Skylark Three

_By_

Edward E. Smith, Ph. D. 

Sequel to"The Skylark of Space"

 +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | _"All set, " he reported crisply, and barked a series of | | explosive syllables at Shiro, ending upon a rising note. _ | | | | _The Tale of the Galactic Cruise Which Ushered in Universal | | Civilization_ | +--------------------------------------------------------------+

[Illustration]

 +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | _For two years readers of_ AMAZING STORIES _have literally | | clamored for a sequel to the famous story, "The Skylark of | | Space, " which appeared exactly two years ago. Except that | | "Skylark Three" is more thrilling, more exciting and even | | more chockful of science than the other. Dr. Smith tells | | about the story in his author's note far better than we can | | do. _ | | | | Illustrated by WESSO | +--------------------------------------------------------------+

 +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Transcriber's Note | | | | This etext was produced from Amazing Stories August, | | September and October 1930. Extensive research did not | | uncover any evidence that the U. S. Copyright on this | | publication was renewed. | | | | Other Transcriber Notes and Errata are given at the end of | | the text. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

To all profound thinkers in the realms of Science who may chance to readSKYLARK THREE, greetings:

I have taken certain liberties with several more or less commonlyaccepted theories, but I assure you that those theories have not beenviolated altogether in ignorance. Some of them I myself believe sound, others I consider unsound, still others are out of my line, so that I amnot well enough informed upon their basic mathematical foundations tohave come to any definite conclusion, one way or the other. Whether ornot I consider any theory sound, I did not hesitate to disregard it, ifits literal application would have interfered with the logicaldevelopment of the story. In "The Skylark of Space" Mrs. Garby and Idecided, after some discussion, to allow two mathematicalimpossibilities to stand. One of these immediately became the target ofcritics from Maine to California and, while no astronomer has as yetcalled attention to the other, I would not be surprised to hear aboutit, even at this late date. 

While I do not wish it understood that I regard any of the majorfeatures of this story as likely to become facts in the nearfuture--indeed, it has been my aim to portray the highly improbable--itis my belief that there is no mathematical or scientific impossibilityto be found in "Skylark Three. "

In fact, even though I have repeatedly violated theories in which Imyself believe, I have in every case taken great pains to make certainthat the most rigid mathematical analysis of which I am capable hasfailed to show that I have violated any known and proven scientificfact. By "fact" I do not mean the kind of reasoning, based uponassumptions later shown to be fallacious, by which it was "proved" thatthe transatlantic cable and the airplane were scientifically impossible. I refer to definitely known phenomena which no possible futuredevelopment can change--I refer to mathematical proofs whose fundamentalequations and operations involve no assumptions and contain nosecond-degree uncertainties. 

Please bear in mind that we KNOW very little. It has been widelybelieved that the velocity of light is the limiting velocity, and manyof our leading authorities hold this view--but it cannot be proved, andis by no means universally held. In this connection, it would appearthat J. J. Thompson, in "Beyond the Electron" shows, to his ownsatisfaction at least, that velocities vastly greater than that of lightare not only possible, but necessary to any comprehensive investigationinto the nature of the electron. 

We do not know the nature of light. Neither the undulatory theory northe quantum theory are adequate to explain all observed phenomena, andthey seem to be mutually exclusive, since it would seem clear bydefinition that no one thing can be at the same time continuous anddiscontinuous. We know nothing of the ether--we do not even know whetheror not it exists, save as a concept of our own extremely limitedintelligence. We are in total ignorance of the ultimate structure ofmatter, and of the arrangement and significance of those largeraggregations of matter, the galaxies. We do not know nor understand, norcan we define, even such fundamental necessities as time and space. 

Why prate of "the impossible"?

Edward Elmer Smith, Ph. D. 

CHAPTER I

DuQuesne Goes Traveling

In the innermost private office of Steel, Brookings and DuQuesne staredat each other across the massive desk. DuQuesne's voice was cold, hisblack brows were drawn together. 

"Get this, Brookings, and get it straight. I'm shoving off at twelveo'clock tonight. My advice to you is to lay off Richard Seaton, absolutely. Don't do a thing. _Nothing, hold everything. _ Keep onholding it until I get back, no matter how long that may be, " DuQuesneshot out in an icy tone. 

"I am very much surprised at your change of front, Doctor. You are thelast man I would have expected to be scared off after one engagement. "

"Don't be any more of a fool than you have to, Brookings. There's a lotof difference between scared and knowing when you are simply wastingeffort. As you remember, I tried to abduct Mrs. Seaton by picking heroff with an attractor from a space-ship. I would have bet that nothingcould have stopped me. Well, when they located me--probably with anautomatic Osnomian ray-detector--and heated me red-hot while I was stillbetter than two hundred miles up, I knew then and there that they had usstopped; that there was nothing we could do except go back to my plan, abandon the abduction idea, and eventually kill them all. Since my planwould take time, you objected to it, and sent an airplane to drop afive-hundred-pound bomb on them. Airplane, bomb, and all simplyvanished. It didn't explode, you remember, just flashed into light anddisappeared, with scarcely any noise. Then you pulled several more ofyour fool ideas, such as long-range bombardment, and so on. None ofthem worked. Still you've got the nerve to think that you can get themwith ordinary gunmen! I've drawn you diagrams and shown youfigures--I've told you in great detail and in one-syllable words exactlywhat we're up against. Now I tell you again that they've _gotsomething_. If you had the brains of a pinhead, you would know thatanything I can't do with a space-ship can't be done by a mob of ordinarygangsters. I'm telling you, Brookings, that you can't do it. My way isabsolutely the only way that will work. "

"But five years, Doctor!"

"I may be back in six months. But on a trip of this kind anything canhappen, so I am planning on being gone five years. Even that may not beenough--I am carrying supplies for ten years, and that box of mine inthe vault is not to be opened until ten years from today. "

"But surely we shall be able to remove the obstructions ourselves in afew weeks. We always have. "

"Oh, quit kidding yourself, Brookings! This is no time for idiocy! Youstand just as much chance of killing Seaton----"

"Please, Doctor, please don't talk like that!"

"Still squeamish, eh? Your pussyfooting always did give me an acutepain. I'm for direct action, word and deed, first, last, and all thetime. I repeat, you have exactly as much chance of killing RichardSeaton as a blind kitten has. "

"How do you arrive at that conclusion, Doctor? You seem very fond ofbelittling our abilities. Personally, I think that we shall be able toattain our objectives within a few weeks--certainly long before you canpossibly return from such an extended trip as you have in mind. Andsince you are so fond of frankness, I will say that I think that Seatonhas you buffaloed, as you call it. Nine-tenths of these wonderfulOsnomian things, I am assured by competent authorities, arescientifically impossible, and I think that the other one-tenth existsonly in your own imagination. Seaton was lucky in that the airplane bombwas defective and exploded prematurely; and your space-ship got hotbecause of your injudicious speed through the atmosphere. We shall haveeverything settled by the time you get back. "

"If you have, I'll make you a present of the controlling interest inSteel and buy myself a chair in some home for feeble-minded old women. Your ignorance and unwillingness to believe any new idea do not changethe facts in any particular. Even before they went to Osnome, Seaton washard to get, as you found out. On that trip he learned so much new stuffthat it is now impossible to kill him by any ordinary means. You shouldrealize that fact when he kills every gangster you send against him. Atall events be very, _very_ careful not to kill his wife in any of yourattacks, even by accident, until after you have killed him. "

"Such an event would be regrettable, certainly, in that it would removeall possibility of the abduction. "

"It would remove more than that. Remember the explosion in ourlaboratory, that blew an entire mountain into impalpable dust? Draw inyour mind a nice, vivid picture of one ten times the size in each of ourplants and in this building. I know that you are fool enough to go aheadwith your own ideas, in spite of everything I've said; and, since I donot yet actually control Steel, I can't forbid you to, officially. Butyou should know that I know what I'm talking about, and I say again thatyou're going to make an utter fool of yourself; just because you won'tbelieve anything possible, that hasn't been done every day for a hundredyears. I wish that I could make you understand that Seaton and Cranehave got something that we haven't--but for the good of our plants, andincidentally for your own, please remember one thing, anyway; for if youforget it, we won't have a plant left and you personally will be blowninto a fine red mist. Whatever you start, kill Seaton first, and beabsolutely certain that he is definitely, completely, finally andtotally dead before you touch one of Dorothy Seaton's red hairs. As longas you only attack him personally he won't do anything but kill everyman you send against him. If you kill her while he's still alive, though--Blooie!" and the saturnine scientist waved both hands in anexpressive pantomime of wholesale destruction. 

"Probably you are right in that, " Brookings paled slightly. "Yes, Seatonwould do just that. We shall be very careful, until after we succeed inremoving him. "

"Don't worry--you won't succeed. I shall attend to that detail myself, as soon as I get back. Seaton and Crane and their families, thedirectors and employees of their plants, the banks that by anypossibility may harbor their notes or solutions--in short, every personand everything standing between me and a monopoly of 'X'--all shalldisappear. "

"That is a terrible program, Doctor. Wouldn't the late Perkins' plan ofan abduction, such as I have in mind, be better, safer and quicker?"

"Yes--except for the fact that it will not work. I've talked until I'mblue in the face--I've proved to you over and over that you can't abducther now without first killing him, and that you can't even touch him. Myplan is the only one that will work. Seaton isn't the only one wholearned anything--I learned a lot myself. I learned one thing inparticular. Only four other inhabitants of either Earth or Osnome everhad even an inkling of it, and they died, with their brainsdisintegrated beyond reading. That thing is my ace in the hole. I'mgoing after it. When I get it, and not until then, will I be ready totake the offensive. "

"You intend starting open war upon your return?"

"The war started when I tried to pick off the women with my attractor. That is why I am leaving at midnight. He always goes to bed ateleven-thirty, and I will be out of range of his object-compass beforehe wakes up. Seaton and I understand each other perfectly. We both knowthat the next time we meet one of us is going to be resolved into hiscomponent atoms, perhaps into electrons. He doesn't know that he's goingto be the one, but I do. My final word to you is to lay off--if youdon't, you and your 'competent authorities' are going to learn a lot. "

"You do not care to inform me more fully as to your destination or yourplans?"

"I do not. Goodbye. "

CHAPTER II

Dunark Visits Earth

Martin Crane reclined in a massive chair, the fingers of his right handlightly touching those of his left, listening attentively. RichardSeaton strode up and down the room before his friend, his unruly brownhair on end, speaking savagely between teeth clenched upon the stem ofhis reeking, battered briar, brandishing a sheaf of papers. 

"Mart, we're stuck--stopped dead. If my head wasn't made of solid bluemush I'd have had a way figured out of this thing before now, but Ican't. With that zone of force the Skylark would have everythingimaginable--without it, we're exactly where we were before. That zone isimmense, man--terrific--its possibilities are unthinkable--and I'm socussed dumb that I can't find out how to use it intelligently--can't useit at all, for that matter. By its very nature it is impenetrable to anyform of matter, however applied; and this calc here, " slapping viciouslythe sheaf of papers containing his calculations, "shows that it mustalso be opaque to any wave whatever, propagated through air or throughether, clear down to cosmic rays. Behind it, we would be blind andhelpless, so we can't use it at all. It drives me frantic! Think of abarrier of pure force, impalpable, immaterial, and exerted along ageometrical surface of no thickness whatever--and yet actual enough tostop even a Millikan ray that travels a hundred thousand light-years andthen goes through twenty-seven feet of solid lead just like it was somuch vacuum! That's what we're up against! However, I'm going to try outthat model, Mart, right now. Come on, guy, snap into it! Let's getbusy!"

"You are getting idiotic again, Dick, " Crane rejoined calmly, withoutmoving. "You know, even better than I do, that you are playing with themost concentrated essence of energy that the world has ever seen. Thatzone of force probably can be generated----"

"Probably, nothing!" barked Seaton. "It's just as evident a fact as thatstool, " kicking the unoffending bit of furniture half-way across theroom as he spoke. "If you'd've let me, I'd've shown it to youyesterday!"

"Undoubtedly, then. Grant that it is impenetrable to all matter and toall known waves. Suppose that it should prove impenetrable also togravitation and to magnetism? Those phenomena probably depend upon theether, but we know nothing fundamental of their nature, nor of that ofthe ether. Therefore your calculations, comprehensive though they are, cannot predict the effect upon them of your zone of force. Suppose thatthat zone actually does set up a barrier in the ether, so that itnullifies gravitation, magnetism, and all allied phenomena; so that thepower-bars, the attractors and repellers, cannot work through it? Thenwhat? As well as showing me the zone of force, you might well have shownme yourself flying off into space, unable to use your power and helplessif you released the zone. No, we must know more of the fundamentalsbefore you try even a small-scale experiment. "

"Oh, bugs! You're carrying caution to extremes, Mart. What can happen?Even if gravitation should be nullified, I would rise only slowly, heading south the angle of our latitude--that's thirty-ninedegrees--away from the perpendicular. I couldn't shoot off on a tangent, as some of these hot-heads have been claiming. Inertia would make mekeep pace, approximately, with the earth in its rotation. I would riseslowly--only as fast as the tangent departs from the curvature of theearth's surface. I haven't figured out how fast that is, but it must bepretty slow. "

"Pretty slow?" Crane smiled. "Figure it out. "

"All right--but I'll bet it's slower than the rise of a toy balloon. "Seaton threw down the papers and picked up his slide-rule, a twenty-inchtrigonometrical duplex. "You'll concede that it is allowable to neglectthe radial component of the orbital velocity of the earth for a firstapproximation, won't you--or shall I figure that in too?"

"You may ignore that factor. "

"All right--let's see. Radius of rotation here in Washington would becosine latitude times equatorial radius, approximately--call itthirty-two hundred miles. Angular velocity, fifteen degrees an hour. Iwant secant fifteen less one times thirty-two hundred. Right? Secantequals one over cosine--um-m-m-m--one point oh three five. Then point ohthree five times thirty-two hundred. Hundred and twelve miles firsthour. Velocity constant with respect to sun, accelerated respectingpoint of departure. Ouch! You win, Mart--I'd kinda step out! Well, howabout this, then? I'll put on a vacuum suit and carry rations. Harnessoutside, with the same equipment I used in the test flights before webuilt _Skylark I--plus_ the new stuff and a coil. Then throw on thezone, and see what happens. There can't be any jar in taking off, andwith that outfit I can get back O. K. If I go clear to Jupiter!"

Crane sat in silence, his keen mind considering every aspect of themotions possible, of velocity, of acceleration, of inertia. He alreadyknew well Seaton's resourcefulness in crises and his physical and mentalstrength. 

"As far as I can see, that might be safe, " he admitted finally, "and wereally should know something about it besides the theory. "

"Fine, Mart--let's get busy! I'll be ready in five minutes. Yell for thegirls, will you? They'd break us off at the ankles if we pull anythingnew without letting them in on it. "

A few minutes later the "girls" strolled out into Crane Field, armsaround each other--Dorothy Seaton, her gorgeous auburn hair framingviolet eyes and vivid coloring; black-haired, dark-eyed Margaret Crane. 

"Br-r-r, it's cold!" Dorothy shivered, wrapping her coat more closelyabout her. "This must be the coldest day Washington has seen for years!"

"It is cold, " Margaret agreed. "I wonder what they are going to do outhere, this kind of weather?"

 * * * * *

As she spoke, the two men stepped out of the "testing shed"--the hugestructure that housed their Osnomian-built space-cruiser, "Skylark II. "Seaton waddled clumsily, wearing as he did a Crane vacuum-suit which, built of fur, canvas, metal and transparent silica, braced by steelnetting and equipped with air-tanks and heaters, rendered its wearerindependent of outside conditions of temperature and pressure. Outsidethis suit he wore a heavy harness of leather, buckled about his body, shoulders, and legs, attached to which were numerous knobs, switches, dials, bakelite cases, and other pieces of apparatus. Carried by astrong aluminum framework in turn supported by the harness, theuniversal bearing of a small power-bar rose directly above hisgrotesque-looking helmet. 

"What do you think you're going to do in that thing, Dickie?" Dorothycalled. Then, knowing that he could not hear her voice, she turned toCrane. "What are you letting that precious husband of mine do now, Martin? He looks as though he were up to something. "

While she was speaking, Seaton had snapped the release of his faceplate. 

"Nothing much, Dottie. Just going to show you-all the zone of force. Mart wouldn't let me turn it on, unless I got all cocked and primed fora year's journey into space. "

"Dot, what is that zone of force, anyway?" asked Margaret. 

"Oh, it's something Dick got into his head during that awful fight theyhad on Osnome. He hasn't thought of anything else since we got back. Youknow how the attractors and repellers work? Well, he found out somethingfunny about the way everything acted while the Mardonalians werebombarding them with a certain kind of a wave-length. He finally figuredout the exact ray that did it, and found out that if it is made stronglyenough, it acts as if a repeller and attractor were workingtogether--only so much stronger that nothing can get through theboundary, either way--in fact, it's so strong that it cuts anything intwo that's in the way. And the funny thing is that there's nothing thereat all, really; but Dick says that the forces meeting there, orsomething, make it act as though something really important were there. See?"

"Uh-huh, " assented Margaret, doubtfully, just as Crane finished thefinal adjustments and moved toward them. A safe distance away fromSeaton, he turned and waved his hand. 

Instantly Seaton disappeared from view, and around the place where hehad stood there appeared a shimmering globe some twenty feet indiameter--a globe apparently a perfect spherical mirror, which dartedupward and toward the south. After a moment the globe disappeared andSeaton was again seen. He was now standing upon a hemispherical mass ofearth. He darted back toward the group upon the ground, while the massof earth fell with a crash a quarter of a mile away. High above theirheads the mirror again encompassed Seaton, and again shot upward andsouthward. Five times this maneuver was repeated before Seaton camedown, landing easily in front of them and opening his helmet. 

"It's just what we thought it was, only worse, " he reported tersely. "Can't do a thing with it. Gravitation won't work through it--barswon't--nothing will. And dark? _Dark!_ Folks, you ain't never seen nodarkness, nor heard no silence. It scared me stiff!"

"Poor little boy--afraid of the dark!" exclaimed Dorothy. "We sawabsolute blackness in space. "

"Not like this, you didn't. I just saw absolute darkness and heardabsolute silence for the first time in my life. I never imaginedanything like it--come on up with me and I'll show it to you. "

"No you won't!" his wife shrieked as she retreated toward Crane. "Someother time, perhaps. "

Seaton removed the harness and glanced at the spot from which he hadtaken off, where now appeared a hemispherical hole in the ground. 

"Let's see what kind of tracks I left, Mart, " and the two men bent overthe depression. They saw with astonishment that the cut surface wasperfectly smooth, with not even the slightest roughness or irregularityvisible. Even the smallest loose grains of sand had been sheared in twoalong a mathematically exact hemispherical surface by the inconceivableforce of the disintegrating copper bar. 

"Well, that sure wins the----"

An alarm bell sounded. Without a glance around, Seaton seized Dorothyand leaped into the testing shed. Dropping her unceremoniously to thefloor he stared through the telescope sight of an enormous ray-generatorwhich had automatically aligned itself upon the distant point ofliberation of intra-atomic energy which had caused the alarm to sound. One hand upon the switch, his face was hard and merciless as he waitedto make sure of the identity of the approaching space-ship, before hereleased the frightful power of his generator upon it. 

"I've been expecting DuQuesne to try it again, " he gritted, striving tomake out the visitor, yet more than two hundred miles distant. "He's outto get you, Dot--and this time I'm not just going to warm him up andscare him away, as I did last time. This time that misguided mutt'sgoing to get frizzled right.... I can't locate him with this smalltelescope, Mart. Line him up in the big one and give me the word, willyou?"

"I see him, Dick, but it is not DuQuesne's ship. It is built oftransparent arenak, like the 'Kondal. ' Even though it seems impossible, I believe it is the 'Kondal'. "

"Maybe so, and again maybe DuQuesne built it--or stole it. On secondthought, though, I don't believe that DuQuesne would be fool enough totackle us again in the same way--but I'm taking no chances.... O. K. , itis the 'Kondal, ' I can see Dunark and Sitar myself, now. "

The transparent vessel soon neared the field and the four Terrestrialswalked out to greet their Osnomian friends. Through the arenak wallsthey recognized Dunark, Kofedix of Kondal, at the controls, and sawSitar, his beautiful young queen, lying in one of the seats near thewall. She attempted a friendly greeting, but her face was strained asthough she were laboring under a burden too great for her to bear. 

As they watched, Dunark slipped a helmet over his head and one overSitar's, pressed a button to open one of the doors, and supported hertoward the opening. 

"They mustn't come out, Dick!" exclaimed Dorothy in dismay. "They'llfreeze to death in five minutes without any clothes on!"

"Yes, and Sitar can't stand up under our gravitation, either--I doubt ifDunark can, for long, " and Seaton dashed toward the vessel, motioningthe visitor back. 

But misunderstanding the signal, Dunark came on. As he clambered heavilythrough the door he staggered as though under an enormous weight, andSitar collapsed upon the frozen ground. Trying to help her, half-kneeling over her, Dunark struggled, his green skin paling to ayellowish tinge at the touch of the bitter and unexpected cold. Seatonleaped forward and gathered Sitar up in his mighty arms as though shewere a child. 

[Illustration: _Trying to help her, half kneeling over her, Dunarkstruggled, his green skin paling to a yellowish tinge at the touch ofthe bitter and unexpected cold. _]

"Help Dunark back in, Mart, " he directed crisply. "Hop in, girls--we'vegot to take these folks back up where they can live. "

Seaton shut the door, and as everyone lay flat in the seats Crane, whohad taken the controls, applied one notch of power and the huge vesselleaped upward. Miles of altitude were gained before Crane brought thecruiser to a stop and locked her in place with an anchoring attractor. 

"There, " he remarked calmly, "gravitation here is approximately the sameas it is upon Osnome. "

"Yes, " put in Seaton, standing up and shedding clothing in alldirections, "and I rise to remark that we'd better undress as far as thelaw allows--perhaps farther. I never did like Osnomian ideas ofcomfortable warmth, but we can endure it by peeling down tobedrock----"

 * * * * *

Sitar jumped up happily, completely restored, and the three women threwtheir arms around each other. 

"What a horrible, terrible, frightful world!" exclaimed Sitar, her eyeswidening as she thought of her first experience with our earth. "Much asI love you, I shall never dare try to visit you again. I have never beenable to understand why you Terrestrials wear what you call 'clothes, 'nor why you are so terribly, brutally strong. Now I really know--I willfeel the utterly cold and savage embrace of that awful earth of yours aslong as I live!"

"Oh, it's not so bad, Sitar. " Seaton, who was shaking both of Dunark'shands vigorously, assured her over his shoulder. "All depends on whereyou were raised. We like it that way, and Osnome gives us the pip. Butyou poor fish, " turning again to Dunark, "with all my brains inside yourskull, you should have known what you were letting yourself in for. "

"That's true, after a fashion, " Dunark admitted, "but your brain told methat Washington was _hot_. If I'd have thought to recalculate youractual Fahrenheit degrees into our loro ... But that figures onlyforty-seven and, while very cold, we could have endured it--wait aminute, I'm getting it. You have what you call 'seasons. ' This, then, must be your 'winter. ' Right?"

"Right the first time. That's the way your brain works behind my pan, too. I could figure anything out all right after it happened, but hardlyever beforehand--so I guess I can't blame you much, at that. But what Iwant to know is, how'd you get here? It would take more than mybrains--you can't see our sun from anywhere near Osnome, even if youknew exactly where to look for it. "

"Easy. Remember those wrecked instruments you threw out of _Skylark I_when we built _Skylark II_?" Having every minute detail of theconfiguration of Seaton's brain engraved upon his own, Dunark spokeEnglish in Seaton's own characteristic careless fashion. Only whenthinking deeply or discussing abstruse matter did Seaton employ thecarefully selected and precise phrasing, which he knew so well how touse. "Well, none of them was beyond repair and the juice was still onmost of them. One was an object-compass bearing on the Earth. We simplyfixed the bearings, put on some minor improvements, and here we are. "

"Let us all sit down and be comfortable, " he continued, changing intothe Kondalian tongue without a break, "and I will explain why we havecome. We are in most desperate need of two things which you alone cansupply--salt, and that strange metal, 'X'. Salt I know you have in greatabundance, but I know that you have very little of the metal. You haveonly the one compass upon that planet?"

"That's all--one is all we set on it. However, we've got close to half aton of the metal on hand--you can have all you want. "

"Even if I took it all, which I would not like to do, that would be lessthan half enough. We must have at least one of your tons, and two tonswould be better. "

"Two tons! Holy cat! Are you going to plate a fleet of battle cruisers?"

"More than that. We must plate an area of copper of some ten thousandsquare miles--in fact, the very life of our entire race depends uponit. "

"It's this way, " he continued, as the four earth-beings stared at him inwonder. "Shortly after you left Osnome we were invaded by theinhabitants of the third planet of our fourteenth sun. Luckily for usthey landed upon Mardonale, and in less than two days there was not asingle Osnomian left alive upon that half of the planet. They wiped outour grand fleet in one brief engagement, and it was only the _Kondal_and a few more like her that enabled us to keep them from crossing theocean. Even with our full force of these vessels, we cannot defeat them. Our regular Kondalian weapons were useless. We shot explosive coppercharges against them of such size as to cause earthquakes all overOsnome, without seriously crippling their defenses. Their offensiveweapons are almost irresistible--they have generators that burn arenakas though it were so much paper, and a series of deadly frequenciesagainst which only a copper-driven ray screen is effective, and eventhat does not stand up long. "

"How come you lasted till now, then?" asked Seaton. 

"They have nothing like the _Skylark_, and no knowledge of intra-atomicenergy. Therefore their space-ships are of the rocket type, and for thatreason they can cross only at the exact time of conjunction, or whateveryou call it--no, not conjunction, exactly, either, since the two planetsdo not revolve around the same sun: but when they are closest together. Our solar system is so complex, you know, that unless the trips aretimed exactly, to the hour, the vessels will not be able to land uponOsnome, but will be drawn aside and be lost, if not actually drawn intothe vast central sun. Although it may not have occurred to you, a littlereflection will show that the inhabitants of all the central planets, such as Osnome, must perforce be absolutely ignorant of astronomy, andof all the wonders of outer space. Before your coming we knew nothingbeyond our own solar system, and very little of that. We knew of theexistence of only such of the closest planets as were brilliant enoughto be seen in our continuous sunlight, and they were few. Immediatelyafter your coming I gave your knowledge of astronomy to a group of ourforemost physicists and mathematicians, and they have been workingceaselessly from space-ships--close enough so that observations could berecalculated to Osnome, and yet far enough away to afford perfect'seeing, ' as you call it. "

"But I don't know any more about astronomy than a pig does aboutSunday, " protested Seaton. 

"Your knowledge of details is, of course, incomplete, " conceded Dunark, "but the detailed knowledge of the best of your Earthly astronomerswould not help us a great deal, since we are so far removed from you inspace. You, however, have a very clear and solid knowledge of thefundamentals of the science, and that is what we need, above allthings. "

"Well, maybe you're right, at that. I do know the general theory of themotions, and I studied some Celestial Mechanics. I'm awfully weak onadvanced theory, though, as you'll find out when you get that far. "

"Perhaps--but since our enemies have no knowledge of astronomy whatever, it is not surprising that their rocket-ships can be launched only at oneparticularly favorable time; for there are many planets and satellites, of which they can know nothing, to throw their vessels off the course. 

"Some material essential to the operation of their war machineryapparently must come from their own planet, for they have ceasedattacking, have dug in, and are simply holding their ground. It may bethat they had not anticipated as much resistance as we could offer withspace-ships and intra-atomic energy. At any rate, they have apparentlysaved enough of that material to enable them to hold out until the nextconjunction--I cannot think of a better word for it--shall occur. Ourforces are attacking constantly, with all the armament at our command, but it is certain that if the next conjunction is allowed to occur, itmeans the end of the entire Kondalian nation. "'

"What d'you mean 'if the next conjunction is _allowed_ to occur?'"interjected Seaton. "Nobody can stop it. "

"I am stopping it, " Dunark stated quietly, grim purpose in everylineament. "That conjunction shall never occur. That is why I must havethe vast quantities of salt and 'X'. We are building abutments of arenakupon the first satellite of our seventh planet, and upon our sixthplanet itself. We shall cover them with plated active copper, andinstall chronometers to throw the switches at precisely the rightmoment. We have calculated the exact times, places, and magnitudes ofthe forces to be used. We shall throw the sixth planet some distance outof its orbit, and force the first satellite of the seventh planet clearout of that planet's influence. The two bodies whose motions we havethus changed will collide in such a way that the resultant body willmeet the planet of our enemies in head-on collision, long before thenext conjunction. The two bodies will be of almost equal masses, andwill have opposite and approximately equal velocities; hence theresultant fused or gaseous mass will be practically without velocity andwill fall directly into the fourteenth sun. "

"Wouldn't it be easier to destroy it with an explosive copper bomb?"

"Easier, yes, but much more dangerous to the rest of our solar system. We cannot calculate exactly the effect of the collisions we areplanning--but it is almost certain that an explosion of sufficientviolence to destroy all life upon the planet would disturb its motionsufficiently to endanger the entire system. The way we have in mind willsimply allow the planet and one satellite to drop out quietly--the otherplanets of the same sun will soon adjust themselves to the newconditions, and the system at large will be practically unaffected--atleast, so we believe. "

Seaton's eyes narrowed as his thoughts turned to the quantities ofcopper and "X" required and to the engineering features of the project;Crane's first thought was of the mathematics involved in a computationof that magnitude and character; Dorothy's quick reaction was one ofpure horror. 

"He can't, Dick! He mustn't! It would be too ghastly! It'soutrageous--it's unthinkable--it's--it's--it's simply too horrible!" Herviolet eyes flamed, and Margaret joined in:

"That would be awful, Martin. Think of the destruction of a wholeplanet--of an entire world--with all its inhabitants! It makes meshudder, even to think of it. "

 * * * * *

Dunark leaped to his feet, ablaze. But before he could say a word, Seaton silenced him. 

"Shut up, Dunark! Pipe down! Don't say anything you'll be sorry for--let_me_ tell 'em! Close your mouth, I tell you!" as Dunark still tried toget a word in, "I tell you I'll tell 'em, and when I tell 'em they staytold! Now listen, you two girls--you're going off half-cocked and you'reboth full of little red ants. What do you think Dunark is up against?Sherman chirped it when he described war--and this is a real he-war; abrand totally unknown on our Earth. It isn't a question of whether ornot to destroy a population--the only question is which population is tobe destroyed. One of them's got to go. Remember those folks go into awar thoroughly, and there isn't a thought, even remotely resembling ourconception of mercy in any of their minds on either side. If Dunark'splans go through the enemy nation will be wiped out. That is horrible, of course. But on the other hand, if we block him off from salt and 'X, 'the entire Kondalian nation will be destroyed just as thoroughly andefficiently, and even more horribly--not one man, woman, or child wouldbe spared. Which nation do you want saved? Play that over a couple oftimes on your adding machine, Dot, and let me know what you get. "

Dorothy, taken aback, opened and closed her mouth twice before she foundher voice. 

"But, Dick, they couldn't possibly. Would they kill them all, Dick?Surely they wouldn't--they _couldn't_. "

"Surely they would--and could. They do--it's good technique in thoseparts of the Galaxy. Dunark has just told us of how they killed everymember of the entire race of Mardonalians, in forty hours. Kondal wouldgo the same way. Don't kid yourself, Dimples--don't be a child. War upthere is _no_ species of pink tea, believe me--half of my brain has beenthrough thirty years of Osnomian warfare, and I know precisely what I'mtalking about. Let's take a vote. Personally, I'm in favor of Osnome. Mart?"

"Osnome. "

"Dottie? Peggy?" Both remained silent for some time, then Dorothy turnedto Margaret. 

"You tell him, Peggy--we both feel the same way. "

"Dick, you know that we wouldn't want the Kondalians destroyed--but theother is so--such a--well, such an utter _shrecklichkeit_--isn't theresome other way out?"

"I'm afraid not--but if there is any other possible way out, I'll do myda--to help find it, " he promised. "The ayes have it. Dunark, we'll skipover to that 'X' planet and load you up. "

Dunark grasped Seaton's hand. "Thanks, Dick, " he said, simply. "Butbefore you help me farther, and lest I might be in some degree sailingunder false colors, I must tell you that, wearer of the seven disksthough you are, Overlord of Osnome though you are, my brain brotherthough you are; had you decided against me, nothing but my death couldhave kept me away from that salt and your 'X' compass. "

"Why sure, " assented Seaton, in surprise. "Why not? Fair enough! Anybodywould do the same--don't let that bother you. "

"How is your supply of platinum?" asked Dunark. 

"Mighty low. We had about decided to hop over there after some. I wantsome of your textbooks on electricity and so on, too. I see you broughta load of platinum with you. "

"Yes, a few hundred tons. We also brought along an assortment of books Iknew you would be interested in, a box of radium, a few small bags ofgems of various kinds, and some of our fabrics, Sitar thought yourKarfediro would like to have. While we are here, I would like to getsome books on chemistry and some other things. "

"We'll get you the Congressional Library, if you want it, and anythingelse you think you'd like. Well, gang, let's go places and do things!What to do, Mart?"

