We aren't licked yet. Why, hell! We haven't -started to fight, yet!"</p> - -<p>He saw Morka Kar sneering at him from two stadium seats away, his thin -mouth curling in fanatical contempt. He felt the hate beat redly from -the man's eyes. Jonathan bared his teeth in answer to that fierce, -unspoken taunt.</p> - -<p>He said, loud enough for the Zarathzan to hear, "One of us will find a -way. We're bound to. There's a key to that riddle. There has to be. The -universe can't end—not like this—"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps," said Morka Kar loudly, "the Earthling might amuse the -shadows by—tumbling?"</p> - -<p>Jonathan didn't know until later that Adatha Za put out a hand to -restrain him. He was away like a sprinter, and his big left fist was -lifting, swiftly. His fist hit Morka Kar, a little to one side of his -jaw.</p> - -<p>It snapped the Zarathzan's head around and backwards, and lifted him -off his feet, and dropped him three seats below.</p> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus2.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Morka Kar lay there outstretched, unmoving. Jonathan grinned hugely -and rubbed his knuckles. It began to penetrate after a while that the -others were staring at him in complete horror.</p> - -<p>Adatha Za gasped and sobbed, then came and stood silently beside him, -her soft hand reaching for his fist. She held her dark head high, and -her eyes glared defiance.</p> - -<p>"A beast—"</p> - -<p>"—useless to expect help from things still ruled by emotion—"</p> - -<p>"—a mistake. Shar Bytu should not—"</p> - -<p>He heard the murmurs and the whispers, but Adatha Za was speaking, -saying, "Morka Kar insulted him before the assembly was called. He is -not like us, this Earthling. He fights when he is attacked!"</p> - -<p>Shar Bytu waddled forward, his reptilian face grave. He blinked a -little curious, at Jonathan.</p> - -<p>"We cannot have disturbances among ourselves," he said. "We need -scientific and philosophic calm to meet the shadow menace."</p> - -<p>"It wasn't what he said," Jonathan said softly. "It was the way he said -it. He was asking for it."</p> - -<p>"Asking for what?" puzzled Shar Bytu, looking about.</p> - -<p>The reptile, moving his ponderous head in looking for what Morka Kar -had asked, struck Jonathan as unconsciously funny. He grinned, and was -buoyed up.</p> - -<p>He said, "I'm sorry. I don't want to break up any gathering like this. -Apparently my action strikes you as something primitive. I don't look -at it that way at all. I didn't ask to be brought here, or to be given -the powers to make the trip. Now that I'm here, however, I'll do -everything I can to help. Naturally. But no Zarathzan's going to walk -all over me whenever he feels like it."</p> - -<p>A snarl answered him. Morka Kar was climbing unsteadily to his feet, -aided by two Goqualian metallic robotmen.</p> - -<p>"Shar Bytu," fumed the Zarathzan, shaking off the hands that held him. -"It has been long since a being of my standing indulged in personal -combat, but I wish to meet this Earthling. Just the two of us. Face to -face, mind to mind, in mental monomachy!"</p> - -<p>Adatha Za went white. Shar Bytu looked gravely unhappy.</p> - -<p>Shar Bytu whispered, "I had hoped to learn something from the Earth -man—"</p> - -<p>Jonathan interrupted, "You're all conceding victory to Morka Kar. Maybe -so, maybe not. That isn't just what I want to say, though. The main -thing that occupies us is the problem of the flames, or shadows.</p> - -<p>"Much as I hate to admit it, I'm afraid I'm not much help against -them. You see, when you gave me the powers of ultimate evolution, my -scientific and other knowledge didn't keep pace with them. There are -thousands of Earth men who would have made better ambassadors than -I. Apparently I was more psychic, perhaps more malleable in brain -structure, than they. I don't presume to know the whys and wherefores -of that. I'm here and I'm glad I'm here. If I can help, I will.</p> - -<p>"But—much as I hate to admit it, I'm out of my depth. Those shadows, -or whatever it is out there in space, is beyond me. So if you lose -me—which I hope you don't—you aren't losing too much."</p> - -<p>Jonathan took a deep breath; went on, "A poet on Earth once said -something about not loving a woman loved he not honor more. Well, I -love the universe, but I'm not hiding behind any danger to it when a -man wants to fight me for a woman I—love."</p> - -<p>He heard Adatha Za's quickened breathing; felt her hand touch his arm -and squeeze. He stood there with her hand on his arm and looked about -him, at the thought beings and the robotmen and the reptiles. On a few -faces, on the faces of those who looked most like men, he read a grave -applause. On the features of the others, a blank attention, as though -he spoke of geology to a monkey. They just couldn't get his viewpoint -at all.</p> - -<p>But Morka Kar did, and he snarled. His sullen mouth writhed and his -eyes glowed fiercely as he glanced from Adatha Za to Jonathan.</p> - -<p>"Another thing," grated Jonathan, and he looked Morka Kar full in -the eyes, "I may be an animal, but I know others who possess animal -characteristics—no matter what they mistakenly call themselves."</p> - -<p>Morka Kar fought in the metal arms of the robotmen who flanked him. -Shar Bytu turned and fixed him with a cold eye.</p> - -<p>"You will be still, Zarathzan," he whispered icily. "I have long heard -your taunts to one or another of our group. As yet the deputation from -Zarathza has not attempted the flames, though I have heard many words -spoken by them of it."</p> - -<p>Morka Kar quieted swiftly.</p> - -<p>"The mental monomachy will occur tomorrow at this place. Until then I -forbid Morka Kar and the Earthling to meet. If harm befalls either of -them, the other shall pay with his life. See to it."</p> - -<p>He turned and waddled away. Morka Kar seethed a glance at Jonathan, -then followed the reptile. The others split into groups, silently -transmitting puzzled thoughts.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Adatha Za sat on the stone bench and looked up at him, and her red -mouth was rueful. Her eyes beneath the dark fringes of her lashes -accused him.</p> - -<p>"I had hoped that some day you would visit Zarathza with me," she said -softly. "Now you—"</p> - -<p>"Now nothing has changed," grinned Jonathan, dropping beside her and -taking her soft hands between his. "Shar Bytu made me infinite, didn't -he? How can Morka Kar hurt me?"</p> - -<p>Her eyes widened in concern. "But Morka Kar is also infinite, as you -put it. He will fight your mind. You do not know the sciences that -Morka Kar knows. Not knowing what he can do against you, you will be -helpless. He will stun your brain, drive it mad, then—destroy it."</p> - -<p>"If I can't think as fast as that bullying windbag, I'm willing to be -destroyed."</p> - -<p>Adatha Za sounded annoyed. "It is not a question of thinking <i>fast</i>, -although that does enter into it. It is more a matter of knowing how to -oppose the weapons that Morka Kar will create to fight you."</p> - -<p>"—that he will <i>create</i>?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly. Of old on Zarathza, men carried swords and shields. Later -they used percussion guns, still later, atomic disintegrators. But as -the years passed into eons, and as life on Zarathza evolved, it was -discovered that these weapons were of no use against a trained mind -that could shoot a bolt of mental force against the weapon to destroy -it. So men went naked into combat and there they thought up their -weapons swiftly, through force of mind alone. Their opponents met their -mental creations with defenses and weapons of their own. The more -unusual the weapon, the easier it was to decide the victor."</p> - -<p>Jonathan whistled.</p> - -<p>"My ideas on weapons stop about at a .45 caliber automatic. A sword is -useless. So's a bow and arrows. Or a spear. You say Zarathza had atomic -disintegrators a long time ago, eh?"</p> - -<p>The girl shivered.</p> - -<p>"Atomic disintegrators are seen only in museums today," she whispered. -"And you of Earth do not even have them. Lallista! You are a dead man -walking around."</p> - -<p>"Hey," chuckled Jonathan, grabbing her arms and pulling her around to -face him. "Chin up. I may not know much about weapons, but I'll bet -I've still got a trick or two up my sleeve. I'll show that windbag -where he gets off. You wait. You'll see."</p> - -<p>Her eyes begged his for reassurance. She lay close against him and her -mouth quivered into a smile.</p> - -<p>"You were—joking me, then? You do know of weapons that you haven't -mentioned?"</p> - -<p>"Sure," he boasted gaily. "Lots of them. Brass knuckles. Galloping -dominoes. A ginrickey. A mickey finn. The Brooklyn Dodgers."</p> - -<p>"I am so glad," she whispered. "That makes me feel so much better."</p> - -<p>She did not see his frown as she walked with him across the white -composition walk toward their guest quarters. He wasn't thinking of -himself. He was wondering what Morka Kar would do to her—after he got -through with him.</p> - -<p>"Just the same," the girl was saying, "I think that I will show you -some of the weapons Morka Kar may use. Those, at least, that I know. We -will go and sit together beneath the moons, and I will teach them to -you, one after the other."</p> - -<p>Jonathan looked at her red mouth and grinned, "I'll show you a weapon, -too. On Earth we call it a—kiss."</p> - -<p>The night was warm and the moons that hurtled across the Neeoornian sky -shed a pale lustre on the gardens where Adatha Za and Jonathan Morgan -sat. Between her legs lay a box filled with strips of queerly colored -metals, vials of shining dull and iridescent chemicals, containers and -compartments of tubes and alloys.</p> - -<p>"It is from these that Morka Kar will fashion his weapons," she said, -fingering the objects before her. "From the mints provided by the -monomachy coffer, he will be enabled to throw weapon after weapon at -you. For instance, this—from this he will make a molecular magnetizer -that will cause the molecules that make up your body so to attract each -other that your body will shrink in upon itself—assume the density -of a dwarf star—fall through the earth to the center of this planet! -Or with this he could form a ray that is hot as the hottest sun in -the universe. He may not use that. It is a weapon that even Morka Kar -fears. It is too deadly. Were it to escape his mental control, it could -blow up the entire planet. Now from this tube—"</p> - -<p>Jonathan listened dutifully. He was in this away over his head, and no -amount of last minute cramming would help. To assimilate this knowledge -would require years. He wasn't quitting, but he realized that if he did -win, it would be by some method purely Earthian, and not by a study of -Zarathzan weaponry.</p> - -<p>He looked at Adatha Za. He put his hands on her soft shoulders and -turned her toward him. Her eyes were questioning.</p> - -<p>"We have a weapon on Earth, too," he whispered. "It's a kiss. Do you -Zarathzans have the kiss?"</p> - -<p>With arched brows the girl followed his thought, then shook her head a -little disdainfully, saying, "No. That does not seem to be any sort of -armament I know. Is it a good weapon?"</p> - -<p>"The best there is on a night like this—with a girl like you."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Her mouth was warm and soft and moist beneath his. His lips held hers -for a long time before he let her go. She opened her long-lashed eyes -slowly, staring at him.</p> - -<p>"That is no weapon," she accused softly. She put her arms up and drew -his head down again, whispering, "—but I like it. I should really -study it some more."</p> - -<p>This time it was the girl whose lips clung.</p> - -<p>Jonathan laughed, "For a Zarathzan you catch on pretty quickly."</p> - -<p>"I'm a scientist," she retorted.</p> - -<p>Nestled in his arms, with her hair flooding his chest and shoulder, -Adatha Za said, "I wish—I wish that you and I could go back to -Zarathza together, Jonathan Morgan. In my villa beside the Jaralayan -Sea I would love to study this kiss-weapon of yours. It is such a nice -weapon, even though it does frighten me a little."</p> - -<p>She gasped suddenly and tried to sit up, but Jonathan's long arms held -her.</p> - -<p>"Now what's eating you?" he wanted to know.</p> - -<p>"That kiss—how many times have you experimented with that weapon on -Earth?"</p> - -<p>Jonathan chuckled, "Next thing you'll be telling me I do it like an -expert!"</p> - -<p>Head to one side, Adatha Za surveyed him. At last she nodded pertly, -laughing a little.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I think you do. And no one ever became perfect without practice!"</p> - -<p>"Don't forget. Shar Bytu made me a perfectionist."