HURLED FROM THE MOON.
Together we stood gazing in silence out into the abyss over the small
surface of the moon that was visible to us, oppressed with a sense of
awe as the sun dropped from sight, leaving us plunged in darkness.
Suddenly there appeared from out of the inky blackness of the heavens a
huge crescent, stretching across the sky far above us. The sight of it
fascinated us, and, as we stood lost in admiration at the majestic
proportions of the beautiful arch of light, ever growing in width, we
gradually realized that it was the sun-tipped rim of the planet which
our moon was journeying around--the world from which we had been hurled
and to which we must return.
A sense of great reverence overpowered me; I realized that we looked
upon sights, and felt great forces never before bared to mortals.
Through my mind ran lines of Addison's ode:
"The spacious firmament on high
With all the blue ethereal sky,
And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great _Original_ proclaim.
* * * * *
Forever singing as they shine
The hand that made us is divine."
Slowly the light crept over the planet's surface until the huge
illuminated sphere, almost filling the entire heavens, made a scene of
the most exquisite grandeur that human eyes have ever beheld.
"Dearest!" I exclaimed, with sudden impulse, as a most remarkable and
terrifying fact occurred to me, "wonderful though our deliverance from
death seems to us, it is even more miraculous than we had any conception
of! To meet with this moon in our journey through space, we must have
described an arc, as this satellite never passes over the pole."
"How can such a thing be possible?" returned Zarlah, in tremulous
accents, drawing closer to me as the awfulness of our narrow escape
appalled her.
"Ah, my love, we may never know that!" I answered. "The Great Creator of
all these wonders has, indeed, guided us to this haven in our wild
flight through space. We can but theorize that the pole, being several
miles in diameter, hurled us from its edge, the tremendous repelling
force not permitting our aerenoids to proceed over its surface. The
rotary motion of the planet upon its axis would then cause us to
describe a curve in our flight from its surface, as only in the center
of the pole would this rotary motion lose its effect."
"Oh, Harold," whispered Zarlah, timidly, when I had finished speaking,
"the thought of these terrible things and the sight of this immense
globe hanging over us fill me with dread! Do you think we shall ever
reach our world again? It appears to be so near and yet is so far away
from us. What veritable atoms we are in the glory of this tumultuous
whirl!"
"I do not think we could possibly miss it, sweetheart," I answered,
cheerfully, as I placed my arm about her and drew her away from the
window which commanded a view of Mars. "Come, let us look out upon the
little globe that supports us; we are entirely missing the beautiful
effect of this grand reflection of light"
The surface of the moon was now bathed in a beautiful diffused light,
and our surroundings where once more visible. Indeed, many objects,
which we had been unable to see in the dazzling brilliancy of the sun's
light, as it blazed forth from a heaven unsoftened by any atmosphere,
were now clearly revealed. We had approached a window and were looking
at these new objects of interest, when Zarlah suddenly cried in dismay:
"Look, Harold, look! The other aerenoid is moving!"
Quickly turning my gaze in the direction indicated, I saw the aerenoid
in which I had made the journey from Mars move a space of several yards
with a jerky motion, then, to my intense horror, glide off the surface
of the moon into space. At the same instant, the car in which we stood
rocked as though about to turn over upon its side.
Not a moment was to be lost! Some unknown force was exerting its
influence over the movable objects on the moon's surface. What this
power was I knew not, but the direction in which the aerenoid had
glided proved it to be other than Mars. Our position was now perilous in
the extreme, for were we suddenly to glide off into space we would
undoubtedly be lost, as it was necessary to have air surrounding us in
order to propel the car. Without an atmosphere we would therefore be
helpless and entirely at the mercy of the unknown and mysterious power.
Indeed, it was evident that only our increased weight had saved us from
immediately following the other aerenoid, and I felt that at any moment
we might do so. Although lacking the power of propulsion, my hope was
that our repelling force, which I knew must be increased to an enormous
extent by the slight gravity on the moon's surface, would hurl us off
that satellite straight upward into the influence of Mars' gravity.