"We had better drop back to Earth, have the laborers unload theplatinum, and load on the salt, books, and other things. Then both shipswill go to the 'X' planet, as we will each want compasses on it, forfuture use. While we are loading, I should like to begin remodeling ourinstruments; to make them something like these; with Dunark'spermission. These instruments are wonders, Dick--vastly ahead ofanything I have ever seen. Come and look at them, if you want to seesomething really beautiful. "

"Coming up. But say, Mart, while I think of it, we mustn't forget toinstall a zone-of-force apparatus on this boat, too. Even though wecan't use it intelligently, it certainly would be a winner as a defense. We couldn't hurt anybody through it, of course, but if we should happento be getting licked anywhere, all we'd have to do would be to wrapourselves up in it. They couldn't touch us. Nothing in the etherspectrum is corkscrewy enough to get through it. "

"That's the second idea you've had since I've known you, Dicky, " Dorothysmiled at Crane. "Do you think he should be allowed to run at large, Martin?"

"That is a real idea. We may need it--you never can tell. Even if wenever find any other use for the zone of force, that one is amplysufficient to justify its installation. "

"Yes, it would be, for you--and I'm getting to be a regular Safety-FirstSimon myself, since they opened up on us. What about those instruments?"

 * * * * *

The three men gathered around the instrument-board and Dunark explainedthe changes he had made--and to such men as Seaton and Crane it was soonevident that they were examining an installation embodying sheerperfection of instrumental control--a system which only those wonderinstrument-makers, the Osnomians, could have devised. The newobject-compasses were housed in arenak cases after setting, and thehousings were then exhausted to the highest attainable vacuum. Oscillation was set up by means of one carefully standardized electricalimpulse, instead of by the clumsy finger-touch Seaton had used. Thebearings, built of arenak and Osnomian jewels, were as strong as theaxles of a truck and yet were almost perfectly frictionless. 

"I like them myself, " admitted Dunark. "Without a load the needles willrotate freely more than a thousand hours on the primary impulse, asagainst a few minutes in the old type; and under load they are manythousands of times as sensitive. "

"You're a blinding flash and a deafening report, ace!" declared Seaton, enthusiastically. "That compass is as far ahead of my model as the_Skylark_ is ahead of Wright's first glider. "

The other instruments were no less noteworthy. Dunark had adopted thePerkins telephone system, but had improved it until it was scarcelyrecognized and had made it capable of almost unlimited range. Even theguns--heavy rapid-firers, mounted in spherical bearings in thewalls--were aimed and fired by remote control, from the board. He haddevised full automatic steering controls; and meters and recorders foracceleration, velocity, distance, and flight-angle. He had perfected asystem of periscopic vision, which enabled the pilot to see the entireoutside surfaces of the shell, and to look toward any point of theheavens without interference. 

"This kind of takes my eye, too, prince, " Seaton said, as he seatedhimself, swung a large, concave disk in front of him, and experimentedwith levers and dials. "You certainly can't call this thing aperiscope--it's no more a periscope than I am a polyp. When you lookthrough this plate, it's better than looking out of a window--itsubtends more than the angle of vision, so that you can't see anythingbut out-of-doors--I thought for a second I was going to fall out. Whatdo you call 'em, Dunark?"

"Kraloto. That would be in English ... Seeing-plate? Or rather, call it'visiplate'. "

"That's a good word. Mart, take a look if you want to see a set ofperfect lenses and prisms. "

Crane looked into the visiplate and gasped. The vessel haddisappeared--he was looking directly down upon the Earth below him!

"No trace of chromatic, spherical, or astigmatic aberration, " hereported in surprise. "The refracting system is invisible--it seems asthough nothing intervenes between the eye and the object. You perfectedall these things since we left Osnome, Dunark? You are in a class byyourself. I could not even copy them in less than a month, and I nevercould have invented them. "

"I did not do it alone, by any means. The Society of Instrument-Makers, of which I am only one member, installed and tested more than a hundredsystems. This one represents the best features of all the systems tried. It will not be necessary for you to copy them. I brought along twocomplete duplicate sets for the _Skylark_, as well as a dozen or so ofthe compasses. I thought that perhaps these particular improvementsmight not have occurred to you, since you Terrestrials are not asfamiliar as we are with complex instrumental work. "

Crane and Seaton spoke together. 

"That was thoughtful of you, Dunark, and we appreciated it fully. "

"That puts four more palms on your _Croix de Guerre_, ace. Thanks alot. "

"Say, Dick, " called Dorothy, from her seat near the wall. "If we'regoing down to the ground, how about Sitar?"

"By lying down and not doing anything, and by staying in the vessel, where it is warm, she will be all right for the short time we must stayhere, " Dunark answered for his wife. "I will help all I can, but I donot know how much that will be. "

"It isn't so bad lying down. " Sitar agreed. "I don't like your Earth abit, but I can stand it a little while. Anyway, I _must_ stand it, sowhy worry about it?"

"'At-a-girl!" cheered Seaton. "And as for you, Dunark, you'll pass thetime just like Sitar does--lying down. If you do much chasing arounddown there where we live, you're apt to get your lights and livertwisted all out of shape--so you'll stay put, horizontal. We've got menenough around the shop to eat this cargo in three hours, let aloneunload it. While they unload and load you up, we'll install the zoneapparatus, put a compass on you, put one of yours on us, and then youcan hop back up here where you're comfortable. Then as soon as we canget the 'Lark' ready for the trip, we'll jump up here and be on our way. Everything clear? Cut the rope, Mart--let the old bucket drop!"

CHAPTER III

Skylark Two Sets Out

"Say, Mart, I just got conscious! It never occurred to me until justnow, as Dunark left, that I'm as good an instrument-maker as Dunarkis--the same one, in fact--and I've got a hunch. You know that needle onDuQuesne hasn't been working for quite a while? Well, I don't believeit's out of commission at all. I think he's gone somewhere, so far awaythat it can't read on him. I'm going to house it in, re-jewel it, andfind out where he is. "

"An excellent idea. He has even you worrying, and as for myself----"

"Worrying! That bird is simply pulling my cork! I'm so scared he'll getDottie, that I'm running around in circles and biting myself in thesmall of the back. He's got a hen on, you can bet your shirt onthat--what gravels me is he's aiming at the girls, not at us or thejob. "

"I should say that someone had aimed at you fairly accurately, judgingby the number of bullets stopped lately by that arenak armor of yours. Iwish that I could take some of the strain, but they are centering alltheir attacks upon you. "

"Yes--I can't stick my nose outside our yard without somebody throwinglead at it. It's funny, too. You're more important to the power-plantthan I am. "

"You should know why. They are not afraid of me. While my spirit iswilling enough, it was your skill and rapidity with a pistol thatfrustrated four attempts at abduction in as many days. It is positivelyuncanny, the way you explode into action. With all my practice, I didn'teven have my pistol out yesterday until it was all over. And besidesPrescott's guards, we had four policemen with us--detailed to 'guard'us--because of the number of gunmen you had to kill before that!"

"It ain't practice so much, Mart--it's a gift. I've always been fast, and I react automatically. You think first, that's why you're slow. Those cops were funny. They didn't know what it was all about until itwas all over--all but calling the wagon. That was the worst yet. One oftheir slugs struck directly in front of my left eye--it was kinda funny, at that, seeing it splash--and I thought I was inside a boiler in ariveting shop when those machine-guns cut loose. It was hectic, allright, while it lasted. But one thing I'll tell the attentiveworld--we're not doing all the worrying. Very few, if any, of thegangsters they send after us are getting back. Wonder what they thinkwhen they shoot at us and we don't drop?

"But I'm afraid I'm beginning to crack, Mart, " Seaton went on, his voicebecoming grimly earnest. "I don't like anything about this whole mess. Idon't like all four of us wearing armor all the time. I don't likeliving constantly under guard. I don't like all this killing. And thisconstant menace of losing Dorothy, if I let her out of my sight for fiveseconds, is driving me mad. To tell you the real truth, I'm devilishlyafraid that they'll figure out something that'll work. I could grab offtwo women, or kill two men, if they had armor and guns enough to stock awar. I believe that DuQuesne could, too--and the rest of that buncharen't imbeciles, either, by any means. I won't feel safe until all fourof us are in the _Skylark_ and a long ways from here. I'm sure gladwe're pulling out; and I don't intend to come back until I get a goodline on DuQuesne. He's the bird I'm going to get, and get right--andwhen I get him I'll tell the cock-eyed world he'll stay got. There won'tbe any two atoms of his entire carcass left in the same township. Imeant that promise when I gave it to him!"

"He realizes that fully. He knows that it is now definitely either hislife or our own, and he is really dangerous. When he took Steel over andopened war upon us, he did it with his eyes wide open. With his ideas, he must have a monopoly of 'X' or nothing; and he knows the onlypossible way of getting it. However, you and I both know that he wouldnot let either one of us live, even though we surrendered. "

"You chirped it! But that guy's going to find he's started something, unless I get paralysis of the intentions. Well, how about turning up afew R. P. M. ? We don't want to keep Dunark waiting too long. "

"There is very little to do beyond installing the new instruments; andthat is nearly done. We can finish pumping out the compass _en route_. You have already installed every weapon of offense and defense known toeither Earthly or Osnomian warfare, including those ray-generators andscreens you moaned so about not having during the battle over Kondal. Ibelieve that we have on board every article for which either of us hasbeen able to imagine even the slightest use. "

"Yes, we've got her so full of plunder that there's hardly room left forquarters. You ain't figuring on taking anybody but Shiro along, areyou?"

"No. I suppose there is no real necessity for taking even him, but hewants very much to go, and may prove himself useful. "

"I'll say he'll be useful. None of us really enjoys polishing brass orwashing dishes--and besides, he's one star cook and an A-1 housekeeper. "

 * * * * *

The installation of the new instruments was soon completed, and whileDorothy and Margaret made last-minute preparations for departure, themen called a meeting of the managing directors and department heads ofthe "Seaton-Crane Co. , Engineers. " The chiefs gave brief reports inturn. Units Number One and Number Two of the immense new centralsuper-power plant were in continuous operation. Number Three was almostready to cut in. Number Four was being rushed to completion. Number Fivewas well under way. The research laboratory was keeping well up on itsproblems. Troubles were less than had been anticipated. Financially, itwas a gold mine. With no expense for boilers or fuel, and thus with arelatively small investment in plant and a very small operating cost, they were selling power at one-sixth of prevailing rates, and stillprofits were almost paying for all new construction. With the completionof Number Five, rates would be reduced still further. 

"In short, Dad, everything's slick, " remarked Seaton to Mr. Vaneman, after the others had gone. 

"Yes; your plan of getting the best men possible, paying them well, andgiving them complete authority and sole responsibility, has worked toperfection. I have never seen an undertaking of such size go forward sosmoothly and with such fine co-operation. "

"That's the way we wanted it. We hand-picked the directors, and put itup to you, strictly. You did the same to the managers. Everybody knowsthat his end is up to him, and him alone--so he digs in. "

"However, Dick, while everything at the works is so fine, when is thisother thing going to break?"

"We've won all the way so far, but I'm afraid something's about due. That's the big reason I want to get Dot away for a while. You know whatthey're up to?"

"Too well, " the older man answered. "Dottie or Mrs. Crane, or both. Hermother--she is telling her goodbye now--and I agree that the danger hereis greater than out there. "

"Danger out there? With the old can fixed the way she is now, Dot's alot safer there than you are in bed. Your house might fall down, youknow. "

"You're probably right, son--I know you, and I know Martin Crane. Together, and in the _Skylark_, I believe you invincible. "

"All set, Dick?" asked Dorothy, appearing in the doorway. 

"All set. You've got the dope for Prescott and everybody Dad. We may beback in six months, or we may see something to investigate, and be gonea year or so. Don't begin to lose any sleep until after we've beenout--oh, say three years. We'll make it a point to be back by then. "

Farewells were said; the party embarked, and _Skylark Two_ shot upward. Seaton flipped a phone set over his head and spoke. 

"Dunark!... Coming out, heading directly for 'X'.... No, better stayquite a ways off to one side when we get going good.... Yes, I'maccelerating twenty six point oh oh oh.... Yes. I'll call you now andthen, until the radio waves get lost, to check the course with you. After that, keep on the last course, reverse at the calculated distance, and by the time we're pretty well slowed down, we'll feel around foreach other with the compasses and go in together.... Right.... Uh-huh.... Fine! So long!"

In order that the two vessels should keep reasonably close together, ithad been agreed that each should be held at an acceleration of exactlytwenty-six feet per second, positive and negative. This figurerepresented a compromise between the gravitational forces of the twoworlds upon which the different parties lived. While considerably lessthan the acceleration of gravitation at the surface of the Earth, theTerrestrials could readily accustom themselves to it; and it was notenough greater than that of Osnome to hamper seriously the activities ofthe green people. 

Well clear of the Earth's influence, Seaton assured himself thateverything was functioning properly, then stretched to his full height, wreathed his arms over his head, and heaved a deep sigh of relief. 

"Folks, " he declared, "This is the first time I've felt right since wegot out of this old bottle. Why, I feel so good a cat could walk up tome and scratch me right in the eye, and I wouldn't even scratch back. Yowp! I'm a wild Siberian catamount, and this is my night to howl. Whee-ee-yerow!"

Dorothy laughed, a gay, lilting carol. 

"Haven't I always told you he had cat blood in him, Peggy? Just like alltomcats, every once in a while he has to stretch his claws and yowl. Butgo ahead, Dickie, I like it--this is the first uproar you've made inweeks. I believe I'll join you!"

"It most certainly is a relief to get this load off our minds: I coulddo a little ladylike yowling myself, " Margaret said; and Crane, lyingcompletely at ease, a thin spiral of smoke curling upward from hiscigarette, nodded agreement. 

"Dick's yowling is quite expressive at times. All of us feel the sameway, but some of us are unable to express ourselves quite so vividly. However, it is past bedtime, and we should organize our crew. Shall wedo it as we did before?"

"No, it isn't necessary. Everything is automatic. The bar is heldparallel to the guiding compass, and signal bells ring whenever any ofthe instruments show a trace of abnormal behavior. Don't forget thatthere is at least one meter registering and recording every factor ofour flight. With this control system we can't get into any such jam aswe did last trip. "

"Surely you are not suggesting that we run all night with no one at thecontrols?"

"Exactly that. A man camping at this board is painting the lily andgilding fine gold. Awake or asleep nobody need be closer to it than isnecessary to hear a bell if one should ring, and you can hear them allover the ship. Furthermore, I'll bet a hat we won't hear a signal aweek. Simply as added precaution, though, I've run lines so that anytime one of these signals lets go, it sounds a buzzer on the head of ourbed, so I'm automatically taking the night shift. Remember, Mart, theseinstruments are thousands of times as sensitive as the keenest humansenses--they'll spot trouble long before we could, even if we werelooking right at it. "

"Of course, you understand these instruments much better than I do, asyet. If you trust them, I am perfectly willing to do the same. Goodnight. "

 * * * * *

Seaton sat down and Dorothy nestled beside him, her head snuggled intothe curve of his shoulder. 

"Sleepy, cuddle-pup?"

"Heavens, no! I couldn't sleep now, lover--could you?"

"Not any. What's the use?"

His arm tightened around her. Apparently motionless to its passengers, the cruiser bored serenely on into space, with ever-mounting velocity. There was not the faintest sound, not the slightest vibration--only thepeculiar violet glow surrounding the shining copper cylinder in itsmassive universal bearing gave any indication of the thousands ofkilowatts being generated in the mighty intra-atomic power-plant. Seatonstudied it thoughtfully. 

"You know, if that violet aura and copper bar were a little different inshade and tone of color, they'd be just like your eyes and hair, " heremarked finally. 

"You burn me up, Dick!" she retorted, her entrancing low chucklebubbling through her words. "You do say the weirdest things at times!Possibly they would--and if the moon were made of different stuff thanit is and had a different color, it might be green cheese, too! What saywe go over and look at the stars?"

"As you were, Rufus!" he commanded sternly. "Don't move amillimeter--you're a drive fit, right where you are. I'll get you anystars you want, and bring them right in here to you. What constellationwould you like? I'll get you the Southern Cross--we never see it inWashington. "

"No, I want something familiar; the Pleiades or the Big Dipper--no, getme Canis Major--'where Sirius, brightest jewel in the diadem of thefirmament, holds sway', " she quoted. "There! Thought I'd forgotten allthe astronomy you ever taught me, didn't you? Think you can find it?"

"Sure. Declination about minus twenty, as I remember it, and rightascension between six and seven hours. Let's see--where would that befrom our course?"

He thought for a moment, manipulated several levers and dials, snappedoff the lights, and swung number one exterior visiplate around, directlybefore their eyes. 

"Oh.... Oh ... This is magnificent, Dick!" she exclaimed. "It'sstupendous. It seems as though we were right out there in space itself, and not in here at all. It's ... It's just too perfectly darnwonderful!"

Although neither of them was unacquainted with interstellar space, itpresents a spectacle that never fails to awe even the most seasonedobserver: and no human being had ever before viewed the wonders of spacefrom such a coign of vantage. Thus the two fell silent and awed as theygazed out into the abysmal depths of the interstellar void. The darknessof Earthly night is ameliorated by light-rays scattered by theatmosphere: the stars twinkle and scintillate and their light isdiffused, because of the same medium. But here, what a contrast! Theysaw the utter, absolute darkness of the complete absence of all light:and upon that indescribable blackness they beheld superimposed thealmost unbearable brilliance of enormous suns concentrated intomathematical points, dimensionless. Sirius blazed in blue-whitesplendor, dominating the lesser members of his constellation, a minutebut intensely brilliant diamond upon a field of black velvet--hisrefulgence unmarred by any trace of scintillation or distortion. 

As Seaton slowly shifted the field of vision, angling toward and acrossthe celestial equator and the ecliptic, they beheld in turn mightyRigel; The Belt, headed by dazzlingly brilliant-white Delta-Orionis; redBetelguese; storied Aldebaran, the friend of mariners; and theastronomically constant Pleiades. 

Seaton's arm contracted, swinging Dorothy into his embrace; their lipsmet and held. 

"Isn't it wonderful, lover, " she murmured, "to be out here in space thisway, together, away from all our troubles and worries? I am so happy. "

"It's all of that, sweetheart mine!"

"I almost died, every time they shot at you. Suppose your armor crackedor something? I wouldn't want to go on living--I'd just naturally die!"

"I'm glad it didn't--and I'm twice as glad that they didn't succeed ingrabbing you away from me.... " His jaw set rigidly, his gray eyes becamehard as tempered drills. "Blackie DuQuesne has something coming to him. So far, I have always paid my debts.... I shall settle with him ... INFULL. "

"That was an awfully quick change of subject, " he continued, his voicechanging instantly into a lighter vein, "but that's one penalty of beinghuman. We can't live in high altitudes all our lives--if we could therewould be no thrill in ascending them so often. 

"Yes, we love each other just the same--more than anybody else I everheard of. " After a moment she eyed him shrewdly and continued:

"You've got something on your mind besides that tangled mop of hair, bigboy. Tell it to Red-Top. "

"Nothing much.... "

"Come on, 'fess up--it's good for the soul. You can't fool your ownwife, guy; I know your little winning ways too well. "

"Let me finish, woman; I was about to bare my very soul. Toresume--nothing much to go on but a hunch, but I think DuQuesne'ssomewhere out here in the great open spaces, where men are sometimesschemers as well as men; and if so, I'm after him--foot, horse, andmarines. "

"That object compass?"

"Yes. You see, I built that thing myself, and I know darn well it isn'tout of order. It's still on him, but doesn't indicate. Ergo, he is toofar away to reach--and with his weight, I could find him anywhere up toabout one and a half light-years. If he wants to go that far away fromhome, where is his logical destination? It can't be anywhere but Osnome, since that is the only place we stopped at for any length of time--theonly place where he could have learned anything. He's learned something, or found something useful to him there, just as we did. That is certain, since he is not the type of man to do anything without a purpose. UncleDudley is on his trail--and will be able to locate him pretty soon. "

"When will you get that new compass-case exhausted to a skillionth of awhillimeter or something, whatever it is? I thought Dunark said it tookfive hundred hours of pumping to get it where he wanted it?"

"It did him--but while the Osnomians are wonders at some things, they'renot so hot at others. You see, I've got three pumps on that job, inseries. First, a Rodebush-Michalek super-pump[A] then, backing that, anordinary mercury-vapor pump, and last, backing both the others, aCenco-Hyvac motor-driven oil pump. In less than fifty hours that casewill be as empty as a flapper's skull. Just to make sure of cleaning upthe last infinitesimal traces, though, I'm going to flash a gettercharge of tantalum in it. After that, the atmosphere in that case willbe tenuous--take my word for it. "

 [A] J. Am. Chem. Soc. 51: 3, 750. 

"I'll have to; most of that contribution to science being over my headlike a circus tent. What say we let _Skylark Two_ drift by herself for awhile, and catch us some of Nature's sweet restorer?"

CHAPTER IV

The Zone of Force Is Tested

Seaton strode into the control room with a small oblong box in his hand. Crane was seated at the desk, poring over an abstruse mathematicaltreatise in _Science_. Margaret was working upon a bit of embroidery. Dorothy, seated upon a cushion on the floor with one foot tucked underher, was reading, her hand straying from time to time to a box ofchocolates conveniently near. 

"Well, this is a peaceful, home-like scene--too bad to bust it up. Justfinished sealing off and flashing out this case, Mart. Going to see ifshe'll read. Want to take a look?"

He placed the compass upon the plane table, so that its final bearingcould be read upon the master circles controlled by the gyroscopes; thensimultaneously started his stop-watch and pressed the button whichcaused a minute couple to be applied to the needle. Instantly the needlebegan to revolve, and for many minutes there was no apparent change inits motion in either the primary or secondary bearings. 

"Do you suppose it is out of order, after all?" asked Crane, regretfully. 

"I don't think so, " Seaton pondered. "You see, they weren't designed toindicate such distances on such small objects as men, so I threw amillion ohms in series with the impulse. That cuts down the freerotation to less than half an hour, and increases the sensitivity to thelimit. There, isn't she trying to quit it?"

"Yes, it is settling down. It must be on him still. " Finally theultra-sensitive needle came to rest. When it had done so, Seatoncalculated the distance, read the direction, and made a reading uponOsnome. 

"He's there, all right. Bearings agree, and distances check to within alight-year, which is as close as we can hope to check on as small a massas a man. Well, that's that--nothing to do about it until after we getthere. One sure thing, Mart--we're not coming straight back home from'X'. "

"No, an investigation is indicated. "

"Well, that puts me out of a job. What to do? Don't want to study, likeyou. Can't crochet, like Peg. Darned if I'll sit cross-legged on apillow and eat candy, like that Titian blonde over there on the floor. Iknow what--I'll build me a mechanical educator and teach Shiro to talkEnglish instead of that mess of language he indulges in. How'd that be, Mart?"

"Don't do it, " put in Dorothy, positively. "He's just too perfect theway he is. Especially don't do it if he'd talk the way you do--or couldyou teach him to talk the way you write?"

"Ouch! That's a dirty dig. However, Mrs. Seaton, I am able and willingto defend my customary mode of speech. You realize that the spoken wordis ephemeral, whereas the thought, whose nuances have once beenexpressed in imperishable print is not subject to revision--itscrudities can never be remodeled into more subtle, more graciousshading. It is my contention that, due to these inescapable conditions, the mental effort necessitated by the employment of nice distinctions insense and meaning of words and a slavish adherence to the dictates ofthe more precise grammarians should be reserved for the print.... "

He broke off as Dorothy, in one lithe motion, rose and hurled her pillowat his head. 

"Choke him, somebody! Perhaps you had better build it, Dick, after all. "

"I believe that he would like it, Dick. He is trying hard to learn, andthe continuous use of a dictionary is undoubtedly a nuisance to him. "

"I'll ask him. Shiro!"

"You have call, sir?" Shiro entered the room from his galley, with hisunfailing bow. 

"Yes. How'd you like to learn to talk English like Crane theredoes--without taking lessons?"

Shiro smiled doubtfully, unable to take such a thought seriously. 

"Yes, it can be done, " Crane assured him. "Doctor Seaton can build amachine which will teach you all at once, if you like. "

"I like, sir, enormously, yes, sir. I years study and pore, buthonorable English extraordinary difference from Nipponese--no can do. Dictionary useful but ... " he flipped pages dexterously, "extremelycumbrous. If honorable Seaton can do, shall be extreme ... Gratification. "

He bowed again, smiled, and went out. 

"I'll do just that little thing. So long, folks, I'm going up to theshop. "

 * * * * *

Day after day the _Skylark_ plunged through the vast emptiness of theinterstellar reaches. At the end of each second she was travelingexactly twenty-six feet per second faster than she had been at itsbeginning; and as day after day passed, her velocity mounted intofigures which became meaningless, even when expressed in thousands ofmiles per second. Still she seemed stationary to her occupants, and onlydifferent from a vessel motionless upon the surface of the Earth in thatobjects within her hull had lost three-sixteenths of their normalweight. Acceleration, too, had its effect. Only the rapidity with whichthe closer suns and their planets were passed gave any indication of thefrightful speed at which they were being hurtled along by theinconceivable power of that disintegrating copper bar. 

When the vessel was nearly half-way to "X, " the bar was reversed inorder to change the sign of their acceleration, and the hollow spherespun through an angle of one hundred and eighty degrees around themotionless cage which housed the enormous gyroscopes. Still apparentlymotionless and exactly as she had been before, the _Skylark_ was nowactually traveling in a direction which seemed "down" and with avelocity which was being constantly decreased by the amount of theirnegative acceleration. 

A few days after the bar had been reversed Seaton announced that themechanical educator was complete, and brought it into the control room. 

In appearance it was not unlike a large radio set, but it was infinitelymore complex. It possessed numerous tubes, kino-lamps, andphoto-electric cells, as well as many coils of peculiar design--therewere dozens of dials and knobs, and a multiple set of head-harnesses. 

"How can a thing like that possibly work as it does?" asked Crane. "Iknow that it does work, but I could scarcely believe it, even after ithad educated me. "

"That is nothing like the one Dunark used, Dick, " objected Dorothy. "Howcome?"

"I'll answer you first, Dot. This is an improved model--it has quite afew gadgets of my own in it. Now, Mart, as to how it works--it isn't sofunny after you understand it--it's a lot like radio in that respect. Itoperates on a band of frequencies lying between the longest light andheat waves and the shortest radio waves. This thing here is thegenerator of those waves and a very heavy power amplifier. The headsetsare stereoscopic transmitters, taking or receiving a three-dimensionalview. Nearly all matter is transparent to those waves; for instancebones, hair, and so on. However, cerebin, a cerebroside peculiar to thethinking structure of the brain, is opaque to them. Dunark, not knowingchemistry, didn't know why the educator worked or what it worked on--hefound out by experiment that it did work; just as we found out aboutelectricity. This three-dimensional model, or view, or whatever you wantto call it, is converted into electricity in the headsets, and theresulting modulated wave goes back to the educator. There it isheterodyned with another wave--this second frequency was found afterthousands of trials and is, I believe, the exact frequency existing inthe optic nerves themselves--and sent to the receiving headset. Modulated as it is, and producing a three-dimensional picture, afterrectification in the receiver, it reproduces exactly what has been'viewed, ' if due allowance has been made for the size and configurationof the different brains involved in the transfer. You remember a sort offlash--a sensation of seeing something--when the educator worked onyou? Well, you did see it, just as though it had been transmitted to thebrain by the optic nerve, but everything came at once, so the impressionof sight was confused. The result in the brain, however, was clear andpermanent. The only drawback is that you haven't the visual memory ofwhat you have learned, and that sometimes makes it hard to use yourknowledge. You don't know whether you know anything about a certainsubject or not until after you go digging around in your brain lookingfor it. "

"I see, " said Crane, and Dorothy, the irrepressible, put in:

"Just as clear as so much mud. What are the improvements you added tothe original design?"

"Well, you see, I had a big advantage in knowing that cerebrin was thesubstance involved, and with that knowledge I could carry mattersconsiderably farther than Dunark could in his original model. I cantransfer the thoughts of somebody else to a third party or to a record. Dunark's machine couldn't work against resistance--if the subject wasn'twilling to give up his thoughts he couldn't get them. This one can takethem away by force. In fact, by increasing plate and grid voltages inthe amplifier, I can pretty nearly burn out a man's brain. Yesterday, Iwas playing with it, transferring a section of my own brain to amagnetized tape--for a permanent record, you know--and found out thatabove certain rather low voltages it becomes a form of torture thatwould make the best efforts of the old Inquisition seem like a pettingparty. "

"Did you succeed in the transfer?" Crane was intensely interested. 

"Sure. Push the button for Shiro, and we'll start something. "

"Put your head against this screen, " he directed when Shiro had come in, smiling and bowing as usual. "I've got to caliper your brains to do agood job. "

The calipering done, he adjusted various dials and clamped theelectrodes over his own head and over the heads of Crane and Shiro. 

"Want to learn Japanese while we're at it, Mart? I'm going to. "

"Yes, please. I tried to learn it while I was in Japan, but it wasaltogether too difficult to be worth while. "

Seaton threw in a switch, opened it, depressed two more, opened them, and threw off the power. 

"All set, " he reported crisply, and barked a series of explosivesyllables at Shiro, ending upon a rising note. 

"Yes, sir, " answered the Japanese. "You speak Nipponese as though youhad never spoken any other tongue. I am very grateful to you, sir, thatI may now discard my dictionary. "

"How about you two girls--anything you want to learn in a hurry?"

"Not me!" declared Dorothy emphatically. "That machine is too darn weirdto suit me. Besides, if I knew as much about science as you do, we'dprobably fight about it. "

"I do not believe I care to.... " began Margaret. 

She was interrupted by the penetrating sound of an alarm bell. 

"That's a new note!" exclaimed Seaton, "I never heard that note before. "

He stood in surprise at the board, where a brilliant purple light wasflashing slowly. "Great Cat! That's a purely Osnomian war-gadget--kindof a battleship detector--shows that there's a boatload of bad newsaround here somewhere. Grab the visiplates quick, folks, " as he rangShiro's bell. "I'll take visiplate area one, dead ahead. Mart, takenumber two. Dot, three; Peg, four; Shiro, five. Look sharp!... Nothingin front. See anything, any of you?"

 * * * * *

None of them could discover anything amiss, but the purple lightcontinued to flash, and the bell to ring. Seaton cut off the bell. 

"We're almost to 'X', " he thought aloud. "Can't be more than a millionmiles or so, and we're almost stopped. Wonder if somebody's there aheadof us? Maybe Dunark is doing this, though. I'll call him and see. " Hethrew in a switch and said one word--"Dunark!"

"Here!" came the voice of the Kofedix from the speaker. "Are yougenerating?"

"No--just called to see if you were. What do you make of it?"

"Nothing as yet. Better close up?"

"Yes, edge over this way and I'll come over to meet you. Leave yournegative as it is--we'll be stopped directly. Whatever it is, it's deadahead. It's a long ways off yet, but we'd better get organized. Wouldn'ttalk much, either--they may intercept our wave, narrow as it is. "

"Better yet, shut off your radio entirely. When we get close enoughtogether, we'll use the hand-language. You may not know that you knowit, but you do. Turn your heaviest searchlight toward me--I'll do thesame. "

There was a click as Dunark's power was shut off abruptly, and Seatongrinned as he cut his own. 

"That's right, too, folks. In Osnomian battles we always used asign-language when we couldn't hear anything--and that was most of thetime. I know it as well as I know English, now that I am reminded of thefact. "

He shifted his course to intercept that of the Osnomian vessel. After atime the watchers picked out a minute point of light, movingcomparatively rapidly against the stars, and knew it to be thesearchlight of the _Kondal_. Soon the two vessels were almost side byside, moving cautiously forward, and Seaton set up a sixty-inchparabolic reflector, focused upon a coil. As they went on, the purplelight continued to flash more and more rapidly, but still nothing was tobe seen. 

"Take number six visiplate, will you, Mart? It's telescopic, equivalentto a twenty-inch refractor. I'll tell you where to look in aminute--this reflector increases the power of the regular indicator. " Hestudied meters and adjusted dials. "Set on nineteen hours forty-threeminutes, and two hundred seventy-one degrees. He's too far away yet toread exactly, but that'll put him in the field of vision. "

"Is this radiation harmful?" asked Margaret. 

"Not yet--it's too weak. Pretty soon we may be able to feel it; thenI'll throw out a screen against it. When it's strong enough, it's prettydeadly stuff. See anything, Mart?"

"I see something, but it is very indistinct. It is moving in sharpernow. Yes, it is a space-ship, shaped like a dirigible airship. "

"See it yet, Dunark?" Seaton signaled. 

"Just sighted it. Ready to attack?"

"I am not. I'm going to run. Let's go, and go fast!"

Dunark signaled violently, and Seaton shook his head time after time, stubbornly. 

"A difficulty?" asked Crane. 

"Yes. He wants to go jump on it, but I'm not looking for trouble withany such craft as that--it must be a thousand feet long and is certainlyneither Terrestrial nor Osnomian. I say beat it while we're all in onepiece. How about it?"

"Absolutely, " concurred Crane and both women. 

The bar was reversed and the _Skylark_ leaped away. The _Kondal_followed, although the observers could see that Dunark was raging. Seaton swung number six visiplate around, looked once, and switched onthe radio. 