</p> - -<p>Adatha Za sighed as she nestled back into his arms, and whispered, -"There are some things, Jonathan Morgan, that even evolution can't do."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">IV</p> - -<p>Adatha Za came for him the next day, to go with him to the Arena. Her -eyes were dark and sunken, her soft red mouth quivering. Her hair hung -loose, uncoiffed. She came into his arms and kissed him; drew back to -look up into his face, trembling.</p> - -<p>"I am glad for last night," she whispered. "Though I did have -hopes—some day in my villa over the Jaralayan Sea—"</p> - -<p>She buried her face against his chest, moving it slowly from side to -side, distrait.</p> - -<p>"Hey," yelped Jonathan, lifting her face with a finger beneath her -chin. "Why the gloom? I thought we'd decided last night that I had a -chance."</p> - -<p>"You did—last night. Today ... today Shar Bytu announced that the -winner of the mental monomachy is to attempt the black shadows! So—"</p> - -<p>"Oof," Jonathan grunted, "that sort of knocks the stilts out from -under a guy. No matter who wins, both will die, unless—no, the age of -miracles passed a long time ago. What does Morka Kar say to that?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, he raved and swore, but he dared do nothing to disobey. After all, -he is a scientist, and he is here to fight those flames. Even he cannot -hope to fight all the scientists on Neeoorna right now. I—I think he -will temporize. Have the monomachy declared a draw. That will allow him -to save face and his life at the same time."</p> - -<p>"I'm going to win if I can," Jonathan said slowly. "I just don't -cotton to that guy."</p> - -<p>Her long fingernails bit into the flesh of his wrists. Her voice was -hoarse, desperate, "By Lallista's brood, Jonathan! Do not anger him. -Your one chance is in Morka Kar's willingness to spare you that he may -spare his own self. If he loses that temper of his—Jonathan, I want -you alive."</p> - -<p>He patted her bare shoulder, smiling.</p> - -<p>"I'll still see that villa on the sea, honey. Don't fret your lovely -head about it. But it's time to go, now. I don't want this affair -called off on a forfeit."</p> - -<p>They walked slowly, hand in hand, along the pebbled path to the great -white Amphitheatre. It rose tall and grim, brooding over the lovely -square that fronted its entrance. The square was deserted. Their -footfalls sounded loud in their ears.</p> - -<p>They went up the steps and through the oval doorway. Alone, they went -down the black corridor toward the arena.</p> - -<p>The seats were filled, inside the arena room. The batteries of ten -thousand eyes gloomed at Jonathan as he walked toward the great ivory -chair set on the sanded field. He knew Morka Kar watched him from the -ebony throne opposite the ivory chair, but he'd be damned before he'd -glance his way!</p> - -<p>Jonathan settled himself in the seat before he looked at his opponent. -Morka Kar sat facing him, both arms resting on the ebony arms. His thin -mouth was twisted in a sardonic grin. His red-shot eyes glistened with -hate.</p> - -<p>Adatha Za came forward with an oblong coffer, ornate with jewels. -Dropping to her knees, she unlocked the cover, and threw it open. -Inside, row on row, glittered vials and retorts of liquids and powders, -and long metal bars and needles.</p> - -<p>Above Adatha Za's naked shoulders, Jonathan watched a three-legged -Paravian dance-walk its way to Morka Kar. The Paravian also carried a -monomachy casket.</p> - -<p>Adatha Za spoke swiftly: "As you see his weapon form, combat it. Use -the antidote. Not knowing that," she was choking now, almost sobbing, -"not knowing that, attack the weapon with your mind. It has existence, -but it is a mentally energized existence. Mental energy may dissipate -it if strong enough. It is not considered good form—but it is safe."</p> - -<p>The dark eyes shimmered through tears as she looked up at him.</p> - -<p>"Farewell," she whispered.</p> - -<p>And turned and fled.</p> - -<p>Morka Kar stretched out a foot and kicked shut the cover of the coffer -before his throne. The <i>clunk</i> of the closing lid sounded loud in the -high chamber, merging with the breathless gasp that shook the throng. -Only a mathless monomachy fighter scorned the help of the box.</p> - -<p>Jonathan looked at Morka Kar and grinned.</p> - -<p>He put out his own foot and slammed the cover down. Dimly he caught, -in some remote recess of his brain, the amaze that held the onlookers. -They didn't know, as did Adatha Za, that the contents of that box were -as much a mystery to Jonathan as were the black shadows. He'd be better -off without it. It gave him less to think about, and he needed all his -powers of thought.</p> - -<p>Morka Kar snarled. His eyes blazed right at Jonathan—</p> - -<p>Purple balls hung in the air before the Zarathzan!</p> - -<p>They shimmered and glittered, filled with opalescent mists of green -and red and white and purple. They danced eerily, as though drunk, as -though to the music of some alien piper. They bounced and swayed on -invisible strings in a wild and eerie saraband. They swung outward, -circling.</p> - -<p>Then darted straight at Jonathan.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jonathan threw every bit of mental power at his control into his -defense, but the first bubble did not break before it got within three -feet of him. The others fell apart easily after that.</p> - -<p>Jonathan frowned, and an automatic hung in the air before him. It -turned to grey mists and faded, struck by a bolt of liquid fire.</p> - -<p>Morka Kar rasped laughter, "Do better Earthling. We of Zarathza have -forgotten weapons such as that."</p> - -<p>A haze of colorless hue quivered in front of the Zarathzan. It seemed -only a heat haze; but when he saw the sandy waste inside the shimmer, -when he saw grey and rolling ocean instead of the sand, and saw ocean -turn to roaring flames, he knew he looked on a weapon utterly foreign -to Earth thought.</p> - -<p>His knuckles bulged until the skin over them whitened in the fury of -his concentration. Gasping, he saw the shimmer fade.</p> - -<p>He cast a beam of radio-waves; saw them strike a beam of like power and -shatter, useless. He hurled acid. It met an alkali. He threw a bullet -and watched it melt in a shield of heat that turned the lead to smoke.</p> - -<p>All the while the Zarathzan taunted him, shrilling, "Ape. Go back to -the steamy jungles of your planet, ape. We do not need a loose-brain -here. Go back, ape!"</p> - -<p>A red triangle formed in the air before Morka Kar even as he spoke. It -glowed and burned with green hell-fires. Jonathan dropped water on it -and the green fires raged and grew and expanded, feeding on the water.</p> - -<p>Jonathan shuddered when he finally extinguished them. Beads of cold -sweat rose on his forehead. He was growing weaker. His brain could not -stand this punishment. He had been subjecting it to too much. It would -give, soon. It was not conditioned, as was the Zarathzan's.</p> - -<p>He thought fleetingly of last night, with Adatha Za's mouth burning -beneath his. Never to know that mouth again! She had trusted in his -strength, in his boasts. She had told him of her villa above the sea. -Now he was to fail her. He had bragged of a mickey finn. Of brass -knuckles. What a crude jest. He had even mentioned—</p> - -<p>Jonathan sat upright. He thought.</p> - -<p>When Morka Kar saw the club in his hands, he hooted.</p> - -<p>"A club! The ape has found a club with which to kill. Lallista! He -jests."</p> - -<p>Jonathan swung the wood in his hands with easy familiarity. He lifted -it above his shoulders, then brought it about viciously. There was a -sudden <i>splat</i>.</p> - -<p>Morka Kar, still laughing his derision, crumpled and toppled from the -ebony seat.</p> - -<p>Jonathan discovered his knees shaking. He sat down quickly.</p> - -<p>Adatha Za came running, sobbing, laughter.</p> - -<p>"You beat him. You beat him. What a strange weapon. What was it? Morka -Kar thought it but a club. He did not deign to spend his mental forces -on it. But you fooled him!"</p> - -<p>Jonathan held up the wood and shook it, laughing, "This is known in -America as a baseball bat. A Louisville slugger. The old hickory, the -ash. And the thing that hit Morka Kar was a baseball. Gods! A jest, he -called it."</p> - -<p>Shar Bytu looked from Morka Kar to Jonathan, saying, "You must destroy -him. It is the great rule of mental monomachy."</p> - -<p>But Jonathan shook his head, wearily.</p> - -<p>Shar Bytu looked down at the Zarathzan. He almost seemed to relish what -he did. But it was over in an instant. A few grains of dust settled -groundwards. Jonathan felt sick.</p> - -<p>The others gathered around him. Their voices were excited.</p> - -<p>"A new weapon to fight the flames."</p> - -<p>"The Earthling has solved our problem."</p> - -<p>"If it baffled a monomachy fighter like Morka Kar, it might work on the -flames."</p> - -<p>Jonathan tried to explain, looking down at their faces.</p> - -<p>"No, no," he cried out, talking down their thoughts. "It isn't a -weapon. It's a sport we play back on Earth. I—it—the bat is used to -hit a ball. Morka Kar didn't know that. He thought it just a club.</p> - -<p>"Luckily, I could call my shot. A straight fast ball. Not a curve. A -straight—"</p> - -<p>Jonathan blinked. He stopped, choking; eyes wide.</p> - -<p>"Maybe," he whispered. "Maybe—"</p> - -<p>The others grew quiet, watching. They felt his intense excitement, saw -his hands quiver, and the way his lips twitched. Adatha Za clung to his -arm and her eyes were pools of purple hunger.</p> - -<p>It wasn't too fantastic—yet.</p> - -<p>It all depended on straight lines and curves, and whether a straight -line can ever be curved. The shortest distance between two points. If -the straight line could be moved to turn, then he was wrong.</p> - -<p>But if he were right! If this type of straightness <i>could not</i> curve, -then it might conceivably eat its way through a universe which was -based on something that should curve: light.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Dr. Wooden and he had made strides in their experiments on light rays -derived from calcatryte. They had explored the quantum theory, had -forced homogenous light against a metal plate and seen the electrons it -extracted from it. This light energy had been partially turned into the -kinetic energy of the bombarded electrons of metal.</p> - -<p>From this it had been a step upward in discovering that calcatryte -yielded a photon shower of such terrific concentration that it ate -right through the metal plate; had given no evidence of stopping until -they had constructed the plasticite screen: pure black, coated with a -fine dust of calcatryte itself.</p> - -<p>They had no way of knowing whether the rays stopped at the screen, -exactly. They might go on and on. And if they ate through metal, -releasing the electrons that composed it—they might eat through the -universe!</p> - -<p>Jonathan shuddered and looked around him.</p> - -<p>He knew his course, now. But to prove it—</p> - -<p>He had to go through the flames!</p> - -<p>"You proclaimed that the winner of the mental monomachy would -go through the flames, Shar Bytu," he said. "As winner, and as -representative of Earth, I claim that right."</p> - -<p>Shar Bytu looked at him and his eyes were like flecks of cold -moonlight. Suddenly, they twinkled.</p> - -<p>"The right is yours, Earthling. And something tells me that you may, -at long last, be the one to succeed. I read it in your mind. Yes, -your theory is a good one. To think that menace came from Earth. From -little, uncivilized, barbaric Earth."</p> - -<p>He waddled away, his ponderous reptilian head moving from side to side.</p> - -<p>Adatha Za pressed her hot cheeks against Jonathan's chest. Her voice -was low, troubled: "How will you fight the flames, Jonathan? What -weapon is there that can destroy them?"</p> - -<p>"No weapon under all the stars and all the suns can destroy the -shadows, Adatha Za. They are alien. The only hope there is—is to shut -them off."</p> - -<p>He shot up rapidly from the sanded floor of the Arena. Beneath him -for one long instant, he saw Adatha Za with her lovely face upturned: -hands clasped between her breasts, red mouth bitten until it swelled, -dark eyes misted. Shar Bytu stood beside her, his scaly hide brushing -her naked arm. The others were grouped in twos and threes: silent and -motionless, watching him.</p> - -<p>How long they stood there, Jonathan never knew. His mind was fully -occupied in a furious effort of incredible concentrative power: forcing -his body into the rigid and alien pattern that his mind knew would -alone spell safety from disaster.</p> - -<p>Light that never deviated from its straight and ruthless path. Light -that would absorb matter, that would shower a stream of electrons from -it, releasing the electrons in a blast of power that fed upon the stuff -it touched. Such were the black shadows!