I
The lights of great Transcontinental Airport were blazing in cheering
splendor. Out there in the center of the broad field a dozen men were
silhouetted in the white brilliance, looking up at the sky, where the
stars winked cold and clear on the jet background of the frosty night. A
slim crescent of moon gleamed in the west, a sickle of light that in no
way dimmed the cold flame of the brilliant stars.
One point of light now moved across the motionless field of far-off
suns, flashing toward the airport in a long, swift curve. The men on the
field murmured and pointed up at it as it swept low over the blazing
lights of New York. Lower it swooped, the towering city behind it. Half
a mile into the air the buildings rose in shining glory of colored tile
that shone brightly in the sweeping play of floodlights.
One of them picked out the descending machine, and it suddenly leaped
out of the darkness as a shining, streamlined cylinder, a cylinder with
a great halo of blue fire, as the beam of the searchlight set it off
from the jet black night.
In moments the ship was vast before the eyes of the waiting men; it had
landed gently on the field, was floating smoothly, gracefully toward
them.
Twenty-four men climbed from the great ship, shivering in the icy blast
that swept across the field, spoke a moment with the group awaiting
their arrival, then climbed quickly into the grateful warmth of a field
car. In a moment they were speeding toward the lights of the field
house, half a mile off.
Behind them the huge ship leaped into the sky, then suddenly pointed its
nose up at an angle of thirty degrees and shot high into the air at an
unbelievable speed. In an instant it was gone.
At the field house the party broke up almost immediately.
"We want to thank you, Mr. Morey, for your demonstration of the new ship
tonight, and you, Dr. Arcot, for answering our many questions about it.
I am sure we all appreciate the kindness you have shown the press." The
reporters filed out quickly, anxious to get the news into the morning
editions, for it was after one o'clock now. Each received a small slip
of paper from the attendant standing at the exit, the official statement
of the company. At last all had left but the six men who were
responsible for the new machine.
This night had witnessed the official demonstration of the first of the
Arcot-Morey molecular motion ships. Small as she was, compared to those
that were to come, yet she could carry over three thousand passengers,
as many as could any existing winged plane, and her speed was immensely
greater. The trip from the west coast to the eastern had been made in
less than one hour. At a speed close to one mile a second the great ship
had shot through the thin air, twenty-five miles above the Earth.
In this vessel a huge bar of metal could be affected by an
ultra-high-frequency generator. When so affected, its molecules all
moved forward, taking the ship with them. Thus, a molecular motion drive
vessel could, theoretically, approach the velocity of light as a limit.
"Arcot," said Morey, Senior, after the pressmen had left the room, "as
president of this company I certainly want to thank you for the
tremendous thing you have given us to use. You have 'sold' us this
machine--but how can we repay you? Before this, time and time again,
you have sold us your inventions, the ideas that have made it possible
for Transcontinental to attain its present high position in world
transportation. All you have ever accepted is the laboratory you use,
its upkeep, and a small annual income. What can we do to show our
appreciation this time?"
"Why," answered Arcot smiling, "you haven't stated the terms correctly.
Actually, I have a fully equipped lab to putter around in, all the time
I want for my own amusement, and all the money I want. What more could I
ask?"
"I suppose that's all true--but you draw only about six thousand a year
for personal expenses--a good clerk could get that--and you, admittedly
the most brilliant physicist of the Earth, are satisfied! I don't feel
we're paying you properly!"
Arcot's expression became suddenly serious. "You can repay me this
time," he said, "for this latest discovery has made a new thing
possible. I've always wanted to be able to visit other planets--as has
many a scientist for the last three centuries. This machine has made it
possible. If you are willing--we could start by the spring of 2117. I'm
quite serious about this. With your permission, I want to start work on
the first interplanetary ship. I'll need Fuller's help, of course. The
proposition will be expensive, and that's where I must ask you to help
me. I think, however, that it may be a paying proposition, at that, for
there will certainly be something of commercial value on the other
planets."
They had walked out to the shed where Arcot's private molecular motion
car stood, the first machine ever built that used the heat of the sun to
drive it. Thoughtfully the president of the great Transcontinental Lines
looked at it. It was small compared with the great machine that had just
brought them east, but of the same swift type. It was a thing of
graceful beauty even on the ground, its long curving streamlines giving
it wonderful symmetry. They stood in thoughtful silence for a
minute--the young men eager to hear the verdict of their prospective
backer. Morey, always rather slow of speech, took an unusually long
time to answer.
"If it were only money you asked for, Arcot, I'd gladly give you double
the sum, but that isn't the case. I know perfectly well that if you do
go, my son will go with you, and Fuller and Wade will naturally go too."
He looked at each in turn. "Each of you has come to mean a lot to me.
You and Fuller have known Bob since college days. I've known Wade only
three months, but every day I grow to like him more. There's no denying
the fact that any such trip is a terrifically dangerous proposition. But
if you were lost, there would be more than my personal loss. We would
lose some of the most brilliant men on Earth. You, for instance, are
conceded as being the world's most brilliant physicist; Fuller is one of
the greatest designing engineers; Wade is rapidly rising into prominence
as a chemist and as a physicist; and my son is certainly a good
mathematician."
He paused, frowning, weighing the situation. "But you men should know
how to get out of scrapes just that much better. Certainly there are few
men on Earth who would not be willing to back such a group of men--or
any one of you, for that matter! I'll back your trip!" His words became
more facetious. "I know that Arcot and you, Bob, can handle a gun fairly
well, I don't know so much about Wade and Fuller. What experience have
you two had?"
Fuller shook his head. "I think I'll fit best in the galley on the trip,
Mr. Morey. I've done the cooking on a number of camping trips, and food
is an important factor in the success of any expedition. I can shoot a
bit, too."
Wade spoke rather hesitantly. "I come from the west, and have had a good
bit of fun with a gun in the Rockies; there are still some mountain
lions and some deer there, you know. I also have a sneaking acquaintance
with the new gun, which Arcot developed in connection with his molecular
motion. But there is so little you know about me--and most of it bad--I
don't see how I really get in on this opportunity--but," he added
hastily, "I certainly don't intend to keep the old boy knocking--I'm
with you, since I'm invited!"