Seizing the lever, I cried to Zarlah to He on the floor of the car, but
even as she did so, the aerenoid rocked again with still greater
violence--in another moment it would be too late! Thrusting the lever
over, I exposed the full repelling force to the moon's surface. The
shock hurled me to the floor, and so terrific was the force with which
we shot upward, that I was held powerless to move hand or foot. For a
space of time which seemed to me hours I was obliged to remain thus,
contenting myself with calling words of encouragement to my dear one,
whom I greatly feared must have suffered severely from the awful shock.
At last, finding that I could rise, I hastened to her side, and, to my
great relief, discovered that she had entirely escaped injury.
As it was impossible in any way to control the aerenoid speeding upward
through space, it was useless for me to stand by the levers, and,
assisting Zarlah to rise, we approached a window in the roof of the car
and glanced upward at the planet to which we were rushing. A remarkable
phenomenon met our eyes! Mars appeared to be no longer a sphere--the
great globe that we had beheld from the moon--but instead a huge dome,
which hung over us, ever deepening in the center as we rushed up toward
it. Inconceivable though it seemed, I knew that, to produce such an
effect, we must already have covered more than half the distance
between the two bodies. Upward we shot, and although there was no means
of ascertaining how fast we were travelling, I knew by the rapidly
changing appearance of the dome above us that our speed must be
terrific.
We had steadily grown lighter, and now we discovered that we were
entirely without weight, and that it required some effort to keep our
feet on the floor of the car.
Still upward we rushed into the center of the dome which now stretched
down and encircled us on all sides like an immense umbrella, when
suddenly, without the slightest perceptible movement of the car, the
dome appeared to swing around until it lay beneath us, and instantly we
felt our feet settling upon the floor of the car.
"We are safe from the unknown power now, dearest!" I exclaimed,
anxiously examining the lever that controlled the descent, to make sure
that the repelling metal was fully exposed. "We are dropping upon Mars,
and our repelling metal should soon check our speed."
"Oh, Harold, my love," sighed Zarlah, timidly clinging to me, her eyes
filled with tears, and a look of great yearning coming into them, "my
heart despairs at the dangers that encompass us! With you as my goal I
knew no fear; but now that I have you, I am a coward. Is our love
forbidden, that we should be thus pursued by these terrible dangers?"
"Courage, dearest!" I replied, reassuringly. "We shall soon be safe, and
then nothing shall interrupt the happiness for which we have endured so
much."
I hid from her the anxiety that lurked near my heart, and endeavored to
interest her by advancing several theories upon the phenomenal
appearance of the planet's surface.
Like a huge cup the land now stretched up and around us, but we were
still descending with frightful velocity. I had noticed that the air in
the car was becoming warmer, and now, filled with apprehension, I
stretched out my hand and touched the wall. Instantly I withdrew it--the
wall was hot! Like a flash the full realization of our terrible danger
burst upon me. I had relied upon the repelling metal to check our
descent before we entered the region of air, and had supposed that we
would float lightly to the ground under perfect control. But now I saw
how foolishly I had erred, in omitting to take into consideration the
terrific momentum we would attain in our journey of six thousand miles
through space. This momentum was now driving us to the ground, in spite
of our strong repelling force, and with such a frightful speed that heat
was being generated by friction with the air as we rushed through it.
The creaking and straining sound coming from the bottom of the aerenoid
was evidence of the fight the repelling metal was making to overcome
this momentum before the surface of Mars was reached, but I shuddered as
I realized what little effect it had upon this gigantic force.
In a few seconds the air became unbearably hot, and, with a gasp, Zarlah
lay limp in my arms, as she turned her face to me to speak. Laying her
tenderly upon the floor, I hastily wrapped wet blankets around her, and,
dashing water over myself, I staggered across the car to the window
again. We were still descending rapidly, but, as I felt the walls of the
car, I found that they were now cooler, proving that our terrific speed
had been reduced. The increased pressure of my feet upon the floor of
the car was also evidence that our descent was being steadily checked.