</p> - -<p>And as he hurtled onward into the flames, he forced his body into beams -of light, rigid and unbending. He had to merge with the flames, or be -destroyed.</p> - -<p>He hurtled onward, toward the ebony maw that shook and glistened and -bellied against the dark of space like a translucent blob of jelly.</p> - -<p>He held out his hands like a diver, going into the shadows. The -movement helped him concentrate on straightness. The wind and the -blackness was about him, licking at his lighteous form. Along his chest -and thighs the flames touched, caressing.</p> - -<p>The blackness was himself, now; part of him, a segment of his mind, a -portion of his body.</p> - -<p>And he went on swiftly.</p> - -<p>Toward his goal.</p> - -<p>On the planet, Neeoorna, Adatha Za knew the salt taste of her tears. -Her red lips were puffed by the teethmarks driven deeply into their -softness. Her breasts rose swiftly.</p> - -<p>The others stood about her, and their minds were blank.</p> - -<p>At that moment they comprehended, but joy and awe were stronger than -mere knowledge.</p> - -<p>The black shadows winked once. They winked again, fleetingly.</p> - -<p>Then they disappeared.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">V</p> - -<p>Dr. Wooden stood silent as Jonathan Morgan drew his hand from the -switch that drove a bath of heat at the blocks of calcatryte set in -their metallic cradles. The humming of motors stopped. The blackish -screen in the background went silent, dead.</p> - -<p>"Well," said Dr. Wooden, straightening. "Hello."</p> - -<p>Jonathan sat down and put out a trembling hand, drew an open pack of -cigarettes toward him.</p> - -<p>"I've been far away," he said slowly. "To the other side of the -universe. Billions of miles away, and yet—in your own backyard."</p> - -<p>Dr. Wooden grinned and sat on the edge of the sandstone tabletop. He -lighted a cigarette himself, saying, "Tell me."</p> - -<p>Jonathan told him. And then he said, "It seems understandable -enough, really. Those powers I possess. What are they but an innate -adaptability to environment. And isn't that the true goal of Nature?</p> - -<p>"The environment is what destroys, is what weakens, is what kills. -Call it a blast furnace. Call it disease. Call it a clawing tiger. It -is, nevertheless, our environment: temporary or permanent. To survive -that, man must be immortal, in a physical sense. In the sense that he -possesses <i>in himself</i> all the necessary attributes to enable him to -overcome that environment. That way lies immortality."</p> - -<p>Dr. Wooden regarded the glowing tip of his cigarette. He said, "That's -clear enough. It is fantastic, but who knows what changes one million -or two million years will bring in man. Lord knows, it brought a lot of -changes on Earth itself! Now, about the flames—"</p> - -<p>Jonathan crushed out his cigarette.</p> - -<p>"They were the emanations from the calcatryte. I realized that -eventually. It stood to reason. It had to be something alien to a -universe where light curves. Something that either ate up matter or -made it invisible or opened a door for it to leak out somewhere, into -nothingness.</p> - -<p>"Calcatryte gives off straight light, so powerful that it eats through -metal. It could as easily eat through dirt and rock, through the moon -of a planet, through a planet itself. Through the universe, in short. -In a universe based on curving light, that unbendable light was an -anomaly. It ate up our universe, or started to."</p> - -<p>"Again, clear enough. It's reasonable, and possible. But when you -went into the shadows and passed through them—you emerged here in my -laboratory. But my laboratory is billions upon billions of miles from -Neeoorna."</p> - -<p>Jonathan grunted, "In terms of ordinary space, yes. I passed through -hyperspace."</p> - -<p>"That's a mathematical concept."</p> - -<p>"I know. But we—you have proved it exists. It has been proven -mathematically."</p> - -<p>Dr. Wooden looked dubious. Jonathan picked up a pencil and pressed down -with the point on a slip of graph paper.</p> - -<p>"That black mark, that dot, is one-dimensional. Extend a line from that -point to another dot. The line is also one-dimensional. Let us put -the pencil on the line, supersede the line with the pencil. Since the -pencil has three dimensions, so does the line—for the pencil is the -line.</p> - -<p>"Suppose an <i>n</i>-dimensional object. Supersede the pencil with the -<i>n</i>-dimensional object and we have an <i>n</i>-dimensional line. It is -an <i>n</i>-dimensional space of <i>n</i>-dimensional points, instead of our -original definition of a line as a single dimensioned space of points -set in a row.</p> - -<p>"Ordinary space is called three-dimensional because it is occupied -by three-dimensional things. Planes, for instance. But if we speak -of lines of spheres or circles, we can easily step into the realm of -<i>n</i>-dimensionality.</p> - -<p>"The drawback is that we can't see it. We can't envision -<i>n</i>-dimensionality.</p> - -<p>"Consequently, we have always been intrigued by many-dimensionality -because we can't picture it to ourselves. But the calcatryte rays -weren't hindered by a lack of imagination. They just zoomed off into -an <i>n</i>-dimensional space, and wound up near Neeoorna. They were lines, -remember, straight lines. And lines can be <i>n</i>-dimensional."</p> - -<p>Dr. Wooden rubbed his chin and said, "Could be, could be. But how does -hyperspace solve your problem?"</p> - -<p>"A dot inside a circle can go outside that circle without crossing its -circumference. Likewise, I could pass from the inside to the outside -of a sphere without going through the surface of a four-dimensional -object.</p> - -<p>"Those calcatryte rays beamed out from your lab into hyperspace, -passing through ordinary space without touching it, and appeared -billions of miles away. When I entered the shadows, I followed their -course."</p> - -<p>Dr. Wooden drew a deep breath, saying, "If I hadn't seen you -materialize out of thin air—" and broke off, laughing.</p> - -<p>"Seeing does enter it, doesn't it? But the attempts that were made -to fight the shadows! Why were the attackers always destroyed? -Unless—unless their weapons backfired on them—"</p> - -<p>"That's my thought. They were shooting three-dimensional objects at an -n-dimensional space. The three-dimensional objects never got anywhere. -They didn't even leave their source. They expended their frightful -energy right where they began."</p> - -<p>"Well," muttered Dr. Wooden. "You could talk for hours and not <i>prove</i> -anything."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He broke off, looking at Jonathan. He lifted a wooden mallet and held -it out to him.</p> - -<p>"Destroy it," he said simply. "If it's that much of a danger to the -universe, it deserves obliteration."</p> - -<p>Jonathan put out his hand, brushed the mallet aside.</p> - -<p>He bent over the table, setting both hands on it, partially supporting -his weight.</p> - -<p>The calcatryte in the metal cradles began to quiver as though made of -soluble, moving liquid. Their veins ran into channels of color, red and -green and blue and yellow. The blocks hazed over, writhing.</p> - -<p>The calcatryte was fading, bit by bit.</p> - -<p>Jonathan stood up. He looked worn, but his lips smiled.</p> - -<p>"It's done," he whispered.</p> - -<p>"You won't stay?"</p> - -<p>A smile came and dwelt on Jonathan's lips.</p> - -<p>"No," he said. "No, I won't stay. I am going back to Neeoorna, and then -to Zarathza—to look at a sunrise coming up over the waters of the -Jaralayan Sea."</p> - -<p>He went out, and the door closed behind him, softly.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Man nth, by Gardner F. 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Fox - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Man nth - -Author: Gardner F. Fox - -Release Date: November 14, 2020 [EBook #63766] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MAN NTH *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - MAN^Nth - - By GARDNER F. FOX - - From strange and distant worlds the master - beings came to Neeoorna, bringing with them - the science of the Universe. One by one - they fought the alien fire--and died. And - now Jonathan Morgan, the Earthling, whose - science was primitive compared to the others, - found himself facing the black flames. - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories Winter 1945. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -He stood alone in the laboratory, frightened, staring at the tiny motes -of dust that swirled lightly in the breeze. That dust had been a block -of solid lead a moment ago; before he had touched it, and concentrated. - -Jonathan Morgan licked his lips with a dry tongue. Things like this -shouldn't happen to the assistant to the Chief of the National -Foundation for Physics Research. It went against every law he had -studied so absorbedly for the past twelve years, ever since he had -decided in high school to make physics his life work. - -"I'm mad," he said to himself, knowing he was utterly sane; that was -what frightened, knowing his sanity. - -He removed a glass test-tube from a wooden rack before him, grasped it -firmly and furrowed his brows over his clear black eyes. If this works, -he thought savagely, I can chuck every law of physics and organic -chemistry into the junk heap, and become a tramp riding the rods of the -first train out of town.... - -The glass in his hands stretched noticeably; grew and expanded to pint -size, to the size of a quart container. - -"_God!_" - -The glass shattered on the inlaid linoleum floor. Jonathan put out his -big hands and clung to the edge of the sandstone tabletop until his -muscles bunched in big ridges all along his hairy forearms. - -"Dr. Wooden!" he shouted hoarsely. "Dr. Wooden!" - -A big man came and stood in the doorway, staring at him, clad in white -smock with the sleeves rolled up to bare his wrists. - -"Did you call--Jonathan! What's wrong?" - -The Chief ran to him, his eyes intent in his white face, his features -tense. - -"You've had a shock. Tell me, did the rays react as we'd hoped?" - -"No, no. It isn't the rays. It's me. I--I'm _infinite_!" - -Dr. Wooden smiled, saying, "Sit down, boy. You've been working too -hard. You need a rest. Forget all about the calcatryte and how to bend -the rays it emanates. You need a change. Perhaps the shore. Or my -mountain lodge in the Adirondacks." - -Jonathan Morgan straightened, shaking his head, muttering, "No, no." -His brain was clearing, and he knew with a grim sureness that something -big had happened to him, for a reason. He lifted another block of lead, -and looked down at it. - -"Watch it, Doctor. Watch the lead." - -The lead block quivered strangely, undergoing some queer -transformation. Its outlines became blurred and vague. It shrank, -dissolved; became infinitesimal bits of dust in Morgan's palm. Jonathan -bent and blew on the dust and it fluttered away. - -He looked at Doctor Wooden with a wry smile. - -"I can do anything, Doctor. I can grow or become small. I can destroy -or I can--create!" - -"Well," the Chief breathed gustily. "I almost believe you. Whew! Man, -do you realize the vast vistas that are opening for you? With power -such as that ... oh, my God! How trite I am after seeing--that!" - -"Does sort of stun you," agreed Jonathan dryly. "Doctor, do you think -this gift was given to me for a--reason?" - -The Chief glanced sharply at his assistant, then nodded slightly. - -"Go on, Jonathan. Tell me what's on your mind." - - * * * * * - -Jonathan Morgan stalked up and down the laboratory aisle, his tall -body graceful as the stalking panther, his great shoulders illy fitted -in the smeared lab smock. He was a big man. Conference football and -baseball had added lithe muscles to the frame that was his heritage -from a family of farmers. Black hair, cut crew above a high-cheeked, -tanned face, and coal black eyes that were alert as a watching cat, -added to his look of fitness. - -"I've known of this power since last night," he said slowly. "We were -at Mrs. Gordon's bridge, remember? I was sitting there with that blamed -cup on my knees wishing I didn't have to drink it, when my mind went -blank. Absolutely blank. - -"It was like being suspended in a dark vault, with someone working on -your mind. I could _feel_ what they--or _it_, was doing to me. Oh, it -didn't hurt. It was just a sense of--awareness. As though someone were -operating on me with instruments of telepathy. Knowing just what to do, -and going there and getting it over with, quickly. When the feeling -went away, I was still sitting there. I hadn't moved, and no one had -noticed anything. It had been accomplished in an incredibly short space -of time. - -"I recall looking at the tea in the cup, and wishing with all my -heart it was a stiff drink. And when I put it to my