quantity production now has very considerably lowered the price."
By this time the party had found their seats in the amphitheater, and
they had seated themselves. Seats were all around a ring, which did
not look much different from the old-fashioned circus ring, except
that it was, perhaps, a little larger. The gravitational screen,
Ralph explained, was located below and could not be actually seen.
The machinery, too, was located in the basement. A fine wire netting
surrounded the entire arena, from top to bottom, the purpose of which
became apparent later.
It was an old-fashioned horse and bareback rider act. Suddenly the
gravitation was cut off, and the horse rose, beating the air with his
hoofs, while the rider, in a sitting position hung onto the horse with
his legs. The horse and rider no longer having any weight, they could
not of course entirely control their movements. Both horse and rider at
times hung with their heads downwards, then sideways, until finally, by
jerking, they arrived in the center of the arena.
The horse had been well trained and ceased pawing the air, and his legs
hung limp.
The rider mounted on the back of the horse, and with a slight jump
reached the ceiling of the arena, some hundred feet up. Having no
weight left, he bounced by the least muscular effort. Pushing against
the ceiling with one of his fingers, he bounded down to the floor of
the arena, only to rebound again to the ceiling. He kept this up for a
few minutes, and then repeated the same thing sideways, where he hit
against the wire netting, stretched from top to bottom of the arena to
keep the performer from falling into the audience.
The gravitational field extended only vertically, but was not in
evidence immediately beyond the sides of the arena. Had there been no
screen, the performer, when passing outside the gravitational boundary,
would have immediately regained his full weight and would have fallen.
The performer could jerk himself around anywhere in the arena, and
being a good acrobat, he had no difficulty in reaching his horse. Much
care had to be exercised, however, because the slightest kick against
the horse would have sent the horse to the opposite side.
Slowly the gravitation was turned on, and both horse and rider sank
gracefully toward the ground, where with the full gravitation
restored, the horse and rider made their exit.
The next act was one that even Ralph had not seen. Two experts at
juggling bounded into the arena and after the gravitation was cut off
one of them placed a billiard cue on his forehead, and an old-fashioned
hand lamp on top of the cue. The juggler then took the cue away and
withdrew jerkily. The lamp remained in the same position, until brought
down by one of the performers.
The tricks aroused great enthusiasm among the audience. An acrobat,
using one of the billiard cues as a standing trapeze, revolved around
the trapeze as if it were held securely in place. By jerking around
the billiard cue, it was made to appear as if he was actually swinging
around under his full "weight."
A beautiful effect was obtained when the jugglers brought several
colored glass pitchers, filled with different-colored liquids. When the
pitchers were inverted, nothing happened, because the liquid, having no
weight, could not flow out. However, by turning the pitcher upside down
and suddenly jerking it away the colored liquid, due to its own lag or
inertia, stayed behind.
Due to the surface tension of liquids, it did not retain the shape of
the pitcher, but formed itself immediately into a globe. The jugglers
emptied a number of pitchers all in a row, leaving behind the globular
liquid balls, formed of water and fruit juices.
The jugglers approached the balls and began to drink, simply by placing
their lips against them. They then demonstrated the mobility of the
water balls by pushing their fingers into them and cutting the balls
in two, the halves immediately becoming new and smaller balls. Then
by carefully giving each of the balls a slight push, the water balls
would gravitate up to the ceiling of the arena and still having enough
momentum left they would rebound and come back, only to be pushed up
again by flat tennis racquets.
This had to be done carefully because the slightest false motion spread
out the water balls into a flat sheet. The surface tension of the
liquid always reasserted itself and the water balls came down sometimes
in an elliptical shape. Every time the flat tennis racquet hit the
balls, they lost their shape momentarily, but soon were globular again.
The two jugglers finally managed to push the liquid spheres one into
another, until finally all balls had been joined into one. This, of
course, amalgamated the various colors, but the colors had been made in
such a way that the ball became a somewhat dirty-looking white, all the
colors having recombined, making one color, just as all the hues of the
rainbow, if combined together, make white.