"Well, Dunark, " he said grimly. "You get your wish. That bird is comingout, with at least twice the acceleration we could get with both motorsfull on. He saw us all the time, and was waiting for us. "

"Go on--get away if you can. You can stand a higher acceleration than wecan. We'll hold him as long as possible. "

"I would, if it would do any good, but it won't. He's so much fasterthan we are that he could catch us anyway, if he wanted to, no matterhow much of a start we had--and it looks now as though he wanted us. Twoof us stand a lot better chance than one of licking him if he's lookingfor trouble. Spread out a mile or two, and pretend this is all the speedwe've got. What'll we give him first?"

"Give him everything at once. Rays six, seven, eight, nine, and ten.... "Crane, with Seaton, began making contacts, rapidly but with precision. "Heat wave two-seven. Induction, five-eight. Oscillation, everythingunder point oh six three. All the explosive copper we can get in. Right?"

"Right--and if worse comes to worst, remember the zone of force. Let himshoot first, because he may be peaceable--but it doesn't look like olivebranches to me. "

"Got both your screens out?"

"Yes. Mart, you might take number two visiplate and work the guns--I'llhandle the rest of this stuff. Better strap yourselves in solid, folks--this may develop into a kind of rough party, by the looks ofthings right now. "

 * * * * *

As he spoke, a pyrotechnic display enveloped the entire ship as aradiation from the foreign vessel struck the other neutralizing screenand dissipated its force harmlessly in the ether. Instantly Seaton threwon the full power of his refrigerating system and shot in the masterswitch that actuated the complex offensive armament of his dreadnoughtof the skies. An intense, livid violet glow hid completely main andauxiliary power bars, and long flashes leaped between metallic objectsin all parts of the vessel. The passengers felt each hair striving tostand on end as the very air became more and more highly charged--andthis was but the slight corona-loss of the frightful stream ofdestruction being hurled at the other space-cruiser, now scarcely a mileaway!

Seaton stared into number one visiplate, manipulating levers and dialsas he drove the _Skylark_ hither and yon, dodging frantically, the whilethe automatic focusing devices remained centered upon the enemy and theenormous generators continued to pour forth their deadly frequencies. The bars glowed more fiercely as they were advanced to full workingload--the stranger was one blaze of incandescent ionization, but shestill fought on; and Seaton noticed that the pyrometers recording thetemperature of the shell were mounting rapidly, in spite of therefrigerators. 

"Dunark, put everything you've got upon one spot--right on the end ofhis nose!"

As the first shell struck the mark, Seaton concentrated every force athis command upon the designated point. The air in the _Skylark_ crackledand hissed and intense violet flames leaped from the bars as they weredriven almost to the point of disruption. From the forward end of thestrange craft there erupted prominence after prominence of searing, unbearable flame as the terrific charges of explosive copper struck themark and exploded, liberating instantaneously their millions uponmillions of kilowatt-hours of intra-atomic energy. Each prominenceenveloped all three of the fighting vessels and extended for hundreds ofmiles out into space--but still the enemy warship continued to hurlforth solid and vibratory destruction. 

A brilliant orange light flared upon the panel, and Seaton gasped as heswung his visiplate upon his defenses, which he had supposedimpregnable. His outer screen was already down, although its mightycopper generator was exerting its utmost power. Black areas had alreadyappeared and were spreading rapidly, where there should have been onlyincandescent radiance; and the inner screen was even now radiating farinto the ultra-violet and was certainly doomed. Knowing as he did thestupendous power driving those screens, he knew that there weresuperhuman and inconceivable forces being directed against them, and hisright hand flashed to the switch controlling the zone of force. Fast ashe was, much happened in the mere moment that passed before his flyinghand could close the switch. In the last infinitesimal instant of timebefore the zone closed in, a gaping black hole appeared in theincandescence of the inner screen, and a small portion of a ray ofenergy so stupendous as to be palpable, struck, like a tangibleprojectile, the exposed flank of the _Skylark_. Instantly the refractoryarenak turned an intense, dazzling white and more than a foot of theforty-eight-inch skin of the vessel melted away, like snow before anoxy-acetylene flame: melting and flying away in molten globes andsparkling gases--the refrigerating coils lining the hull were of noavail against the concentrated energy of that titanic thrust. As Seatonshut off his power, intense darkness and utter silence closed in, and hesnapped on the lights. 

"They take one trick!" he blazed, his eyes almost emitting sparks, andleaped for the generators. He had forgotten the efforts of the zone offorce, however, and only sprawled grotesquely in the air until hefloated within reach of a line. 

"Hold everything, Dick!" Crane snapped, as Seaton bent over one of thebars. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to put as heavy bars in these ray-generators as they'll standand go out and get that bird. We can't lick him with Osnomian rays orwith our explosive copper, but I can carve that sausage into slices witha zone of force, and I'm going to do it. "

"Steady, old man--take it easy. I see your point, but remember that youmust release the zone of force before you can use it as a weapon. Furthermore, you must discover his exact location, and must get closeenough to him to use the zone as a weapon, all without its protection. Can those ray-screens be made sufficiently powerful to withstand thebeam they employed last, even for a second?"

"Hm ... M ... M. Never thought of that, Mart, " Seaton replied, the firedying out of his eyes. "Wonder how long the battle lasted?"

"Eight and two-tenths seconds, from first to last, but they had hadthat heavy ray in action only a fraction of one second when you cutin the zone of force. Either they underestimated our strength at first, or else it required about eight seconds to tune in their heavygenerators--probably the former. "

"But we've _got_ to do something, man! We can't just sit here andtwiddle our thumbs!"

"Why, and why not? That course seems eminently wise and proper. In fact, at the present time, thumb-twiddling is distinctly indicated. "

"Oh, you're full of little red ants! We can't do a thing with that zoneon--and you say just sit here. Suppose they know all about that zone offorce? Suppose they can crack it? Suppose they ram us?"

"I shall take up your objections in order, " Crane had lighted acigarette and was smoking meditatively. "First, they may or may not knowabout it. At present, that point is immaterial. Second, whether or notthey know about it, it is almost a certainty that they cannot crack it. It had been up for more than three minutes, and they have undoubtedlyconcentrated everything possible upon us during that time. It is stillstanding. I really expected it to go down in the first few seconds, butnow that it has held this long it will, in all probability, continue tohold indefinitely. Third, they most certainly will not ram us, forseveral reasons. They probably have encountered few, if any, foreignvessels able to stand against them for a minute, and will actaccordingly. Then, too, it is probably safe to assume that their vesselis damaged, to some slight extent at least; for I do not believe thatany possible armament could withstand the forces you directed againstthem and escape entirely unscathed. Finally, if they did ram us, whatwould happen? Would we feel the shock? That barrier in the ether seemsimpervious, and if so, it could not transmit a blow. I do not seeexactly how it would affect the ship dealing the blow. You are the onewho works out the new problems in unexplored mathematics--some time youmust take a few months off and work it out. "

"Yes, it would take that long, too, I guess--but you're right, he can'thurt us. That's using the old bean, Mart! I was going off half-cockedagain, darn it! I'll pipe down, and we'll go into a huddle. "

 * * * * *

Seaton noticed that Dorothy's face was white and that she was fightingfor self-control. Drawing himself over to her, he picked her up in atight embrace. 

"Cheer up, Red-Top! This man's war ain't started yet!"

"Not started? What do you mean? Haven't you and Martin just beenadmitting to each other that you can't do anything? Doesn't that meanthat we are beaten?"

"Beaten! Us? How do you get that way? Not on your sweet young life!" heejaculated, and the surprise on his face was so manifest that sherecovered instantly. "We've just dug a hole and pulled the hole in afterus, that's all! When we get everything doped out to suit us, we'll snapout of it and that bird'll think he's been petting a wildcat!"

"Mart, you're the thinking end of this partnership, " he continued, thoughtfully. "You've got the analytical mind and the judicialdisposition, and can think circles around me. From what little you'veseen of those folks, tell me who, what, and where they are. I'm gettingthe germ of an idea, and maybe we can make it work. "

"I will try it. " Crane paused. "They are, of course, neither from theEarth nor from Osnome. It is also evident that they have solved thesecret of intra-atomic energy. Their vessels are not propelled as oursare--they have so perfected that force that it acts upon every particleof the structure and its contents.... "

"How do you figure that?" blurted Seaton. 

"Because of the acceleration they can stand. Nothing even semi-human, and probably nothing living, could endure it otherwise. Right?"

"Yes--I never thought of that. "

"Furthermore, they are far from home, for if they were from anywherenearby, the Osnomians would have known of them--particularly since it isevident from the size of the vessel that it is not a recent developmentwith them, as it is with us. Since the green system is close to thecenter of the Galaxy, it seems reasonable, as a working hypothesis, toassume that they are from some system far from the center, perhaps closeto the outer edge. They are very evidently of a high degree ofintelligence. They are also highly treacherous and merciless.... "

"Why?" asked Dorothy, who was listening eagerly. 

"I deduce those characteristics from their unprovoked attack uponpeaceful ships, vastly smaller and supposedly of inferior armament; andalso from the nature of that attack. This vessel is probably a scout oran exploring ship, since it seems to be alone. It is not altogetherbeyond the bounds of reason to imagine it upon a voyage of discovery, insearch of new planets to be subjugated and colonized.... "

"That's a sweet picture of our future neighbors--but I guess you'rehitting the old nail on the head, at that. "

"If these deductions are anywhere nearly correct, they are terribleneighbors. For my next point, are we justified in assuming that they door do not know about the zone of force?"

"That's a hard one. Knowing what they evidently do know, it's hard tosee how they could have missed it. And yet, if they had known about itfor a long time, wouldn't they be able to get through it? Of course itmay be a real and total barrier in the ether--in that case they'd knowthat they couldn't do a thing as long as we keep it on. Take yourchoice, but I believe that they know about it, and know more than wedo--that it is a total barrier set up in the ether. "

"I agree with you, and we shall proceed upon that assumption. They know, then, that neither they nor we can do anything as long as we maintainthe zone--that it is a stalemate. They also know that it takes anenormous amount of power to keep the zone in place. Now we have gone asfar as we can go upon the meager data we have--considerably farther thanwe really are justified in going. We must now try to come to someconclusion concerning their present activities. If our ideas as to theirnatures are even approximately correct, they are waiting, probablyfairly close at hand, until we shall be compelled to release the zone, no matter how long that period of waiting shall be. They know, ofcourse, from our small size, that we cannot carry enough copper tomaintain it indefinitely, as they could. Does that sound reasonable?"

"I check you to nineteen decimal places, Mart, and from your ideas I'mgetting surer and surer that we can pull their corks. I can get intoaction in a hurry when I have to, and my idea now is to wait until theyrelax a trifle, and then slip a fast one over on them. One more bubbleout of the old think-tank and I'll let you off for the day. At what timewill their vigilance be at lowest ebb? That's a poser, I'll admit, butthe answer to it may answer everything--the first shot will, of course, be the best chance we'll ever have. "

"Yes, we should succeed in the first attempt. We have very littleinformation to guide us in answering that question. " He studied theproblem for many minutes before he resumed, "I should say that for atime they would keep all their rays and other weapons in action againstthe zone of force, expecting us to release it immediately. Then, knowingthat they were wasting power uselessly, they would cease attacking, butwould be very watchful, with every eye fastened upon us and with everyweapon ready for instant use. After this period of vigilance, regularship's routine would be resumed. Half the force, probably, would go offduty--for, if they are even remotely like any organic beings with whichwe are familiar, they require sleep or its equivalent at intervals. Themen on duty--the normal force, that is--would be doubly careful for atime. Then habit will assert itself, if we have done nothing to createsuspicion, and their watchfulness will relax to the point of ordinarycareful observation. Toward the end of their watch, because of thestrain of the battle and because of the unusually long period of duty, they will become careless, and their vigilance will be considerablybelow normal. But the exact time of all these things depends entirelyupon their conception of time, concerning which we have no informationwhatever. Though it is purely a speculation, based upon Earthly andOsnomian experience, I should say that after twelve or thirteen hourswould come the time for us to make the attack. "

"That's good enough for me. Fine, Mart, and thanks. You've probablysaved the lives of the party. We will now sleep for eleven or twelvehours. "

"Sleep, Dick! How could you?" Dorothy exclaimed. 

CHAPTER V

First Blood

The next twelve hours dragged with terrible slowness. Sleep wasimpossible and eating was difficult, even though all knew that theywould have need of the full measure of their strength. Seaton set upvarious combinations of switching devices connected to electricaltimers, and spent hours trying, with all his marvelous quickness ofmuscular control, to cut shorter and ever shorter the time between theopening and the closing of the switch. At last he arranged a powerfulelectro-magnetic device so that one impulse would both open and closethe switch, with an open period of one one-thousandth of a second. Onlythen was he satisfied. 

"A thousandth is enough to give us a look around, due to persistence ofvision; and it is short enough so that they won't see it unless theyhave a recording observer on us. Even if they still have rays on us, they can't possibly neutralize our screens in that short an exposure. All right, gang? We'll take five visiplates and cover the sphere. If anyof you get a glimpse of him, mark the exact spot and outline on theglass. All set?"

He pressed the button. The stars flashed in the black void for aninstant, then were again shut out. 

"Here he is, Dick!" shrieked Margaret. "Right here--he covered almosthalf the visiplate!"

She outlined for him, as nearly as she could, the exact position of theobject she had seen, and he calculated rapidly. 

"Fine business!" he exulted. "He's within half a mile of us, three-quarters on--perfect! I thought he'd be so far away that I'd haveto take photographs to locate him. He hasn't a single ray on us, either. That bird's goose is cooked right now, folks, unless every man on watchhas his hand right on the controls of a generator and can get intoaction in less than a tenth of a second! Hang on, gang, I'm going tostep on the gas!"

After making sure that everyone was fastened immovably in their seats hestrapped himself in the pilot's seat, then set the bar toward thestrange vessel and applied fully one-third of its full power. The_Skylark_, of course, did not move. Then, with bewildering rapidity, hewent into action; face glued to the visiplate, hands moving faster thanthe eye could follow--the left closing and opening the switchcontrolling the zone of force, the right swinging the steering controlsto all points of the sphere. The mighty vessel staggered this way andthat, jerking and straining terribly as the zone was thrown on and off, lurching sickeningly about the central bearing as the gigantic power ofthe driving bar was exerted, now in one direction, now in another. Aftera second or two of this mad gyration, Seaton shut off the power. He thenreleased the zone, after assuring himself that both inner and outerscreens were operating at the highest possible rating. 

"There, that'll hold 'em for a while, I guess. This battle was evenshorter than the other one--and a lot more decisive. Let's turn on theflood-lights and see what the pieces look like. "

The lights revealed that the zone of force had indeed sliced the enemyvessel into pieces. No fragment was large enough to be navigable ordangerous and each was sharply cut, as though sheared from its neighborby some gigantic curved blade. Dorothy sobbed with relief in Seaton'sarms as Crane, with one arm around his wife, grasped his hand. 

"That was flawless, Dick. As an exhibition of perfect co-ordination andinstantaneous timing under extreme physical difficulties, I have neverseen its equal. "

"You certainly saved all our lives, " Margaret added. 

"Only fifty-fifty, Peg, " Seaton protested, and blushed vividly. "Martdid most of it, you know. I'd have gummed up everything back there if hehad let me. Let's see what we can find out about them. "

He touched the lever and the _Skylark_ moved slowly toward the wreckage, the scattered fragments of which were beginning to move toward andaround each other because of their mutual gravitational forces. Snappingon a searchlight, he swung its beam around, and as it settled upon oneof the larger sections he saw a group of hooded figures; some of themupon the metal, others floating slowly toward it through space. 

"Poor devils--they didn't have a chance, " he remarked regretfully. "However, it was either they or we--look out! Sweet spirits of niter!"

He leaped back to the controls and the others were hurled bodily to thefloor as he applied the power--for at a signal each of the hoodedfigures had leveled a tube and once more the outer screen had flamedinto incandescence. 

As the _Skylark_ leaped away, Seaton focussed an attractor upon the onewho had apparently signaled the attack. Rolling the vessel over in ashort loop, so that the captive was hurled off into space upon the otherside, he snatched the tube from the figure's grasp with one auxiliaryattractor, and anchored head and limbs with others, so that the prisonercould scarcely move a muscle. Then, while Crane and the women scrambledup off the floor and hurried to the visiplates, Seaton cut in rays six, two-seven, and five-eight. Ray six, "the softener, " was a band offrequencies extending from violet far up into the ultra-violet. Whendriven with sufficient power, this ray destroyed eyesight and nervoustissue, and its power increased still further, actually loosened themolecular structure of matter. Ray two-seven was operated in a range offrequencies far below the visible red. It was pure heat--under itsaction matter became hotter and hotter as long as it was applied, theupper limit being only the theoretical maximum of temperature. Rayfive-eight was high-tension, high-frequency alternating current. Anyconductor in its path behaved precisely as it would in the Ajax-Northrupinduction furnace, which can boil platinum in ten seconds! These threerays composed the beam which Seaton directed upon the mass of metal fromwhich the enemy had elected to continue the battle--and behind each ray, instead of the small energy at the command of its Osnomian inventor, were the untold millions of kilowatts developed by a one-hundred-poundbar of disintegrating copper!

 * * * * *

There ensued a brief but appalling demonstration of the terribleeffectiveness of those Osnomian weapons against anything not protectedby ultra-powered ray screens. Metal and men--if men they were--literallyvanished. One moment they were outlined starkly in the beam; there was amoment of searing, coruscating, blinding light--the next moment the beambored on into the void, unimpeded. Nothing was visible save anoccasional tiny flash, as some condensed or solidified droplet of thevolatilized metal re-entered the path of that ravening beam. 

"We'll see if there's any more of them loose, " Seaton remarked, as heshut off the force and probed into the wreckage with a searchlight. 

No sign of life or of activity was revealed, and the light was turnedupon the captive. He was held motionless in the invisible grip of theattractors, at the point where the force of those peculiar magnets wasexactly balanced by the outward thrust of the repellers. By manipulatingthe attractor holding it, Seaton brought the strange tubular weapon intothe control-room through a small air-lock in the wall and examined itcuriously, but did not touch it. 

"I never heard of a hand-ray before, so I guess I won't play with itmuch until after I learn something about it. "

"So you have taken a captive?" asked Margaret. "What are you going to dowith him?"

"I'm going to drag him in here and read his mind. He's one of theofficers of that ship, I believe, and I'm going to find out how to buildone exactly like it. This old can is now as obsolete as a 1920 flivver, and I'm going to make us a later model. How about it, Mart, don't wewant something really up-to-date if we're going to keep onspace-hopping?"

"We certainty do. Those denizens seem to be particularly venomous, andwe will not be safe unless we have the most powerful and most efficientspace-ship possible. However, that fellow may be dangerous, even now--infact, it is practically certain that he is. "

"You chirped it, ace. I'd much rather touch a pound of dry nitrogeniodide. I've got him spread-eagled so that he can't destroy his brainuntil after we've read it, though, so there's no particular hurry abouthim. We'll leave him out there for a while, to waste his sweetness onthe desert air. Let's all look around for the _Kondal_. I sure hope theydidn't get her in that fracas. "

They diffused the rays of eight giant searchlights into a vertical fan, and with it swept slowly through almost a semi-circle before anythingwas seen. Then there was revealed a cluster of cylindrical objects amida mass of wreckage, which Crane recognized at once. 

"The _Kondal_ is gone, Dick. There is what is left of her, and most ofher cargo of salt, in jute bags. "

As he spoke, a series of green flashes played upon the bags, and Seatonyelled in relief. 

"They got the ship all right, but Dunark and Sitar got away--they'restill with their salt!"

The _Skylark_ moved over to the wreck and Seaton, relinquishing thecontrols to Crane, donned a vacuum suit, entered the main air-lock andsnapped on the motor which sealed off the lock, pumped the air into apressure-tank, and opened the outside door. He threw a light line to thetwo figures and pushed himself lightly toward them. He then talkedbriefly to Dunark in the hand-language, and handed the end of the lineto Sitar, who held it while the two men explored the fragments of thestrange vessel, gathering up various things of interest as they cameupon them. 

Back in the control-room, Dunark and Sitar let their pressure decreasegradually to that of the terrestrial vessel and removed the face-platesfrom their helmets. 

"Again, oh Karfedo of Earth, we thank you for our lives, " Dunark began, gasping for breath, when Seaton leaped to the air-gauge with a quickapology. 

"Never thought of the effect our atmospheric pressure would have on youtwo. We can stand yours all right, but you'd pretty nearly pass out onours. There, that'll suit you better. Didn't you throw out your zone offorce?"

"Yes, as soon as I saw that our screens were not going to hold. " TheOsnomians' labored breathing became normal as the air-pressure increasedto a value only a little below that of the dense atmosphere of theirnative planet. "I then increased the power of the screens to the extremelimit and opened the zone for a moment to see how the screens would holdwith the added power. That instant was enough. In that period aconcentrated beam, such as I had no idea could ever be generated, wentthrough the outer and inner screens as though they were not there, through the four-foot arenak of the hull, through the entire centralinstallation, and through the hull on the other side. Sitar and I werewearing suits.... "

"Say, Mart, that's one bet we overlooked. It's a good idea, too--thosestrangers wore them all the time as regular equipment, apparently. Nexttime we get into a jam, be sure we do it; they might come in handy. Excuse me, Dunark--go ahead. "

"We had suits on, so as soon as the ray was shut off, which was almostinstantly, I phoned the crew to jump, and we leaped out through the holein the hull. The air rushing out gave us an impetus that carried usmany miles out into space, and it required many hours for the slightattraction of the mass here to draw us back to it. We just got back afew minutes ago. That air-blast is probably what saved us, as theydestroyed our vessel with atomic bombs and hunted down the four men ofour crew, who stayed comparatively close to the scene. They rayed youfor about an hour with the most stupendous beams imaginable--no suchgenerators have ever been considered possible of construction--butcouldn't make any impression upon you. Then they shut off their powerand stood by, waiting. I wasn't looking at you when you released yourzone. One moment it was there, and the next, the stranger had been cutin pieces. The rest you know. "

"We're sure glad you two got away, Dunark. Well, Mart, what say we dragthat guy in and give him the once-over?"

 * * * * *

Seaton swung the attractors holding the prisoner until they were in linewith the main air-lock, then reduced the power of the repellers. As heapproached the lock various controls were actuated, and soon thestranger stood in the control room, held immovable against one wall, while Crane, with a 0. 50-caliber elephant gun, stood against the other. 

"Perhaps you girls should go somewhere else, " suggested Crane. 

"Not on your life!" protested Dorothy, who, eyes wide and flushed withexcitement, stood near a door, with a heavy automatic pistol in herhand. "I wouldn't miss this for a farm!"

"Got him solid, " declared Seaton, after a careful inspection of thevarious attractors and repellers he had bearing upon the prisoner, "Nowlet's get him out of that suit. No--better read his air first, temperature and pressure--might analyze it, too. "

Nothing could be seen of the person of the stranger, since he wasencased in vacuum armor, but it was plainly evident that he was veryshort and immensely broad and thick. By means of hollow needles forcedthrough the leather-like material of the suit Seaton drew off a sampleof the atmosphere within, into an Orsat apparatus, while Crane madepressure and temperature readings. 

"Temperature, one hundred ten degrees. Pressure, twenty-eightpounds--about the same as ours is, now that we have stepped it up tokeep the Osnomians from suffering. "

Seaton soon reported that the atmosphere was quite similar to that ofthe _Skylark_, except that it was much higher in carbon dioxide andcarried an extremely high percentage of water vapor. He took up a pairof heavy shears and laid the suit open full length, on both sides, knowing that the powerful attractors would hold the stranger immovable. He then wrenched off the helmet and cast the whole suit aside, revealingthe enemy officer, clad in a tunic of scarlet silk. 

He was less than five feet tall. His legs were merely blocks, fully asgreat in diameter as they were in length, supporting a torso ofHerculean dimensions. His arms were as large as a strong man's thigh andhung almost to the floor. His astounding shoulders, fully a yard across, merged into and supported an enormous head. The being possessedrecognizable nose, ears, and mouth; and the great domed forehead andhuge cranium bespoke an immense and a highly developed brain. 

But it was the eyes of this strange creature that fixed and held theattention. Large they were, and black--the dull, opaque, lusterlessblack of platinum sponge. The pupils were a brighter black, and in themflamed ruby lights: pitiless, mocking, cold. Plainly to be read in thosesinister depths were the untold wisdom of unthinkable age, sheerruthlessness, mighty power, and ferocity unrelieved. His baleful gazeswept from one member of the party to another, and to meet the glare ofthose eyes was to receive a tangible physical blow--it was actuallyponderable force; that of embodied hardness and of ruthlessnessincarnate, generated in that merciless brain and hurled forth throughthose flame-shot, Stygian orbs. 

"If you don't need us for anything, Dick, I think Peggy and I will goupstairs, " Dorothy broke the long silence. 

"Good idea, Dot. This isn't going to be pretty to watch--or to do, either, for that matter. "

"If I stay here another minute I'll see that thing as long as I live;and I might be very ill. Goodbye, " and heartless and bloodthirstyOsnomian though she was, Sitar had gone to join the two Terrestrialwomen. 

"I didn't want to say much before the girls, but I want to check acouple of ideas with you two. Don't you think it's a safe bet that thisbird reported back to his headquarters?"

"I have been thinking that very thing, " Crane spoke gravely, and Dunarknodded agreement. "Any race capable of developing such a vessel as thiswould almost certainly have developed systems of communication inproportion. "

"That's the way I doped it out--and that's why I'm going to read hismind, if I have to burn out his brain to do it. We've got to know howfar away from home he is, whether he has turned in any report about us, and all about it. Also, I'm going to get the plans, power, and armamentof their most modern ships, if he knows them, so that your gang, Dunark, can build us one like them; because the next boat that tackles us willbe warned and we won't be able to take it by surprise. We won't stand achance in the _Skylark_. With a ship like theirs, however, we canrun--or we can fight, if we have to. Any other ideas, fellows?"

 * * * * *

As neither Crane nor Dunark had any other suggestions to offer, Seatonbrought out the mechanical educator, watching the creature's eyesnarrowly. As he placed one headset over that motionless head the captivesneered in pure contempt, but when the case was opened and the array oftubes and transformers was revealed, that expression disappeared; andwhen he added a super-power stage by cutting in a heavy-duty transformerand a five-kilowatt transmitting tube, Seaton thought that he saw aninstantaneously suppressed flicker of doubt or fear. 

"That headset thing was child's play to him, but he doesn't like thelooks of this other stuff at all. I don't blame him a bit--I wouldn'tlike to be on the receiving end of this hook-up myself. I'm going to puthim on the recorder and on the visualizer, " Seaton continued as heconnected spools of wire and tape, lamps, and lenses in an intricatesystem and donned a headset. "I'd hate to have much of that brain in myown skull--afraid I'd bite myself. I'm just going to look on, and when Isee anything I want, I'll grab it and put it into my own brain. I'mstarting off easy, not using the big tube. "

He closed several switches, lights flashed, and the wires and tapesbegan to feed through the magnets. 

"Well, I've got his language, folks, he seemed to want me to have it. It's got a lot of stuff in it that I can't understand yet, though, soguess I'll give him some English. "

He changed several connections and the captive spoke, in a profoundlydeep bass voice. 

"You may as well discontinue your attempt, for you will gain noinformation from me. That machine of yours was out of date with usthousands of years ago. "

"Save your breath or talk sense, " said Seaton, coldly. "I gave youEnglish so that you can give me the information I want. You already knowwhat it is. When you get ready to talk, say so, or throw it on thescreen of your own accord. If you don't, I'll put on enough voltage toburn your brain out. Remember, I can read your dead brain as well asthough it were alive, but I want your thoughts, as well as yourknowledge, and I'm going to have them. If you give them voluntarily, Iwill tinker up a lifeboat that you can navigate back to your own worldand let you go; if you resist I intend getting them anyway and you shallnot leave this vessel alive. You may take your choice. "

"You are childish, and that machine is impotent against my will. I couldhave defied it a hundred years ago, when I was barely a grown man. Knowyou, American, that we supermen of the Fenachrone are as far above anyof the other and lesser breeds of beings who spawn in their millions intheir countless myriads of races upon the numberless planets of theUniverse as you are above the inert metal from which this, your ship, was built. The Universe is ours, and in due course we shall takeit--just as in due course I shall take this vessel. Do your worst; Ishall not speak. " The creature's eyes flamed, hurling a wave of hypnoticcommand through Seaton's eyes and deep into his brain. Seaton's verysenses reeled for an instant under the impact of that awful mentalforce; but after a short, intensely bitter struggle he threw off thespell. 

"That was close, fellow, but you didn't quite ring the bell, " he saidgrimly, staring directly into those unholy eyes. "I may rate pretty lowmentally, but I can't be hypnotized into turning you loose. Also I cangive you cards and spades in certain other lines which I am about todemonstrate. Being superman didn't keep the rest of your men from goingout in my ray, and being a superman isn't going to save your brain. I amnot depending upon my intellectual or mental force--I've got an ace inthe hole in the shape of five thousand volts to apply to the mostdelicate centers of your brain. Start giving me what I want, and startquick, or I'll tear it out of you. "

The giant did not answer, merely glared defiance and bitter hate. 

"Take it, then!" Seaton snapped, and cut in the super-power stage andbegan turning dials and knobs, exploring that strange mind for theparticular area in which he was most interested. He soon found it, andcut in the visualizer--the stereographic device, in parallel withSolon's own brain recorder, which projected a three-dimensional pictureinto the "viewing-area" or dark space of the cabinet. Crane and Dunark, tense and silent, looked on in strained suspense as, minute afterminute, the silent battle of wills raged. Upon one side was a horribleand gigantic brain, of undreamed of power; upon the other side a strongman, fighting for all that life holds dear, wielding against thatmonstrous and frightful brain a weapon wrought of high-tensionelectricity, applied with all the skill that earthly and Osnomianscience could devise. 

Seaton crouched over the amplifier, his jaw set and every muscle taut, his eyes leaping from one meter to another, his right hand slowlyturning up the potentiometer which was driving more and ever more of thesearing, torturing output of his super-power tube into that stubbornbrain. The captive was standing utterly rigid, eyes closed, every senseand faculty mustered to resist that cruelly penetrant attack upon thevery innermost recesses of his mind. Crane and Dunark scarcely breathedas the three-dimensional picture in the visualizer varied from a blankto the hazy outlines of a giant space-cruiser. It faded out as theunknown exerted himself to withstand that poignant inquisition, only tocome back in, clearer than before, as Seaton advanced the potentiometerstill farther. Finally, flesh and blood could no longer resist thatlethal probe and the picture became sharp and clear. It showed thecaptain--for he was no less an officer than the commander of thevessel--at a great council table, seated, together with many otherofficers, upon very low, enormously strong metal stools. They werereceiving orders from their Emperor; orders plainly understood by Craneand the Osnomian alike, for thought needs no translation. 

"Gentlemen of the Navy, " the ruler spoke solemnly, "Our preliminaryexpedition, returned some time ago, achieved its every aim, and we arenow ready to begin fulfilling our destiny, the Conquest of the Universe. This Galaxy comes first. Our base of operations will be the largestplanet of that group of brilliant green suns, for they can be seen fromany point in the Galaxy and are almost in the exact center of it. Ourastronomers, " here the captain's thoughts shifted briefly to anobservatory far out in space for perfect seeing, and portrayed areflecting telescope with a mirror five miles in diameter, capable ofpenetrating unimaginable myriads of light-years into space, "havetabulated all the suns, planets, and satellites belonging to thisGalaxy, and each of you has been given a complete chart and assigned acertain area which he is to explore. Remember, gentlemen, that thisfirst major expedition is to be purely one of exploration; the one ofconquest will set out after you have returned with complete information. You will each report by torpedo every tenth of the year. We do notanticipate any serious difficulty, as we are of course the highest typeof life in the Universe; nevertheless, in the unlikely event of trouble, report it. We shall do the rest. In conclusion, I warn you again--let nopeople know that we exist. Make no conquests, and destroy all who by anychance may see you. Gentlemen, go with power. "

The captain embarked in a small airboat and was shot to his vessel. Hetook his station at an immense control board and the warship shot offinstantly, with unthinkable velocity, and with not the slightestphysical shock. 

At this point Seaton made the captain take them all over the ship. Theynoted its construction, its power-plant, its controls--every minutedetail of structure, operation, and maintenance was taken from thecaptain's mind and was both recorded and visualized. 

 * * * * *

The journey seemed to be a very long one, but finally the cluster ofgreen suns became visible and the Fenachrone began to explore the solarsystems in the area assigned to that particular vessel. Hardly had thesurvey started, however, when the two globular space-cruisers weredetected and located. The captain stopped the ship briefly, thenattacked. They watched the attack, and saw the destruction of the_Kondal_. They looked on while the captain read the brain of one ofDunark's crew, gleaning from it all the facts concerning the twospace-ships, and thought with him that the two absentees from the_Kondal_ would drift back in a few hours, and would be disposed of indue course. They learned that these things were automatically impressedupon the torpedo next to issue, as was every detail of everything thathappened in and around the vessel. They watched him impress a thought ofhis own upon the record--"the inhabitants of planet three of sun sixfour seven three Pilarone show unusual development and may causetrouble, as they have already brought knowledge of the metal of powerand of the impenetrable shield to the Central System, which is to be ourbase. Recommend volatilization of this planet by vessel sent on specialmission. " They saw the raying of the _Skylark_. They sensed him issuecommands:

"Ray it for a time; he will probably open the shield for a moment, asthe other one did, " then, after a time skipped over by the mind underexamination. "Cease raying--no use wasting power. He must openeventually, as he runs out of power. Stand by and destroy him when heopens. "

The scene shifted. The captain was asleep and was awakened by an alarmgong--only to find himself floating in a mass of wreckage. Making hisway to the fragment of his vessel containing the torpedo port, hereleased the messenger, which flew, with ever-increasing velocity, backto the capital city of the Fenachrone, carrying with it a record ofeverything that had happened. 