lips, it was just -that--the best liquor I've ever tasted in my life. - -"I needed that drink. Especially in view of the fact that it was a -drink. Then I thought I heard a voice, whispering to me from far away. -I sat still and listened. But the voice, or whatever it was, couldn't -get through to me. It tried desperately to tell me something, but the -connection was wrong. It gave up after a while." - -Jonathan took the cigarette the doctor handed him and puffed in on it, -standing in a patch of sunlight, gazing down at the flooring. - -"On the way home, I got to wondering about what had happened. I -thought, maybe somebody's made a present to me of terrific mental -powers. I looked up at the moon, and wondered about it. - -"The idea came to me: why not concentrate on the moon, and see what -would happen. It was to be a test, you see. - -"I concentrated, all right. - -"The next thing I knew I was standing on it. And oh, boy! the Earth is -damn big, looking up, or down, at it." - -The Chief choked on cigarette smoke. He gasped finally, "You mean to -tell me you were on the moon?" - -"It was the moon, all right. I know. I scrambled right back here -on terra firma in a big hurry, too. There are some things on that -satellite of ours-- - -"This morning I tried destroying matter. You saw how it worked. I've -tried making things grow. That works, too. It's unlimited, this power. -Anything that is limitless is--infinite." - -Doctor Wooden put his cigarette into a bowl of water. Jonathan flipped -his out the window, and watched it arc downwards. They stood silent, -frowning. Doctor Wooden roused himself slowly. - -"You can turn this gift into the greatest benefit to mankind the world -has ever known, Jonathan. You can investigate scientific mysteries at -the source. You could find cures. You could--" - -Jonathan waved a big hand. - -"I know. I've thought of all that. But I'm worried. I've a feeling that -this power was given to me for a certain purpose. To enable me to do -something even bigger. No force we know could have done this to me. It -came from outside, beyond the Earth. It _must_ have. There is something -out there that needs--or wants--me. Maybe that voice did get in a few -subconscious suggestions, after all. Wherever it came from, I should -find that voice." - -"You could explore the universe," murmured Dr. Wooden thoughtfully. - -"I may have to. I'm going to search all space if need be. I can't hold -back. Perhaps the voice implanted that, too. An urge to go out there -among the stars and look for it. The wanderlust. It's a thing like -thirst and hunger, that is a part of you." - -"When do you intend leaving?" - -"Tonight. At once, perhaps. Why wait for night? Oh, God, I don't know -what to say, what to think. But I'm going." - -Dr. Wooden caught him by the arm, drawing him into the next room. It -was a smaller laboratory, bare but for long chrome tables with metal -cradles hung from tripods resting on their tops. In each cradle was -pouched a block of crystalline rock formation, semi-transparent, with -fine veins of iridescent color interlacing with each other to form -weird patterns in the milky depths. - -"You're young, Jonathan, and you're imaginative. I'm not trying to -dissuade you. I just want you to consider." - -He put his hands on the rocks in the cradles. These stones were -calcatryte, dredged accidently in a scoop shovel off Great Barrier Reef -and sent to the National Foundation for testing. - -Dr. Wooden bit his lips. Jonathan knew what restraint he was -exercising. This research institute was his heart's dream, with its -marble halls and linoleum lab floors, its chrome tables. He had two -things in his life: the Institute, and his theory. And Jonathan was -part of both. - -His theory was this: that somewhere in the world there is an element, a -substance, that would emit _straight_ light as one of its properties. -Light that did not curve as all light did. Light that would, by its -very rigidity, cut through the atomic structure of other matter by -the sheer energy of its photons, cutting a path in a thing by ripping -electrons from their beds. A light to outmode all cutting and sawing -instruments; a ray that would be easy to handle, and inexpensive to -operate. - -Many elements they had tested and tried; many tested, many thrown -aside. When the calcatryte had been brought in, they had not even -hoped. But _it_ gave off straight light. - -"The credit is yours, Jonathan," the doctor was saying. "You've done -a lot. It was your discovery, the tungsten beam that heated the rocks -to the pitch high enough to rip those rays from it. Uncurvable rays. A -series of lines of unbendable light. I'll harness that light, soon." - -"I know. But there's that urge in me. The wanderlust." - -"You're giving up a lot. Fame. Maybe fortune." - -Jonathan grinned a little, saying, "Maybe I've gotten a lot more in -exchange." - -"Damn it, Jonathan. What the hell's the matter with me? I'm _jealous_, -boy. If I were in your boots, I'd kick the ribs out of any old codger -that tried to talk me out of the greatest experience in the history of -mankind!" - -Jonathan put his big hand on the other's shoulder and squeezed it, -hard. The Chief took out his handkerchief and blew his nose. - -"Let's go," he said hoarsely. "There's no sense in hanging around here -any longer. Not when you can go--where you're going." - -It was a Saturday afternoon. There was no one in the great quadrangle -between the buildings. They walked along a path, smoking their -farewells together; headed toward the quad. - -Jonathan stepped onto the lawn. He bent and undressed, and handed his -clothes and shoes to Dr. Wooden. - -"I left a letter for you," he said. "And a power of attorney. I don't -know when I'll be back. Or--whether." - -Jonathan turned, stood erect; sunlight glinted on the white tones of -his flesh, shading the ribs and the ridges of muscle on arms and legs, -on shoulder and belly. He lifted his arms, and his face grew hard with -his effort at concentration. - -Watching, Dr. Wooden smothered a curse. Before his eyes the form of -Jonathan Morgan was expanding, growing. Its substance swelled and -rippled outward in a vast cloud of tiny motes of matter shimmering and -glittering with opalescent hues. - -"He's turned his structure into gas," he muttered. - -The gas that was a man swept upward and onward with the speed of -thought itself. - - - II - -Eternal night glimmered black and velvety, flecked with dots of pale -blue-white. All around lay the vast universe; silent, but alive with -glaring suns and great orbs that were the planets, known and unknown. -Here teemed life among the far reaches of vast space. - -And like an immortal, living ether, Jonathan Morgan sped onward and -outward into that space. Black meteors went through him and harmed him -not. Somehow he found himself aware of them, knowing that they only -pushed the gaseous components of his form aside; that when they had -passed, his body resumed its former shape. He did know that they could -not hurt him; but why, he was unaware. - -The infinitely tiny motes of matter that were Jonathan Morgan swelled -and grew and expanded. He fled upward and downward with the speed of -thought. He grew and towered, and the Earth dropped away below the mad -onrush of this strange, galactic giant. - -He passed Mars swiftly, casting a curious glance at its canals, seeing -half-buried cities beneath ancient sea-bottoms. Beyond the asteroid -belt he found frozen Jupiter, and Saturn with its ring, and saw strange -forms of life that eked out existences on icy worlds. - -In a moment he passed over Pluto and the dark planet beyond it. There -was life here, too, of a queer, alien sort. Not flesh, but another form -of matter. He thought idly that he would like to study it, but he had -not the time. - -For the call that had been vague on Earth was now grown peremptory, -summoning. - -In answer to that call, he fled onward in a rush of gas that seemed to -whisper as it sped through the cold voids of space. - -In short seconds he was beyond the outermost limits of Sol's domain, -ever expanding.... - -Proxima, nearest star to Sol, glowed brilliant in his path. Beyond it -he could see Alpha Centauri, huge and bright. The other stars, too, he -recognized. For he was out among the star trails now, and Sol was a dot -behind him. - -And ever as he flew onward, always as his height grew and grew until -he straddled a thousand worlds, the call came clearer. He _knew_ now -that he had been summoned from the Earth; knew that ahead of him was an -intelligence demanding his presence. - -[Illustration: _They knew they had been summoned, that far ahead -something demanded their presence._] - -Insanely he flung himself out and up, searching the odd and sometimes -terrible worlds that flitted past his eyes. Alien life, spawning on -planets so far from Earth that they were undreamed, lived and died -beneath his gaze as he shot by. - -The call came clarion clear, at last. - - * * * * * - -It said: "Creature of the Third Planet of the sun named Sol. Heed me. -You have done well to find me, very well. Turn your gaze this way, -Earthling. A little further. Yes, right there. - -"The pale yellow planet. You see it? Then hasten, join us. For we have -need of every aid that the universe contains. Hurry, Earthling!" - -He swirled downward toward the atmospheric belt of the amber orb -that swung lazily about a double sun. Even as he compressed his body -together, he caught a flicker of queer black lights off to one side in -the corners of his eyes. They quivered and throbbed, and almost touched -the yellow planet. - -Then he was contracting, willing the motes and particles of his body -together, shooting downward toward a vast stretch of green sward and -rounded white buildings that sprawled gracefully over mile after mile -of land. - -The black flames burned, forgotten. - -He dropped lightly onto his feet on the smooth lawn, felt it give -beneath his feet. - -"Congratulations," said a deep voice behind him, and Jonathan whirled. - -A gigantic lizard faced him. It stood fifteen feet high, possessed of -powerful legs and massive, armoured body. The great reptilian head -swayed slightly in regarding him, and the eyes on either side of the -broad nostrils were alive with intelligence. - -"You--you're a reptile!" Jonathan gasped. - -"And you--a man," replied the creature. - -Jonathan grinned and said, "I think I was prepared for any form of life -but yours. Even pure thought, or beings of non-carbon basic formation. -I--hmm. Strikes me we understand each other pretty well." - -The reptile looked puzzled, then grunted. - -"I forgot you came from Earth. Earth is a young planet. -Her--ah--inhabitants have not made the progress some of our other -neighbors have. That is why--why you were changed, a little. I'll tell -you of that, later. - -"But now you must come with me and rest. While your body is -unaffected, your mind has been under a terrific concentrative strain. -It would cause a reaction unless rested. You see, you do not have -certain--ah--facilities as yet. Being as you are is too new." - -"Just what am I? I understand your language, or your thoughts, and I've -done things I'd have said were impossible, two weeks ago." - -"You will learn. Now you must rest." - - * * * * * - -Jonathan walked with the lumbering being along a crushed stone walk -between hedges adroop with riotously colored fruits. Ahead of them -glimmered a building, translucently white in the hot beams of the great -double-sun now low on the horizon. - -"Life forms vary," said the big reptile. "Here on Neeoorna the reptile -life that became extinct on Earth flourished. It evolved more swiftly, -due to atmospheric and other conditions. Its intelligence kept pace. In -other systems there are things of thought, there are beings with liquid -helium in their veins, there are certain others with no veins at all. - -"And then, to cheer you, there are still others who might well be named -men. They are men, too. They are what you would call human. They have -bodies exactly similar to your own. You shall meet them. All manner of -beings live on Neeoorna these days." - -His voice was heavy. Jonathan glanced quickly at him, sympathetic. - -"Something wrong?" - -The reptile shook his head soberly, saying, "You will learn, in time." - -A thick glassine door slid noiselessly apart as Jonathan and the -Neeoornian neared it. They passed into cool halls of veined green -marble lighted so brilliantly that Jonathan remarked it. - -"Filaments of glass containing electrified carbon dioxide gases exuded -by specially reared plants. Carbon dioxide emits a light much like -ordinary daylight. We have perfected that until our inner and outer -light is the same." - -A rounded chamber whose cool blue walls reflected heat and absorbed -moisture contained chairs and tables so similar to Earth products that -Jonathan started. - -"They look like a futurist's dream, but