The final act was where a huge water ball, about twenty-five feet in
diameter, was pushed to the center of the arena, while a number of
pretty girls entered the liquid itself and swam within the ball. The
ball was lit up by strong searchlights, and the entire arena darkened,
as the girls swam within the clear crystal water ball. When the
swimmers needed air, all they had to do was to push their heads out of
the sphere, breathe, and then resume "swimming," or jerking themselves
around within the weightless water.
10
TWO LETTERS
During September Alice and her father had remained Ralph's guests,
extending their stay at his urgent request. James 212B 422 made a most
satisfactory chaperon. If they visited one of the great historical
museums he always managed to disappear in search of some exhibit,
leaving the other two to sit on a bench to wait his return, which was
often delayed purposely.
But to his daughter and the scientist time had become of little
importance and though the engineer was sometimes gone an hour, when he
returned he would find them still sitting on the bench, sometimes deep
in conversation, sometimes absorbed in a silence that meant more than
any words could express.
Together they were blissfully happy, apart they were wretchedly lonely.
Ralph, it appeared, had completely forgotten numerous of his lectures
in which he had labeled love as "nothing but a perfumed animal
instinct." No lover more abject than he now, none more humble in the
presence of his divinity. During those weeks they had arrived at a
mutual understanding.
All the world knew and rejoiced in their happiness. Ralph had always
been extremely popular with the people. Even the Planet Governor
himself had been moved to privately express his approval. Many times
had the scientist worried him. Ralph had so often been restive under
the restraints which must of necessity be imposed upon one so important
to the Earth's progress. And now, with this new influence to hold him,
the Governor felt that the task of keeping Ralph contented had been
lifted from the official's already over-burdened shoulders.
All the world rejoiced--all but two, and for them the knowledge of the
two lovers' happiness was gall and wormwood.
One was roused to fury, the other plunged in despair.
To Fernand the scientist was one hitherto unforeseen obstacle to be
removed from his path in his conquest of Alice. To the Martian, knowing
beforehand that his passion was hopeless, the knowledge that she loved
another was, nevertheless, a bitter blow. Before, at least, she had
been heartfree. Wretched as he had been, bitter as he had been against
the laws that made such a union impossible, there had been the barren
comfort of the fact that she belonged to no one else. Now, even that
was taken from him, and he felt that he could bear no more.
In his desperation he made up his mind to leave Earth, and immediately
booked his passage to Mars. But on the very eve of his departure he
found himself unable to make the decision that would separate him from
her forever, and the next inter-planetary liner, which left Earth for
Mars, carried, not himself, but this code letter to his best friend on
his distant planet.
New York, September 20, 2660.
To Rrananolh AK 42,
Although I am booked on the _Terrestrial_ which departs tomorrow, I
have cancelled my reservation and consequently will not arrive on
Mars November 31st as planned. I do not know whether I shall take
passage on the next transport or not. In fact, I don't know what I
shall do. I am mad with despair and anguish. A thousand times over
have I wished that I had never come to this planet!
I have not told you before, but as perhaps you have guessed from my
previous letters, I am in love with a Terrestrial woman. Never mind
her name. I loved her from the first moment I saw her. You, who have
never visited the Earth, can hardly understand. It does not matter.
I have tried in every way to free myself from this mad infatuation,
but it is hopeless. Chemicals and Radio-treatments seem but to
accentuate my longing for that which is forever beyond my reach. I
thought at first that I could conquer myself, but I know now that I
cannot, and the knowledge is driving me to madness.
She has never known, and I think no one else here does. I have told
none but you, my friend. Always I feared that in some way I might
betray myself to her. There are times now when I wish that I had.
And yet--to have her suffer as I am suffering--I could not have borne
that.
I will, I suppose, go the way of all Martians who have had the
misfortune to care for a Terrestrial. A little _Listadinide_ injected
under the skin will free me from an existence which has become a
daily torture unless I find a way to evade the harsh laws.
Please hand the enclosed documents to my Second. If I do not see you
again do not grieve for me, but remember our friendship, and think
sometimes of your unhappy friend.