"That's what I want, " thought Seaton. "Those torpedoes went home, fast. I want to know how far they have to go and how long it'll take them toget there. You know what distance a parsec is, since it is purely amathematical concept; and you must have a watch or some similarinstrument with which we can translate your years into ours. I don'twant to have to kill you, fellow, and if you'll give up even now I'llspare you. I'll get it anyway, you know--and you also know that a fewhundred volts more will kill you. "

They saw the thought received, and saw its answer: "You shall learn nomore. This is the most important of all, and I shall hold it todisintegration and beyond. "

Seaton advanced the potentiometer still farther, and the brain picturewaxed and waned, strengthened and faded. Finally, however, it wasrevealed by flashes that the torpedo had about a hundred and fifty-fivethousand parsecs to go and that it would take two-tenths of a year tomake the journey; that the warships which would come in answer to themessage were as fast as the torpedo; that he did indeed have in his suita watch--a device of seven dials, each turning ten times as fast as itssuccessor; and that one turn of the slowest dial measured one year ofhis time. Seaton instantly threw off his headset and opened the powerswitch. 

"Grab a stopwatch quick, Mart!" he called, as he leaped to the discardedvacuum suit and searched out the peculiar timepiece. They noted theexact time consumed by one complete revolution of one of the dials, andcalculated rapidly. 

"Better than I thought!" exclaimed Seaton. "That makes his year aboutfour hundred ten of our days. That gives us eighty-two days before thetorpedo gets there--longer than I'd dared hope. We've got to fight, too, not run. They figure on getting the _Skylark_, then volatilizing ourworld. Well, we can take time enough to grab off an absolutely completerecord of this guy's brain. We'll need it for what's coming, and I'mgoing to get it, if I have to kill him to do it. "

He resumed his place at the educator, turned on the power, and a shadowpassed over his face. 

"Poor devil, he's conked out--couldn't stand the gaff, " he remarked, half-regretfully. "However that makes it easy to get what we want, andwe'd have had to kill him anyway, I guess--Bad as it is, I'd hate tobump him off in cold blood. "

He threaded new spools into the machine, and for three hours, mile aftermile of tape sped between the magnets as Seaton explored every recess ofthat monstrous, yet stupendous brain. 

"Well, that's that, " he declared finally, as, the last bit ofinformation gleaned and recorded upon the flying tape, he removed thebody of the Fenachrone captain into space and rayed it out of existence. "Now what to do?"

"How can we get this salt to Osnome?" asked Dunark whose thoughts werenever far from that store of the precious chemical. "You are alreadycrowded, and Sitar and I will crowd you still more. You have no room foradditional cargo, and yet much valuable time would be lost in going toOsnome for another vessel. "

"Yes, and we've got to get a lot of 'X', too. Guess we'll have to taketime to get another vessel. I'd like to drag in the pieces of that ship, too--his instruments and a lot of the parts could be used. "

"Why not do it all at once?" suggested Crane. "We can start that wholemass toward Osnome by drawing it behind us until such a velocity hasbeen attained that it will reach there at the desired time. We couldthen go to 'X, ' and overtake this material near the green system. "

"Right you are, ace--that's a sound idea. But say, Dunark, it wouldn'tbe good technique for you to eat our food for any length of time. Whilewe're figuring this out you'd better hop over there and bring overenough to last you two until we get you home. Give it to Shiro--after acouple of lessons, you'll find he'll be as good as any of your cooks. "

 * * * * *

Faster and faster the _Skylark_ flew, pulling behind her the mass ofwreckage, held by every available attractor. When the calculatedvelocity had been attained, the attractors were shut off and the vesseldarted away toward that planet, still in the Carboniferous Age, whichpossessed at least one solid ledge of metallic "X, " the rarest of allearthly metals. As the automatic controls held the cruiser upon hercourse, the six wanderers sat long in discussion as to what should bedone, what could be done, to avert the threatened destruction of all thecivilization of the Galaxy except the monstrous and unspeakable cultureof the Fenachrone. Nearing their destination, Seaton rose to his feet. 

"Well, folks, it's like this. We've got our backs to the wall. Dunarkhas troubles of his own--if the Third Planet doesn't get him theFenachrone will, and the Third Planet is the more pressing danger. Thatlets him out. We've got nearly six months before the Fenachrone can getback here.... "

"But how can they possibly find us here, or wherever we'll be by thattime, Dick?" asked Dorothy. "The battle was a long way from here. "

"With that much start they probably couldn't find us, " Seaton repliedsoberly. "It's the world I'm thinking about. They've got to be stopped, and stopped cold--and we've got only six months to do it in.... Osnome'sgot the best tools and the fastest workmen I know of.... " his voice diedaway in thought. 

"That sort of thing is in your department, Dick. "

Crane was calm and judicial as always. "I will, of course, do anything Ican. But you probably have a plan of campaign already laid out?"

"After a fashion. We've got to find out how to work through this zone offorce or we're sunk without a trace. Even with rays, screens, and shipsequal to theirs, we couldn't keep them from sending a vessel to destroythe earth; and they'd probably get us too, eventually. They've got a lotof stuff we don't know about, of course, since I took only one man'smind. While he was a very able man, he didn't know all that all the restof them do, any more than any one man has all the earthly science known. Absolutely our only chance is to control that zone--it's the only thingthey haven't got. Of course, it may be impossible, but I won't believethat, until I've exhausted a lot of possibilities. Dunark, can you sparea crew to build us a duplicate of that Fenachrone ship, besides thoseyou are going to build for yourself?"

"Certainly. I will be only too glad to do so. "

"Well, then, while Dunark is doing that, I suggest that we go to thisThird Planet, abduct a few of their leading scientists, and read theirminds. Then do the same, visiting every other highly advanced planet wecan locate. There is a good chance that, by combining the best points ofthe warfares of many worlds, we can evolve something that will enable usto turn back these invaders. "

"Why not send a copper torpedo to destroy their entire planet?"suggested Dunark. 

"Wouldn't work. Their detecting screens would locate it a thousandmillion miles off in space, and they would ray it. With a zone of forcethat would get through their screens, that would be the first thing I'ddo. You see, every thought comes back to that zone. We've got to getthrough it some way. "

The course alarm sounded, and they saw that a planet lay directly intheir path. It was "X, " and enough negative acceleration was applied tomake an easy landing possible. 

"Isn't it going to be a long, slow job, chopping off two tons of thatmetal and fighting away those terrible animals besides?" asked Margaret. 

"It'll take about a millionth of a second, Peg. I'm going to bite it offwith the zone, just as I took that bite out of our field. The rotationof the planet will throw us away from the surface, then we'll releasethe zone and drag our prey off with us. See?"

The _Skylark_ descended rapidly toward that well-remembered ledge ofmetal to which the object compass had led them. 

"This is exactly where we landed before, " Margaret commented insurprise, and Dorothy added:

"Yes, and there's that horrible tree that ate the dinosaur or whateverit was. I thought you blew it up for me, Dick?"

"I did, Dottie--blew it into atoms. Must be a good location forcarnivorous trees--and they must grow awfully fast, too. As to its beingthe same place, Peg--sure it is. That's what object compasses are for. "

Everything appeared as it had been at the time of their first visit. Therank Carboniferous vegetation, intensely, vividly green, was motionlessin the still, hot, heavy air; the living nightmares inhabiting thatprimitive world were lying in the cooler depths of the jungle, shelteredfrom the torrid rays of that strange and fervent sun. 

"How about it, Dot? Want to see some of your little friends again? Ifyou do, I'll give them a shot and bring them out. "

"Heavens, no! I saw them once--if I never see them again, that will betwenty minutes too soon!"

"All right--we'll grab us a piece of this ledge and beat it. "

Seaton lowered the vessel to the ledge, focussed the main anchoringattractor upon it, and threw on the zone of force. Almost immediately hereleased the zone, pointed the bar parallel to the compass bearing uponOsnome, and slowly applied the power. 

"How much did you take, anyway?" asked Dunark in amazement. "It looksbigger than the _Skylark_!"

"It is; considerably bigger. Thought we might as well take enough whilewe're here, so I set the zone for a seventy-five-foot radius. It'sprobably of the order of magnitude of half a million tons, since thestuff weighs more than half a ton to the cubic foot. However, we canhandle it as easily as we could a smaller bite, and that much mass willhelp us hold that other stuff together when we catch up with it. "

 * * * * *

The voyage to Osnome was uneventful. They overtook the wreckage, true toschedule, as they were approaching the green system, and attached it tothe mass of metal behind them by means of attractors. 

"Where'll we land this junk, Dunark?" asked Seaton, as Osnome grew largebeneath them. "We'll hold this lump of metal and the fragment of theship carrying the salt; and we'll be able to hold some of the mostimportant of the other stuff. But a lot of it is bound to get away fromus--and the Lord help anybody who's under it when it comes down! Youmight yell for help--and say, you might ask somebody to have thatastronomical data ready for us as soon as we land. "

"The parade ground will be empty now, so we will land there, " Dunarkreplied. "We should be able to land everything in a field of that size, I should think. " He touched the sender at his belt, and in the generalcode notified the city of their arrival and warned everyone to keep awayfrom the parade ground. He then sent several messages in the officialcode, concluding by asking that one or two space-ships come out and helplower the burden to the ground. As the peculiar, pulsating chatter ofthe Osnomian telegraph died out, Seaton called for help. 

"Come here, you two, and grab some of these attractors. I need abouttwelve hands to keep this plunder in the straight and narrow path. "

The course had been carefully laid, with allowance for the variousvelocities and forces involved, to follow the easiest path to theKondalian parade ground. The hemisphere of "X" and the fragment of the_Kondal_ which bore the salt were held immovably in place by the mainattractor and one auxiliary; and many other auxiliaries held sections ofthe Fenachrone vessel. However, the resistance of the air seriouslyaffected the trajectory of many of the irregularly shaped smaller massesof metal, and all three men were kept busy flicking attractors right andleft; capturing those strays which threatened to veer off into thestreets or upon the buildings of the Kondalian capital city, andshifting from one piece to another so that none should fall freely. Twosister-ships of the _Kondal_ appeared as if by magic in answer toDunark's call, and their attractors aided greatly in handling the unrulycollection of wreckage. A few of the smaller sections and a shower ofdebris fell clear, however, in spite of all efforts, and their approachwas heralded by a meteoric display unprecedented in that world ofcontinuous daylight. 

As the three vessels with their cumbersome convoy dropped down into thelower atmosphere, the guns of the city roared a welcome; banners andpennons waved; the air became riotous with color from hundreds ofprojectors and odorous with a bewildering variety of scents; while allaround them played numberless aircraft of all descriptions and sizes. The space below them was carefully avoided, but on all sides and abovethem the air was so full that it seemed marvelous that no collisionoccurred. Tiny one-man helicopters, little more than single chairsflying about; beautiful pleasure-planes, soaring and wheeling; immensemultiplane liners and giant helicopter freighters--everything in the airfound occasion to fly as near as possible to the Skylark in order to diptheir flags in salute to Dunark, their Kofedix, and to Seaton, thewearer of the seven disks--their revered Overlord. 

Finally the freight was landed without serious mishap and the _Skylark_leaped to the landing dock upon the palace roof, where the royal familyand many nobles were waiting, in full panoply of glittering harness. Dunark and Sitar disembarked and the four others stepped out and stoodat attention as Seaton addressed Roban, the Karfedix. 

"Sir, we greet you, but we cannot stop, even for a moment. You know thatonly the most urgent necessity would make us forego the pleasure of abrief rest beneath your roof--the Kofedix will presently give you themeasure of that dire need. We shall endeavor to return soon. Greetings, and, for a time, farewell. "

"Overlord, we greet you, and trust that soon we may entertain you andprofit from your companionship. For what you have done, we thank you. May the great First Cause smile upon you until your return. Farewell. "

CHAPTER VI

The Peace Conference

"Here's a chart of the green system, Mart, with all the motions and therest of the dope that they've been able to get. How'd it be for you tonavigate us over to the third planet of the fourteenth sun?"

"While you build a Fenachrone super-generator?"

"Right, the first time. Your deducer is hitting on all eight, as usual. That big ray is hot stuff, and their ray-screen is something to writehome about, too. "

"How can their rays be any hotter than ours, Dick?" Dorothy askedcuriously. "I thought you said we had the very last word in rays. "

"I thought we had, but those birds we met back there spoke a couple oflater words. Their rays work on an entirely different system than theone we use. They generate an extremely short carrier wave, like theMillikan cosmic ray, by recombining some of the electrons and protons oftheir disintegrating metal, and upon this wave they impose a pure heatfrequency of terrific power. The Millikan rays will penetrate anythingexcept a special ray screen or a zone of force, and carry withthem--somewhat as radio frequencies carry sound frequencies--the heatrays, which volatilize anything they touch. Their ray screens are a lotbetter than ours, too--they generate the entire spectrum. It's a sweetsystem and when we revamp ours so as to be just like it, we'll be ableto talk turkey to those folks on the third planet. "

"How long will it take you to build it?" asked Crane, who, dexterouslyturning the pages of "Vega's Handbuch" was calculating their course. 

"A day or so--maybe less. I've got all the stuff and with my Osnomiantools it won't take long. If you find you'll get there before I getdone, you'll have to loaf a while--kill a little time. "

"Are you going to connect the power plant to operate on the entirevessel and all its contents?"

"No--can't do it without redesigning the whole thing and that's hardlyworth while for the short time we'll use this old bus. "

Building those generators would have been a long and difficult task fora corps of earthly mechanics and electricians, but to Seaton it wasmerely a job. The "shop" had been enlarged and had been filled tocapacity with Osnomian machinery; machine tools that were capable ofperforming automatically and with the utmost precision and speed anyconceivable mechanical operation. He put a dozen of them to work, andbefore the vessel reached its destination, the new offensive anddefensive weapons had been installed and thoroughly tested. He had addeda third screen-generator, so that now, in addition to the four-foot hullof arenak and the repellers, warding off any material projectile, theSkylark was also protected by an outer, an intermediate, and an innerray-screen; each driven by the super-power of a four-hundred-pound barand each covering the entire spectrum--capable of neutralizing anydangerous frequency known to those master-scientists, the Fenachrone. 

As the _Skylark_ approached the planet, Seaton swung number sixvisiplate upon it, and directed their flight toward a great army base. Darting down upon it, he snatched an officer into the airlock, closedthe door, and leaped back into space. He brought the captive into thecontrol room pinioned by auxiliary attractors, and relieved him of hisweapons. He then rapidly read his mind, encountering no noticeableresistance, released the attractors, and addressed him in his ownlanguage. 

"Please be seated, lieutenant, " Seaton said courteously, motioning himto one of the seats. "We come in peace. Please pardon my discourtesy inhandling you, but it was necessary in order to learn your language andthus to get in touch with your commanding officer. "

The officer, overcome with astonishment that he had not been killedinstantly, sank into the seat indicated, without a reply, and Seatonwent on:

"Please be kind enough to signal your commanding officer that we arecoming down at once, for a peace conference. By the way, I can read yoursignals, and will send them myself if necessary. "

The stranger worked an instrument attached to his harness briefly, andthe _Skylark_ descended slowly toward the fortress. 

"I know, of course, that your vessels will attack, " Seaton remarked, ashe noted a crafty gleam in the eyes of the officer. "I intend to letthem use all their power for a time, to prove to them the impotence oftheir weapons. After that, I shall tell you what to say to them. "

"Do you think this is altogether safe, Dick?" asked Crane as they saw afleet of gigantic airships soaring upward to meet them. 

"Nothing sure but death and taxes, " returned Seaton cheerfully, "butdon't forget that we've got Fenachrone armament now, instead ofOsnomian. I'm betting that they can't begin to drive their rays througheven our outer screen. And even if our outer screen should begin to gointo the violet--I don't think it will even go cherry-red--out goes ourzone of force and we automatically go up where no possible airship canreach. Since their only space-ships are rocket driven, and ofpractically no maneuverability, they stand a big chance of getting tous. Anyway, we must get in touch with them, to find out if they knowanything we don't, and this is the only way I know of to do it. Besides, I want to head Dunark off from wrecking this world. They're exactly thesame kind of folks he is, you notice, and I don't like civil war. Anysuggestions? Keep an eye on that bird, then, Mart, and we'll go down. "

 * * * * *

The _Skylark_ dropped down into the midst of the fleet, which instantlyturned against her the full force of their giant guns and their immenseray batteries. Seaton held the _Skylark_ motionless, staring into hisvisiplate, his right hand grasping the zone-switch. 

"The outer screen isn't even getting warm!" he exulted after a moment. The repellers were hurling the shells back long before they reached eventhe outer screen, and they were exploding harmlessly in the air. Thefull power of the ray-generators, too, which had been so destructive tothe Osnomian defenses, were only sufficient to bring the outer screen toa dull red glow. After fifteen minutes of passive acceptance of all theairships could do, Seaton spoke to the captive. 

"Sir, please signal the commanding officer of vessel seven-two-four thatI am going to cut it in two in the middle. Have him remove all men inthat part of the ship to the ends, and have parachutes in readiness, asI do not wish to cause any loss of life. "

The signal was sent, and, as the officer was already daunted by the factthat their utmost efforts could not even make the strangers' screensradiate, it was obeyed. Seaton then threw on the frightful power of theFenachrone super-generators. The defensive screens of the doomed warshipflashed once--a sparkling, coruscating display of incandescentbrilliance--and in the same instant went down. Simultaneously the entiremidsection of the vessel exploded into light and disappeared; completelyvolatilized. 

"Sir, please signal the entire fleet to cease action, and to follow medown. If they do not do so, I will destroy the rest of them. "

The _Skylark_ dropped to the ground, followed by the fleet of warships, who settled in a ring about her--inactive, but ready. 

"Will you please loan me your sending instrument, sir?" Seaton asked. "From this point on I can carry on negotiations better direct thanthrough you. "

The lieutenant found his voice as he surrendered the instrument. 

"Sir, are you the Overlord of Osnome, of whom we have heard? We hadsupposed that one was a mythical character, but you must be he--no oneelse would spare lives that he could take, and the Overlord is the onlybeing reputed to have a skin the color of yours. "

"Yes, lieutenant, I am the Overlord--and I have decided to become theOverlord of the entire green system, as well as of Osnome. "

He then sent out a call to the commander-in-chief of all the armies ofthe planet, informing him that he was coming to visit him at once, andthe _Skylark_ tore through the air to the capital city. No sooner hadthe earthly vessel alighted upon the palace grounds than she wassurrounded by a ring of warships who, however, made no offensive move. Seaton again used the telegraph. 

"Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the planet Urvania; greetingsfrom the Overlord of this solar system. I invite you to come into myvessel, unarmed and alone, for a conference. I come in peace and, peaceor war as you decide, no harm shall come to you, until after you havereturned to your own command. Think well before you reply. "

"If I refuse?"

"I shall destroy one of the vessels surrounding me, and shall continueto destroy them, one every ten seconds, until you agree to come. If youstill do not agree. I shall destroy all the armed forces upon thisplanet, then destroy all your people who are at present upon Osnome. Iwish to avoid bloodshed and destruction, but I can and I will do as Ihave said. "

"I will come. "

The general came out upon the field unarmed, escorted by a company ofsoldiers. A hundred feet from the vessel he halted the guards and cameon alone, erect and soldierly. Seaton met him at the door and invitedhim to be seated. 

"What can you have to say to me?" the general demanded, disregarding theinvitation. 

"Many things. First, let me say that you are not only a brave man; youare a wise general--your visit to me proves it. "

"It is a sign of weakness, but I believed when I heard those reports, and still believe, that a refusal would have resulted in a heavy loss ofour men, " was the General's reply. 

"It would have, " said Seaton. "I repeat that your act was not weakness, but wisdom. The second thing I have to say is that I had not planned ontaking any active part in the management of things, either upon Osnomeor upon this planet, until I learned of a catastrophe that isthreatening all the civilization in this Galaxy--thus threatening my owndistant world as well as those of this solar system. Third, only bysuperior force can I make either your race or the Osnomians listen toreason sufficiently to unite against a common foe. You have been rearedin unreasoning hatred for so many generations that your minds arewarped. For that reason I have assumed control of this entire system, and shall give you your choice between co-operating with us or beingrendered incapable of molesting us while our attention is occupied bythis threatened invasion. "

"We will have no traffic with the enemy whatever, " said the general. "This is final. "

"You just think so. Here is a mathematical statement of what is goingto happen to your world, unless I intervene. " He handed the general adrawing of Dunark's plan and described it in detail. "That is the answerof the Osnomians to your invasion of their planet. I do not want thisworld destroyed, but if you refuse to make common cause with us againsta common foe, it may be necessary. Have you forces at your commandsufficient to frustrate this plan?"

"No; but I cannot really believe that such a deflection of celestialbodies is possible. Possible or not, you realize that I could not yieldto empty threats. "

"Of course not, " said Seaton, "but you were wise enough to refuse tosacrifice a few ships and men in a useless struggle against myoverwhelming armament, therefore you are certainly wise enough to refuseto sacrifice your entire race. However, before you come to any definiteconclusion, I will show you what threatens the Galaxy. "

 * * * * *

He handed the other a headset and ran through the section of the recordshowing the plans of the invaders. He then ran a few sections showingthe irresistible power at the command of the Fenachrone. 

"That is what awaits us all unless we combine against them. "

"What are your requirements?" the general asked. 

"I request immediate withdrawal of all your armed forces now upon Osnomeand full co-operation with me in this coming war against the invaders. In return, I will give you the secrets I have just given theOsnomians--the power and the offensive and defensive weapons of thisvessel. "

"The Osnomians are now building vessels such as this one?" asked thegeneral. 

"They are building vessels a hundred times the size of this one, withthe same armament. "

"For myself, I would agree to your terms. However, the word of theEmperor is law. "

"I understand, " replied Seaton. "Would you be willing to seek animmediate audience with him? I would suggest that both you and heaccompany me, and we shall hold a peace conference with the OsnomianEmperor and Commander-in-Chief upon this vessel. We shall be gone lessthan a day. "

"I shall do so at once. "

"You may accompany your general, lieutenant. Again I ask pardon for mynecessary rudeness. "

As the Urvanian officers hurried toward the palace, the otherTerrestrials, who had been listening in from another room, entered. 

"It sounded as though you convinced him, Dick; but that language isnothing like Kondalian. Why don't you teach it to us? Teach it to Shiro, too, so he can cook for, and talk to, our distinguished guestsintelligently, if they're going back with us. "

As he connected up the educator, Seaton explained what had happened, andconcluded:

"I want to stop this civil war, keep Dunark from destroying this planet, preserve Osnome for Osnomians, and make them all co-operate with usagainst the Fenachrone. That's one tall order, since these folks haven'tthe remotest notion of anything except killing. "

A company of soldiers approached, and Dorothy got up hastily. 

"Stick around, folks. We can all talk to them. "

"I believe that it would be better for you to be alone, " Crane decided, after a moment's thought. "They are used to autocratic power, and canunderstand nothing but one-man control. The girls and I will keep out ofit. "

"That might be better at that, " and Seaton went to the door to welcomethe guests. Seaton instructed them to lie flat, and put on all theacceleration they could bear. It was not long until they were back inKondal, where Roban, the Karfedix, and Tarnan, the Karbix, acceptedSeaton's invitation and entered the Skylark, unarmed. Back out in space, the vessel stationary, Seaton introduced the emperors andcommanders-in-chief to each other--introductions which were acknowledgedalmost imperceptibly. He then gave each a headset, and ran the completerecord of the Fenachrone brain. 

"Stop!" shouted Roban, after only a moment. "Would you, the Overlord ofOsnome, reveal such secrets as this to the arch-enemies of Osnome?"

"I would. I have taken over the Overlordship of the entire green systemfor the duration of this emergency, and I do not want two of its planetsengaged in civil war. "

The record finished, Seaton tried for some time to bring the four greenwarriors to his way of thinking, but in vain. Roban and Tarnan remainedcontemptuous. They would have thrown themselves upon him, but for theknowledge that no fifty unarmed men of the green race could haveovercome his strength--to them supernatural. The two Urvanians wereequally obdurate. This soft earth-being had given them everything; theyhad given him nothing and would give him nothing. Finally Seaton rose tohis full height and stared at them in turn, wrath and determinationblazing in his eyes. 

"I have brought you four together, here in a neutral vessel in neutralspace, to bring about peace between you. I have shown you the benefitsto be derived from the peaceful pursuit of science, knowledge, andpower, instead of continuing this utter economic waste of continual war. You all close your senses to reason. You of Osnome accuse me of being aningrate and a traitor; you of Urvania consider me a soft-headed, sentimental weakling, who may safely be disregarded--all because I thinkthe welfare of the numberless peoples of the Universe more importantthan your narrow-minded, stubborn, selfish vanity. Think what youplease. If brute force is your only logic, know now that I can, andwill, use brute force. Here are the seven disks, " and he placed thebracelet upon Roban's knee. 

"If you four leaders are short-sighted enough to place your petty enmitybefore the good of all civilization, I am done with you forever. I havedeliberately given Urvanians precisely the same information that I havegiven the Osnomians--no more and no less. I have given neither of youall that I know, and I shall know much more than I do now, before thetime of the conquest shall have arrived. Unless you four men, here andnow, renounce this war and agree to a perpetual peace between yourworlds, I shall leave you to your mutual destruction. You do not yetrealize the power of the weapons I have given you. When you do realizeit, you will know that mutual destruction is inevitable if you continuethis internecine war. I shall continue upon other worlds my search forthe one secret standing between me and a complete mastery of power. ThatI shall find that secret I am confident; and, having found it, I shall, without your aid, destroy the Fenachrone. 

"You have several times remarked with sneers that you are not to beswayed by empty threats. What I am about to say is no empty threat--itis a most solemn promise, given by one who has both the will and thepower to fulfill his every given word. Now listen carefully to this, myfinal utterance. If you continue this warfare and if the victor shouldnot be utterly destroyed in its course, I swear as I stand here, by thegreat First Cause, that I shall myself wipe out every trace of thesurviving nation as soon as the Fenachrone shall have been obliterated. Work with each other and me and we all may live--fight on and both yournations, to the last person, will most certainly die. Decide now whichit is to be. I have spoken. "

 * * * * *

Roban took up the bracelet and clasped it again about Seaton's arm, saying, "You are more than ever our Overlord. You are wiser than are we, and stronger. Issue your commands and they shall be obeyed. "

"Why did not you say those things first, Overlord?" asked the Urvanianemperor, as he saluted and smiled. "We could not in honor submit to aweakling, no matter what the fate in store. Having convinced us of yourstrength, there can be no disgrace in fighting beneath your screens. Anarmlet of seven symbols shall be cast and ready for you when you nextvisit us. Roban of Osnome, you are my brother. "

The two emperors saluted each other and stared eye to eye for a longmoment, and Seaton knew that the perpetual peace had been signed. Thenall four spoke, in unison:

"Overlord, we await your commands. "

"Dunark of Osnome is already informed as to what Osnome is to do. Say tohim that it will not be necessary for him to build the vessel for me;the Urvanians will do that. Urvan of Urvania, you will accompany Robanto Osnome, where you two will order instant cessation of hostilities. Osnome has many ships of this type, and upon some of them you willreturn your every soldier and engine of war to your own planet. As soonas possible you will build for me a vessel like that of the Fenachrone, except that it shall be ten times as large, in every dimension, andexcept that every instrument, control, and weapon is to be left out. "

"Left out? It shall be so built--but of what use will it be?"

"The empty spaces shall be filled after I have returned from my quest. You will build this vessel of dagal. You will also instruct the Osnomiancommander in the manufacture of that metal, which is so much moreresistant than their arenak. "

"But, Overlord, we have.... "

"I have just brought immense stores of the precious chemical and of themetal of power to Osnome. They will share it with you. I also advise youto build for yourselves many ships like those of the Fenachrone, withwhich to do battle with the invaders, in case I should fail in my quest. You will, of course, see to it that there will be a corps of your mostefficient mechanics and artisans within call at all times in case Ishould return and have sudden need for them. "

"All these things shall be done. "

The conference ended, the four nobles were quickly landed upon Osnomeand once more the _Skylark_ traveled out into her element, the totalvacuum and absolute zero of the outer void, with Crane at the controls. 

"You certainly sounded savage, Dick. I almost thought you really meantit!" Dorothy chuckled. 

"I did mean it, Dot. Those fellows are mighty keen on detecting bluffs. If I hadn't meant it, and if they hadn't known that I meant it, I'dnever have got away with it. "

"But you _couldn't_ have meant it, Dick! You wouldn't have destroyed theOsnomians, surely--you know you wouldn't. "

"No, but I would have destroyed what was left of the Urvanians, and allfive of us knew exactly how it would have turned out and exactly what Iwould have done about it--that's why they all pulled in their horns. "

"I don't know what would have happened, " interjected Margaret. "Whatwould have?"

"With this new stuff the Urvanians would have wiped the Osnomians out. They are an older race, and so much better in science and mechanics thatthe Osnomians wouldn't have stood much chance, and knew it. Incidentally, that's why I'm having them build our new ship. They'll puta lot of stuff into it that Dunark's men would miss--maybe some stuffthat even the Fenachrone haven't got. However, though it might seem thatthe Urvanians had all the best of it, Urvan knew that I had something upmy sleeve besides my bare arm--and he knew that I'd clean up what therewas left of his race if they polished off the Osnomians. "

"What a frightful chance you were taking, Dick!" gasped Dorothy. 

"You have to be hard to handle those folks--and believe me, I was aforty-minute egg right then. They have such a peculiar mental and moralslant that we can hardly understand them at all. This idea ofco-operation is so new to them that it actually dazed all four of themeven to consider it. "

"Do you suppose they will fight, anyway?" asked Crane. 

"Absolutely not. Both nations have an inflexible code of honor, such asit is, and lying is against both codes. That's one thing I like aboutthem--I'm sort of honest myself, and with either of these races you neednothing signed or guaranteed. "

"What next, Dick?"

"Now the real trouble begins. Mart, oil up the massive old intellect. Have you found the answer to the problem?"

"What problem?" asked Dorothy. "You didn't tell us anything about aproblem. "

"No, I told Mart. I want the best physicist in this entire solarsystem--and since there are only one hundred and twenty-five planetsaround these seventeen suns, it should be simple to yon phenomenalbrain. In fact, I expect to hear him say 'elementary, my dear Watson, elementary'!"

"Hardly that, Dick, but I have found out a few things. There are someeighty planets which are probably habitable for beings like us. Otherthings being equal, it seems reasonable to assume that the older thesun, the longer its planets have been habitable, and therefore the olderand more intelligent the life.... "

"'Ha! ha! It was elementary, ' says Sherlock. " Seaton interrupted. "You're heading directly at that largest, oldest, and most intelligentplanet, then, I take it, where I can catch me my physicist?"

"Not directly at it, no. I am heading for the place where it will bewhen we reach it. That is elementary. "

"Ouch! That got to me, Mart, right where I live. I'll be good. "

"But you are getting ahead of me, Dick--it is not as simple as you haveassumed from what I have said so far. The Osnomian astronomers have donewonders in the short time they have had, but their data, particularly onthe planets of the outer suns, is as yet necessarily very incomplete. Since the furthermost outer sun is probably the oldest, it is the one inwhich we are most interested. It has seven planets, four of which areprobably habitable, as far as temperature and atmosphere are concerned. However, nothing exact is yet known of their masses, motions, or places. Therefore I have laid our course to intercept the closest one to us, asnearly as I can from what meager data we have. If it should prove to beinhabited by intelligent beings, they can probably give us more exactinformation concerning their neighboring planets. That is the best I cando. "

"That's a darn fine best, old top--narrowing down to four from a hundredand twenty-five. Well, until we get there, what to do? Let's sing us asong, to keep our fearless quartette in good voice. "

"Before you do anything, " said Margaret seriously, "I would like to knowif you really think there is a chance of defeating those monsters. "

 * * * * *

"In all seriousness, I do. In fact, I am quite confident of it. If wehad two years, I know that we could lick them cold; and by stepping onthe gas I believe we can get the dope in less than the six months wehave to work in. "

"I know that you are serious, Dick. Now you know that I do not want todiscourage any one, but I can see small basis for optimism, " Crane spokeslowly and thoughtfully. "I hope that you will be able to control thezone of force--but you are not studying it yourself. You seem to becertain that somewhere in this system there is a race who already knowsall about it. I would like to know your reasons for thinking that such arace exists. "

"They may not be upon this system; they may have been outsiders, as weare--but I have reasons for believing them to be natives of this system, since they were green. You are as familiar with Osnomian mythology as Iam--you girls in particular have read Osnomian legends to Osnomianchildren for hours. Also identically the same legends prevail uponUrvania. I read them in that lieutenant's brain--in fact, I looked forthem. You also know that every folk-legend has some basis, howevertenuous, in fact. Now, Dottie, tell about the battle of the gods, whenOsnome was a pup. "

"The gods came down from the sky, " Dorothy recited. "They were green, aswere men. They wore invisible armor of polished metal, which appearedand disappeared. They stayed inside the armor and fought outside it withswords and lances of fire. Men who fought against them cut them throughand through with swords, and they struck the men with lances of flame sothat they were stunned. So the gods fought in days long gone andvanished in their invisible armor, and----"

"That's enough, " interrupted Seaton. "The little red-haired girl has herlesson perfectly. Get it, Mart?"