they're remarkably like our -own," he acknowledged. - -"This is the Court of Counsellors for bipeds. The other courts are -different, naturally, being suited to the individual needs of the -various visitors Neeoorna plays host to. Were you or a Zarathzan to -enter some of them, you would die instantly from cold and deadly gases, -or terrific heat. That is, unless you were forewarned as to what to -expect." - -Jonathan puzzled over that for a moment. No amount of foreknowledge -made deadly cold any hotter, nor did it turn noxious fumes into pure -air. He shrugged. He must be tired, after all. Maybe a rest was what he -needed. - -The reptile gestured Jonathan to a glassine couch covered with the -spotted fur of some jungle beast. It looked soft. It invited him, -dumbly. Jonathan dropped on it and stretched out his legs. - -"Neeoornians call me Shar Bytu," said the reptile, gazing down at -him. "If you need aught, mention my name. Tell them you are the -representative of Earth." - -Jonathan knew his eyelids were blotting out sight of the great lizard. -He tried to mumble thanks, but a gentle torpor crept about him, -embracing his brain, his tired, tired brain. He was _so_ tired.... - -A soft hand on his forearm awakened him; brought him up sharply, -alarmed, like a panther. - -The girl who bent above him drew back in alarm, her violet eyes wide, -thin nostrils flared, a cry hovering on her wet red mouth. She looked -at Jonathan again and read the swift admiration in his eyes, and smiled. - -"You frightened me," she accused softly, her lips undecided between a -pout and a smile. "You are so big, so strong--like a dappled claw-thing -of my native Zarathza." - -So this was a Zarathzan. Jonathan found her good to look at. Her -skin was a pale lavender, so delicately flushed that it seemed some -strange, rare satin. Her hair was black, and coiled in coronas about -her intelligent, shapely head. Her deeply glowing eyes were bright with -laughter, and Jonathan thought her mouth would be perfect for kisses. - -"We are not fighters, we Zarathzans. At least with our bodies, like you -Earthlings," she said, looking at him sidewise. "It has been long since -our kind were--beasts." - -Jonathan grinned hugely. - -"It's been a long time since a girl called me that. Must be something -about me." - -"Oh," whispered the girl hurriedly, putting a soft hand to his arm, "I -do not mean to offend. Sometimes I admire the--beasts." - -Well, he was getting on. He was keenly aware of her warm hand on his -forearm. The girl felt his thought; flushed a little and stood up. - -"Shar Bytu sent me to you," she informed him. - -"My thanks to Shar Bytu," replied Jonathan, throwing aside the fur and -rising. Someone had clothed him while he slept. He wore thin trousers -that clung to his ankles and bellied outward as they went up. A broad -leathern belt fitted snugly around his waist. His great chest was -naked. Fur sandals protected his feet. - -The girl was likewise clad, with bare midriff and a halter of white fur -about her breasts. - -"This is the universal garb for counsellors of our make," the girl -said. "Others wear different clothes. Still others wear none, having -no sex." - -"I'm Jonathan Morgan. Do Zarathzans--er--have any names?" - -"Silly. Of course. I'm Adatha Za." - -Jonathan grinned and said, "Glad to know you. And now that -introductions are over, suppose you let me in on the big secret around -here. Just what am I doing on Neeoorna?" - - * * * * * - -Adatha Za was startled. - -"You do not know? Didn't Shar Bytu tell--but perhaps he left that to -me, seeing that I am not a--reptile." - -Jonathan looked her over and laughed, "I'm mighty glad you're not," and -he noticed that Adatha Za--whose civilization was eons beyond that of -Earth--looked pleased. - -They walked toward a balcony overlooking a bed of scarlet flowers -patterned between strips of green grass. Great lights beamed into the -blackness of the Neeoornian night from high on the parapets, lighting -the scene before them. And high in the heavens, black and moving -against the blue of the starry sky, strange shadows chased one another -between the stars. - -Adatha Za lifted a bare arm and pointed to that great blotch in the -heavens. Her arm trembled against Jonathan even as she pointed, and he -read stark fear in her eyes and in the drooping corners of her scarlet -mouth. - -"You see those black flames? No one knows what they are. They kill us, -one by one, when we attempt to fight them. They are growing. Already -they have eaten one of the moons of this planet. Soon they will reach -Neeoorna itself--indeed, they are past the fringe of the heavenside. -And after Neeoorna they will eat the twin suns, and other suns and -other planets. Zarathza and Earth, too. There will be nothing beyond -the black flames, Earthling. It will eat our entire universe!" - -Jonathan was aware that his spine tingled, looking up. He felt deep -inside him, the _alienness_ of those dancing darknesses. They were not -of the known universe. They came from somewhere outside, from another -world. So different from Earth that their mere presence spelled doom -for anything normal to his world. Unhidden, they had emerged from some -deeper space, and were voyaging across his, advancing inexorably, like -flames of fire lapping across thin paper. - -The girl's bare shoulder pressed his, trembling. - -"I'm frightened, Earthman," she whispered. "When I think of Zarathza in -the path of that--those blights from hell, I--oh, I don't know how to -say it!" - -"Yes," he answered soberly. "It isn't nice to think of Earth waiting -her turn, either. Not knowing. Happy until realization comes--" - -Earth! It was so far away, so secure and homey. Unaware of this -danger growing millions of light years from it, a danger threatening -extinction to men and the pursuits of men, eating like a living monster -into the suns and planets. Jonathan put an arm around the girl; held -her against him. Lonely, they stood together, awed. - -The girl lifted her head and smiled tremulously. She tossed her head -and her hair brushed her shoulders. - -"Let's forget them," she brightened. "I succeed pretty well. It's -just--at times--that I feel low down." - -"I feel low myself. Don't anyone know anything about them? Can't -somebody think of something?" - -Adatha Za leaned back against the marble rail of the balcony and -looked at him and said, "You are big and strong. What would you do to -something that was threatening you?" - -"I'd fight," he grunted. - -"We fight, too. But our opponent always wins. And when we fight, we -always die." - -Adatha Za sighed. Looking down at her, seeing the sweetly curved mouth -that not quite pouted and the straight thin nostrils and deep, dark -eyes fringed with long lashes, Jonathan realized she was a rarely -beautiful girl. He felt suddenly as though he had been jabbed sharply -under the ribs. - -"Seeing you makes me want to fight something," he grinned, laughing a -little. "Funny, I haven't felt like this since I was in high school. -It's like the little boy who turns somersaults before the pretty little -girl who's just moved next door. I guess I never noticed the little -girl before." - -Adatha Za looked at him, her dark eyes alight; but her thin brows -raised, faintly questioning. - -"Some-somersaults? What is that?" - -"Oh, just a way of showing off. Putting your head down and--here, I'll -show you." - -He dropped to the tiled flooring of the balcony and tumbled. Halfway -over, he found himself looking upside-down at a tall figure who glared -down at him incredulously. Jonathan flushed hotly and landed hard. - -He sat there and felt foolish. - -Adatha Za started up, catching her breath in her throat. - -Jonathan drew a deep breath. There was a strange malignancy in the eyes -of this man who stood in the arched entranceway and looked down at -him. Malignancy and contempt, and his thin lips sneered with the livid -disdain that moved him. - -"You're just asking for trouble, mac," he said quietly, getting to his -feet. "I'm not used to being looked at like that." - -The man stood straight and haughty, but his eyes blazed. Jonathan felt -as though he had been spat at. He started forward; felt Adatha Za's -hand on his arm, squeezing him hard. - -"This is Morka Kar, Jonathan. He is from Zarathza. This is the -Earthling, Jonathan Morgan." - -The Zarathzan did not incline his head. He flashed an irritated look at -Adatha Za, then looked back at Jonathan. - -"The guests of Shar Bytu have gathered to meet the barbarian," he -snapped. "He sent me to see if he were awake. I see he is. Be good -enough to show him the Temple, Adatha Za." - -He swung on his heel and walked away. Jonathan quivered and took a step -after him, but the girl beside him tugged on his arm, saying, "It is -always his way. He is abrupt, and so self-controlled that anything like -gaiety annoys him." - -Jonathan grunted. His lips that had been hard, slowly softened. - -"That baby was just begging for a left hook," he growled. "And -something tells me he'll get it, too." - -"Morka Kar is a great scientist. I came in his retinue from Zarathza, -to help fight the flames." - -"I still don't like him!" Jonathan drew a deep breath and asked, -"He--he isn't your husband? Mate, I mean. Or--your fiance?" - -Adatha Za laughed. - -"You use quaint expressions. But I follow your thoughts. No, he is not -my husband, nor my engaged. But he _does_ want me. You see, on Zarathza -I am _tapu_. Sworn to science research, forbidden to wed a Zarathzan." - -Jonathan reflected on that for a moment. He glanced sidewise at her and -grinned, "What about an--Earthman?" - -Adatha Za pinched his arm and laughed, "Strictly, there's nothing -against it. Zarathza never even heard of Earth until recently!" - - - III - -The Temple of Embassy gleamed in ethereal beauty under the beams of -Neeoorna's five moons. Its ivory pillars lifted slender fingers to the -black basalt dome. About its periphery an arched court circled to the -entrance where its massive metal gates were embossed with crouching -griffins. - -Jonathan and Adatha Za passed along the magnificently marbled corridors -and entered a deep council room tiered with seats. He paused in the -doorway and stared. - -On saltwhite benches the representatives of a thousand worlds turned -and looked at him. There were reptiles from Neeoorna, lavendar-tinted -Zarathzans, blobous creatures from distant Sarboola, thought things of -far galaxies, ethereal Tartulians, and queer black beasts that had the -intelligence of genius. Against one wall glass enclosures held beings -from planets so cold they needed artificial refrigeration to live here. -Near the opposite side of the chamber, steamy glass vases held other -life forms whose structure needed tremendous heat to exist. - -There was a tall round rostrum of some glimmering metal raised like a -throne in the center of the room. There stood Shar Bytu, towering over -the assembled hundreds. There was a flash of his greenish forearm, and -Jonathan stepped forward. - -"Approach us, Jonathan Morgan," Shar Bytu called. "We of Neeoorna and -the worlds of our universes have waited for you. You are the only Earth -creature we could contact, though we tried many. Come, join us." - -As he went down the aisle, Jonathan cast sidewise glances at the -utterly alien beings that stood and looked at him. Here and there, -though, he saw others like himself and the Zarathzans. Humans. Men with -two arms and two legs. Women with lissome figures and soft red mouths. -He felt a little warmer, and held his head higher, after seeing them. - -He came up the steps and stood beside Shar Bytu. The reptile nodded, -smiling somewhat. - -"We had set great hopes on you. Earthling. Before your eyes you see -creatures of bafflement and wonder tinged with a near-despair. The -shadowy flames are a mystery and a menace to us. We had hoped--we had -hoped strongly, that you might bring the solution to their strange -deadliness. I know now they are as queer to you as to us." - -"There's more than those flames that's queer to me," replied Jonathan -grimly. "First on the list is how I ever managed to get here at all. -Where I got all those tricky powers from--" - -"That," deprecated Shar Bytu by a gesture of his six-clawed hand. "That -is but a simple explanation. You will understand it when I point it -out. You are merely the ultimate goal of evolution." - -"Oh," nodded Jonathan, and wondered if he looked blank. - -"What is the ultimate goal of evolution but perfection?" resumed the -reptile. "On Earth Nature has experimented with the dinosaur, the bird, -the fish. One by one she discarded them because they were not fit to -survive their environment. But all the while Nature was learning. It -was making strides. It tested and discarded. The reptile and the early -forms of bird and fish and insect life were tossed into the discard. -Nature knew there was something lacking. - -"She made man. She