Llysanorh'
Long after his missive had gone, he sat rigid, motionless, by the
window with unseeing eyes fixed on the city below him. At last he rose
with a sigh and left the room. Was there no way out of such misery? Was
there no straw he could grasp?
Of a very different caliber was an epistle sent by Fernand 60O 10 to
his friend Paul 9B 1261.
New York, Sept. 28th, 2660.
Dear Paul:
You have heard the gossip, but don't fear my having a broken heart.
I am not easily downed, and I have a card or two yet to play in this
game.
Fact is, Alice is as hard to conquer as a steelonium wall is to
break through. That, however, is to my liking, my dear Paul. I love
obstacles, particularly when the goal is as pretty as Alice. I have
never wanted her more than now that she has thrown me down. Perhaps
if she had ever encouraged me I would not have cared a rap for her.
But--this opposition inflames me! Now I will have her. I _will_ have
her, and she shall love me, mark my words.
I have mentioned to you before the ridiculous Martian, Llysanorh',
I believe. It is very amusing to see him staring at Alice with
adoration in those enormous eyes of his. I really believe he is in
love with her, but these Martians are so self-controlled it is hard
to tell anything about them.
If Alice had fallen in love with this lanky, seven-foot Llysanorh'
she would have been lost to me, and to all the rest of the world.
That fellow certainly can be sugary when he wants to. However, she
really imagines that she's in love with this crazy scientist, and
right now I'm decidedly _de trop_. That worries me very little, I
assure you. She will soon learn to love me once I can get her away
from him. And I am going to provide for that.
Everything has been arranged, and I am only awaiting my opportunity.
If I am successful, I will take her out into space for a few months.
My machine is in readiness. It is the latest type, and the finest
I have ever seen. Provisions, books, reels for the Hypnobioscope,
instruments, etc., in fact, everything you can think of is on board.
I have even provided a well trained maid. I can assure you Alice
won't find it lonesome. Besides, I flatter myself that I can be very
entertaining.
Before I close I must ask you to attend to several matters for me,
as per enclosed rolls. You will understand everything better after
you read the instructions. I do not expect to be away more than three
months at the latest, and you will see from the gray document that I
empower you to take charge of my affairs. I will send you a message
from on board the machine if all goes well.
Until then,
Fernand.
It was the night of the full moon. There was a faint touch of crispness
in the early autumn breeze that now and again gently ruffled the waters
of the ocean. A thousand stars danced lightly in the sky and were
reflected in the undulating waves below. And in the moonlit path over
the waters hovered an aerocab gleaming silvery white in the radiance.
The cab was far from New York, away from the beaten traffic.
Occasionally other aircraft came into view but always at a distance.
To Alice and Ralph this solitude was Paradise. Night after night they
hired an aerocab and flew to this lonely airway, where seated side by
side, with only the driver for a chaperon, they were absolutely happy.
The driver was a silent man who, as long as he was well paid for his
time, was content to describe endless circles indefinitely.
On this particular evening Alice seemed, to Ralph, more lovely than he
had ever before seen her. In the caressing light of the mellow moon her
flowerlike face glowed with a new radiance, and her dark eyes, shadowed
with long curling lashes, were mistily tender.
Between these two there was no need for words. So perfectly were their
thoughts attuned that each knew what the other felt.
And so, presently, their hands stole out and met, and clasped. And it
seemed to both that Heaven could hold no greater happiness than this,
until, with one accord, they turned their faces to each other, and
their lips met. To them nothing existed beyond themselves and their
love.
The voice of another aerocab driver hailing them made them realize that
there were still ties that bound them to Earth, and they moved apart a
little self-consciously, as a cab drew alongside their own.
"Having some trouble with my motor," called the newcomer. "Could you
let me have a few copper connectors to repair the damage?"
"Sure," returned their driver, and the two cabs came together and were
made fast.
Ralph, seeing that his man could attend to the matter, turned away from
them towards Alice, and again drew her hand into his own, where it
snuggled confidingly.