"No, I cannot say that I do. "

"Why, it doesn't even make sense!" exclaimed Margaret. 

"All right, I'll elucidate. Listen!" and Seaton's voice grew tense withearnestness. "Visitors came down out of space. They were green. Theywore zones of force, which they flashed on and off. They stayed insidethe zones and projected their images outside, and used rays _through thezones_. Men who fought against the images cut them through and throughwith swords, but could not harm them since they were not actualsubstance; and the images directed rays against the men so that theywere stunned. So the visitors fought in days long gone, and vanished intheir zones of force. How does that sound?"

"You have the most stupendous imagination the world has ever seen--butthere may be some slight basis of fact there, after all, " said Crane, slowly. 

"I'm convinced of it, for one reason in particular. Notice that it saysspecifically that the visitors stunned the natives. Now that thought isabsolutely foreign to all Osnomian nature--when they strike they kill, and always have. Now if that myth has come down through so manygenerations without having that 'stunned' changed to 'killed', I'mwilling to bet a few weeks of time that the rest of it came down fairlystraight, too. Of course, what they had may not have been the zone offorce as we know it, but it must have been a ray of some kind--andbelieve me, that was one educated ray. Somebody sure had something, even'way back in those days. And if they had anything at all back there, they must know a lot by now. That's why I want to look 'em up. "

"But suppose they want to kill us off at sight?" objected Dorothy. "Theymight be able to do it, mightn't they?"

"Sure, but they probably wouldn't want to--any more than you would stepon an ant who asked you to help him move a twig. That's about how muchahead of us they probably are. Of course, we struck a pure mentalityonce, who came darn near dematerializing us entirely, but I'm bettingthat these folks haven't got that far along yet. By the way, I've got ahunch about those pure intellectuals. "

"Oh, tell us about it!" laughed Margaret. "Your hunches are the world'sgreatest brainstorms!"

"Well, I pumped out and rejeweled the compass we put on that funnyplanet--as a last resort, I thought we might maybe visit them and askthat bozo we had the argument with to help us out. I think he--orit--would show us everything about the zone of force we want to know. Idon't think that we'd be dematerialized, either, because the situationwould give him something more to think about for another thousandcycles; and thinking seemed to be his main object in life. However, toget back to the subject, I found that even with the new power of thecompass the entire planet was still out of reach. Unless they'vedematerialized it, that means about ten billion light-years as anabsolute minimum. Think about that for a minute!... I've just got a kindof a hunch that maybe they don't belong in this Galaxy at all--that theymight be from some other Galaxy, planet and all; just riding around onit, as we are riding in the _Skylark_. Is the idea conceivable to a sanemind, or not?"

"Not!" decided Dorothy, promptly. "We'd better go to bed. One more suchidea, in progression with the last two you've had, would certainly giveyou a compound fracture of the skull. 'Night, Cranes. "

CHAPTER VII

DuQuesne's Voyage

Far from our solar system a cigar-shaped space-car slackened itsterrific acceleration to a point at which human beings could walk, andtwo men got up, exercised vigorously to restore the circulation to theirnumbed bodies, and went into the galley to prepare their meal--the firstsince leaving the Earth some eight hours or more before. 

Because of the long and arduous journey he had decided upon, DuQuesnehad had to abandon his custom of working alone, and had studied all theavailable men with great care before selecting his companion and reliefpilot. He finally had chosen "Baby Doll" Loring--so called because ofhis curly yellow hair, his pink and white complexion, his guileless blueeyes, his slight form of rather less than medium height. But never didoutward attributes more belie the inner man! The yellow curls covered abrain agile, keen, and hard; the girlish complexion neither paled norreddened under stress; the wide blue eyes had glanced along the barrelsof so many lethal weapons, that in various localities the noose yawnedfor him; the slender body was built of rawhide and whalebone, andresponded instantly to the dictates of that ruthless brain. Under theprotection of Steel he flourished, and in return for that protection heperformed, quietly and with neatness and despatch, such odd jobs as werein his line, with which he was commissioned. 

When they were seated at an excellent breakfast of ham and eggs, buttered toast, and strong, aromatic coffee, DuQuesne broke the longsilence. 

"Do you want to know where we are?"

"I'd say we were a long way from home, by the way this elevator of yourshas been climbing all night. "

"We are a good many million miles from the Earth, and we are gettingfarther away at a rate that would have to be measured in millions ofmiles per second. " DuQuesne, watching the other narrowly as he madethis startling announcement and remembering the effect of a similar oneupon Perkins, saw with approval that the coffee-cup in midair did notpause or waver in its course. Loring noted the bouquet of his beverageand took an appreciative sip before he replied. 

"You certainly can make coffee, Doctor; and good coffee is nine-tenthsof a good breakfast. As to where we are--that's all right with me. I canstand it if you can. "

"Don't you want to know where we're going, and why?"

"I've been thinking about that. Before we started I didn't want to knowanything, because what a man doesn't know he can't be accused ofspilling in case of a leak. Now that we are on our way, though, maybe Ishould know enough about things to act intelligently, if somethingunforeseen should develop. If you'd rather keep it dark and give meorders when necessary, that's all right with me, too. It's your party, you know. "

"I brought you along because one man can't stay on duty twenty-fourhours a day, continuously. Since you are in as deep as you can get, andsince this trip is dangerous, you should know everything there is toknow. You are one of the higher-ups now, anyway: and we understand eachother thoroughly, I believe?"

"I believe so. "

Back in the bow control-room DuQuesne applied more power, but not enoughto render movement impossible. 

"You don't have to drive her as hard all the way, then, as you did lastnight?"

"No, I'm out of range of Seaton's instrument now, and we don't have tokill ourselves. High acceleration is punishment for anyone and we mustkeep ourselves fit. To begin with, I suppose that you are curious aboutthat object-compass?"

"That and other things. "

"An object-compass is a needle of specially-treated copper, so activatedthat it points always toward one certain object, after being once setupon it. Seaton undoubtedly has one upon me; but, sensitive as they are, they can't hold on a mass as small as a man at this distance. That waswhy we left at midnight, after he had gone to bed--so that we'd be outof range before he woke up. I wanted to lose him, as he might interfereif he knew where I was going. Now I'll go back to the beginning and tellyou the whole story. "

 * * * * *

Tersely, but vividly, he recounted the tale of the interstellar cruise, the voyage of the _Skylark of Space_. When he had finished, Loringsmoked for a few minutes in silence. 

"There's a lot of stuff there that's hard to understand all at once. Doyou mind if I ask a few foolish questions, to get things straightenedout in my mind?"

"Go ahead--ask as many as you want to. It is hard to understand a lot ofthat Osnomian stuff--a man can't get it all at once. "

"Osnome is so far away--how are you going to find it?"

"With one of the object-compasses I mentioned. I had planned onnavigating from notes I took on the trip back to the Earth, but itwasn't necessary. They tried to keep me from finding out anything, but Ilearned all about the compasses, built a few of them in their own shop, and set one on Osnome. I had it, among other things, in my pocket when Ilanded. In fact, the control of that explosive copper bullet is the onlything they had that I wasn't able to get--and I'll get that on thistrip. "

"What is that arenak armor they're wearing?"

"Arenak is a synthetic metal, almost perfectly transparent. It haspractically the same refractive index as air, therefore it is, to allintents and purposes, invisible. It's about five hundred times as strongas chrome-vanadium steel, and even when you've got it to theyield-point, it doesn't break, but stretches out and snaps back, likerubber, with the strength unimpaired. It's the most wonderful thing Isaw on the whole trip. They make complete suits of it. Of course theyaren't very comfortable, but since they are only a tenth of an inch theycan be worn. "

"And a tenth of an inch of that stuff will stop a steel-nosedmachine-gun bullet?"

"Stop it! A tenth of an inch of arenak is harder to pierce than fiftyinches of our hardest, toughest armor steel. A sixteenth-incharmor-piercing projectile couldn't get through it. It's hard to believe, but nevertheless it's a fact. The only way to kill Seaton with a gunwould be to use one heavy enough so that the shock of the impact wouldkill him--and it wouldn't surprise me a bit if he had his armor anchoredwith an attractor against that very contingency. Even if he hasn't, youcan imagine the chance of getting action against him with a gun of thatsize. "

"Yes, I've heard that he is fast. "

"That doesn't tell half of it. You know that I'm handy with a gunmyself?"

"You're faster than I am, and that's saying something. You're chainlightning. "

"Well, Seaton is at least that much faster than I am. You've never seenhim work--I have. On that Osnomian dock he shot twice before I started, and shot twice to my once from then on. I must have been shooting aquarter of a second after he had his side all cleaned up. To make itworse I missed once with my left hand--he didn't. There's absolutely nouse tackling Richard Seaton without an Osnomian ray-generator orsomething better; but, as you know, Brookings always has been and alwayswill be a fool. He won't believe anything new until after he hasactually been shown. Well, I imagine he will be shown plenty by thisevening. "

"Well, I'll never tackle him with heat. How does he get that way?"

"He's naturally fast, and has practiced sleight-of-hand work ever sincehe was a kid. He's one of the best amateur magicians in the country, andI will say that his ability along that line has come in handy for himmore than once. "

"I see where you're right in wanting to get something, since we haveonly ordinary weapons and they have all that stuff. This trip is to geta little something for ourselves, I take it?"

"Exactly, and you know enough now to understand what we are out here toget for ourselves. You have guessed that we are headed for Osnome?"

"I suspected it. However, if you were going only to Osnome, you wouldhave gone alone; so I also suspect that that's only half of it. I haveno idea what it is, but you've got something else on your mind. "

"You're right--I knew you were keen. When I was on Osnome I found outsomething that only four other men--all--dead--ever knew. There is arace of men far ahead of the Osnomians in science, particularly inwarfare. They live a long way beyond Osnome. It is my plan to steal anOsnomian airship and mount all its ray screens, generators, guns, andeverything else, upon this ship, or else convert their vessel into aspace-ship. Instead of using their ordinary power, however, we will doas Seaton did, and use intra-atomic power, which is practicallyinfinite. Then we'll have everything Seaton's got, but that isn'tenough. I want enough more than he's got to wipe him out. Therefore, after we get a ship armed to suit us, we'll visit this strange planetand either come to terms with them or else steal a ship from them. Thenwe'll have their stuff and that of the Osnomians, as well as our own. Seaton won't last long after that. "

"Do you mind if I ask how you got that dope?"

"Not at all. Except when right with Seaton I could do pretty much as Ipleased, and I used to take long walks for exercise. The Osnomians tiredvery easily, being so weak, and because of the light gravity of theplanet, I had to do a lot of work or walking to keep in any kind ofcondition at all. I learned Kondalian quickly, and got so friendly withthe guards, that pretty soon they quit trying to keep me in sight, butwaited at the edge of the palace grounds until I came back and joinedthem. 

"Well, on one trip I was fifteen miles or so from the city when anairship crashed down in a woods about half a mile from me. It was in anuninhabited district and nobody else saw it. I went over to investigate, thinking probably I could find out something useful. It had the wholefront end cut or broken off, and that made me curious, because noimaginable fall will break an arenak hull. I walked in through the holeand saw that it was one of their fighting tenders--a combination warshipand repair shop, with all of the stuff in it that I've been telling youabout. The generators were mostly burned out and the propelling andlifting motors were out of commission. I prowled around, gettingacquainted with it, and found a lot of useful instruments and, best ofall, one of Dunark's new mechanical educators, with completeinstructions for its use. Also, I found three bodies, and thought I'dtry it out.... "

"Just a minute. Only three bodies on a warship? And what good could amechanical educator do you if the men were all dead?"

"Three is all I found then, but there was another one. Three men and acaptain compose an Osnomian crew for any ordinary vessel. Everything isautomatic, you, know. As for the men being dead, that doesn't make anydifference--you can read their brains just the same, if they haven'tbeen dead too long. However, when I tried to read theirs, I found onlyblanks--their brains had been destroyed so that nobody could read them. That did look funny, so I ransacked the ship from truck to keelson, andfinally found another body, wearing an air-helmet, in a sort of closetoff the control room. I put the educator on it.... "

"This is getting good. It sounds like a page of the old 'Arabian Nights'that I used to read when I was a boy. You know, it really isn'tsurprising that Brookings didn't believe a lot of this stuff. "

"As I have said, a lot of it is hard to understand, but I'm going toshow it to you--all that, and more. "

"Oh, I believe it, all right. After riding in this boat and looking outof the windows, I'll believe anything. Reading a dead man's brain issteep, though. "

"I'll let you do it after we get there. I don't understand exactly howit works, myself, but I know how to operate one. Well, I found out thatthis man's brain was in good shape, and I got a shock when I read it. Here's what he had been through. They had been flying very high on theirway to the front when their ship was seized by an invisible force andthrown upward. He must have thought faster than the others, because heput on an air-helmet and dived into this locker where he hid under apile of gear, fixing things so that he could see out through thetransparent arenak of the wall. No sooner was he hidden that the frontend of the ship went up in a blaze of light, in spite of their rayscreens going full blast. They were up so high by that time that whenthe bow was burned off the other three fainted from lack of air. Thentheir generators went out, and pretty soon two peculiar-lookingstrangers entered. They were wearing vacuum suits and were very shortand stocky, giving the impression of enormous strength. They brought aneducator of their own with them and read the brains of the three men. Then they dropped the ship a few thousand feet and revived the threewith a drink of something out of a flask. "

"Must have been different from the kind handled by most booties I know, then. The stuff we've been getting lately would make a man moreunconscious than ever. "

"Some powerful drug, probably, but the Osnomian didn't know anythingabout it. After the men were revived, the strangers, apparently fromsheer cruelty and love of torturing their victims, informed them in theOsnomian language that they were from another world, on the far edge ofthe Galaxy. They even told them, knowing that the Osnomians knew nothingof astronomy, exactly where they were from. Then they went on to saythat they wanted the entire green system for themselves, and that insomething like two years of our time they were going to wipe out all thepresent inhabitants of the system and take it over, as a base forfurther operations. After that they amused themselves by describingexactly the kinds of death and destruction they were going to use. Theydescribed most of it in great detail. It's too involved to tell youabout now, but they've got rays, generators, and screens that even theOsnomians never heard of. And of course they've got intra-atomic energythe same as we have. After telling them all this and watching themsuffer, they put a machine on their heads and they dropped dead. That'sprobably what disintegrated their brains. Then they looked the ship overrather casually, as though they didn't see anything they were interestedin; crippled the motors; and went away. The vessel was then released, and crashed. This man, of course, was killed by the fall. I buried themen--I didn't want anybody else reading that brain--hid some of thestuff I wanted most, and camouflaged the ship so that I'm fairly surethat it's there yet. I decided then to make this trip. "

"I see. " Loring's mind was grappling with these new and strange facts. "That news is staggering, Doctor. Think of it. Everybody thinks our ownworld is everything there is!"

"Our world is simply a grain of dust in the Universe. Most people knowit, academically, but very few ever give the fact any actualconsideration. But now that you've had a little time to get used to theidea of there being other worlds, and some of them as far ahead of us inscience as we are ahead of the monkeys, what do you think of it?"

"I agree with you, that we've got their stuff, " said Loring. "However, it occurs to me as a possibility that they may have so much stuff thatwe won't be able to make the approach. However, if the Osnomian fittingswe're going to get are as good as you say they are, I think that twosuch men as you and I can get at least a lunch while any other crew, nomatter who they are, are getting a square meal. "

"I like your style, Loring. You and I will have the world eating out ofour hands shortly after we get back. As far as actual procedure overthere is concerned, of course, I haven't made any definite plans. We'llhave to size up the situation after we get there before we can knowexactly what we'll have to do. However, we are not coming backempty-handed. "

"You said something, Chief!" and the two men, so startlingly unlikephysically, but so alike inwardly, shook hands in token of their mutualdedication to a single purpose. 

 * * * * *

Loring was then instructed in the simple navigation of the ship ofspace, and thereafter the two men took their regular shifts at thecontrols. In due time they approached Osnome, and DuQuesne studied theplanet carefully through a telescope before he ventured down into theatmosphere. 

"This half of it used to be Mardonale. I suppose it's all Kondal now. No, there's a war on down there yet--at least, there's a disturbance ofsome kind, and on this planet that means war. "

"What are you looking for, exactly?" asked Loring, who was alsoexamining the terrain with a telescope. 

"They've got some spherical space-ships, like Seaton's. I know they hadone, and they've probably built more of them since that time. Theirairships can't touch us, but those ball-shaped cruisers would be purepoison for us, the way we are fixed now. Can you see any of them?"

"Not yet. Too far away to make out details. They're certainly having ahot time down there, though, in that one spot. "

They dropped lower, toward the stronghold which was being so stubbornlydefended by the inhabitants of the third planet of the fourteenth sun, and so savagely attacked by the Kondalian forces. 

"There, we can see what they're doing now, " and DuQuesne anchored thevessel with an attractor. "I want to see if they've got many of thosespace-ships in action, and you will want to see what war is like, whenit is fought by people, who have been making war steadily for tenthousand years. "

Poised at the limit of clear visibility, the two men studied theincessant battle being waged beneath them. They saw not one, but fully athousand of the globular craft high in the air and grouped in a greatcircle around an immense fortification upon the ground below. They sawno airships in the line of battle, but noticed that many such vesselswere flying to and from the front, apparently carrying supplies. Thefortress was an immense dome of some glassy, transparent material, partially covered with slag, through which they saw that the centralspace was occupied by orderly groups of barracks, and that round thecircumference were arranged gigantic generators, projectors, and othermachinery at whose purposes they could not even guess. From the base ofthe dome a twenty-mile-wide apron of the same glassy substance spreadover the ground, and above this apron and around the dome were thrownthe mighty defensive ray-screens, visible now and then in scintillatingviolet splendor as one of the copper-driven Kondalian projectors soughtin vain for an opening. But the Earth-men saw with surprise that themain attack was not being directed at the dome; that only an occasionalray was thrown against it in order to make the defenders keep theirscreens up continuously. The edge of the apron was bearing the brunt ofthat vicious and never-ceasing attack, and most concerned the desperatedefense. 

For miles beyond that edge, and as deep under it as frightful rays andenormous charges of explosive copper could penetrate, the ground was oneseething, flaming volcano of molten and incandescent lava; lavaconstantly being volatilized by the unimaginable heat of those rays andbeing hurled for miles in all directions by the inconceivable power ofthose explosive copper projectiles--the heaviest projectiles that couldbe used without endangering the planet itself--being directed under theexposed edge of that unbreakable apron, which was in actuality anchoredto the solid core of the planet itself; lava flowing into and filling upthe vast craters caused by the explosions. The attack seemed fiercest atcertain points, perhaps a quarter of a mile apart around the circle, andafter a time the watchers perceived that at those points, under the edgeof the apron, in that indescribable inferno of boiling lava, destructiverays, and disintegrating copper, there were enemy machines at work. These machines were strengthening the protecting apron and extending it, very slowly, but ever wider and ever deeper as the ground under it andbefore it was volatilized or hurled away by the awful forces of theKondalian attack. So much destruction had already been wrought that theedge of the apron and its molten moat were already fully a mile belowthe normal level of that cratered, torn, and tortured plain. 

Now and then one of the mechanical moles would cease its labors, overcome by the concentrated fury of destruction centered upon it. Itsshattered remnants would be withdrawn and shortly, repaired or replaced, it would be back at work. But it was not the defenders who had sufferedmost heavily. The fortress was literally ringed about with the shatteredremnants of airships, and the riddled hulls of more than a few of thosemighty globular cruisers of the void bore mute testimony to thedeadliness and efficiency of the warfare of the invaders. 

Even as they watched, one of the spheres, unable for some reason tomaintain its screens or overcome by the awful forces playing upon it, flared from white into and through the violet and was hurled upward asthough shot from the mouth of some Brobdingnagian howitzer. A dooropened, and from its flaming interior four figures leaped out into theair, followed by a puff of orange-colored smoke. At the first sign oftrouble, the ship next it in line leaped in front of it and the fourfigures floated gently to the ground, supported by friendly attractorsand protected from enemy rays by the bulk and by the screens of therescuing vessel. Two great airships soared upward from back of the linesand hauled the disabled vessel to the ground by means of their powerfulattractors. The two observers saw with amazement that after briefattention from an ant-like ground-crew, the original four men climbedback into their warship and she again shot into the fray, apparently asgood as ever. 

"What do you know about that!" exclaimed DuQuesne. "That gives me anidea, Loring. They must get to them that way fairly often, to judge bythe teamwork they use when it does happen. How about waiting until theydisable another one like that, and then grabbing it while its in theair, deserted and unable to fight back? One of those ships is worth athousand of this one, even if we had everything known to the Osnomians. "

"That's a real idea--those boats certainly are brutes for punishment, "agreed Loring, and as both men again settled down to watch the battle, he went on: "So this is war out this way? You're right. Seaton, withhalf this stuff, could whip the combined armies and navies of the world. I don't blame Brookings much, though, at that--nobody could believe halfof this unless they could actually see it, as we are doing. "

"I can't understand it, " DuQuesne frowned as he considered thesituation. "The attackers are Kondalians, all right--those ships aredevelopments of the _Skylark_--but I don't get that fort at all. Wonderif it can be the strangers already? Don't think so--they aren't due fora couple of years yet, and I don't think the Kondalians could standagainst them a minute. It must be what is left of Mardonale, although Inever heard of anything like that. Probably it is some new inventionthey dug up at the last minute. That's it, I guess, " and his browcleared. "It couldn't be anything else. "

 * * * * *

They waited long for the incident to be repeated, and finally theirpatience was rewarded. When the next vessel was disabled and hurledupward by the concentration of enemy forces, DuQuesne darted down, seized it with his most powerful attractor, and whisked it away intospace at such a velocity that to the eyes of the Kordalians it simplydisappeared. He took the disabled warship far out into space and allowedit to cool off for a long time before deciding that it was safe to boardit. Through the transparent walls they could see no sign of life, andDuQuesne donned a vacuum suit and stepped into the airlock. As Loringheld the steel vessel close to the stranger, DuQuesne leaped lightlythrough the open door into the interior. Shutting the door, he opened anauxiliary air-tank, adjusting the gauge to one atmosphere as he did so. The pressure normal, he divested himself of the suit and made a thoroughexamination of the vessel. He then signaled Loring to follow him, andsoon both ships were over Kondal, so high as to be invisible from theground. Plunging the vessel like a bullet towards the grove in which hehad left the Kondalian airship, he slowed abruptly just in time to makea safe landing. As he stepped out upon Osnomian soil, Loring landed theEarthly ship hardly less skillfully. 

"This saves us a lot of trouble, Loring. This is undoubtedly one of thefinest space-ships of the Universe, and just about ready for anything. "

"How did they get to it?"

"One of the screen generators apparently weakened a trifle, probablyfrom weeks of continuous use. That let some of the rays come through;everything got hot, and the crew had to jump or roast. Nothing is hurt, though, as the ship was thrown up and out of range before the arenakmelted at all. The copper repellers are gone, of course, and most of thebars that were in use are melted down, but there was enough of the mainbar left to drive the ship and we can replace the melted stuff easilyenough. Nothing else was hurt, as there's absolutely nothing in thestructure of these vessels that can be burned. Even the insulation inthe coils and generators has a melting-point higher than that ofporcelain. And not all the copper was melted, either. Some of thesestorerooms are lined with two feet of insulation and are piled full ofbars and explosive ammunition. "

"What was the smoke we saw, then?"

"That was their food-supply. It's cooked to an ash, and their water wasall boiled away through the safety-valves. Those rays certainly can putout a lot of heat in a second or two!"

"Can the two of us put on those copper repeller-bands? This ship must beseventy-five feet in diameter. "

"Yes, it's a lot bigger than the _Skylark_ was. It's one of their latestmodels, or it wouldn't have been on the front line. As to banding on therepellers--that's easy. That airship is half full of metal-workingmachinery that can do everything but talk. I know how to use most of it, from seeing it in use, and we can figure out the rest. "

In that unfrequented spot there was little danger of detection from theair. And none whatsoever of detection from the ground--of ground-travelupon Osnome there is none. Nevertheless, the two men camouflaged thevessels so that they were visible only to keen and direct scrutiny, anddrove their task through to completion on the shortest possible time. The copper repellers were banded on, and much additional machinery wasinstalled in the already well-equipped shop. This done, they transferredto their warship food, water, bedding, instruments, and everything elsethey needed or wanted from their own ship and from the disabledKondalian airship. They made a last tour of inspection to be sure theyhad overlooked nothing useful, then embarked. 

"Think anybody will find those ships? They could get a good line on whatwe've done. "

"Probably, eventually, Loring, so we'd better destroy them. We'd bettertake a short hop first, though, to test everything out. Since you're notfamiliar with the controls of a ship of this type, you need practise. Shoot us up around that moon over there and bring us back to this spot. "

"She's a sweet-handling boat--easy like a bicycle, " declared Loring ashe brought the vessel lightly to a landing upon their return. "We canburn the old one up now. We'll never need her again, any more than asnake needs his last year's skin. "

"She's good, all right. Those two hulks must be put out of existence, but we shouldn't do it here. The rays would set the woods afire, and themetal would condense all around. We don't want to leave any tracks, sowe'd better pull them out into space to destroy them. We could turn themloose, and as you've never worked a ray, it'll be good practice for you. Also, I want you to see for yourself just what our best armour-plateamounts to compared with arenak. "

When they towed the two vessels far out into space, Loring put intopractise the instruction he had received from DuQuesne concerning thecomplex armament of their vessel. He swung the beam-projector upon theKondalian airship, pressed the connectors of the softener ray, the heatray, and the induction ray, and threw the master switch. Almostinstantly the entire hull became blinding white, but it was severalseconds before the extremely refractory material began to volatilize. Though the metal was less than an inch think, it retained its shape andstrength stubbornly, and only slowly did it disappear in flaming, flaring gusts of incandescent gas. 

"There, you've seen what an inch of arenak is like, " said DuQuesne whenthe destruction was complete. "Now shine it on that sixty-inchchrome-vanadium armor hull of our old bus and see what happens. "

Loring did so. As the beam touched it, the steel disappeared in oneflare of radiance--as he swung the projector in one flashing arc fromthe stem to the stern there was nothing left. Loring, swinging the beam, whistled in amazement. 

"Wow! What a difference! And this ship of ours has a skin of arenak sixfeet thick!"

"Yes. Now you understand why I didn't want to argue with anybody outhere as long as we were in our steel ship. "

"I understand, all right; but I can't understand the power of theserays. Suppose I had had all twenty of them on instead of only three?"

"In that case, I think that we could have whipped even the short, thickstrangers. "

"You and me both. But say, every ship's got to have a name. This new oneof ours is such a sweet, harmless, inoffensive little thing, we'd bettername her the _Violet_, hadn't we?"

 * * * * *

DuQuesne started the _Violet_ off in the direction of the solar systemoccupied by the warlike strangers, but he did not hurry. He and Loringpracticed incessantly for days at the controls, darting here and there, putting on terrific acceleration until the indicators showed a velocityof hundreds of thousand of miles per second, then reversing theacceleration until the velocity was zero. They studied the controls andalarm system until each knew perfectly every instrument, every tinylight, and the tone of each bell. They practiced with the rays, singlyand in combination, with the visiplates, and with the many levers anddials, until each was so familiar with the complex installation that hishandling of every control had become automatic. Not until then didDuQuesne give the word to start out in earnest toward their goal, at anunthinkable distance. 

They had not been under way long when an alarm bell sounded its warningand a brilliant green light began flashing upon the board. 

"Hm ... M, " DuQuesne frowned as he reversed the bar. "Outsideintra-atomic energy detector. Somebody's using power out here. Direction, about dead ahead--straight down. Let's see if we can seeanything. "

He swung number six, the telescopic visiplate, into connection. Afterwhat seemed to them a long time they saw a sudden sharp flash, apparently an immense distance ahead, and simultaneously three morealarm bells rang and three colored lights flashed briefly. 

"Somebody got quite a jolt then. Three rays in action at once for threeor four seconds, " reported DuQuesne, as he applied still more negativeacceleration. 

"I'd like to know what this is all about!" he exclaimed after a time, asthey saw a subdued glow, which lasted a minute or two. As the warninglight was flashing more and more slowly and with diminishing intensity, the _Violet_ was once more put upon her course. As she proceeded, however, the warnings of the liberation of intra-atomic energy grewstronger and stronger, and both men scanned their path intensely for asight of the source of the disturbance, while their velocity was cut toonly a few hundred miles an hour. Suddenly the indicator swerved andpointed behind them, showing that they had passed the object, whateverit was. DuQuesne instantly applied power and snapped on a smallsearchlight. 

"If it's so small that we couldn't see it when we passed it, it'snothing to be afraid of. We'll be able to find it with a light. "

After some search, they saw an object floating in space-apparently avacuum suit!

"Shall one of us get in the airlock, or shall we bring it in with anattractor?" asked Loring. 

"An attractor, by all means. Two or three of them, in fact, tospread-eagle whatever it is. Never take any chances. It's probably anOsnomian, but you never can tell. It may be one of those other people. We know they were around here a few weeks ago, and they're the only onesI know of that have intra-atomic power besides us and the Osnomians. "

"That's no Osnomian, " he continued, as the stranger was drawn into theairlock. "He's big enough around for four Osnomians, and very short. We'll take no chances at all with that fellow. "

The captive was brought into the control room pinioned head, hand, andfoot with attractors and repellers, before DuQuesne approached him. Hethen read the temperature and pressure of the stranger's air-supply, andallowed the surplus air to escape slowly before removing the stranger'ssuit and revealing one of the Fenachrone--eyes closed, unconscious ordead. 

DuQuesne leaped for the educator and handed Loring a headset. 

"Put this on quick. He may be only unconscious, and we might not be ableto get a thing from him if he were awake. "

Loring donned the headset, still staring at the monstrous form withamazement, not unmixed with awe, while DuQuesne, paying no attention toanything except the knowledge he was seeking, manipulated the controlsof the instrument. His first quest was for the weapons and armament ofthe vessel. In this he was disappointed, as he learned that the strangerwas one of the navigating engineers, and as such, had no detailedknowledge of the matters of prime importance to the inquisitor. He didhave a complete knowledge of the marvelous Fenachrone propulsion system, however, and this DuQuesne carefully transferred to his own brain. Hethen rapidly explored other regions of that fearsome organ of thought. 

As the gigantic and inhuman brain was spread before them, DuQuesne andLoring read not only the language, customs, and culture of theFenachrone, but all their plans for the future, as well as the events ofthe past. Plainly in his mind they perceived how he had been cast adriftin the emptiness of the void. They saw the Fenachrone cruiser lying inwait for the two globular vessels. Looking through an extraordinarilypowerful telescope with the eyes of their prisoner, they saw themapproach, all unsuspecting. DuQuesne recognized all five persons in the_Skylark_ and Dunark and Sitar in the Kondal; such was that unearthlyoptical instrument and so clear was the impression upon the mind beforehim. They saw the attack and the battle. They saw the _Skylark_ throwoff her zone of force and attack; saw this one survivor standingdirectly in line with a huge projector-spring, and saw the springsevered by the zone. The free end, under its thousands of pounds oftension, had struck the being upon the side of the head, and the forceof the blow, only partially blocked by the heavy helmet, had hurled himout through the yawning gap in the wall and hundreds of miles out intospace. 

Suddenly the clear view of the brain of the Fenachrone became blurredand meaningless and the flow of knowledge ceased--the prisoner hadregained consciousness and was trying with all his gigantic strength tobreak from those intangible bonds that held him. So powerful were theforces upon him, however, that only a few twitching muscles gaveevidence that he was struggling at all. Glancing about him he recognizedthe attractors and repellers bearing upon him, ceased his efforts toescape, and hurled the full power of his baleful gaze into the blackeyes so close to his own. But DuQuesne's mind, always under perfectcontrol and now amply reenforced by a considerable proportion of thestranger's own knowledge and power, did not waver under the force ofeven that hypnotic glare. 

"It is useless, as you observe, " he said coldly, in the stranger's owntongue, and sneered. "You are perfectly helpless. Unlike you of theFenachrone, however, men of my race do not always kill strangers atsight, merely because they are strangers. I will spare your life, if youcan give me anything of enough value to me to make extra time andtrouble worth while. "

"You read my mind while I could not resist your childish efforts. I willhave no traffic whatever with you who have destroyed my vessel. If youhave mentality enough to understand any portion of my mind--which Idoubt--you already know the fate in store for you. Do with me what youwill. " This from the stranger. 

 * * * * *

DuQuesne pondered long before he replied; considering whether it was tohis advantage to inform this stranger of the facts. Finally he decided. 