gave man the inherent ability to fit himself to any -environment. She gave man a brain, a brain that gave off energy in the -form of thought. Measured energy. Electrical energy. Energy that can -be measured and graphed. But Nature, prodigal in her gifts, was also -prodigal with man's mind. She gave man nine million brain cells--far -more than he ever used. Only a great genius used one percent of those -cells! - -"Then why was Nature so lavish? In man she had reached her absolute -ultimate. There only remained for man to perfect the tremendous, -unguessed power of his brain. By thought! By sending out beams of sheer -solid thought, by dipping into those millions of brain cells for the -ultimate power, the power that would make man--perfect!" - -Jonathan closed his eyes, shuddering. He opened his eyes and looked at -Shar Bytu. - -"How do you know all this?" he whispered. - - * * * * * - -He thought in the frightened core of him of changes in the space-time -continuum, that unguessable eons may have rolled past since last he -left the Earth. That Earth was old beyond thought-- - -Shar Bytu chuckled, "No, I do not have the gift of prophecy, nor am -I repeating history. Except by analogy. For as Nature has treated -us of a hundred and sixteen suns, so Nature will treat man. Nature -and evolution are inexorable, being linked with time. And so she -will produce the perfect man--the man absolutely adapted to his own -environment. - -"We of Neeoorna did this to you, by certain--ah--methods. We operated -on you by means known to our scientists for ages. When we have an -atavar in our clinics, we open his mind fully to enable him to throw -off all connection with past ages. So it was with you. It was not -difficult. - -"As a result, you are a man immune to harm. You have absolute control -over your body, over inanimate objects that exist about you. Once you -are aware of what danger threatens, you may avert it by so arranging -the electronic groupings within your body either to merge and blend -with the danger, or harden into a shield of antidote or corrective. - -"Of course, as your brain evolved, it needed the body to feed it, to -give it energy. Thus the body became an essential part of it. But the -body changed, too, the body will respond to any environment, as a -necessary corollary of the brain. - -"In short, you are the ultimate evolution. It became the perfect tool -of the mind. It did _anything_ the mind ordered it to. So of the third -planet of the Sun Duryu. Or Sol." - - * * * * * - -Jonathan drew a deep breath. He knew with deepest conviction that he -had heard truth, bizarre as it was. He was not a man any more. He knew -that, within himself. He was as far beyond man, or would be now, with -study, as men were above the Neanderthals. He was ultimate man. Man in -his final stage. Man multiplied by all the powers that be. Man to the -_n_th degree. - -Man n_th_! - -"Now that I'm here, I've failed you," he grunted hoarsely. - -"Not yet. Oh, no. Many of us have failed. They are no longer--here. We -still hope that you may, out of your experiences on Earth, construct us -an edifice upon which our scientists may find some clue, some hint. All -we ask is some idea as to what it is we face. Just a thought. One tiny -clue. - -"But now you must see how we fight ourselves." - -A gigantic, bulbous being, a fishbelly-white due to the heavy cloud -formation that sheathed its native planet five light years from -Neeoorna, rose to his feet. He turned his many-faceted eyes to the -rostrum. - -"Shar Bytu," he intoned sonorously, "I ask the right of test for us of -the planet Moratoyo. We would seek to cast a shower of atoms at the -flames. We have made recent improvements over our former weapon--" - -Shar Bytu nodded, and his clawed hand brought an ebony mallet upon the -rosewood pulpit where he stood. - -"So granted. Session adjourned. The guests of Neeoorna will meet at the -proving grounds." - -In silence the scientists filed from their seats. Jonathan caught sight -of Adatha Za among the Zarathzan delegates, and ran to her. Her hand -nestled warmly in his. She flashed her dark eyes at him and smiled. - -"I'm more out of place here than an Atheist in church," he said. "Stick -to me. I still have to get my bearings." - -Her fingers tensed on his, squeezing. He heard her whispered, "I will." - -The proving grounds lay semi-circular behind a great green spread -of lawn. At the north end of the vast field an arc of white marble -terraces lifted rosy columns to the sky. Below the pillars stretched -marble benches, now rapidly filling with emissaries. - -The Moratoyons marched to a gleaming gun set in concrete in the center -of the dusty field behind the lawn. The gun shone a queer white, with -two red domes surmounting its breech, and fitted on either side with -knobs and levers. It quivered and gleamed in the heat haze that shifted -over the proving sands. - -Jonathan felt Adatha Za press against him with thigh and shoulder. -She choked a whisper to his ears, "It is their atom-gun. It cannot be -compared with some others we have seen, but if they've improved it--" -her voice broke with a soundless sob. "We hope it may work. But we -are--afraid." - -Jonathan could almost feel the anxiety and hope around him like a -living thing. From the somewhat transparent thought beings of Sallarsee -to the robotmen of Kankang, each sat watchful; grim, intent. Those who -had lips tensed them to thin lines. Those who had eyes narrowed them -expectantly. The others floated or stood, quiescent. - -The Moratoyons on the field moved swiftly. They clamped brakes and -levers down and locked them; spun wheels and twisted dials. From the -steel and cement cradle where it rested, the great cylinder of dull -white metal lifted its blunt nose slowly, almost cautiously, and aimed -it at the sky. - -"It shoots atoms supercharged with light-photons," whispered Adatha Za. - -The chief scientist of all Moratoyo paused and looked at Shar Bytu, who -nodded. The Moratoyon whirled, shouting harshly, watching his men leap -for the firing dials. - -One after another the dials spun. - -The firing pin was punched. - -"God!" choked Jonathan hoarsely, staring in numb horror. - -Where once the gun stood bright and shining there was a faint red mist -that hung close to earth, beating bloodily in the flood of the arc -carbon-dioxide lamps as though welling with life. Then it began to -dissipate as a faint breeze wafted across the field. - -There was a little hole in the ground, where the gun had been. - -Jonathan became aware slowly of Adatha Za's hand that clung like a -vise about his left wrist. He looked at her, saw her eyes convulsively -closed; saw two tears trickling from beneath her long dark lashes. - -Her moist red mouth trembled as she whispered, "They all fail. All of -them. Like that. One moment they are here. Then they are gone. It is -almost as if they destroyed themselves." - -Jonathan put an arm around her naked shoulders and hugged her against -his chest. - -"Buck up," he grated. "We aren't licked yet. Why, hell! We haven't -started to fight, yet!" - -He saw Morka Kar sneering at him from two stadium seats away, his thin -mouth curling in fanatical contempt. He felt the hate beat redly from -the man's eyes. Jonathan bared his teeth in answer to that fierce, -unspoken taunt. - -He said, loud enough for the Zarathzan to hear, "One of us will find a -way. We're bound to. There's a key to that riddle. There has to be. The -universe can't end--not like this--" - -"Perhaps," said Morka Kar loudly, "the Earthling might amuse the -shadows by--tumbling?" - -Jonathan didn't know until later that Adatha Za put out a hand to -restrain him. He was away like a sprinter, and his big left fist was -lifting, swiftly. His fist hit Morka Kar, a little to one side of his -jaw. - -It snapped the Zarathzan's head around and backwards, and lifted him -off his feet, and dropped him three seats below. - - * * * * * - -Morka Kar lay there outstretched, unmoving. Jonathan grinned hugely -and rubbed his knuckles. It began to penetrate after a while that the -others were staring at him in complete horror. - -Adatha Za gasped and sobbed, then came and stood silently beside him, -her soft hand reaching for his fist. She held her dark head high, and -her eyes glared defiance. - -"A beast--" - -"--useless to expect help from things still ruled by emotion--" - -"--a mistake. Shar Bytu should not--" - -He heard the murmurs and the whispers, but Adatha Za was speaking, -saying, "Morka Kar insulted him before the assembly was called. He is -not like us, this Earthling. He fights when he is attacked!" - -Shar Bytu waddled forward, his reptilian face grave. He blinked a -little curious, at Jonathan. - -"We cannot have disturbances among ourselves," he said. "We need -scientific and philosophic calm to meet the shadow menace." - -"It wasn't what he said," Jonathan said softly. "It was the way he said -it. He was asking for it." - -"Asking for what?" puzzled Shar Bytu, looking about. - -The reptile, moving his ponderous head in looking for what Morka Kar -had asked, struck Jonathan as unconsciously funny. He grinned, and was -buoyed up. - -He said, "I'm sorry. I don't want to break up any gathering like this. -Apparently my action strikes you as something primitive. I don't look -at it that way at all. I didn't ask to be brought here, or to be given -the powers to make the trip. Now that I'm here, however, I'll do -everything I can to help. Naturally. But no Zarathzan's going to walk -all over me whenever he feels like it." - -A snarl answered him. Morka Kar was climbing unsteadily to his feet, -aided by two Goqualian metallic robotmen. - -"Shar Bytu," fumed the Zarathzan, shaking off the hands that held him. -"It has been long since a being of my standing indulged in personal -combat, but I wish to meet this Earthling. Just the two of us. Face to -face, mind to mind, in mental monomachy!" - -Adatha Za went white. Shar Bytu looked gravely unhappy. - -Shar Bytu whispered, "I had hoped to learn something from the Earth -man--" - -Jonathan interrupted, "You're all conceding victory to Morka Kar. Maybe -so, maybe not. That isn't just what I want to say, though. The main -thing that occupies us is the problem of the flames, or shadows. - -"Much as I hate to admit it, I'm afraid I'm not much help against -them. You see, when you gave me the powers of ultimate evolution, my -scientific and other knowledge didn't keep pace with them. There are -thousands of Earth men who would have made better ambassadors than -I. Apparently I was more psychic, perhaps more malleable in brain -structure, than they. I don't presume to know the whys and wherefores -of that. I'm here and I'm glad I'm here. If I can help, I will. - -"But--much as I hate to admit it, I'm out of my depth. Those shadows, -or whatever it is out there in space, is beyond me. So if you lose -me--which I hope you don't--you aren't losing too much." - -Jonathan took a deep breath; went on, "A poet on Earth once said -something about not loving a woman loved he not honor more. Well, I -love the universe, but I'm not hiding behind any danger to it when a -man wants to fight me for a woman I--love." - -He heard Adatha Za's quickened breathing; felt her hand touch his arm -and squeeze. He stood there with her hand on his arm and looked about -him, at the thought beings and the robotmen and the reptiles. On a few -faces, on the faces of those who looked most like men, he read a grave -applause. On the features of the others, a blank attention, as though -he spoke of geology to a monkey. They just couldn't get his viewpoint -at all. - -But Morka Kar did, and he snarled. His sullen mouth writhed and his -eyes glowed fiercely as he glanced from Adatha Za to Jonathan. - -"Another thing," grated Jonathan, and he looked Morka Kar full in -the eyes, "I may be an animal, but I know others who possess animal -characteristics--no matter what they mistakenly call themselves." - -Morka Kar fought in the metal arms of the robotmen who flanked him. -Shar Bytu turned and fixed him with a cold eye. - -"You will be still, Zarathzan," he whispered icily. "I have long heard -your taunts to one or another of our group. As yet the deputation from -Zarathza has not attempted the flames, though I have heard many words -spoken by them of it." - -Morka Kar quieted swiftly. - -"The mental monomachy will occur tomorrow at this place. Until then I -forbid Morka Kar and the Earthling to meet. If harm befalls either of -them, the other shall pay with his life. See to it." - -He turned and waddled away. Morka Kar seethed a glance at Jonathan, -then followed the reptile. The others split into groups, silently -transmitting puzzled thoughts. - - * * * * * - -Adatha Za sat on the stone bench and looked up at him, and her red -mouth was rueful. Her eyes beneath the dark fringes of her lashes -accused him. - -"I had hoped that some day you would visit Zarathza