Quite suddenly he was aware of a sickish, sweet odor, which almost
instantly became suffocating. He was conscious of the pressure of
Alice's fingers and then blackness overwhelmed him.
11
THE FLIGHT INTO SPACE
How long he was unconscious Ralph did not know, but when he came to his
senses the moon had sunk low on the horizon. He felt unbearably weary
and his limbs seemed too heavy to move. For a time he half lay in his
seat looking stupidly down at the ocean, his mind a blank.
All at once it dawned upon him that the seat next to him was empty.
"Alice, Alice," he muttered, trying to shake off his stupor, "Alice,
where are you?"
There was no reply. The driver, his hands on the steering disc, was
slumped forward in his seat, his head sunk on his breast.
With a stupendous effort Ralph managed to open the glass window
in front of him. Instantly the strong odor of chloroformal almost
overpowered him, and a terrible sensation of nausea forced him to cling
blindly to his seat. In a moment it passed and he was able to collect
his senses somewhat. His first thought was for Alice. His dimmed sight
had cleared sufficiently for him to see that she was not in the cab. He
thought she must have fallen into the sea, and in his agony he cried
aloud her name again and again.
And then a recollection came to him, of her father's words on the first
morning of their visit. He had feared for Alice. Someone had threatened
her. Ralph forced his still wandering mind to concentrate. Some one
had threatened to kidnap her, and that someone was Fernand 60O 10.
He recalled the stranded aerocab. Its helplessness had been a trick to
deceive him, and to get near enough to drug him and his driver while
they took Alice away.
The thought aroused him from his dreadful lethargy. With a rush his
vitality came back. He flung himself upon the stupefied driver and
shook him violently.
The cab was still flying at an even speed in a great circle and Ralph
saw that it was imperative that he get control of it at once, for
another machine, bound evidently for New York, was bearing down upon
the helpless men.
With a powerful shove he got the driver into the auxiliary seat and
climbed over, seizing, as he did so, the steering disc. He flung it
over, just in time to escape the onrushing cab, whose occupants, as it
passed, leaned out, and in fluent profanity inquired if he wanted the
whole airway.
Unheeding, Ralph set the steering disc toward New York, and proceeded
to lighten the cab. Overboard went the glass doors, cushions, matting,
even the hood of the machine. Everything that he could wrench off he
tossed to the dark waters beneath him.
The cab, relieved of the weight of its equipment shot ahead at
tremendous speed, and in less than ten minutes dropped onto the landing
place on top of the scientist's laboratory. Leaving the driver where
he was Ralph dashed into the building. Meeting Peter he did not stop,
only motioned him to the cab while he himself sprang to the nearest
Telephot. And within fifteen minutes every detective and special agent
had been notified of the disappearance of Alice. Ralph had immediately
transmitted the lost girl's photograph to the Central Office where it
was placed before a Telephot connecting with every member of the entire
police force, and the picture was reproduced for them in their portable
radio instruments for ten seconds, enabling them to get her features
firmly impressed on their minds.
His next act was to call the Intercontinental Hotel where Fernand had
been stopping.
Upon inquiry he was informed that Fernand had left three hours ago with
his baggage. His destination was unknown.
"I knew it!" Ralph muttered to himself.
On second thought it occurred to him that it might be of advantage to
visit the hotel, and as it was only a few blocks away he flew over to
it, leaving his assistants in charge of his radio stations, with strict
orders to record every message, to tune into everything, and to take
the messages down on the recorder discs.
At the hotel he was recognized at once, and as the news had spread over
the city like wild-fire, he was treated with every consideration.
He closely questioned everyone and then asked to see the rooms which
Fernand 60O 10 had occupied.
The rooms were just as their occupant had left them and Ralph requested
that he be undisturbed there for a short time.
He examined every nook and corner without finding anything to give him
a clue to Fernand's whereabouts, and he was about to leave when his
eye caught the reflection of a light-ray falling on a bright object
under the dresser.