"Sir, neither I nor this vessel had anything to do with the destructionof your warship. Our detectors discovered you floating in empty space;we stopped and rescued you from death. We have seen nothing else, savewhat we saw pictured in your own brain. I know that, in common with allof your race, you possess neither conscience nor honor, as we understandthe terms. An automatic liar by instinct and training whenever you thinklies will best serve your purpose, you may yet have intelligence enoughto recognize simple truth when you hear it. You already have observedthat we are of the same race as those who destroyed your vessel, andhave assumed that we are with them. In that you are wrong. It is truethat I am acquainted with those others, but they are my enemies. I amhere to kill them, not to aid them. You have already helped me in oneway--I know as much as does my enemy concerning the impenetrable shieldof force. If I will return you unharmed to your own planet, will youassist me in stealing one of your ships of space, so that I may destroythat Earth-vessel?"

The Fenachrone, paying no attention to DuQuesne's barbed commentsconcerning his honor and veracity, did not hesitate an instant in hisreply. 

"I will not. We supermen of the Fenachrone will allow no vessel of ours, with its secrets unknown to any others of the Universe, to fall into thehands of any of the lesser breeds of men. "

"Well, you didn't try to lie that time, anyway, " said DuQuesne, "butthink a minute. Seaton, my enemy, already has one of your vessels--don'tthink he is too much of a fool to put it back together and to learn itsevery secret. Then, too, remember that I have your mind, and can getalong without you; even though I am willing to admit that you could beof enough help to me so that I would save your life in exchange for thathelp. Also remember that, superman though you may be, your mentalitycannot cope with the forces I have bearing upon you. Neither will yourbeing a superman enable your body to retain life after I have pushed youthrough yonder door, dressed as you are in a silken tunic. "

"I have the normal love of life, " was the reply, "but some things cannotbe done, even with life at stake. Stealing a vessel of the Fenachrone isone of those things. I can, however, do this much--if you will return meto my own planet, you two shall be received as guests aboard one of ourvessels and shall be allowed to witness the vengeance of the Fenachroneupon your enemy. Then you shall be returned to your vessel and allowedto depart unharmed. "

"Now you are lying by rote--I know just what you'd do, " said DuQuesne. "Get that idea out of your head right now. The attractors now holdingyou will not be released until after you have told all. Then, and thenonly, will we try to discover a way of returning you to your own worldsafely, and yet in a manner which will in no way jeopardize my ownsafety. Incidentally, I warn you that the first sign of an attempt toplay false with me in any way will mean your instant death. "

The prisoner remained silent, analyzing every feature of the situation, and DuQuesne continued, coldly:

"Here's something else for you to think about. If you are unwilling tohelp us, what is to prevent me from killing you, and then hunting upSeaton and making peace with him for the duration of this forthcomingwar? With the fragments of your vessel, which he has; with my knowledgeof your mind, reenforced by your own dead brain; and with the vastresources of all the planets of the green system; there is no doubt thatthe plans of the Fenachrone will be seriously interfered with. Myriadsof your race will certainly lose their lives, and it is quite possiblethat your entire race would be destroyed. Understand that I care nothingfor the green system. You are welcome to it if you do as I ask. If youdo not, I shall warn them and help them simply to protect my world, which is now my own personal property. "

"In return for our armament and equipment, you promise not to warn thegreen system against us? The death of your enemy takes first place inyour mind?" The stranger spoke thoughtfully. "In that I understand yourviewpoint thoroughly. But, after I have remodeled your power-plant intoours and have piloted you to our planet, what assurance have I that youwill liberate me, as you have said?"

"None whatever--I have made and am asking no promises, since I cannotexpect you to trust me, any more than I can trust you. Enough of thisargument! I am master here, and I am dictating terms. We can get alongwithout you. Therefore you must decide quickly whether you would ratherdie suddenly and surely, here in space and right now, or help us as Idemand and live until you get back home--enjoying meanwhile your lifeand whatever chance you think you may have of being liberated within theatmosphere of your own planet. "

"Just a minute, Chief!" Loring said, in English, his back to theprisoner. "Wouldn't we gain more by killing him and going back to Seatonand the green system, as you suggested?"

"No. " DuQuesne also turned away, to shield his features from themind-reading gaze of the Fenachrone. "That was pure bluff. I don't wantto get within a million miles of Seaton until after we have the armamentof this fellow's ships. I couldn't make peace with Seaton now, even if Iwanted to--and I haven't the slightest intention of trying. I intendkilling him on sight. Here's what we're going to do. First, we'll getwhat we came after. Then we'll find the _Skylark_ and blow her clearout of space, and take over the pieces of that Fenachrone ship. Afterthat we'll head for the green system, and with their own stuff and whatwe'll give them, they'll be able to give those fiends a hot reception. By the time they finally destroy the Osnomians--if they do--we'll havethe world ready for them. " He turned to the Fenachrone. "What is yourdecision?"

"I submit, in the hope that you will keep your promise, since there isno alternative but death, " and the awful creature, still loosely held bythe attractors and carefully watched by DuQuesne and Loring, fairly toreinto the task of rebuilding the Osnomian power-plant into thespace-annihilating drive of the Fenachrone--for he well knew one factthat DuQuesne's hurried inspection had failed to glean from thelabyrinthine intricacies of that fearsome brain: that once within thedetector screens of that distant solar system these Earth-beings wouldbe utterly helpless before the forces which would inevitably be turnedupon them. Also, he realized that time was precious, and resolved todrive the _Violet_ so unmercifully that she would overtake that fleeingtorpedo, now many hours upon its way--the torpedo bearing news, for thefirst time in Fenachrone history, of the overwhelming defeat and captureof one of its mighty engines of interstellar war. 

In a very short time, considering the complexity of the undertaking, theconversion of the power-plant was done and the repellers, alreadysupposed the ultimate in protection, were reenforced by aten-thousand-pound mass of activated copper, effective for untoldmillions of miles. Their monstrous pilot then set the bar and advancedboth levers of the dual power control out to the extreme limit of theirtravel. 

There was no sense of motion or of acceleration, since the new system ofpropulsion acted upon every molecule of matter within the radius ofactivity of the bar, which had been set to include the entire hull. Thepassengers felt only the utter lack of all weight and the other peculiarsensations with which they were already familiar, as each had hadprevious experience of free motion in space. But in spite of the lack ofapparent motion, the _Violet_ was now leaping through the unfathomabledepths of interstellar space with the unthinkable speed of five timesthe velocity of light!

CHAPTER VIII

The Porpoise-Men of Dasor

"How long do you figure it's going to take us to get there, Mart?"Seaton asked from a corner, where he was bending over hisapparatus-table. 

"About three days at this acceleration. I set it at what I thought thesafe maximum for the girls. Should we increase it?"

"Probably not--three days isn't bad. Anyway, to save even one day we'dhave to more than double the acceleration, and none of us could doanything, so we'd better let it ride. How're you making it, Peg?"

"I'm getting used to weighing a ton now. My knees buckled only once thismorning from my forgetting to watch them when I tried to walk. Don't letme interfere, though! if I am slowing us down, I'll go to bed and staythere!"

"It'd hardly pay, " said Seaton. "We can use the time to good advantage. Look here, Mart--I've been looking over this stuff I got out of theirship and here's something I know you'll eat up. They refer to it as achart, but it's three-dimensional and almost incredible. I can't saythat I understand it, but I get an awful kick out of looking at it. I'vebeen studying it a couple of hours, and haven't started yet. I haven'tfound our solar system, the green one, or their own. It's too heavy tomove around now, because of the acceleration we're using--come on overhere and give it a look. "

The "chart" was a strip of some parchment-like material, or film, apparently miles in length, wound upon reels at each end of the machine. One section of the film was always under the viewing mechanism--anoptical system projecting an undistorted image into a visiplate platesomewhat similar to their own--and at the touch of a lever, a smallatomic motor turned the reels and moved the film through the projector. 

It was not an ordinary star-chart: it was three-dimensional, ultra-stereoscopic. The eye did not perceive a flat surface, but beheldan actual, extremely narrow wedge of space as seen from the center ofthe galaxy. Each of the closer stars was seen in its true position inspace and in its true perspective, and each was clearly identified bynumber. In the background were faint stars and nebulous masses of light, too distant to be resolved into separate stars--a true representation ofthe actual sky. As both men stared, fascinated, into the visiplate, Seaton touched the lever and they apparently traveled directly along thecenter line of that ever-widening wedge. As they proceeded, the nearerstars grew brighter and larger, soon becoming suns, with their planetsand then the satellites of the planets plainly visible, and finallypassing out of the picture behind the observers. The fainter starsbecame bright, grew into suns and solar systems, and were passed inturn. The chart unrolled, and the nebulous masses of light wereapproached, became composed of faint stars, which developed as had theothers, and were passed. 

Finally, when the picture filled the entire visiplate, they arrived atthe outermost edge of the galaxy. No more stars were visible: they sawempty space stretching for inconceivably vast distances before them. Butbeyond that indescribable and incomprehensible vacuum they saw faintlenticular bodies of light, which were also named, and which each manknew to be other galaxies, charted and named by the almost unlimitedpower of the Fenachrone astronomers, but not as yet explored. As themagic scroll unrolled still farther, they found themselves back in thecenter of the galaxy, starting outward in the wedge adjacent to the onewhich they had just traversed. Seaton cut off the motor and wiped hisforehead. 

"Wouldn't that break you off at the ankles, Mart? Did you ever conceivethe possibility of such a thing?

"It would, and I did not. There are literally miles and miles of film ineach of those reels, and I see that there is a magazine full of reels inthe cabinet. There must be an index or a master-chart. "

"Yeah, there's a book in this slot here, " said Seaton, "but we don'tknow any of their names or numbers--wait a minute! How did he report ourEarth on that torpedo? Planet number three of sun six four somethingPilarone, wasn't it? I'll get the record. 

"Six four seven three Pilarone, it was. "

"Pilarone ... Let's see.... " Seaton studied the index volume. "Reeltwenty, scene fifty-one, I'd translate it. "

They found the reel, and "scene fifty-one" did indeed show that sectionof space in which our solar system is. Seaton stopped the chart whenstar six four seven three was at its closest range, and there was oursun; with its nine planets and their many satellites accurately shownand correctly described. 

"They know their stuff, all right--you've got to hand it to 'em. I'vebeen straightening out that brain record--cutting out the hazy stretchesand getting his knowledge straightened out so we can use it, and there'sa lot of this kind of stuff in the record you can get. Suppose that youcan figure out exactly where he comes from with this dope and with hisbrain record?"

"Certainly. I may be able to get more complete information upon thegreen system than the Osnomians have, which will be very useful indeed. You are right--I am intensely interested in this material, and if you donot care particularly about studying it any more at this time, I believethat I should begin to study it now. "

"Hop to it. I'm going to study that record some more. No human brain cantake it all, I'm afraid, especially all at once, but I'm going to kindapeck around the edges and get me some dope that I want pretty badly. Wegot a lot of stuff from that wampus. "

About sixty hours out, Dorothy, who had been observing the planetthrough number six visiplate, called Seaton away from the Fenachronebrain-record, upon which he was still concentrating. 

"Come here a minute, Dickie! Haven't you got that knowledge all packedaway in your skull yet?"

"I'll say I haven't. That bird's brain would make a dozen of mine, andit was loaded until the scuppers were awash. I'm just nibbling aroundthe edges yet. "

"I've always heard that the capacity of even the human brain was almostinfinite. Isn't that true?" asked Margaret. 

"Maybe it is, if the knowledge were built up gradually over generations. I think maybe I can get most of this stuff into my peanut brain so I canuse it, but it's going to be an awful job. "

"Is their brain really as far ahead of ours as I gathered from what Isaw of it?" asked Crane. 

"It sure is, " replied Seaton, "as far as knowledge and intelligence areconcerned, but they have nothing else in common with us. They don'tbelong to the genus 'homo' at all, really. Instead of having a commonancestor with the anthropoids, as they say we had, they evolved from agenus which combined the worst traits of the cat tribe and thecarnivorous lizards--the most savage and bloodthirsty branches of theanimal kingdom--and instead of getting better as they went along, theygot worse, in that respect at least. But they sure do know something. When you get a month or so to spare, you want to put on this harness andgrab his knowledge, being very careful to steer clear of his mentaltraits and so on. Then, when we get back to the Earth, we'll simply tearit apart and rebuild it. You'll know what I mean when you get this stufftransplanted into your own skull. But to cut out the lecture, what's onyour mind, Dottie Dimple?"

"This planet Martin picked out is all wet, literally. The visibility isfine--very few clouds--but this whole half of it is solid ocean. Ifthere are any islands, even, they're mighty small. "

 * * * * *

All four looked into the receiver. With the great magnificationemployed, the planet almost filled the visiplate. There were a fewfleecy wisps of cloud, but the entire surface upon which they gazed wasone sheet of the now familiar deep and glorious blue peculiar to thewaters of that cuprous solar system, with no markings whatever. 

"What d'you make of it, Mart? That's water all right--copper-sulphatesolution, just like the Osnomian and Urvanian oceans--and nothing elsevisible. How big would an island have to be for us to see it from here?"

"So much depends upon the contour and nature of the island, that it ishard to say. If it were low and heavily covered with their green-bluevegetation, we might not be able to see even a rather large one, whereasif it were hilly and bare, we could probably see one only a few miles indiameter. "

"Well, one good thing, anyway, we're approaching it from the centralsun, and almost in line with their own sun, so it's daylight all overit. As it turns and as we get closer, we'll see what we can see. Bettertake turns watching it, hadn't we?" asked Seaton. 

It was decided, and while the _Skylark_ was still some distance away, several small islands became visible, and the period of rotation of theplanet was determined to be in the neighborhood of fifty hours. Margaret, then at the controls, picked out the largest island visibleand directed the bar toward it. As they dropped down close to theirobjective, they found that the air was of the same composition as thatof Osnome, but had a pressure of seventy-eight centimeters of mercury, and that the surface gravity of the planet was ninety-five hundredthsthat of the Earth. 

"Fine business!" exulted Seaton. "Just about like home, but I don't seemuch of any place to land without getting wet, do you? Those reflectorsare probably solar generators, and they cover the whole island exceptfor that lagoon right under us. "

The island, perhaps ten miles long and half that in width, was entirelycovered with great parabolic reflectors, arranged so closely togetherthat little could be seen between them. Each reflector apparentlyfocussed upon an object in the center, a helix which seemed to writheluridly in that flaming focus, glowing with a nacreous, opalescent greenlight. 

"Well, nothing much to see there--let's go down, " remarked Seaton as heshot the _Skylark_ over to the edge of the island and down to thesurface of the water. But here again nothing was to be seen of the landitself. The wall was one vertical plate of seamless metal, supportinghuge metal guides, between which floated metal pontoons. From thesegigantic floats metal girders and trusses went through slots in the wallinto the darkness of the interior. Close scrutiny revealed that thelarge floats were rising steadily, although very slowly; while smallerfloats bobbed up and down upon each passing wave. 

"Solar generators, tide-motors, and wave-motors, all at once!"ejaculated Seaton. "_Some_ power-plant! Folks, I'm going to take a lookat that if I have to drill in with a ray!"

[Illustration: Some power plant! Folks, I'm going to take a look atthat.... ]

They circumnavigated the island without revealing any door or otheropening--the entire thirty miles was one stupendous battery of thegenerators. Back at the starting point, the _Skylark_ hopped over thestructure and down to the surface of the small central lagoon previouslynoticed. Close to the water, it was seen that there was plenty of roomfor the vessel to move about beneath the roof of reflectors, and thatthe island was one solid stand of tide-motors. At one end of the lagoonwas an open metal structure, the only building visible, and Seatonbrought the space-cruiser up to it and through the huge opening--fordoor there was none. The interior of the room was lighted by long, tubular lights running around in front of the walls, which wereveritable switchboards. Row after row and tier upon tier stood theinstruments, plainly electrical meters of enormous capacity and equallyplainly in full operation, but no wiring or bus-bar could be seen. Before each row of instruments there was a narrow walk, with stepsleading down into the water of the lagoon. Every part of the great roomwas plainly visible, and not a living being was even watching that vastinstrument-board. 

"What do you make of it, Dick?" asked Crane, slowly. 

"No wiring--tight beam transmission. The Fenachrone do it with twomatched-frequency separable units. Millions and millions of kilowattsthere, if I'm any judge. Absolutely automatic too, or else----" Seaton'svoice died away. 

"Or else what?" asked Dorothy. 

"Just a hunch. I wouldn't wonder if----"

"Hold it, Dicky! Remember I had to put you to bed after that last hunchyou had!"

"Here it is, anyway. Mart, what would be the logical line of evolutionwhen the planet has become so old that all the land has been eroded to alevel below that of the ocean? You picked us out an old one, allright--so old that there's no land left. Would a highly civilized peoplerevert to fish? That seems like a backward move to me, but what otheranswer is possible?"

"Probably not to true fishes--although they might easily develop somefish-like traits. I do not believe, however, that they would go back togills or to cold blood. "

"What _are_ you two saying?" interrupted Margaret. "Do you mean to saythat you think _fish_ live here instead of people, and that _fish_ didall this?" as she waved her hand at the complicated machinery aboutthem. 

"Not fish exactly, no. " Crane paused in thought. "Merely a people whohave adjusted themselves to their environment through conscious ornatural selection. We had a talk about this very thing in our firsttrip, shortly after I met you. Remember? I commented on the fact thatthere must be life throughout the Universe, much of it that we could notunderstand; and you replied that there would be no reason to supposethem awful because incomprehensible. That may be the case here. "

"Well, I'm going to find out, " declared Seaton, as he appeared with abox full of coils, tubes, and other apparatus. 

"How?" asked Dorothy, curiously. 

"Fix me up a detector and follow up one of those beams. Find itsfrequency and direction, first, you know, then pick it up outside andfollow it to where it's going. It'll go through anything, of course, butI can trap off enough of it to follow it, even if it's tight enough tochoke itself, " said Seaton. 

"That's one thing I got from that brain record. "

 * * * * *

He worked deftly and rapidly, and soon was rewarded by a flaring crimsoncolor in his detector when it was located in one certain position infront of one of the meters. Noting the bearing on the great circles, hethen moved the _Skylark_ along that exact line, over the reflectors, andout beyond the island, where he allowed the vessel to settle directlydownwards. 

"Now folks, if I've done this just right, we'll get a red flashdirectly. "

As he spoke the detector again burst into crimson light, and he set thebar into the line and applied a little power, keeping the light at itsreddest while the other three looked on in fascinated interest. 

"This beam is on something that's moving, Mart--can't take my eyes offit for a second or I'll lose it entirely. See where we're going, willyou?"

"We are about to strike the water, " replied Crane quietly. 

"The water!" exclaimed Margaret. 

"Fair enough--why not?"

"Oh, that's right--I forgot that the _Skylark_ is as good a submarine asshe is an airship. "

Crane pointed number six visiplate directly into the line of flight andstarted into the dark water. 

"Mow deep are we, Mart?" asked Seaton after a time. 

"Only about a hundred feet, and we do not seem to be getting anydeeper. "

"That's good. Afraid this beam might be going to a station on the otherside of the planet--through the ground. If so, we'd have had to go backand trace another. We can follow it any distance under water, but notthrough rock. Need a light?"

"Not unless we go deeper. "

For two hours Seaton held the detector upon that tight beam of energy, traveling at a hundred miles an hour, the highest speed he could use andstill hold the beam. 

"I'd like to be up above watching us. I bet we're making the water boilbehind us, " remarked Dorothy. 

"Yeah, we're kicking up quite a wake, I guess. It sure takes power todrive the old can through this wetness. "

"Slow down!" commanded Crane. "I see a submarine ahead. I thought itmight be a whale at first, but it is a boat and it is what we are aimingfor. You are constantly swinging with it, keeping it exactly in theline. "

"O. K. " Seaton reduced the power and swung the visiplate over in front ofhim, whereupon the detector lamp went out. "It's a relief to followsomething I can see, instead of trying to guess which way that beam'sgoing to wiggle next. Lead on, Macduff--I'm right on your tail!"

The _Skylark_ fell in behind the submersible craft, close enough to keepit plainly visible in the telescopic visiplate. Finally the strangerstopped and rose to the surface between two rows of submerged pontoonswhich, row upon row, extended in every direction as far as the telescopecould reach. 

"Well, Dot, we're where we're going, wherever that is. "

"What do you suppose it is? It looks like a floating isleport, like whatit told about in that wild-story magazine you read so much. "

"Maybe--but if so they can't be fish, " answered Seaton. "Let's go--Iwant to look it over, " and water flew in all directions as the _Skylark_burst out of the ocean and leaped into the air far above what was intruth a floating city. 

Rectangular in shape, it appeared to be about six miles long and fourwide. It was roofed with solar generators like those covering the islandjust visited, but the machines were not spaced quite so closelytogether, and there were numerous open lagoons. The water around theentire city was covered with wave-motors. From their great height thevisitors could see an occasional submarine moving slowly under the city, and frequently small surface craft dashed across the lagoons. As theywatched, a seaplane with short, thick wings curved like those of a gull, rose from one of the lagoons and shot away over the water. 

"Quite a place, " remarked Seaton as he swung a visiplate upon one of thelagoons. "Submarines, speedboats, and fast seaplanes. Fish or not, they're not so slow. I'm going to grab off one of those folks and seehow much they know. Wonder if they're peaceable or warlike?"

"They look peaceable, but you know the proverb, " Crane cautioned hisimpetuous friend. 

"Yes, and I'm going to be timid like a mice, " Seaton returned as the_Skylark_ dropped rapidly toward a lagoon near the edge of the island. 

"You ought to put that in a gag book, Dick, " Dorothy chuckled. "Youforget all about being timid until an hour afterwards. "

"Watch me, Red-top! If they even point a finger at us, I'm going to runa million miles a minute. "

No hostile demonstration was made as they dropped lower and lower, however, and Seaton, with one hand upon the switch actuating the zone offorce, slowly lowered the vessel down past the reflectors and to thesurface of the water. Through the visiplate he saw the crowd of peoplecoming toward them--some swimming in the lagoon, some walking alongnarrow runways. They seemed to be of all sizes, and unarmed. 

"I believe they're perfectly peaceable, and just curious, Mart. I'vealready got the repellers on close range--believe I'll cut them offaltogether. "

"How about the ray-screens?"

"All three full out. They don't interfere with anything solid, though, and won't hurt anything. They'll stop any ray attack and this arenakhull will stop anything else we are apt to get there. Watch this board, will you, and I'll see if I can't negotiate with them. "

Seaton opened the door. As he did so, a number of the smaller beingsdived headlong into the water, and a submarine rose quietly to thesurface less than fifty feet away with a peculiar tubular weapon and ahuge ray-generator trained upon the _Skylark_. Seaton stood motionless, his right hand raised in the universal sign of peace, his left holdingat his hip an automatic pistol charged with X-plosive shells--whileCrane, at the controls, had the Fenachrone super-generator in line, andhis hand lay upon the switch, whose closing would volatilize thesubmarine and cut an incandescent path of destruction through the citylengthwise. 

 * * * * *

After a moment of inaction, a hatch opened, a man stepped out upon thedeck of the submarine, and the two tried to converse, but with nosuccess. Seaton then brought out the mechanical educator, held it up forthe other's inspection, and waved an invitation to come aboard. Instantly the other dived, and came to the surface immediately belowSeaton, who assisted him into the _Skylark_. Tall and heavy as Seatonwas, the stranger was half a head taller and almost twice as heavy. Histhick skin was of the characteristic Osnomian green and his eyes werethe usual black, but he had no hair whatever. His shoulders, thoughbroad and enormously strong, were very sloping, and his powerful armswere little more than half as long as would have been expected had theybelonged to a human being of his size. The hands and feet were verylarge and very broad, and the fingers and toes were heavily webbed. Hishigh domed forehead appeared even higher because of the total lack ofhair, otherwise his features were regular and well-proportioned. Hecarried himself easily and gracefully, and yet with the dignity of oneaccustomed to command as he stepped into the control room and salutedgravely the three other Earth-beings. He glanced quickly around theroom, and showed unmistakable pleasure as he saw the power-plant of thecruiser of space. Languages were soon exchanged and the stranger spoke, in a bass voice vastly deeper than Seaton's own. 

"In the name of our city and planet--I may say in the name of our solarsystem, for you are very evidently from one other than our greensystem--I greet you. I would offer you refreshment, as is our custom, but I fear that your chemistry is but ill adapted to our customary fare. If there be aught in which we can be of assistance to you, our resourcesare at your disposal--but before you leave us, I shall wish to ask fromyou a great gift. "

"Sir, we thank you. We are in search of knowledge concerning forceswhich we cannot as yet control. From the power systems you employ, andfrom what I have learned of the composition of your suns and planets, Iassume you have none of the metal of power, and it is a quantity of thatelement that is your greatest need?"

"Yes. Power is our only lack. We generate all we can with the materialsand knowledge at our disposal, but we never have enough. Our developmentis hindered, our birth-rate must be held down to a minimum, many newcities which we need cannot be built and many new projects cannot bestarted, all for lack of power. For one gram of that metal I see platedupon that copper cylinder, of whose very existence no scientist uponDasor has had even an inkling, we would do almost anything. In fact, ifall else failed, I would be tempted to attack you, did I not know thatour utmost power could not penetrate even your outer screen, and thatyou could volatilize the entire planet if you so desired. "

"Great Cat!" In his surprise Seaton lapsed from the formal language hehad been employing. "Have you figured us all out already, from astanding start?"

"We know electricity, chemistry, physics, and mathematics fairly well. You see, our race is many millions of years older than is yours. "

"You're the man I've been looking for, I guess, " said Seaton. "We haveenough of this metal with us so that we can spare you some as well asnot. But before you get it, I'll introduce you. Folks, this is SacnerCarfon, Chief of the Council of the planet Dasor. They saw us all thetime, and when we headed for this, the Sixth City, he came over from thecapital, or First City, in the flagship of his police fleet, to welcomeus or to fight us, as we pleased. Carfon, this is Martin Crane--or say, better than introductions, put on the headsets, everybody, and getacquainted right. "

Acquaintance made and the apparatus put away, Seaton went to one of thestore-rooms and brought out a lump of "X, " weighing about a hundredpounds. 

"There's enough to build power-plants from now on. It would save time ifyou were to dismiss your submarine. With you to pilot us, we can takeyou back to the First City a lot faster than your vessel can travel. "

Carfon took a miniature transmitter from a pouch under his arm and spokebriefly, then gave Seaton the course. In a few minutes, the First Citywas reached, and the _Skylark_ descended rapidly to the surface of alagoon at one end of the city. Short as had been the time consumed bytheir journey from the Sixth City, they found a curious and excitedcrowd awaiting them. The central portion of the lagoon was almostcovered by the small surface craft, while the sides, separated from thesidewalks by the curbs, were full of swimmers. The peculiar Dasorianequivalents of whistles, bells, and gongs were making a deafeninguproar, and the crowd was yelling and cheering in much the same fashionas do earthly crowds upon similar occasions. Seaton stopped the_Skylark_ and took his wife by the shoulder, swinging her around infront of the visiplate. 

"Look at that, Dot. Talk about rapid transit! They could give the NewYork subway a flying start and beat them hands down!"

 * * * * *

Dorothy looked into the visiplate and gasped. Six metal pipes, one abovethe other, ran above and parallel to each sidewalk-lane of water. Thepipes were full of ocean water, water racing along at fully fifty milesan hour and discharging, each stream a small waterfall, into the lagoon. Each pipe was lighted in the interior, and each was full of people, heads almost touching feet, unconcernedly being borne along, completelyimmersed in that mad current. As the passenger saw daylight and felt thestream begin to drop, he righted himself, apparently selecting anobjective point, and rode the current down into the ocean. A few quickstrokes, and he was either at the surface or upon one of the flights ofstairs leading up to the platform. Many of the travelers did not evenmove as they left the orifice. If they happened to be on their backs, they entered the ocean backward and did not bother about rightingthemselves or about selecting a destination until they were many feetbelow the surface. 

"Good heavens, Dick! They'll kill themselves or drown!"

"Not these birds. Notice their skins? They've got a hide like a walrus, and a terrific layer of subcutaneous fat. Even their heads are protectedthat way--you could hardly hit one of them enough with a baseball bat tohurt him. And as for drowning--they can out-swim a fish, and can stayunder water almost an hour without coming up for air. Even one of thoseyoungsters can swim the full length of the city without taking abreath. "

"How do you get that velocity of flow, Carfon?" asked Crane. 

"By means of pumps. These channels run all over the city, and the amountof water running in each tube and the number of tubes in use areregulated automatically by the amount of traffic. When any section oftube is empty of people, no water flows through it. This was necessaryin order to save power. At each intersection there are four stand pipesand automatic swim-counters that regulate the volume of water and thenumber of tubes in use. This is ordinarily a quiet pool, as it is in aresidence section, and this channel--our channels correspond to yourstreets, you know--has only six tubes each way. If you will look on theother side of the channel, you will see the intake end of the tubesgoing down-town. "

Seaton swung the visiplate around and they saw six rapidly-movingstairways, each crowded with people, leading from the ocean level up tothe top of a tall metal tower. As the passengers reached the top of theflight they were catapulted head-first into the chamber leading to thetube below. 

"Well, that is some system for handling people!" exclaimed Seaton. "What's the capacity of the system?"

"When running full pressure, six tubes will handle five thousand peoplea minute. It is only very rarely, on such occasions as this, that theyare ever loaded to capacity. Some of the channels in the middle of thecity have as many as twenty tubes, so that it is always possible to gofrom one end of the city to the other in less than ten minutes. "

"Don't they ever jam?" asked Dorothy curiously. "I've been lost morethan once in the New York subway, and been in some perfectly frightfuljams, too--and they weren't moving ten thousand people a minute either. "

"No jams ever have occurred. The tubes are perfectly smooth andwell-lighted, and all turns and intersections are rounded. Thecontrolling machines allow only so many persons to enter any tube--ifmore should try to enter than can be carried comfortably, the surpluspassengers are slid off down a chute to the swim-ways, or sidewalks, andmay either wait a while or swim to the next intersection. "

"That looks like quite a jam down there now. " Seaton pointed to thereceiving pool, which was now one solid mass except for the space keptclear by the six mighty streams of humanity-laden water. 

"If the newcomers can't find room to come to the surface they'll swimover to some other pool. " Carfon shrugged indifferently. "My residenceis the fifth cubicle on the right side of this channel. Our customdemands that you accept the hospitality of my home, if only for a momentand only for a beaker of distilled water. Any ordinary visitor could bereceived in my office, but you must enter my home. "

Seaton steered the _Skylark_ carefully, surrounded as she was by atightly packed crowd of swimmers, to the indicated dwelling, andanchored her so that one of the doors was close to a flight of stepsleading from the corner of the building down into the water. Carfonstepped out, opened the door of his house, and preceded his guestswithin. The room was large and square, and built of a synthetic, non-corroding metal, as was the entire city. The walls were tastefullydecorated with striking geometrical designs in many-colored metal, andupon the floor was a softly woven rug. Three doors leading into otherrooms could be seen, and strange pieces of furniture stood here andthere. In the center of the floor-space was a circular opening some fourfeet in diameter, and there, only a few inches below the level of thefloor, was the surface of the ocean. 

Carfon introduced his guests to his wife--a feminine replica of himself, although she was not of quite such heroic proportions. 

"I don't suppose that Seven is far away, is he?" Carfon asked of thewoman. 

"Probably he is outside, near the flying ball. If he has not beentouching it ever since it came down, it is only because someonestronger than he pushed him aside. You know how boys are, " turning toDorothy with a smile as she spoke, "boy nature is probably universal. "

"Pardon my curiosity, but why 'Seven'?" asked Dorothy, as she returnedthe smile. 

"He is the two thousand three hundred and forty-seventh Sacner Carfon indirect male line of descent, " she explained. "But perhaps Six has notexplained these things to you. Our population must not be allowed toincrease, therefore each couple can have only two children. It iscustomary for the boy to be born first, and is given the name of hisfather. The girl is younger, and is given her mother's name. "

"That will now be changed, " said Carfon feelingly. "These visitors havegiven us the secret of power, and we shall be able to build new citiesand populate Dasor as she should he populated. "

"Really?----" She checked herself, but a flame leaped to her eyes, andher voice was none too steady as she addressed the visitors. "For thatwe Dasorians thank you more than words can express. Perhaps youstrangers do not know what it means to want a dozen children with everyfiber of your being and to be allowed to have only two--we do, all toowell--I will call Seven. "

She pressed a button, and up out of the opening in the middle of thefloor there shot a half-grown boy, swimming so rapidly that he scarcelytouched the coaming as he came to his feet. He glanced at the fourvisitors, then ran up to Seaton and Crane. 

"Please, sirs, may I ride, just a little short ride, in your vesselbefore you go away?" This was said in their language. 

"Seven!" boomed Carfon sternly, and the exuberant youth subsided. 

"Pardon me, sirs, but I was so excited----"

"All right, son, no harm done at all. You bet you'll have a ride in the_Skylark_ if your parents will let you. " He turned to Carfon. "I'm notso far beyond that stage myself that I'm not in sympathy with him. Neither are you, unless I'm badly mistaken. "

"I am very glad that you feel as you do. He would be delighted toaccompany us down to the office, and it will be something to rememberall the rest of his life. "

"You have a little girl, too?" Dorothy asked the woman. 