with me," she said -softly. "Now you--" - -"Now nothing has changed," grinned Jonathan, dropping beside her and -taking her soft hands between his. "Shar Bytu made me infinite, didn't -he? How can Morka Kar hurt me?" - -Her eyes widened in concern. "But Morka Kar is also infinite, as you -put it. He will fight your mind. You do not know the sciences that -Morka Kar knows. Not knowing what he can do against you, you will be -helpless. He will stun your brain, drive it mad, then--destroy it." - -"If I can't think as fast as that bullying windbag, I'm willing to be -destroyed." - -Adatha Za sounded annoyed. "It is not a question of thinking _fast_, -although that does enter into it. It is more a matter of knowing how to -oppose the weapons that Morka Kar will create to fight you." - -"--that he will _create_?" - -"Certainly. Of old on Zarathza, men carried swords and shields. Later -they used percussion guns, still later, atomic disintegrators. But as -the years passed into eons, and as life on Zarathza evolved, it was -discovered that these weapons were of no use against a trained mind -that could shoot a bolt of mental force against the weapon to destroy -it. So men went naked into combat and there they thought up their -weapons swiftly, through force of mind alone. Their opponents met their -mental creations with defenses and weapons of their own. The more -unusual the weapon, the easier it was to decide the victor." - -Jonathan whistled. - -"My ideas on weapons stop about at a .45 caliber automatic. A sword is -useless. So's a bow and arrows. Or a spear. You say Zarathza had atomic -disintegrators a long time ago, eh?" - -The girl shivered. - -"Atomic disintegrators are seen only in museums today," she whispered. -"And you of Earth do not even have them. Lallista! You are a dead man -walking around." - -"Hey," chuckled Jonathan, grabbing her arms and pulling her around to -face him. "Chin up. I may not know much about weapons, but I'll bet -I've still got a trick or two up my sleeve. I'll show that windbag -where he gets off. You wait. You'll see." - -Her eyes begged his for reassurance. She lay close against him and her -mouth quivered into a smile. - -"You were--joking me, then? You do know of weapons that you haven't -mentioned?" - -"Sure," he boasted gaily. "Lots of them. Brass knuckles. Galloping -dominoes. A ginrickey. A mickey finn. The Brooklyn Dodgers." - -"I am so glad," she whispered. "That makes me feel so much better." - -She did not see his frown as she walked with him across the white -composition walk toward their guest quarters. He wasn't thinking of -himself. He was wondering what Morka Kar would do to her--after he got -through with him. - -"Just the same," the girl was saying, "I think that I will show you -some of the weapons Morka Kar may use. Those, at least, that I know. We -will go and sit together beneath the moons, and I will teach them to -you, one after the other." - -Jonathan looked at her red mouth and grinned, "I'll show you a weapon, -too. On Earth we call it a--kiss." - -The night was warm and the moons that hurtled across the Neeoornian sky -shed a pale lustre on the gardens where Adatha Za and Jonathan Morgan -sat. Between her legs lay a box filled with strips of queerly colored -metals, vials of shining dull and iridescent chemicals, containers and -compartments of tubes and alloys. - -"It is from these that Morka Kar will fashion his weapons," she said, -fingering the objects before her. "From the mints provided by the -monomachy coffer, he will be enabled to throw weapon after weapon at -you. For instance, this--from this he will make a molecular magnetizer -that will cause the molecules that make up your body so to attract each -other that your body will shrink in upon itself--assume the density -of a dwarf star--fall through the earth to the center of this planet! -Or with this he could form a ray that is hot as the hottest sun in -the universe. He may not use that. It is a weapon that even Morka Kar -fears. It is too deadly. Were it to escape his mental control, it could -blow up the entire planet. Now from this tube--" - -Jonathan listened dutifully. He was in this away over his head, and no -amount of last minute cramming would help. To assimilate this knowledge -would require years. He wasn't quitting, but he realized that if he did -win, it would be by some method purely Earthian, and not by a study of -Zarathzan weaponry. - -He looked at Adatha Za. He put his hands on her soft shoulders and -turned her toward him. Her eyes were questioning. - -"We have a weapon on Earth, too," he whispered. "It's a kiss. Do you -Zarathzans have the kiss?" - -With arched brows the girl followed his thought, then shook her head a -little disdainfully, saying, "No. That does not seem to be any sort of -armament I know. Is it a good weapon?" - -"The best there is on a night like this--with a girl like you." - - * * * * * - -Her mouth was warm and soft and moist beneath his. His lips held hers -for a long time before he let her go. She opened her long-lashed eyes -slowly, staring at him. - -"That is no weapon," she accused softly. She put her arms up and drew -his head down again, whispering, "--but I like it. I should really -study it some more." - -This time it was the girl whose lips clung. - -Jonathan laughed, "For a Zarathzan you catch on pretty quickly." - -"I'm a scientist," she retorted. - -Nestled in his arms, with her hair flooding his chest and shoulder, -Adatha Za said, "I wish--I wish that you and I could go back to -Zarathza together, Jonathan Morgan. In my villa beside the Jaralayan -Sea I would love to study this kiss-weapon of yours. It is such a nice -weapon, even though it does frighten me a little." - -She gasped suddenly and tried to sit up, but Jonathan's long arms held -her. - -"Now what's eating you?" he wanted to know. - -"That kiss--how many times have you experimented with that weapon on -Earth?" - -Jonathan chuckled, "Next thing you'll be telling me I do it like an -expert!" - -Head to one side, Adatha Za surveyed him. At last she nodded pertly, -laughing a little. - -"Yes, I think you do. And no one ever became perfect without practice!" - -"Don't forget. Shar Bytu made me a perfectionist." - -Adatha Za sighed as she nestled back into his arms, and whispered, -"There are some things, Jonathan Morgan, that even evolution can't do." - - - IV - -Adatha Za came for him the next day, to go with him to the Arena. Her -eyes were dark and sunken, her soft red mouth quivering. Her hair hung -loose, uncoiffed. She came into his arms and kissed him; drew back to -look up into his face, trembling. - -"I am glad for last night," she whispered. "Though I did have -hopes--some day in my villa over the Jaralayan Sea--" - -She buried her face against his chest, moving it slowly from side to -side, distrait. - -"Hey," yelped Jonathan, lifting her face with a finger beneath her -chin. "Why the gloom? I thought we'd decided last night that I had a -chance." - -"You did--last night. Today ... today Shar Bytu announced that the -winner of the mental monomachy is to attempt the black shadows! So--" - -"Oof," Jonathan grunted, "that sort of knocks the stilts out from -under a guy. No matter who wins, both will die, unless--no, the age of -miracles passed a long time ago. What does Morka Kar say to that?" - -"Oh, he raved and swore, but he dared do nothing to disobey. After all, -he is a scientist, and he is here to fight those flames. Even he cannot -hope to fight all the scientists on Neeoorna right now. I--I think he -will temporize. Have the monomachy declared a draw. That will allow him -to save face and his life at the same time." - -"I'm going to win if I can," Jonathan said slowly. "I just don't -cotton to that guy." - -Her long fingernails bit into the flesh of his wrists. Her voice was -hoarse, desperate, "By Lallista's brood, Jonathan! Do not anger him. -Your one chance is in Morka Kar's willingness to spare you that he may -spare his own self. If he loses that temper of his--Jonathan, I want -you alive." - -He patted her bare shoulder, smiling. - -"I'll still see that villa on the sea, honey. Don't fret your lovely -head about it. But it's time to go, now. I don't want this affair -called off on a forfeit." - -They walked slowly, hand in hand, along the pebbled path to the great -white Amphitheatre. It rose tall and grim, brooding over the lovely -square that fronted its entrance. The square was deserted. Their -footfalls sounded loud in their ears. - -They went up the steps and through the oval doorway. Alone, they went -down the black corridor toward the arena. - -The seats were filled, inside the arena room. The batteries of ten -thousand eyes gloomed at Jonathan as he walked toward the great ivory -chair set on the sanded field. He knew Morka Kar watched him from the -ebony throne opposite the ivory chair, but he'd be damned before he'd -glance his way! - -Jonathan settled himself in the seat before he looked at his opponent. -Morka Kar sat facing him, both arms resting on the ebony arms. His thin -mouth was twisted in a sardonic grin. His red-shot eyes glistened with -hate. - -Adatha Za came forward with an oblong coffer, ornate with jewels. -Dropping to her knees, she unlocked the cover, and threw it open. -Inside, row on row, glittered vials and retorts of liquids and powders, -and long metal bars and needles. - -Above Adatha Za's naked shoulders, Jonathan watched a three-legged -Paravian dance-walk its way to Morka Kar. The Paravian also carried a -monomachy casket. - -Adatha Za spoke swiftly: "As you see his weapon form, combat it. Use -the antidote. Not knowing that," she was choking now, almost sobbing, -"not knowing that, attack the weapon with your mind. It has existence, -but it is a mentally energized existence. Mental energy may dissipate -it if strong enough. It is not considered good form--but it is safe." - -The dark eyes shimmered through tears as she looked up at him. - -"Farewell," she whispered. - -And turned and fled. - -Morka Kar stretched out a foot and kicked shut the cover of the coffer -before his throne. The _clunk_ of the closing lid sounded loud in the -high chamber, merging with the breathless gasp that shook the throng. -Only a mathless monomachy fighter scorned the help of the box. - -Jonathan looked at Morka Kar and grinned. - -He put out his own foot and slammed the cover down. Dimly he caught, -in some remote recess of his brain, the amaze that held the onlookers. -They didn't know, as did Adatha Za, that the contents of that box were -as much a mystery to Jonathan as were the black shadows. He'd be better -off without it. It gave him less to think about, and he needed all his -powers of thought. - -Morka Kar snarled. His eyes blazed right at Jonathan-- - -Purple balls hung in the air before the Zarathzan! - -They shimmered and glittered, filled with opalescent mists of green -and red and white and purple. They danced eerily, as though drunk, as -though to the music of some alien piper. They bounced and swayed on -invisible strings in a wild and eerie saraband. They swung outward, -circling. - -Then darted straight at Jonathan. - - * * * * * - -Jonathan threw every bit of mental power at his control into his -defense, but the first bubble did not break before it got within three -feet of him. The others fell apart easily after that. - -Jonathan frowned, and an automatic hung in the air before him. It -turned to grey mists and faded, struck by a bolt of liquid fire. - -Morka Kar rasped laughter, "Do better Earthling. We of Zarathza have -forgotten weapons such as that." - -A haze of colorless hue quivered in front of the Zarathzan. It seemed -only a heat haze; but when he saw the sandy waste inside the shimmer, -when he saw grey and rolling ocean instead of the sand, and saw ocean -turn to roaring flames, he knew he looked on a weapon utterly foreign -to Earth thought. - -His knuckles bulged until the skin over them whitened in the fury of -his concentration. Gasping, he saw the shimmer fade. - -He cast a beam of radio-waves; saw them strike a beam of like power and -shatter, useless. He hurled acid. It met an alkali. He threw a bullet -and watched it melt in a shield of heat that turned the lead to smoke. - -All the while the Zarathzan taunted him, shrilling, "Ape. Go back to -the steamy jungles of your planet, ape. We do not need a loose-brain -here. Go back, ape!" - -A red triangle formed in the air before Morka Kar even as he spoke. It -glowed and burned with green hell-fires. Jonathan dropped water on it -and the green fires raged and grew and expanded, feeding on the water. - -Jonathan shuddered when he finally extinguished them. Beads of cold -sweat rose on his forehead. He was growing weaker. His brain could not -stand this punishment. He had been subjecting it to too much. It would -give, soon. It was not conditioned, as was the Zarathzan's. - -He thought fleetingly of last night, with Adatha Za's mouth