Deliverance
Gates' first thought, after recovering his breath, was to finish his
half-completed task. What if the Saturnian retreat were but temporary?
What if the foe should rally, and return with redoubled fury? What if,
after all, they should seize the containers of compressed air, and so
accomplish their original purpose and conquer the planet?
"By glory! not if I can prevent!" Gates swore a secret oath, as he
staggered toward the great steel cylinders. To carry off even one of
the heavy affairs would, obviously, be impossible--but was there no
other way? After a swift examination, he noticed a little faucet-like
spout at the end of one of the vessels, and took it to be a valve to
relieve excessive pressure.
"Just five minutes' leeway," he thought, "and there won't be a whiff of
compressed air left in the whole shooting match!"
At the same time, he gave the spigot a swift turn in his fingers.
Instantly there came such a blast that he was stunned. A loud popping,
as of an explosion, dinned in his ears. He reeled backward, knocked
over as by a hurricane. For a second or two a great fury of escaping
air blew by him.
Still a little dazed, he picked himself up a minute later, cursing
his own stupidity. In his haste he had turned the vent on full force,
so relieving far too much pressure--with results that might have been
disastrous.
Worst of all! what if the commotion should summon the Saturnians back?
Even as this fear swept across him, he made a discovery which, for the
moment, alarmed him even more. He could see himself again! His arms,
his legs, and all of his body, were perfectly visible! The blast of air
had been powerful enough to blow away all the Amvol-Amvol, the powder
of invisibility!
Aware that he would be utterly at the Saturnians' mercy should they
return, he worked quickly as possible to release the compressed air
from the other containers. At any moment, he expected to be snatched
up by a huge swooping claw, and borne away to his doom. But time went
by, and the monsters did not re-appear. And at length the last of the
compressed air cylinders was empty!
Then for the first time, as he started hastily away, a flash of joyous
realization swept over him. What a relief to be visible again! Once
more he could be received as a man!
* * * * *
Early in the morning, following the alarm from the supposed Saturnians,
Eleanor insisted on resuming work at the Electronic Space Ray.
Surrounded by a whole squad of policemen--since her four previous
protectors had insisted that they were too few--she entered the
courtyard adjoining the Research Institute, where her machine with its
fifteen-foot cannon-like muzzle was pointed skyward. Now at last she
was ready for the crucial work!
Reaching the courtyard, she adjusted the instrument; cleared an
open circle of blue sky; and in so doing destroyed, she knew, an
incalculable number of the invisible cobwebs that clogged the
atmosphere. But she was out after bigger prey than cobwebs. By means of
the telescope she located a tiny shining speck which she recognized as
one of the Crystal Planetoids; and, with trembling hands, pointed her
machine toward the section of the sky containing the Planetoid.
Then, for the barest fraction of a second, she hesitated. She knew it
was but womanly weakness; she knew it was unworthy, inconsistent with
her all-important scheme; yet the hot tears trickled down her cheeks,
and something clutched at her throat. The next flick of her fingers
might be the movement that destroyed scores of human beings, among them
Ronny, her lover.
None the less, she held back only for an instant. Her fingers flashed
against a lever; and a faint clicking came to her ears. With eyes glued
to the telescope, she watched; and immediately, it seemed, she made out
a puff of red fire where the Planetoid had been--a puff that swiftly
gave way to long ruddy streamers, which almost as swiftly vanished.
Still struggling, she could not keep back her sobs. "Ronny would
forgive me, if he knew!" she consoled herself. Nevertheless, several
minutes had passed, before, with a great effort of will, she turned to
the range finder, and prepared to look for another Planetoid.
Then it was, that all at once, there came a sound which she heard in
mute, incredulous amazement. What was that voice?--that familiar, that
exultant voice arising suddenly behind her! "Eleanor!"
Wheeling about, she faced what she at first mistook for an apparition.
Could this be Ronald? this dishevelled man with the face ghostly pale,
although his eyes were agleam with joy?
But as he strode forward, and flung out his arms, she knew that he was
indeed no phantom!
* * * * *
No less surprising than the speed with which the Saturnians had
overspread the earth was the rapidity with which the peril receded.
Within a few weeks, while dozens of Electronic Space Rays swept the
heavens to clear away the great cobwebs, the temperature of the planet
returned to normal; the winds blew again as usual; the ferocious
thunder storms, the floods and the droughts had dwindled to ghastly
memories. If any of the monsters still ranged the earth, they had
returned to remote, unpeopled regions; no trace of them was ever
seen, except for some mysterious streaks of yellow-orange observed by
mariners on an islet near Cape Horn, where the last of the invaders had
been dashed to their doom.
As for the Planetoids--so mercilessly were they hunted by the Space
Rays that, within a week, the most careful searching of the heavens
failed to reveal even one of the great gelatinous balls. The watchers
on Saturn, it was generally agreed, would not be encouraged by the
results of their expedition! And if ever they should attempt another
invasion, the weapons to repel them would be at hand.
Meantime, while paeans of thanksgiving resounded from all lands, the
world's eyes were focused on two individuals. The nuptials of Eleanor
Firth and Ronald Gates, which were celebrated a few weeks after the
overthrow of the Menace, were the occasion for universal rejoicing, for
nothing could have appeared more fitting than the union of these two.