"Yes--would you like to see her? She is asleep now, " and without waitingfor an answer, the proud Dasorian mother led the way into a bedroom--abedroom without beds, for Dasorians sleep floating in thermostaticallycontrolled tanks, buoyed up in water of the temperature they like best, in a fashion that no Earthly springs and mattresses can approach. In asmall tank in a corner reposed a baby, apparently about a year old, overwhom Dorothy and Margaret made the usual feminine ceremony of delightand approbation. 

 * * * * *

Back in the living room, after an animated conversation in which muchinformation was exchanged concerning the two planets and their races ofpeoples, Carfon drew six metal goblets of distilled water and passedthem around. Standing in a circle, the six touched goblets and drank. 

They then embarked, and while Crane steered the _Skylark_ slowly alongthe channel toward the offices of the Council, and while Dorothy andMargaret showed the eager Seven all over the vessel, Seaton explained toCarfon the danger that threatened the Universe, what he had done, andwhat he was attempting to do. 

"Doctor Seaton, I wish to apologize to you, " the Dasorian said whenSeaton had done. "Since you are evidently still land animals, I hadsupposed you of inferior intelligence. It is true that your youngercivilization is deficient in certain respects, but you have shown adepth of vision, a sheer power of imagination and grasp, that no memberof our older civilization could approach. I believe that you are rightin your conclusions. We have no such rays nor forces upon this planet, and never have had; but the sixth planet of our own sun has. Less thanfifty of your years ago, when I was but a small boy, such a projectionvisited my father. It offered to 'rescue' us from our watery planet, andto show us how to build rocket-ships to move us to Three, which is halfland, inhabited by lower animals. "

"And he didn't accept?"

"Certainly not. Then as now our sole lack was power, and the strangersdid not show us how to increase our supply. Perhaps they had more powerthan we, perhaps, because of the difficulty of communication, our wantwas not made clear to them. But, of course, we did not want to move toThree, and we had already had rocket-ships for hundreds of generations. We have never been able to reach Six with them, but we visited Threelong ago; and every one who went there came back as soon as he could. Wedetest land. It is hard, barren, unfriendly. We have everything, hereupon Dasor. Food is plentiful, synthetic or natural, as we prefer. Ourwatery planet supplies our every need and wish, with one exception; andnow that we are assured of power, even that one exception vanishes, andDasor becomes a very Paradise. We can now lead our natural lives, workand play to our fullest capacity--we would not trade our world for allthe rest of the Universe. "

"I never thought of it in that way, but you're right, at that, " Seatonconceded. "You are ideally suited to your environment. But how do I getto planet Six? Its distance is terrific, even as cosmic distances go. You won't have any night until Dasor swings outside the orbit of yoursun, and until then Six will be invisible, even to our most powerfultelescope. "

"I do not know, myself, " answered Carfon, "but I will send out a callfor the chief astronomer. He will meet us, and give you a chart and theexact course. "

At the office, the earthly visitors were welcomed formally by theCouncil--the nine men in control of the entire planet. The ceremony overand their course carefully plotted, Carfon stood at the door of the_Skylark_ a moment before it closed. 

"We thank you with all force, Earthmen, for what you have done for usthis day. Please remember, and believe that this is no idle word--if wecan assist you in any way in this conflict which is to come, theresources of this planet are at your disposal. We join Osnome and theother planets of this system in declaring you, Doctor Seaton, ourOverlord. "

CHAPTER IX

The Welcome to Norlamin

The _Skylark_ was now days upon her way toward the sixth planet, Seatongave the visiplates and the instrument board his customary carefulscrutiny and rejoined the others. 

"Still talking about the human fish, Dottie Dimple?" he asked, as hestoked his villainous pipe. "Peculiar tribe of porpoises, but I'm strongfor 'em. They're the most like our own kind of folks, as far as ideasgo, of anybody we've seen yet--in fact, they're more like us than a lotof human beings we all know. "

"I like them immensely----"

"You couldn't like 'em any other way, their size----"

"Terrible, Dick, terrible! Easy as I am, I can't stand for any such jokeas that was going to be. But really, I think they're just perfectlyfine, in spite of their being so funny-looking. Mrs. Carfon is justsimply sweet, even if she does look like a walrus, and that cute littleseal of a baby was just too perfectly cunning for words. That boy Sevenis keen as mustard, too. "

"He should be, " put in Crane, dryly. "He probably has as muchintelligence now as any one of us. "

"Do you think so?" asked Margaret. "He acted like any other boy, but hedid seem to understand things remarkably well. "

"He would--they're 'way ahead of us in most things. " Seaton glanced atthe two women quizzically and turned to Crane. "And as for their beingbald, this was one time, Mart, when those two phenomenal heads of hairour two little girl-friends are so proud of didn't make any kind of hitat all. They probably regard that black thatch of Peg's and Dot's auburnmop as relics of a barbarous and prehistoric age--about as we wouldregard the hirsute hide of a Neanderthal man. "

"That may be so, too, " Dorothy replied, unconcernedly, "but we aren'tplanning on living there, so why worry about it? I like them, anyway, and I believe that they like us. "

"They acted that way. But say, Mart, if that planet is so old that alltheir land area has been eroded away, how come they've got so much waterleft? And they've got quite an atmosphere, too. "

"The air-pressure, " said Crane, "while greater than that now obtainingupon Earth, was probably of the order of magnitude of three meters ofmercury, originally. As to the erosion, they might have had more waterto begin with than our Earth had. "

"Yeah, that'd account for it, all right, " said Dorothy. 

"There's one thing I want to ask you two scientists, " Margaret said. "Everywhere we've gone, except on that one world that Dick thinks is awandering planet, we've found the intelligent life quite remarkably likehuman beings. How do you account for that?"

"There, Mart, is one for the massive old bean to concentrate on, "challenged Seaton: then, as Crane considered the question in silence forsome time he went on: "I'll answer it myself, then, by asking another. Why not? Why shouldn't they be? Remember, man is the highest form ofearthly life--at least, in our own opinion and as far as we know. In ourwanderings, we have picked out planets quite similar to our own in pointof atmosphere and temperature and, within narrow limits, of mass aswell. It stands to reason that under such similarity of conditions, there would be a certain similarity of results. How about it, Mart?Reasonable?"

"It seems plausible, in a way, " conceded Crane, "but it probably is notuniversally true. "

"Sure not--couldn't be, hardly. No doubt we could find a lot of worldsinhabited by all kinds of intelligent things--freaks that we can't evenbegin to imagine now--but they probably would be occupying planetsentirely different from ours in some essential feature of atmosphere, temperature, or mass. "

"But the Fenachrone world is entirely different, " Dorothy argued, "andthey're more or less human--they're bipeds, anyway, with recognizablefeatures. I've been studying that record with you, you know, and theirworld has so much more mass than ours that their gravitation is simplyfrightful!"

"That much difference is comparatively slight, not a real fundamentaldifference. I meant a hundred or so times either way--greater or less. And even their gravitation has modified their structure a lot--supposeit had been fifty times as great as it is? What would they have beenlike? Also, their atmosphere is very similar to ours in composition, andtheir temperature is bearable. It is my opinion that atmosphere andtemperature have more to do with evolution than anything else, and thatthe mass of the planet runs a poor third. "

"You may be right, " admitted Crane, "but it seems to me that you arearguing from insufficient premises. "

"Sure I am--almost no premises at all. I would be just about as welljustified in deducing the structure of a range of mountains from asuperficial study of three pebbles picked up in a creek near them. However, we can get an idea some time, when we have a lot of time. "

"How?"

"Remember that planet we struck on the first trip, that had anatmosphere composed mostly of gaseous chlorin? In our ignorance weassumed that life there was impossible, and didn't stop. Well, it may bejust as well that we didn't. If we go back there, protected as we arewith our rays and stuff, it wouldn't surprise me a bit to find lifethere, and lots of it--and I've got a hunch that it'll be a form of lifethat'd make your grandfather's whiskers curl right up into a ball!"

"You do get the weirdest ideas, Dick!" protested Dorothy. "I hope youaren't planning on exploring it, just to prove your point?"

"Never thought of it before. Can't do it now, anyway--got our hands fullalready. However, after we get this Fenachrone mess cleaned up we'llhave to do just that little thing, won't we, Mart? As that intellectualguy said while he was insisting upon dematerializing us, 'Sciencedemands it. '"

"By all means. We should be in a position to make contributions toscience in fields as yet untouched. Most assuredly we shall investigatethose points. "

"Then they'll go alone, won't they, Peggy?"

"Absolutely! We've seen some pretty middling horrible things already, and if these two men of ours call the frightful things we have seennormal, and are planning on deliberately hunting up things that eventhey will consider monstrous, you and I most certainly shall stay athome!"

"Yeah? You say it easy. Bounce back, Peg, you've struck a rubber fence!Rufus, you red-headed little fraud, you know you wouldn't let me go tothe corner store after a can of tobacco without insisting on taggingalong!"

"You're a.... " began Dorothy hotly, but broke off in amazement andgasped, "For Heaven's sake, what was that?"

"What was what? It missed me. "

"It went right through you! It was a kind of funny little cloud, likesmoke or something. It came right through the ceiling like aflash--went right through you and on down through the floor. There itcomes back again!"

 * * * * *

Before their staring eyes a vague, nebulous something moved rapidlyupward through the floor and passed upward through the ceiling. Dorothyleaped to Seaton's side and he put his arm around her reassuringly. 

"'Sall right folks--I know what that thing is. "

"Well, shoot it, quick!" Dorothy implored. 

"It's one of those projections from where we're heading for, trying toget our range; and it's the most welcome sight these weary old eyes haverested upon for full many a long and dreary moon. They've probablylocated us from our power-plant rays. We're an awful long ways off yet, though, and going like a streak of greased lightning, so they're havingtrouble in holding us. They're friendly, we already know that--theyprobably want to talk to us. It'd make it easier for them if we'd shutoff our power and drift at constant velocity, but we'd use up valuabletime and throw our calculations all out of whack. We'll let them try tomatch our acceleration If they can do that, they're good. "

The apparition reappeared, oscillating back and forthirregularly--passing through the arenak walls, through the furniture andthe instrument boards, and even through the mighty power-plant itself, as though nothing was there. Eventually, however, it remained stationarya foot or so above the floor of the control-room. Then it began toincrease in density until apparently a man stood before them. His skin, like that of all the inhabitants of the planets of the green suns, wasgreen. He was tall and well-proportioned when judged by Earthlystandards, except for his head, which was overly large, and which wasparticularly massive above the eyes and backward from the ears. He wasevidently of great age, for what little of his face was visible wasseamed and wrinkled, and his long, thick mane of hair and hissquare-cut, yard-long beard were a dazzling white, only faintly tingedwith green. 

While not in any sense transparent, nor even translucent, it was evidentthat the apparition before them was not composed of flesh and blood. Helooked at each of the four Earth-beings intensely for a moment, thenpointed toward the table upon which stood the mechanical educator, andSeaton placed it in front of the peculiar visitor. As Seaton donned aheadset and handed one to the stranger, the latter stared at him, impressing upon his consciousness that he was to be given a knowledge ofEnglish. Seaton pressed the lever, receiving as he did so a sensation ofan unbroken calm, a serenity profound and untroubled, and the projectionspoke. 

"Dr. Seaton, Mr. Crane, and ladies--welcome to Norlamin, the planettoward which you are now flying. We have been awaiting you for more thanfive thousand years of your time. It has been a mathematicalcertainty--it has been graven upon the very Sphere itself--that in timesomeone would come to us from without this system, bringing a portion, however small, of Rovolon--of the metal of power, of which there is noteven the most minute trace in our entire solar system. For more thanfive thousand years our instruments have been set to detect thevibrations which would herald the advent of the user of that metal. Nowyou have come, and I perceive that you have vast stores of it. Beingyourselves seekers after truth, you will share it with us gladly as wewill instruct you in many things you wish to know. Allow me to operatethe educator--I would gaze into your minds and reveal my own to yoursight. But first I must tell you that your machine is too rudimentary towork at all well, and with your permission I shall make certain minoralterations. "

Seaton nodded permission, and from the eyes and from the hands of thefigure there leaped visible streams of force, which seized thetransformers, coils and tubes, and reformed and reconnected them, underSeaton's bulging eyes, into an entirely different mechanism. 

"Oh, I see!" he gasped. "Say, what are you anyway?"

"Pardon me; in my eagerness I became forgetful. I am Orlon, the First ofAstronomy of Norlamin, in my observatory upon the surface of the planet. This that you see is simply my projection, composed of forces for whichyou have no name in your language. You can cut it off, if you wish, withyour ray-screens, which even I can see are of a surprisingly high orderof efficiency. There, this educator will now work very well. Please puton the remodeled headsets, all four of you. "

They did so, and the rays of force moved levers, switches, and dials aspositively as human hands could have moved them, and with infinitelygreater speed and precision. As the dials moved, each brain receivedclearly and plainly a knowledge of the customs, language, and manners ofthe inhabitants of Norlamin. Each mind became suffused with a vast, immeasurable peace, calm power, and a depth and breadth of mental visiontheretofore undreamed of. Looking deep into his mind they sensed aquiet, placid certainty, beheld power and knowledge to them illimitable, perceived depths of wisdom to them unfathomable. 

Then from his mind into theirs there flowed smoothly a mighty stream ofcomprehension of cosmic phenomena. They hazily saw infinitely smallunits grouped into planetary formations to form practicallydimensionless particles. These particles in turn grouped to formslightly larger ones, and after a long succession of such grouping theyknew that the comparatively gigantic aggregates which then held theirattention were in reality electrons and protons, the smallest unitsrecognized by Earthly science. They clearly understood the combinationof these electrons and protons into atoms. They perceived plainly theway in which atoms build up molecules, and comprehended the molecularstructure of matter. In mathematical thoughts, only dimly grasped evenby Seaton and Crane, were laid before them the fundamental laws ofphysics, of electricity, of gravitation, and of chemistry. They sawglobular aggregations of matter, the suns and their planets, comprisingsolar systems; saw solar systems, in accordance with those immutablelaws, grouped into galaxies, galaxies in turn--here the flow wassuddenly shut off as though a valve had been closed, and the astronomerspoke. 

"Pardon me. Your brains should be stored only with the material youdesire most and can use to the best advantage, for your mental capacityis even more limited than my own. Please understand that I speak in noderogatory sense; it is only that your race has many thousands ofgenerations to go before your minds should be stored with knowledgeindiscriminately. We ourselves have not yet reached that stage, and weare perhaps millions of years older than you. And yet, " he continuedmusingly, "I envy you. Knowledge is, of course, relative, and I canknow _so_ little! Time and space have yielded not an iota of theirmystery to our most penetrant minds. And whether we delve baffled intothe unknown smallness of the small, or whether we peer, blind andhelpless, into the unknown largeness of the large, it is thesame--infinity is comprehensible only to the Infinite One: theall-shaping Force directing and controlling the Universe and theunknowable Sphere. The more we know, the vaster the virgin fields ofinvestigation open to us, and the more infinitesimal becomes ourknowledge. But I am perhaps keeping you from more important activities. As you approach Norlamin more nearly, I shall guide you to myobservatory. I am glad indeed that it is in my lifetime that you havecome to us, and I await anxiously the opportunity of greeting you in theflesh. The years remaining to me of this cycle of existence are few, andI had almost ceased hoping to witness your coming. "

 * * * * *

The projection vanished instantaneously, and the four stared at eachother in an incredulous daze of astonishment. Seaton finally broke thestunned silence. "Well, I'll be kicked to death by little red spiders!"he ejaculated. "Mart, did you see what I saw, or did I get tight onsomething without knowing it? That sure burned me up--it breaks me rightoff at the ankles, just to think of it!"

Crane walked to the educator in silence. He examined it, felt thechanged coils and transformers, and gently shook the new insulating baseof the great power-tube. Still in silence he turned his back, walkedaround the instrument board, read the meters, then went back and againinspected the educator. 

"It was real, and not a higher development of hypnotism, as at first Ithought it must be, " he reported seriously. "Hypnotism, if sufficientlyadvanced, might have affected us in that fashion, even to teaching usall a strange language, but by no possibility could it have had such aneffect upon copper, steel, bakelite, and glass. It was certainly real, and while I cannot begin to understand it, I will say that yourimagination has certainly vindicated itself. A race of beings, who cando such things as that, can do almost anything--you have been right, from the start. "

"Then you can beat those horrible Fenachrone, after all!" cried Dorothy, and threw herself into her husband's arms. 

"Do you remember, Dick, that I hailed you once as Columbus at SanSalvador?" asked Margaret unsteadily from Crane's encircling arm. "Whatcould a man be called who from the sheer depths of his imaginationcalled forth the means of saving from destruction all the civilizationof millions of entire worlds?"

"Don't talk that way, please, folks, " Seaton was plainly veryuncomfortable. He blushed intensely, the burning red tide rising inwaves up to his hair as he wriggled in embarrassment, like anyschoolboy. "Mart's done most of it, anyway, you know; and even at that, we ain't out of the woods yet, by forty-seven rows of apple trees. "

"You will admit, will you not, that we can see our way out of the woods, at least, and that you yourself feel rather relieved?" asked Crane. 

"I think we'll be able to pull their corks now, all right, after we getsome dope. It's a cinch they've either got the stuff we need or know howto get it--and if that zone is impenetrable, I'll bet they'll be able todope out something just as good. Relieved? That doesn't half tell it, guy--I feel as if I had just pitched off the Old Man of the Sea who'sbeen sitting on my neck! What say you girls get your fiddle and guitarand we'll sing us a little song? I feel kind of relieved--they had meworried some--it's the first time I've felt like singing since we cutthat warship up. "

Dorothy brought out her "fiddle"--the magnificent Stradivarius, formerlyCrane's, which he had given her--Margaret her guitar, and they sang onerollicking number after another. Though by no means a Metropolitan Operaquartette, their voices were all better than mediocre, and they had sungtogether so much that they harmonized readily. 

"Why don't you play us some real music, Dottie?" asked Margaret, after atime. "You haven't practiced for ages. "

"I haven't felt like playing lately, but I do now, " and Dorothy stood upand swept the bow over the strings. Doctor of Music in violin, anaccomplished musician, playing upon one of the finest instruments theworld has ever known, she was lifted out of herself by relief from thedread of the Fenachrone invasion and that splendid violin expressedevery subtle nuance of her thought. 

She played rhapsodies and paeans, and solos by the great masters. Sheplayed vivacious dances, then "Traumerei" and "Liebestraum. " At last sheswept into the immortal "Meditation, " and as the last note died awaySeaton held out his arms. 

"You're a blinding flash and a deafening report, Dottie Dimple, and Ilove you, " he declared--and his eyes and his arms spoke volumes that hislight utterance had left unsaid. 

 * * * * *

Norlamin close enough so that its image almost filled number sixvisiplate, the four wanderers studied it with interest. Partiallyobscured by clouds and with its polar regions two glaring caps ofsnow--they would be green in a few months, when the planet would swinginside the orbit of its sun around the vast central luminary of thatcomplex solar system--it made a magnificent picture. They saw sparklingblue oceans and huge green continents of unfamiliar outlines. Soterrific was the velocity of the space-cruiser, that the image grewlarger as they watched it, and soon the field of vision could notcontain the image of the whole disk. 

"Well, I expect Orlon'll be showing up pretty quick now, " remarkedSeaton; and it was not long until the projection appeared in the air ofthe control room. 

"Hail, Terrestrials!" he greeted them. "With your permission, I shalldirect your flight. "

Permission granted, the figure floated across the room to the board andthe rays of force centered the visiplate, changed the direction of thebar a trifle, decreased slightly their negative acceleration, anddirected a stream of force upon the steering mechanism. 

"We shall alight upon the grounds of my observatory upon Norlamin inseven thousand four hundred twenty-eight seconds, " he announcedpresently. "The observatory will be upon the dark side of Norlamin whenwe arrive, but I have a force operating upon the steering mechanismwhich will guide the vessel along the required curved path. I shallremain with you until we land, and we may converse upon any topic ofmost interest to you. "

"We've got a topic of interest, all right. That's what we came out herefor. But it would take too long to tell you about it--I'll show you!"

He brought out the magnetic brain record, threaded it into the machineand handed the astronomer a head-set. Orlon put it on, touched thelever, and for an hour there was unbroken silence as the monstrous brainof the menace was studied by the equally capable intellect of theNorlaminian scientist. There was no pause in the motion of the magnetictape, no repetition--Orlon's brain absorbed the information as fast asit could be sent, and understood that frightful mind in everyparticular. 

As the end of the tape was reached and the awful record ended, a shadowpassed over Orlon's face. 

"Truly a depraved evolution--it is sad to contemplate such a perversionof a really excellent brain. They have power, even as you have, and theyhave the will to destroy, which is a thing that I cannot understand. However, if it is graven upon the Sphere that we are to pass, it meansonly that upon the next plane we shall continue our searches--let ushope with better tools and with greater understanding than we nowpossess. "

"'Smatter?" snapped Seaton gravely. "Going to take it lying down, without putting up any fight at all?"

"What can we do? Violence is contrary to our very natures. No man ofNorlamin could offer any but passive resistance. "

"You can do a lot if you will. Put on that headset again and get myplan, offering any suggestions your far abler brain may suggest. "

As the human scientist poured his plan of battle into the brain of theastronomer, Orlon's face cleared. 

"It is graven upon the Sphere that the Fenachrone shall pass, " he saidfinally. "What you ask of us we can do. I have only a general knowledgeof rays, as they are not in the province of the Orlon family; but thestudent Rovol, of the family Rovol of Rays, has all present knowledge ofsuch phenomena. Tomorrow I will bring you together, and I have littledoubt that he will be able, with the help of your metal of power, tosolve your problem. "

"I don't quite understand what you said about a whole family studyingone subject, and yet having only one student in it, " said Dorothy, inperplexity. 

"A little explanation is perhaps necessary, " replied Orlon. "First, youmust know that every man of Norlamin is a student, and most of us arestudents of science. With us, 'labor' means mental effort, that is, study. We perform no physical or manual labor save for exercise, as allour mechanical work is done by forces. This state of things havingendured for many thousands of years, it long ago became evident thatspecialization was necessary in order to avoid duplication of effort andto insure complete coverage of the field. Soon afterward, it wasdiscovered that very little progress was being made in any branch, because so much was known that it took practically a lifetime to reviewthat which had already been accomplished, even in a narrow and highlyspecialized field. Many points were studied for years before it wasdiscovered that the identical work had been done before, and eitherforgotten or overlooked. To remedy this condition the mechanicaleducator had to be developed. Once it was perfected a new system wasbegun. One man was assigned to each small subdivision of scientificendeavor, to study it intensively. When he became old, each man chose asuccessor--usually a son--and transferred his own knowledge to theyounger student. He also made a complete record of his own brain, inmuch the same way as you have recorded the brain of the Fenachrone uponyour metallic tape. These records are all stored in a great centrallibrary, as permanent references. 

"All these things being true, now a young person may need only finish anelementary education--just enough to learn to think, which takes onlyabout twenty-five or thirty years--and then he is ready to begin actualwork. When that time comes, he receives in one day all the knowledge ofhis specialty which has been accumulated by his predecessors during manythousands of years of intensive study. "

"Whew!" Seaton whistled, "no wonder you folks know something! With thatstart, I believe I might know something myself! As an astronomer, youmay be interested in this star-chart and stuff--or do you know all aboutthat already?"

"No, the Fenachrone are far ahead of us in that subject, because oftheir observatories out in open space and because of their giganticreflectors, which cannot be used through any atmosphere. We are furtherhampered in having darkness for only a few hours at a time and only inthe winter, when our planet is outside the orbit of our sun around thegreat central sun of our entire system. However, with the Rovolon youhave brought us, we shall have real observatories far out in space; andfor that I personally will be indebted to you more than I can everexpress. As for the chart, I hope to have the pleasure of examining itwhile you are conferring with Rovol of Rays. "

"How many families are working on rays--just one?"

"One upon each kind of ray. That is, each of the ray families knows agreat deal about all kinds of vibrations of the ether, but isspecializing upon one narrow field. Take, for instance, the rays you aremost interested in; those able to penetrate a zone of force. From my ownvery slight and general knowledge I know that it would of necessity be aray of the fifth order. These rays are very new--they have been underinvestigation only a few hundred years--and the Rovol is the onlystudent who would be at all well informed upon them. Shall I explain theorders of rays more fully than I did by means of the educator?"

"Please. You assumed that we knew more than we do, so a littleexplanation would help. "

"All ordinary vibrations--that is, all molecular and material ones, suchas light, heat, electricity, radio, and the like--were arbitrarilycalled waves of the first order; in order to distinguish them from wavesof the second order, which are given off by particles of the secondorder, which you know as protons and electrons, in their combination toform atoms. Your scientist Millikan discovered these rays for you, andin your language they are known as Millikan, or Cosmic, rays. 

 * * * * *

"Some time later, when sub-electrons were identified the rays given offby their combination into electrons, or by the disruption of electrons, were called rays of the third order. These rays are most interesting andmost useful; in fact, they do all our mechanical work. They as a classare called protelectricity, and bear the same relation to ordinaryelectricity that electricity does to torque--both are pure energy, andthey are inter-convertible. Unlike electricity, however, it may beconverted into many different forms by fields of force, in a waycomparable to that in which white light is resolved into colors by aprism--or rather, more like the way alternating current is changed todirect current by a motor-generator set, with attendant changes inproperties. There is a complete spectrum of more than five hundredfactors, each as different from the others as red is different fromgreen. 

"Continuing farther, particles of the fourth order give rays of thefourth order; those of the fifth, rays of the fifth order. Fourth-orderrays have been investigated quite thoroughly, but only mathematicallyand theoretically, as they are of excessively short wave-length and arecapable of being generated only by the breaking down of matter itselfinto the corresponding particles. However, it has been shown that theyare quite similar to protelectricity in their general behavior. Thus, the power that propels your space-vessel, your attractors, yourrepellers, your object-compass, your zone of force--all these things aresimply a few of the many hundreds of wave-bands of the fourth order, allof which you doubtless would have worked out for yourselves in time. Very little is known, even in theory, of the rays of the fifth order, although they have been shown to exist. "

"For a man having no knowledge, you seem to know a lot about rays. Howabout the fifth order--is that as far as they go?"

"My knowledge is slight and very general; only such as I must have inorder to understand my own subject. The fifth order certainly is not theend--it is probably scarcely a beginning. We think now that the ordersextend to infinite smallness, just as the galaxies are grouped intolarger aggregations, which are probably in their turn only tiny units ina scheme infinitely large. 

"Over six thousand years ago the last third order rays were worked out;and certain peculiarities in their behavior led the then Rovol tosuspect the existence of the fourth order. Successive generations of theRovol proved their existence, determined the conditions of theirliberation, and found that this metal of power was the only catalystable to decompose matter and thus liberate the rays. This metal, whichwas called Rovolon after the Rovol, was first described upon theoreticalgrounds and later was found, by spectroscopy, in certain stars, notablyin one star only eight light-years away, but not even the mostinfinitesimal trace of it exists in our entire solar system. Since thesediscoveries, the many Rovol have been perfecting the theory of thefourth order, beginning that of the fifth, and waiting for your coming. The present Rovol, like myself and many others whose work is almost at astandstill, is waiting with all-consuming interest to greet you, as soonas the _Skylark_ can be landed upon our planet. "

"Neither your rocket-ships nor your projections could get you anyRovolon?"

"No. Every hundred years or so someone develops a new type of rocketthat he thinks may stand a slight chance of making the journey, but notone of these venturesome youths has as yet returned. Either that sun hasno planets or else the rocket-ships have failed. Our projections areuseless, as they can be driven only a very short distance upon ourpresent carrier wave. With a carrier of the fifth order we could drive aprojection to any point in the galaxy, since its velocity would bemillions of times that of light and the power necessary reducedaccordingly--but as I have said before, such waves cannot be generatedwithout metal Rovolon. "

"I hate to break this up--I'd like to listen to you talk for a week--butwe're going to land pretty quick, and it looks as though we were goingto land pretty hard. "

"We will land soon, but not hard, " replied Orlon confidently, and thelanding was as he had foretold. The _Skylark_ was falling with anever-decreasing velocity, but so fast was the descent that it seemed tothe watchers as though they must crash through the roof of the hugebrilliantly lighted building upon which they were dropping and burythemselves many feet in the ground beneath it. But they did not strikethe observatory. So incredibly accurate were the calculations of theNorlaminian astronomer and so inhumanly precise were the controls he hadset upon their bar, that, as they touched the ground after barelyclearing the domed roof and he shut off their power, the passengers feltonly a sudden decrease in acceleration, like that following the comingto rest of a rapidly moving elevator, after it has completed a downwardjourney. 

"I shall join you in person very shortly, " Orlon said, and theprojection vanished. 

"Well, we're here, folks, on another new world. Not quite as thrillingas the first one was, is it?" and Seaton stepped toward the door. 

"How about the air composition, density, gravity, temperature, and soon?" asked Crane. "Perhaps we should make a few tests. "

"Didn't you get that on the educator? Thought you did. Gravity a littleless than seven-tenths. Air composition, same as Osnome and Dasor. Pressure, half-way between Earth and Osnome. Temperature, like Osnomemost of the time, but fairly comfortable in the winter. Snow now at thepoles, but this observatory is only ten degrees from the equator. Theydon't wear clothes enough to flag a hand-car with here, either, exceptwhen they have to. Let's go!"

He opened the door and the four travelers stepped out upon aclose-cropped lawn--a turf whose blue-green softness would shame anOriental rug. The landscape was illuminated by a soft and mellow, yetintense green light which emanated from no visible source. As theypaused and glanced about them, they saw that the _Skylark_ had alightedin the exact center of a circular enclosure a hundred yards in diameter, walled by row upon row of shrubbery, statuary, and fountains, all bathedin ever-changing billows of light. At only one point was the circlebroken. There the walls did not come together, but continued on toborder a lane leading up to the massive structure of cream-and-greenmarble, topped by its enormous, glassy dome--the observatory of Orlon. 

"Welcome to Norlamin, Terrestrials, " the deep, calm voice of theastronomer greeted them, and Orlon in the flesh shook hands cordially inthe American fashion with each of them in turn, and placed around eachneck a crystal chain from which depended a small Norlaminianchronometer-radiophone. Behind him there stood four other old men. 

"These men are already acquainted with each of you, but you do not asyet know them. I present Fodan, Chief of the Five of Norlamin. Rovol, about whom you know. Astron, the First of Energy. Satrazon, the First ofChemistry. "

Orlon fell in beside Seaton and the party turned toward the observatory. As they walked along the Earth-people stared, held by the unearthlybeauty of the grounds. The hedge of shrubbery, from ten to twenty feethigh, and which shut out all sight of everything outside it, was onemass of vivid green and flaring crimson leaves; each leaf and twiggroomed meticulously into its precise place in a fantastic geometricalscheme. Just inside this boundary there stood a ring of statues ofheroic size. Some of them were single figures of men and women; somewere busts; some were groups in natural or allegorical poses--all weredone with consummate skill and feeling. Between the statues there werefountains, magnificent bronze and glass groups of the strange aquaticdenizens of this strange planet, bathed in geometrically shaped sprays, screens, and columns of water. Winding around between the statues andthe fountains there was a moving, scintillating wall, and upon thewaters and upon the wall there played torrents of color, cataracts ofharmoniously blended light. Reds, blues, yellows, greens--every color oftheir peculiar green spectrum and every conceivable combination of thosecolors writhed and flamed in ineffable splendor upon those deep andliving screens of falling water and upon that shimmering wall. 

As they entered the lane, Seaton saw with amazement that what he hadsupposed a wall, now close at hand, was not a wall at all. It wascomposed of myriads of individual sparkling jewels, of every knowncolor, for the most part self-luminous; and each gem, apparentlyentirely unsupported, was dashing in and out and along among itsfellows, weaving and darting here and there, flying at headlong speedalong an extremely tortuous, but evidently carefully calculated course. 

"What can that be, anyway, Dick?" whispered Dorothy, and Seaton turnedto his guide. 

"Pardon my curiosity, Orlon, but would you mind explaining the why ofthat moving wall? We don't get it. "

"Not at all. This garden has been the private retreat of the family ofOrlon for many thousands of years, and women of our house have beenbeautifying it since its inception. You may have observed that thestatuary is very old. No such work has been done for ages. Modern arthas developed along the lines of color and motion, hence the lightingeffects and the tapestry wall. Each gem is held upon the end of a minutepencil of force, and all the pencils are controlled by a machine whichhas a key for every jewel in the wall. "

Crane, the methodical, stared at the innumerable flashing jewels andasked, "It must have taken a prodigious amount of time to complete suchan undertaking?"

"It is far from complete; in fact, it is scarcely begun. It was startedonly about four hundred years ago. "

"_Four hundred years!_" exclaimed Dorothy. "Do you live that long? Howlong will it take to finish it, and what will it be like when it isdone?"

"No, none of us live longer than about one hundred and sixty years--atabout that age most of us decide to pass. When this tapestry wall isfinished, it will not be simply form and color, as it is now. It will bea portrayal of the history of Norlamin from the first cooling of theplanet. It will, in all probability, require thousands of years for itscompletion. You see, time is of little importance to us, and workmanshipis everything. My companion will continue working upon it until wedecide to pass; my son's companion may continue it. In any event, manygenerations of the women of the Orlon will work upon it until it iscomplete. When it is done, it will be a thing of beauty as long asNorlamin shall endure. "

"But suppose that your son's wife isn't that kind of an artist? Supposeshe should want to do music or painting or something else?" askedDorothy, curiously. 