burning -beneath his. Never to know that mouth again! She had trusted in his -strength, in his boasts. She had told him of her villa above the sea. -Now he was to fail her. He had bragged of a mickey finn. Of brass -knuckles. What a crude jest. He had even mentioned-- - -Jonathan sat upright. He thought. - -When Morka Kar saw the club in his hands, he hooted. - -"A club! The ape has found a club with which to kill. Lallista! He -jests." - -Jonathan swung the wood in his hands with easy familiarity. He lifted -it above his shoulders, then brought it about viciously. There was a -sudden _splat_. - -Morka Kar, still laughing his derision, crumpled and toppled from the -ebony seat. - -Jonathan discovered his knees shaking. He sat down quickly. - -Adatha Za came running, sobbing, laughter. - -"You beat him. You beat him. What a strange weapon. What was it? Morka -Kar thought it but a club. He did not deign to spend his mental forces -on it. But you fooled him!" - -Jonathan held up the wood and shook it, laughing, "This is known in -America as a baseball bat. A Louisville slugger. The old hickory, the -ash. And the thing that hit Morka Kar was a baseball. Gods! A jest, he -called it." - -Shar Bytu looked from Morka Kar to Jonathan, saying, "You must destroy -him. It is the great rule of mental monomachy." - -But Jonathan shook his head, wearily. - -Shar Bytu looked down at the Zarathzan. He almost seemed to relish what -he did. But it was over in an instant. A few grains of dust settled -groundwards. Jonathan felt sick. - -The others gathered around him. Their voices were excited. - -"A new weapon to fight the flames." - -"The Earthling has solved our problem." - -"If it baffled a monomachy fighter like Morka Kar, it might work on the -flames." - -Jonathan tried to explain, looking down at their faces. - -"No, no," he cried out, talking down their thoughts. "It isn't a -weapon. It's a sport we play back on Earth. I--it--the bat is used to -hit a ball. Morka Kar didn't know that. He thought it just a club. - -"Luckily, I could call my shot. A straight fast ball. Not a curve. A -straight--" - -Jonathan blinked. He stopped, choking; eyes wide. - -"Maybe," he whispered. "Maybe--" - -The others grew quiet, watching. They felt his intense excitement, saw -his hands quiver, and the way his lips twitched. Adatha Za clung to his -arm and her eyes were pools of purple hunger. - -It wasn't too fantastic--yet. - -It all depended on straight lines and curves, and whether a straight -line can ever be curved. The shortest distance between two points. If -the straight line could be moved to turn, then he was wrong. - -But if he were right! If this type of straightness _could not_ curve, -then it might conceivably eat its way through a universe which was -based on something that should curve: light. - - * * * * * - -Dr. Wooden and he had made strides in their experiments on light rays -derived from calcatryte. They had explored the quantum theory, had -forced homogenous light against a metal plate and seen the electrons it -extracted from it. This light energy had been partially turned into the -kinetic energy of the bombarded electrons of metal. - -From this it had been a step upward in discovering that calcatryte -yielded a photon shower of such terrific concentration that it ate -right through the metal plate; had given no evidence of stopping until -they had constructed the plasticite screen: pure black, coated with a -fine dust of calcatryte itself. - -They had no way of knowing whether the rays stopped at the screen, -exactly. They might go on and on. And if they ate through metal, -releasing the electrons that composed it--they might eat through the -universe! - -Jonathan shuddered and looked around him. - -He knew his course, now. But to prove it-- - -He had to go through the flames! - -"You proclaimed that the winner of the mental monomachy would -go through the flames, Shar Bytu," he said. "As winner, and as -representative of Earth, I claim that right." - -Shar Bytu looked at him and his eyes were like flecks of cold -moonlight. Suddenly, they twinkled. - -"The right is yours, Earthling. And something tells me that you may, -at long last, be the one to succeed. I read it in your mind. Yes, -your theory is a good one. To think that menace came from Earth. From -little, uncivilized, barbaric Earth." - -He waddled away, his ponderous reptilian head moving from side to side. - -Adatha Za pressed her hot cheeks against Jonathan's chest. Her voice -was low, troubled: "How will you fight the flames, Jonathan? What -weapon is there that can destroy them?" - -"No weapon under all the stars and all the suns can destroy the -shadows, Adatha Za. They are alien. The only hope there is--is to shut -them off." - -He shot up rapidly from the sanded floor of the Arena. Beneath him -for one long instant, he saw Adatha Za with her lovely face upturned: -hands clasped between her breasts, red mouth bitten until it swelled, -dark eyes misted. Shar Bytu stood beside her, his scaly hide brushing -her naked arm. The others were grouped in twos and threes: silent and -motionless, watching him. - -How long they stood there, Jonathan never knew. His mind was fully -occupied in a furious effort of incredible concentrative power: forcing -his body into the rigid and alien pattern that his mind knew would -alone spell safety from disaster. - -Light that never deviated from its straight and ruthless path. Light -that would absorb matter, that would shower a stream of electrons from -it, releasing the electrons in a blast of power that fed upon the stuff -it touched. Such were the black shadows! - -And as he hurtled onward into the flames, he forced his body into beams -of light, rigid and unbending. He had to merge with the flames, or be -destroyed. - -He hurtled onward, toward the ebony maw that shook and glistened and -bellied against the dark of space like a translucent blob of jelly. - -He held out his hands like a diver, going into the shadows. The -movement helped him concentrate on straightness. The wind and the -blackness was about him, licking at his lighteous form. Along his chest -and thighs the flames touched, caressing. - -The blackness was himself, now; part of him, a segment of his mind, a -portion of his body. - -And he went on swiftly. - -Toward his goal. - -On the planet, Neeoorna, Adatha Za knew the salt taste of her tears. -Her red lips were puffed by the teethmarks driven deeply into their -softness. Her breasts rose swiftly. - -The others stood about her, and their minds were blank. - -At that moment they comprehended, but joy and awe were stronger than -mere knowledge. - -The black shadows winked once. They winked again, fleetingly. - -Then they disappeared. - - - V - -Dr. Wooden stood silent as Jonathan Morgan drew his hand from the -switch that drove a bath of heat at the blocks of calcatryte set in -their metallic cradles. The humming of motors stopped. The blackish -screen in the background went silent, dead. - -"Well," said Dr. Wooden, straightening. "Hello." - -Jonathan sat down and put out a trembling hand, drew an open pack of -cigarettes toward him. - -"I've been far away," he said slowly. "To the other side of the -universe. Billions of miles away, and yet--in your own backyard." - -Dr. Wooden grinned and sat on the edge of the sandstone tabletop. He -lighted a cigarette himself, saying, "Tell me." - -Jonathan told him. And then he said, "It seems understandable -enough, really. Those powers I possess. What are they but an innate -adaptability to environment. And isn't that the true goal of Nature? - -"The environment is what destroys, is what weakens, is what kills. -Call it a blast furnace. Call it disease. Call it a clawing tiger. It -is, nevertheless, our environment: temporary or permanent. To survive -that, man must be immortal, in a physical sense. In the sense that he -possesses _in himself_ all the necessary attributes to enable him to -overcome that environment. That way lies immortality." - -Dr. Wooden regarded the glowing tip of his cigarette. He said, "That's -clear enough. It is fantastic, but who knows what changes one million -or two million years will bring in man. Lord knows, it brought a lot of -changes on Earth itself! Now, about the flames--" - -Jonathan crushed out his cigarette. - -"They were the emanations from the calcatryte. I realized that -eventually. It stood to reason. It had to be something alien to a -universe where light curves. Something that either ate up matter or -made it invisible or opened a door for it to leak out somewhere, into -nothingness. - -"Calcatryte gives off straight light, so powerful that it eats through -metal. It could as easily eat through dirt and rock, through the moon -of a planet, through a planet itself. Through the universe, in short. -In a universe based on curving light, that unbendable light was an -anomaly. It ate up our universe, or started to." - -"Again, clear enough. It's reasonable, and possible. But when you -went into the shadows and passed through them--you emerged here in my -laboratory. But my laboratory is billions upon billions of miles from -Neeoorna." - -Jonathan grunted, "In terms of ordinary space, yes. I passed through -hyperspace." - -"That's a mathematical concept." - -"I know. But we--you have proved it exists. It has been proven -mathematically." - -Dr. Wooden looked dubious. Jonathan picked up a pencil and pressed down -with the point on a slip of graph paper. - -"That black mark, that dot, is one-dimensional. Extend a line from that -point to another dot. The line is also one-dimensional. Let us put -the pencil on the line, supersede the line with the pencil. Since the -pencil has three dimensions, so does the line--for the pencil is the -line. - -"Suppose an _n_-dimensional object. Supersede the pencil with the -_n_-dimensional object and we have an _n_-dimensional line. It is -an _n_-dimensional space of _n_-dimensional points, instead of our -original definition of a line as a single dimensioned space of points -set in a row. - -"Ordinary space is called three-dimensional because it is occupied -by three-dimensional things. Planes, for instance. But if we speak -of lines of spheres or circles, we can easily step into the realm of -_n_-dimensionality. - -"The drawback is that we can't see it. We can't envision -_n_-dimensionality. - -"Consequently, we have always been intrigued by many-dimensionality -because we can't picture it to ourselves. But the calcatryte rays -weren't hindered by a lack of imagination. They just zoomed off into -an _n_-dimensional space, and wound up near Neeoorna. They were lines, -remember, straight lines. And lines can be _n_-dimensional." - -Dr. Wooden rubbed his chin and said, "Could be, could be. But how does -hyperspace solve your problem?" - -"A dot inside a circle can go outside that circle without crossing its -circumference. Likewise, I could pass from the inside to the outside -of a sphere without going through the surface of a four-dimensional -object. - -"Those calcatryte rays beamed out from your lab into hyperspace, -passing through ordinary space without touching it, and appeared -billions of miles away. When I entered the shadows, I followed their -course." - -Dr. Wooden drew a deep breath, saying, "If I hadn't seen you -materialize out of thin air--" and broke off, laughing. - -"Seeing does enter it, doesn't it? But the attempts that were made -to fight the shadows! Why were the attackers always destroyed? -Unless--unless their weapons backfired on them--" - -"That's my thought. They were shooting three-dimensional objects at an -n-dimensional space. The three-dimensional objects never got anywhere. -They didn't even leave their source. They expended their frightful -energy right where they began." - -"Well," muttered Dr. Wooden. "You could talk for hours and not _prove_ -anything." - - * * * * * - -He broke off, looking at Jonathan. He lifted a wooden mallet and held -it out to him. - -"Destroy it," he said simply. "If it's that much of a danger to the -universe, it deserves obliteration." - -Jonathan put out his hand, brushed the mallet aside. - -He bent over the table, setting both hands on it, partially supporting -his weight. - -The calcatryte in the metal cradles began to quiver as though made of -soluble, moving liquid. Their veins ran into channels of color, red and -green and blue and yellow. The blocks hazed over, writhing. - -The calcatryte was fading, bit by bit. - -Jonathan stood up. He looked worn, but his lips smiled. - -"It's done," he whispered. - -"You won't stay?" - -A smile came and dwelt on Jonathan's lips. - -"No," he said. "No, I won't stay. I am going back to Neeoorna, and then -to Zarathza--to look at a sunrise coming up over the waters of the -Jaralayan Sea." - -He went out, and the door closed behind him, softly. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Man nth, by Gardner F. 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