A wild hope surged within me that the repelling metal would overcome the
momentum in time to save us from destruction.
Glancing down, I saw white specks lying far beneath us. My heart stood
still as I realized that these were buildings. We could not be more than
a few miles from the surface, yet down, down we sped. A few moments more
and the buildings became plainly visible, and my heart thumped wildly,
as they seemed to rush up to meet us. We would be dashed to pieces! The
repelling force could not possibly stop us in time! Turning, in despair,
I threw myself down beside Zarlah, and enfolded her in a last embrace.
Instantly there was a terrific shock--a deafening crash. Then all was
dark, while a flood of water came pouring in upon us. I staggered to my
feet with Zarlah in my arms, only to be thrown to the floor again by an
upward bound of the aerenoid. Sunlight once more filled the car, and, as
I struggled to my feet, a cool breeze wafted in through the shattered
windows. To what further extremes of temperature and mediums were we to
be subjected?
I was still too dazed by the shock to realize how we had escaped from a
death that seemed inevitable, but I knew that we were flying upward with
the full force of our repelling metal. Tenderly lifting Zarlah to a
safer and more comfortable place, I seized the lever and gradually
decreased the repelling power, until we rested motionless in the air.
We had already attained a considerable height, and, as I eagerly gazed
down, I beheld far beneath us the glistening surface of a lake. With a
gasp of horror, I realized what a narrow escape had been ours. Into this
lake we had plunged with a velocity sufficient to have dashed us to
pieces had we struck the ground; the damage which the car had sustained
upon striking the water was evidence of this. Our descent being stopped,
the repelling metal, which was fully exposed, had then sent us bounding
into the air again, and in all probability had thus saved us from being
drowned beneath the waters of the lake.
Death had indeed been close to us many times during our strange
adventure, and now that all the dangers were past, I breathed a
heartfelt prayer of thankfulness for our safe deliverance.
Freeing Zarlah from the wet blankets I had wrapped around her during
the intense heat, I gazed anxiously down upon the beautiful, unconscious
face.
"My love! my love!" I murmured, passionately. "How much you have
risked--how much you have suffered for my sake! Oh, cruel the fate that
thus delays our happiness!"
The sun was setting, and I now realized the importance of descending
nearer to the ground, that I might ascertain our whereabouts, as from
our present altitude, even with Almos' knowledge of Mars, I was unable
to recognize any familiar landmark, and I knew that darkness would soon
be upon us.
Bending once again over the form of my loved one, I tenderly kissed the
silent lips, but as I did so, her arms closed about my neck, and
dreamily opening her eyes, she smiled up at me as a child awakening from
a peaceful sleep.
"We are safe now, darling, all the danger is past!" I murmured, and
falling on my knees beside her, I took her up into my arms, with the
prayer that I might ever shield her in the days to come.
The shadows lengthened; quickly the gloom gathered, and darkness closed
in upon us, but still we remained suspended in the cool night air under
the dome of the starry heavens, unmindful of all in the joy of our great
love; for with the fulfillment of our hearts' long cherished desire,
came the realization that our journey was ended.
* * * * *
PARIS, February 17, 19--.
Six months have elapsed since that memorable evening when Harold and
Zarlah--radiant with their new-found happiness--were portrayed upon the
instrument in Paris at which I anxiously waited, after having exchanged
my existence on Mars for one on Earth. The account of his strange
adventures, which Harold has since given me, I have endeavored to record
in the foregoing pages, as nearly as possible in his own words, trusting
that this narration of the events connected with the opening of
communication between Earth and Mars will prepare the way for the
greater developments soon to be announced by scientists.
ALMOS.
THE END.
End of Project Gutenberg's Zarlah the Martian, by R. Norman Grisewood