Insignificant as the little metal object was, it was enough to convey
a fearful picture to his mind. He recognized it at once as a metal
turning belonging to the balancer of the _Gyro-Gyrotor_ of a _Space
Flyer_. Evidently the metal part had been dropped and Fernand had not
had the time to look for it. Ralph decided that Fernand had obtained a
supply of the parts which are only required on a prolonged flight into
space.
He was now positive that Fernand 60O 10 had carried off his sweetheart
in a space flyer and that the machine by this time was probably far
away from the earth, headed for unknown regions. It would also be
practically impossible to follow without knowing the direction of the
space-defying machine.
In a daze Ralph returned to his laboratory, where he again called the
Central Office. As all space flyers must be licensed by law, he had
no trouble in getting the information he desired. A new machine of a
well-known Detroit firm had been registered four days ago, and the
description of the owner answered to that of Fernand 60O 10.
Late as it was, Ralph immediately communicated with the Detroit
manufacturer, who, upon hearing his reasons for the request, supplied
him with all the necessary details.
Ralph learned from him that the purchaser of the new machine, one of
the very latest models, was Fernand, beyond any doubt, and when he was
informed that the latter had plentifully supplied himself with spare
parts as if for a long journey, and moreover, the most significant
fact that the cabin had been fitted out as a lady's boudoir, then
indeed were his worst suspicions confirmed.
The manufacturer also told him that the entire outside shell was of
_Magnelium_--an invention of Ralph's--and that this flyer was the first
to be equipped with the new metal.
As he concluded his conversation and disconnected, Ralph brought his
clenched fist down upon the desk. "Magnelium," he muttered between
set teeth, "the only machine out in the universe made with Magnelium.
Magnelium, my own Magnelium, about which no one in the world knows more
than I do. Perhaps the odds are not all with you, Fernand, damn you!"
At first thought it might be considered a difficult feat accurately
to locate a machine thousands of miles from the earth, speeding in
an unknown direction somewhere in the boundless universe. The feat
was easy to the scientist. As far back as the year 1800 astronomers
accurately measured the distance between the earth and small celestial
bodies, but it was not until the year 2659 that Ralph 124C 41+
succeeded in accurately determining the exact location of flyers, in
space, beyond the reach of the most powerful telescope.
[Illustration]
A _pulsating polarized ether wave_, if directed on a metal object
can be reflected in the same manner as a light-ray is reflected from
a bright surface or from a mirror. The reflection factor, however,
varies with different metals. Thus the reflection factor from silver
is 1,000 units, the reflection from iron 645, alomagnesium 460, etc.
If, therefore, a polarized wave generator were directed toward space,
the waves would take a direction as shown in the diagram, provided the
parabolic wave reflector was used as shown. By manipulating the entire
apparatus like a searchlight, waves would be sent over a large area.
Sooner or later these waves would strike a space flyer. A small part
of the waves would strike the metal body of the flyer, and these waves
would be reflected back to the sending apparatus. Here they would fall
on the _Actinoscope_ (see diagram), which records only reflected waves,
not direct ones.
From the actinoscope the reflection factor is then determined, which
shows the kind of metal from which the reflection comes. From the
intensity and the elapsed time of the reflected impulses, the distance
between the earth and the flyer can then be accurately and quickly
calculated.
The reflection factor of Magnelium being 1060, Ralph succeeded in
locating Fernand's space flyer in less than five hours' search. He
found that Fernand's machine at that time was about 400,000 miles
distant from the earth and apparently headed in the direction of the
planet Venus. A few seconds' calculation showed that he was flying
at the rate of about 45,000 miles an hour. This was a great surprise
to Ralph and it puzzled him somewhat. He knew that Fernand's machine
was capable of making at least 75,000 miles an hour. Ralph reasoned
that if he were in Fernand's place, he would speed up the flyer to the
utmost.
Why was Fernand flying so leisurely? Did he think himself secure? Did
he think that nobody could or would follow? Or was he having trouble
with the _Anti-Gravitator_?
Ralph could not understand it. However, his mind had already been made
up. He would pursue Fernand even though it took him into those parts of
the solar system yet uncharted, and, if necessary--kill him!