"That is quite possible; for, fortunately, our art is not yet entirelyintellectual, as is our music. There are many unfinished artisticprojects in the house of Orlon, and if the companion of my son shouldnot find one to her liking, she will be at liberty to continue anythingelse she may have begun, or to start an entirely new project of herown. "

"You have a family, then?" asked Margaret, "I'm afraid I didn'tunderstand things very well when you gave them to us over the educator. "

"I sent things too fast for you, not knowing that your educator was newto you; a thing with which you were not thoroughly familiar. I willtherefore explain some things in language, since you are not familiarwith the mechanism of thought transference. The Five, aself-perpetuating body, do what governing is necessary for the entireplanet. Their decrees are founded upon self-evident truth, and aretherefore the law. Population is regulated according to the needs of theplanet, and since much work is now in progress, an increase inpopulation was recommended by the Five. My companion and I therefore hadthree children, instead of the customary two. By lot it fell to us tohave two boys and one girl. One of the boys will assume my duties when Ipass; the other will take over a part of some branch of science that hasgrown too complex for one man to handle as a specialist should. In fact, he has already chosen his specialty and been accepted for it--he is tobe the nine hundred and sixty-seventh of Chemistry, the student of theasymmetric carbon atom, which will thus be his specialty from this timehenceforth. 

"It was learned long ago that the most perfect children were born ofparents in the full prime of mental life, that is, at one hundred yearsof age. Therefore, with us each generation covers one hundred years. Thefirst twenty-five years of a child's life are spent at home with hisparents, during which time he acquires his elementary education in thecommon schools. Then boys and girls alike move to the Country of Youth, where they spend another twenty-five years. There they develop theirbrains and initiative by conducting any researches they choose. Most ofus, at that age, solve all the riddles of the Universe, only to discoverlater that our solutions have been fallacious. However, much reallyexcellent work is done in the Country of Youth, primarily because of thenew and unprejudiced viewpoints of the virgin minds there at work. Inthat country also each finds his life's companion, the one necessary toround out mere existence into a perfection of living that no person, manor woman, can ever know alone. I need not speak to you of the wonders oflove or of the completion and fullness of life that it brings, for allfour of you, children though you are, know love in full measure. 

"At fifty years of age the man, now mentally mature, is recalled to hisfamily home, as his father's brain is now losing some of its vigor andkeenness. The father then turns over his work to the son by means of theeducator--and when the weight of the accumulated knowledge of a hundredthousand generations of research is impressed upon the son's brain, hisplay is over. "

"What does the father do then?"

"Having made his brain record, about which I have told you, he and hiscompanion--for she has in similar fashion turned over her work to hersuccessor--retire to the Country of Age, where they rest and relax aftertheir century of effort. They do whatever they care to do, for as longas they please to do it. Finally, after assuring themselves that all iswell with the children, they decide that they are ready for the Change. Then, side by side as they have labored, they pass. "

Now at the door of the observatory, Dorothy paused and shrank backagainst Seaton, her eyes widening as she stared at Orlon. 

"No, daughter, why should we fear the Change?" he answered her unspokenquestion, calm serenity in every inflection of his quiet voice. "Thelife-principle is unknowable to the finite mind, as is theAll-Controlling Force. But even though we know nothing of the sublimegoal toward which it is tending, any person ripe for the Change can, andof course does, liberate the life-principle so that its progress may beunimpeded. "

 * * * * *

In a spacious room of the observatory, in which the Terrestrials andtheir Norlaminian hosts had been long engaged in study and discussion, Seaton finally rose and extended a hand toward his wife. 

"Well, that's that, then, Orlon, I guess. We've been thirty hourswithout sleep, and for us that's a long time. I'm getting so dopey Ican't think a lick. We'd better go back to the _Skylark_ and turn in, and after we've slept nine hours or so I'll go over to Rovol'slaboratory and Crane'll come back here to you. "

"You need not return to your vessel, " said Orlon. "I know that itssomewhat cramped quarters have become irksome. Apartments have beenprepared here for you. We shall have a meal here together, and then weshall retire, to meet again tomorrow. "

As he spoke, a tray laden with appetizing dishes appeared in the air infront of each person. As Seaton resumed his seat the tray followed him, remaining always in the most convenient position. 

Crane glanced at Seaton questioningly, and Satrazon, the First ofChemistry, answered his thought before he could voice it. 

"The food before you, unlike that which is before us of Norlamin, iswholesome for you. It contains no copper, no arsenic, no heavymetals--in short, nothing in the least harmful to your chemistry. It isbalanced as to carbohydrates, proteins, fats and sugars, and containsthe due proportion of each of the various accessory nutritional factors. You will also find the flavors are agreeable to each of you. "

"Synthetic, eh? You've got us analyzed, " Seaton stated, rather thanasked, as with knife and fork he attacked the thick, rare, andbeautifully broiled steak which, with its mushrooms and other delicatetrimmings, lay upon his rigid although unsupported tray--noticing as hedid so that the Norlaminians ate with tools entirely different fromthose they had supplied to their Earthly guests. 

"Entirely synthetic, " Satrazon made answer, "except for the sodiumchloride necessary. As you already know, sodium and chlorin are veryrare throughout our system, therefore the force upon the food-supplytook from your vessel the amount of salt required for the formula. Wehave been unable to synthesize atoms, for the same reason that thelabors of so many others have been hindered--because of the lack ofRovolon. Now, however, my science shall progress as it should; and forthat I join with my fellow scientists in giving you thanks for theservice you have rendered us. "

"We thank you instead, " replied Seaton, "for the service we have beenable to do you is slight indeed compared to what you are giving us inreturn. But it seems that you speak quite impersonally of the force uponthe food supply. Did you yourself direct the preparation of these meatsand vegetables?"

"Oh, no. I merely analyzed your tissues, surveyed the food-supplies youcarried, discovered your individual preferences, and set up thenecessary integrals in the mechanism. The forces did the rest, and willcontinue to do so as long as you remain upon this planet. "

"Fruit salad always my favorite dish, " Dorothy said, after a couple ofbites, "and this one is just too perfectly divine! It doesn't taste likeany other fruit I ever ate, either--I think it must be the same ambrosiathat the old pagan gods used to eat. "

"If all you did was to set up the integrals, how do you know what youare going to have for the next meal?" asked Crane. 

"We have no idea what the form, flavor, or consistency of any dish willbe, " was the surprising answer. "We know only that the flavor will beagreeable and that it will agree with the form and consistency of thesubstance, and that the composition will be well-balanced chemically. You see, all the details of flavor, form, texture, and so on arecontrolled by a device something like one of your kaleidoscopes. Theintegrals render impossible any unwholesome, unpleasant, or unbalancedcombination of any nature, and everything else is left to the mechanism, which operates upon pure chance. "

"Some system, I'd rise to remark, " and Seaton, with the others, resumedhis vigorous attack upon the long-delayed supper. 

The meal over, the Earthly visitors were shown to their rooms, and fellinto a deep, dreamless sleep. 

CHAPTER X

Norlaminian Science

Breakfast over, Seaton watched intently as his tray, laden with emptycontainers, floated away from him and disappeared into an opening in thewall. 

"How do you do it, Orlon?" he asked, curiously. "I can hardly believeit, even after seeing it done. "

"Each tray is carried upon the end of a beam or rod of force, andsupported rigidly by it. Since the beam is tuned to the individual waveof the instrument you wear upon your chest, your tray is, of course, placed in front of you, at a predetermined distance, as soon as thesending force is actuated. When you have finished your meal, the beam isshortened. Thus the tray is drawn back to the food laboratory, whereother forces cleanse and sterilize the various utensils and place themin readiness for the next meal. It would be an easy matter to have thissame mechanism place your meals before you wherever you may go upon thisplanet, provided only that a clear path can be plotted from thelaboratory to your person. "

"Thanks, but it wouldn't pay. No telling where we'd be. Besides, we'dbetter eat in the _Skylark_ most of the time, to keep our cookgood-natured. Well, I see Rovol's got his boat here for me, so guess I'dbetter turn up a few r. P. M. Coming along, Dot, or have you gotsomething else on your mind?"

"I'm going to leave you for a while. I can't really understand even aradio, and just thinking about those funny, complicated rays and thingsyou are going after makes me dizzy in the head. Mrs. Orlon is going totake us over to the Country of Youth--she says Margaret and I can playaround with her daughter and her bunch and have a good time while youscientists are doing your stuff. "

"All right. 'Bye till tonight, " and Seaton stepped out into the grounds, where the First of Rays was waiting. 

The flier was a torpedo-shaped craft of some transparent, glassymaterial, completely enclosed except for one circular opening ordoorway. From the midsection, which was about five feet in diameter andprovided with heavily-cushioned seats capable of carrying fourpassengers in comfort, the hull tapered down smoothly to a needle pointat each end. As Seaton entered and settled himself into the cushions, Rovol touched a lever. Instantly a transparent door slid across theopening, locking itself into position flush with the surface of thehull, and the flier darted into the air and away. For a few minutesthere was silence, as Seaton studied the terrain beneath them. Fields orcities there were none; the land was covered with dense forests and vastmeadows, with here and there great buildings surrounded by gracious, park-like areas. Rovol finally broke the silence. 

"I understand your problem, I believe, since Orlon has transferred to meall the thoughts he had from you. With the aid of the Rovolon you havebrought us, I am confident that we shall be able to work out asatisfactory solution of the various problems involved. It will take ussome few minutes to traverse the distance to my laboratory, and if thereare any matters upon which your mind is not quite clear, I shall try toclarify them. "

"That's letting me down easy, " Seaton grinned, "but you don't need to beafraid of hurting my feelings--I know just exactly how ignorant and dumbI am compared to you. There's a lot of things I don't get at all. First, and nearest, this airboat. It has no power-plant at all. I assume thatit, like so many other things hereabouts, is riding on the end of a rodof force?"

"Exactly. The beam is generated and maintained in my laboratory. Allthat is here in the flier is a small sender, for remote control. "

"How do you obtain your power?" asked Seaton. "Solar generators and tidemotors? I know that all your work is done by protelectricity, but Orlondid not inform us as to the sources. "

"We have not used such inefficient generators for many thousands ofyears. Long ago it was shown by research that these rays were constantlybeing generated in abundance in outer space, and that they could becollected upon spherical condensers and transmitted without loss to thesurface of the planet by means of matched and synchronized crystals. Several millions of these condensers have been built and thrown out tobecome tiny satellites of Norlamin. "

"How did you get them far enough out?"

"The first ones were forced out to the required distance upon beams offorce produced by the conversion of electricity, which was in turnproduced from turbines, solar motors, and tide motors. With a few ofthem out, however, it was easy to obtain sufficient power to send outmore; and now, whenever one of us requires more power than he has at hisdisposal, he merely sends out such additional collectors as he needs. "

"Now about those fifth-order rays, which will penetrate a zone of force. I am told that they are not ether waves at all?"

"They are not ether waves. The fourth order rays, of which the theoryhas been completely worked out, are the shortest vibrations that can bepropagated through the ether; for the ether itself is not a continuousmedium. We do not know its nature exactly, but it is an actualsubstance, and is composed of discrete particles of the fourth order. Now the zone of force, which is itself a fourth-order phenomenon, setsup a condition of stasis in the particles composing the ether. Theseparticles are relatively so coarse, that rays and particles of the fifthorder will pass through the fixed zone without retardation. Therefore, if there is anything between the particles of the ether--this matter isbeing debated hotly among us at the present time--it must be asub-ether, if I may use that term. We have never been able toinvestigate any of these things experimentally, not even such a coarseaggregation as is the ether; but now, having Rovolon, it will not bemany thousands of years until we shall have extended our knowledge manyorders farther, in both directions. "

"Just how will Rovolon help you?"

"It will enable us to generate a force of the ninth magnitude--that muchpower is necessary to set up what you have so aptly named a zone offorce--and will give us a source of fourth, fifth, and probably higherorders of rays which, if they are generated in space at all, are beyondour present reach. The zone of force is necessary to shield certainitems of equipment from ether vibrations; as any such vibration insidethe controlling fields of force renders observation or control of thehigher orders of rays impossible. "

"Hm ... M, I see--I'm learning something, " Seaton replied cordially. "Just as the higher-powered a radio set is, the more perfect must be itsshielding?"

"Yes. Just as a trace of any gas will destroy the usefulness of yourmost sensitive vacuum tubes, and just as imperfect shielding will allowinterfering waves to enter sensitive electrical apparatus--in that samefashion will even the slightest ether vibration interfere with theoperation of the extremely sensitive fields and lenses of force whichmust be used in controlling forces of the higher orders. "

"You haven't tested the theory of the fourth order yet, have you?"

"No, but that is unnecessary. The theory of the fourth order is notreally theory at all--it is mathematical fact. Although we have neverbeen able to generate them, we know exactly the forces you use in yourship of space, and we can tell you of some thousands of others more orless similar and also highly useful forces which you have not yetdiscovered, but are allowing to go to waste. We know exactly what theyare, how to liberate and control them, and how to use them. In fact, inthe work which we are to begin today, we shall use but little ordinarypower: almost all our work will be done by fourth-order forces, liberated from copper by means of the Rovolon you have given me. Buthere we are at my laboratory. You already know that the best way tolearn is by doing, and we shall begin at once. "

 * * * * *

The flier alighted upon a lawn quite similar to the one before theobservatory of Orlon, and the scientist led his Earthly guest throughthe main entrance of the imposing structure of vari-colored marble andgleaming metal and into the vast, glass-lined room that was hislaboratory. Great benches lined the walls, and there were hundreds ofdials, meters, tubes, transformers and other instruments, whose usesSeaton could not even guess. 

Rovol first donned a suit of transparent, flexible material, of a deepgolden color, instructing Seaton to do the same; explaining that much ofthe work would be with dangerous frequencies and with high pressures, and that the suits were not only absolute insulators againstelectricity, heat, and sound, but were also ray-filters proof againstany harmful radiations. As each helmet was equipped with radiophones, conversation was not interfered with in the least. 

Rovol took up a tiny flash-pencil, and with it deftly cut off a bit ofRovolon, almost microscopic in size. This he placed upon a great blockof burnished copper, and upon it played a force. As he manipulated twolevers, two more beams of force flattened out the particle of metal, spread it out over the copper, and forced it into the surface of theblock until the thin coating was at every point in molecular contactwith the copper beneath it--a perfect job of plating, and one done inthe twinkling of an eye. He then cut out a piece of the treated copperthe size of a pea, and other forces rapidly built around it a structureof coils and metallic tubes. This apparatus he suspended in the air atthe extremity of a small beam of force. The block of copper was next cutin two, and Rovol's fingers moved rapidly over the keys of a machinewhich resembled slightly an overgrown and exceedingly complicatedbook-keeping machine. Streams and pencils of force flashed and crackled, and Seaton saw raw materials transformed into a complete power-plant, inits center the two-hundred-pound lump of plated copper, where an instantbefore there had been only empty space upon the massive metal bench. Rovol's hands moved rapidly from keys to dials and back, and suddenly azone of force, as large as a basketball appeared around the apparatuspoised in the air. 

"But it'll fly off and we can't stop it with anything, " Seatonprotested, and it did indeed dart rapidly upward. 

The old man shook his head as he manipulated still more controls, andSeaton gasped as nine stupendous beams of force hurled themselves uponthat brilliant spherical mirror of pure energy, seized it in mid-flight, and shaped it resistlessly, under his bulging eyes, into a complexgeometrical figure of precisely the desired form. 

Lurid violet light filled the room, and Seaton turned towards the bar. That two-hundred-pound mass of copper was shrinking visibly, second bysecond, so vast were the forces being drawn from it, and the searing, blinding light would have been intolerable but for the protectivecolor-filters of his helmet. Tremendous flashes of lightning ripped andtore from the relief-points of the bench to the ground-rods, whichflared at blue-white temperature under the incessant impacts. Knowingthat this corona-loss was but an infinitesimal fraction of the powerbeing used, Seaton's very mind staggered as he strove to understand themagnitude of the forces at work upon that stubborn sphere of energy. 

The aged scientist used no tools whatever, as we understand the term. His laboratory was a power-house; at his command were the stupendousforces of a battery of planetoid accumulators, and added to these werethe fourth-order, ninth-magnitude forces of the disintegrating copperbar. Electricity, protelectricity, and fourth-order rays, under millionsupon millions of kilovolts of pressure, leaped to do the bidding of thatwonderful brain, stored with the accumulated knowledge of countlessthousands of years of scientific research. Watching the ancientphysicist work, Seaton compared himself to a schoolboy mixing chemicalsindiscriminately and ignorantly, with no knowledge whatever of theirproperties, occasionally obtaining a reaction by pure chance. Whereas hehad worked with intra-atomic energy schoolboy fashion, the mastercraftsman before him knew every reagent, every reaction, and worked withknown and thoroughly familiar agencies to bring about his exactlypredetermined ends--just as calmly certain of the results as Seatonhimself would have been in his own laboratory, mixing equivalentquantities of solutions of barium chloride and of sulphuric acid toobtain a precipitate of barium sulphate. 

[Illustration: _Hour after hour Rovol labored on, oblivious to thepassage of time in his zeal of accomplishment, the while carefullyinstructing Seaton, who watched every step with intense interest.... _]

Hour after hour Rovol labored on, oblivious to the passage of time inhis zeal of accomplishment, the while carefully instructing Seaton, whowatched every step with intense interest and did everything possible forhim to do. Bit by bit a towering structure arose in the middle of thelaboratory. A metal foundation supported a massive compound bearing, which in turn carried a tubular network of latticed metal, mounted likean immense telescope. Near the upper, outer end of this openwork tube agroup of nine forces held the field of force rigidly in place in itsaxis; at the lower extremity were mounted seats for two operators andthe control panels necessary for the operation of the intricate systemof forces and motors which would actuate and control that giganticprojector. Immense hour and declination circles could be read by opticalsystems from the operators' seats--circles fully forty feet in diameter, graduated with incredible delicacy and accuracy into decimal fractionsof seconds of arc, and each driven by variable-speed motors throughgear-trains and connections having no backlash whatever. 

While Rovol was working upon one of the last instruments to be installedupon the controlling panel a mellow note sounded throughout thebuilding, and he immediately ceased his labors and opened themaster-switches of his power plants. 

"You have done well, youngster, " he congratulated his helper, as hebegan to take off his protective covering, "Without your aid I could nothave accomplished nearly this much during one period of labor. Theperiods of exercise and of relaxation are at hand--let us return to thehouse of Orlon, where we all shall gather to relax and to refreshourselves for the labors of tomorrow. "

"But it's almost done!" protested Seaton. "Let's finish it up and shoota little juice through it, just to try it out. "

"There speaks the rashness and impatience of youth, " rejoined thescientist, calmly removing the younger man's suit and leading him out tothe waiting airboat. "I read in your mind that you are often guilty oflaboring continuously until your brain loses its keen edge. Learn now, once and for all, that such conduct is worse than foolish--it iscriminal. We have labored the full period. Laboring for more than thatlength of time without recuperation results in a loss of power which, if persisted in, wreaks permanent injury to the mind; and by it you gainnothing. We have more than ample time to do that which must be done--thefifth-order projector shall be completed before the warning torpedoshall have reached the planet of the Fenachrone--therefore over-exertionis unwarranted. As for testing, know now that only mechanisms built bybunglers require testing. Properly built machines work properly. "

"But I'd have liked to see it work just once, anyway, " lamented Seatonas the small airship tore through the air on its way back to theobservatory. 

"You must cultivate calmness, my son, and the art of relaxation. Withthose qualities your race can easily double its present span of usefullife. Physical exercise to maintain the bodily tissues at their best, and mental relaxation following mental toil--these things are thesecrets of a long and productive life. Why attempt to do more than canbe accomplished efficiently? There is always tomorrow. I am moreinterested in that which we are now building than you can possibly be, since many generations of the Rovol have anticipated its construction;yet I realize that in the interest of our welfare and for the progressof civilization, today's labors must not be prolonged beyond today'speriod of work. Furthermore, you yourself realize that there is nooptimum point at which any task may be interrupted. Short of finalcompletion of any project, one point is the same as any other. Had wecontinued, we would have wished to continue still farther, and so onwithout end. "

"You're probably right, at that, " the impetuous chemist conceded, astheir craft came to earth before the observatory. 

 * * * * *

Crane and Orlon were already in the common room, as were the scientistsSeaton already knew, as well as a group of women and children stillstrangers to the Terrestrials. In a few minutes Orlon's companion, adignified, white-haired woman, entered; accompanied by Dorothy, Margaret, and a laughing, boisterous group of men and women from theCountry of Youth. Introductions over, Seaton turned to Crane. 

"How's every little thing, Mart?"

"Very well indeed. We are building an observatory in space--or rather, Orlon is building it and I am doing what little I can to help him. In afew days we shall be able to locate the system of the Fenachrone. How isyour work progressing?"

"Smoother than a kitten's ear. Got the fourth-order projector aboutdone. We're going to project a fourth-order force out to grab us somedense material, a pretty close approach to pure neutronium. There'snothing dense enough around here, even in the core of the central sun, so we're going out to a white dwarf star--one a good deal like thecompanion star to Sirius in Canis Major--get some material of the properdensity from its core, and convert our sender into a fifth-ordermachine. Then we can really get busy--go places and do things. "

"Neutronium? Pure mass?" queried Crane, "I have been under theimpression that it does not exist. Of what use can such a substance beto you?"

"Can't get pure neutronium, of course--couldn't use it if we could. Whatwe need and are going to get is a material of about two and a halfmillion specific gravity. Got to have it for lenses and controls for thefifth-order forces. Those rays go right through anything less densewithout measurable refraction. But I see Rovol's giving me a nasty look. He's my boss on this job, and I imagine this kind of talk's barredduring the period of relaxation, as being work. That so, chief?"

"You know that it is barred, you incorrigible young cub!" answeredRovol, with a smile. 

"All right, boss; one more little infraction and I'll shut up like aclam. I'd like to know what the girls have been doing. "

"We've been having a wonderful time!" Dorothy declared. "We've beendesigning fabrics and ornaments and jewels and things. Wait 'til you see'em!"

"Fine! All right, Orlon, it's your party--what to do?"

"This is the time of exercise. We have many forms, most of which areunfamiliar to you. You all swim, however, and as that is one of the bestof exercises, I suggest that we all swim. "

"Lead us to it!" Seaton exclaimed, then his voice changed abruptly. "Wait a minute--I don't know about our swimming in copper sulphatesolution. "

"We swim in fresh water as often as in salt, and the pool is now filledwith distilled water. "

The Terrestrials quickly donned their bathing suits and all went throughthe observatory and down a winding path, bordered with the peculiarlybeautiful scarlet and green shrubbery, to the "pool"--an artificial lakecovering a hundred acres, its polished metal bottom and sides strikinglydecorated with jewels and glittering tiles in tasteful yet contrastinginlaid designs. Any desired depth of water was available and plainlymarked, from the fenced-off shallows where the smallest childrensplashed to the forty feet of liquid crystal which received the diverwho cared to try his skill from one of the many spring-boards, flyingrings, and catapults which rose high into the air a short distance awayfrom the entrance. 

Orlon and the others of the older generation plunged into the waterwithout ado and struck out for the other shore, using a fastdouble-overarm stroke. Swimming in a wide circle they came out upon theapparatus and went through a series of methodical dives and gymnasticperformances. It was evident that they swam, as Orlon had intimated, forexercise. To them, exercise was a necessary form of labor--labor whichthey performed thoroughly and well--but nothing to call forth thewhole-souled enthusiasm they displayed in their chosen fields of mentaleffort. 

The visitors from the Country of Youth, however, locked arms and sprangto surround the four Terrestrials, crying, "Let's do a group dive!"

"I don't believe that I can swim well enough to enjoy what's coming, "whispered Margaret to Crane, and they slipped into the pool and turnedaround to watch. Seaton and Dorothy, both strong swimmers, locked armsand laughed as they were encircled by the green phalanx and swept out tothe end of a dock-like structure and upon a catapult. 

 * * * * *

"Hold tight, everybody!" someone yelled, and interlaced, straining armsand legs held the green and white bodies in one motionless group as agigantic force hurled them fifty feet into the air and out over thedeepest part of the pool. There was a mighty splash and a miniaturetidal wave as that mass of humanity struck the water. Many feet theywent down before the cordon was broken and the individual units came tothe surface. Then pandemonium reigned. Vigorous informal games, havingto do with floating and sinking balls and effigies: pushball, in whichthe players never seemed to know, or to care, upon which side they wereplaying; water-fights and ducking contests.... A green mermaid, havingfelt the incredible power of Seaton's arms as he tossed her lightly awayfrom a goal he was temporarily defending, put both her small handsaround his biceps wonderingly, amazed at a strength unknown andimpossible upon her world; then playfully tried to push him under. Failing, she called for help. 

"He's needed a good ducking for ages!" Dorothy cried, and she andseveral other girls threw themselves upon him. Over and around him thelithe forms flashed, while the rest of the young people splashed waterimpartially over all the combatants and cheered them on. In the midst ofthe battle the signal sounded to end the period of exercise. 

"Saved by the bell, " Seaton laughed as, thoroughly ducked and almosthalf drowned, he was allowed to swim ashore. 

When all had returned to the common room of the observatory and hadseated themselves, Orlon took out his miniature ray-projector, no largerthan a fountain pen, and flashed it briefly upon one of the hundreds ofbutton-like lenses upon the wall. Instantly each chair converted itselfinto a form-fitting divan, inviting complete repose. 

"I believe that you of Earth would perhaps enjoy some of our musicduring this, the period of relaxation and repose--it is so differentfrom your own, " Orlon remarked, as he again manipulated his tinyforce-tube. 

 * * * * *

Every light was extinguished and there was felt a profoundly deepvibration--a note so low as to be palpable rather than audible; andsimultaneously the utter darkness was relieved by a tinge of red so darkas to be barely perceptible, while a peculiar somber fragrance pervadedthe atmosphere. The music rapidly ran the gamut to the limit ofaudibility and, in the same tempo, the lights traversed the visiblespectrum and disappeared. Then came a crashing chord and a vivid flareof blended light; ushering in an indescribable symphony of sound andcolor, accompanied by a slower succession of shifting, blending odors. 

The quality of tone was now that of a gigantic orchestra, now that of afull brass band, now that of a single unknown instrument--as though thecomposer had had at his command every overtone capable of being producedby any possible instrument, and with them had woven a veritable tapestryof melody upon an incredibly complex loom of sound. As went the harmony, so the play of light accompanied it. Neither music nor illumination camefrom any apparent source; they simply pervaded the entire room. When themusic was fast--and certain passages were of a rapidity impossible forany human fingers to attain--the lights flashed in vivid, tiny pencils, intersecting each other in sharply drawn, brilliant figures, whichchanged with dizzying speed; when the tempo was slow, the beams weresoft and broad, blending into each other to form sinuous, indefinite, writhing patterns, whose very vagueness was infinitely soothing. 

"What do you think of it, Mrs. Seaton?" Orlon asked. 

"Marvelous!" breathed Dorothy, awed. "I never imagined anything like it. I can't begin to tell you how much I like it. I never dreamed of suchabsolute perfection of execution, and the way the lighting accompaniesthe theme is just too perfectly wonderful for words! It was incrediblybrilliant. "

"Brilliant--yes. Perfectly executed--yes. But I notice that you saynothing of depth of feeling or of emotional appeal. " Dorothy blusheduncomfortably and started to say something, but Orlon silenced her andcontinued: "You need not apologize. I had a reason for speaking as Idid, for in you I recognize a real musician, and our music is indeedentirely soulless. That is the result of our ancient civilization. Weare so old that our music is purely intellectual, entirely mechanical, instead of emotional. It is perfect, but, like most of our other arts, it is almost completely without feeling. "

"But your statues are wonderful!"

"As I told you, those statues were made myriads of years ago. At thattime we also had real music, but, unlike statuary, music at that timecould not be preserved for posterity. That is another thing you havegiven us. Attend!"

At one end of the room, as upon a three-dimensional screen, the fourTerrestrials saw themselves seated in the control-room of the _Skylark_. They saw and heard Margaret take up her guitar, and strike four sonorouschords in "A. " Then, as if they had been there in person, they heardthemselves sing "The Bull-Frog" and all the other songs they had sung, far off in space. They heard Margaret suggest that Dorothy play some"real music, " and heard Seaton's comments upon the quartette. 

"In that, youngster, you were entirely wrong, " said Orlon, stopping thereproduction for a moment. "The entire planet was listening to you veryattentively--we were enjoying it as no music has been enjoyed forthousands of years. "

"The whole planet!" gasped Margaret. "Were you broadcasting it? Howcould you?"

"Easy, " grinned Seaton. "They can do most anything with these rays oftheirs. "

"When you have time, in some period of labor, we would appreciate itvery much if you four would sing for us again, would give us more ofyour vast store of youthful music, for we can now preserve it exactly asit is sung. But much as we enjoyed the quartette, Mrs. Seaton, it wasyour work upon the violin that took us by storm. Beginning withtomorrow, my companion intends to have you spend as many periods as youwill, playing for our records. We shall now have your music. "

"If you like it so well, wouldn't you rather I'd play you something Ihadn't played before?"

"That is labor. We could not.... "

"Piffle!" Dorothy interrupted. "Don't you see that I could really playright now, with somebody to listen, who really enjoys music; whereas, ifI tried to play in front of a record, I'd be perfectly mechanical?"

"'At-a-girl, Dot! I'll get your fiddle. "

"Keep your seat, son, " instructed Orlon, as the case containing theStradivarius appeared before Dorothy, borne by a pencil of force. "Whilethat temperament is incomprehensible to every one of us, it isundoubtedly true that the artistic mind does work in that manner. Welisten. "

Dorothy swept into "The Melody in F, " and as the poignantly beautifulstrains poured forth from that wonderful violin, she knew that she hadher audience with her. Though so intellectual that they themselves wereincapable of producing music of real depth of feeling, they couldunderstand and could enjoy such music with an appreciation impossible toa people of lesser mental attainments; and their profound enjoyment ofher playing, burned into her mind by the telepathic, almost hypnoticpower of the Norlaminian mentality, raised her to heights of power shehad never before attained. Playing as one inspired, she went through onetremendous solo after another--holding her listeners spellbound, urgedon by their intense feeling to carry them further and ever further intothe realm of pure emotional harmony. The bell which ordinarily signaledthe end of the period of relaxation did not sound; for the first time inthousands of years the planet of Norlamin deserted its rigid schedule oflife--to listen to one Earth-woman, pouring out her very soul upon herincomparable violin. 

The final note of "Memories" died away in a diminuendo wail, and themusician almost collapsed into Seaton's arms. The profound silence, moreimpressive far than any possible applause, was soon broken by Dorothy. 

"There--I'm all right now, Dick. I was about out of control for aminute. I wish they could have had that on a recorder--I'll never beable to play like that again if I live to be a thousand years old. "

"It is on record, daughter. Every note and every inflection ispreserved, precisely as you played it, " Orlon assured her. "That is ouronly excuse for allowing you to continue as you did, almost to the pointof exhaustion. While we cannot really understand an artistic mind of thepeculiar type to which yours belongs, yet we realized that each time youplay you are doing something that no one, not even yourself, can ever doagain in precisely the same subtle fashion. Therefore we allowed, infact encouraged, you to go on as long as that creative impulse shouldendure--not merely for our pleasure in hearing it, great though thatpleasure was, but in the hope that our workers in music could, by acareful analysis of your product, determine quantitatively the exactvibrations or overtones which make the difference between emotional andintellectual music. "

CHAPTER XI

Into a Sun

As Rovol and Seaton approached the physics laboratory at the beginningof the period of labor, another small airboat occupied by one man drewup beside them and followed them to the ground. The stranger, anotherwhite-bearded ancient, greeted Rovol cordially and was introduced toSeaton as "Caslor, the First of Mechanism. "

"Truly, this is a high point in the course of Norlaminian science, myyoung friend, " Caslor acknowledged the introduction smilingly. "You haveenabled us to put into practice many things which our ancestors studiedin theory for many a wearisome cycle of time. " Turning to Rovol, he wenton: "I understand that you require a particularly precise directionalmechanism? I know well that it must indeed be one of exceeding precisionand delicacy, for the controls you yourself have built are able to holdupon any point, however moving, within the limits of our immediate solarsystem. "

"We require controls a million times as delicate as any I haveconstructed, " said Rovol, "therefore I have called your surpassing skillinto co-operation. It is senseless for me to attempt a task in which Iwould be doomed to failure. We intend to send out a fifth-orderprojection, something none of our ancestors ever even dreamed of, which, with its inconceivable velocity of propagation, will enable us toexplore any region in the galaxy as quickly as we now visit our closestsister planet. Knowing the dimensions of this, our galaxy, you canreadily understand the exact degree of precision required to hold upon apoint at its outermost edge. "

"Truly, a problem worthy of any man's brain, " Caslor replied after amoment's thought. "Those small circles, " pointing to the forty-foot hourand declination circles which Seaton had thought the ultimate in precisemeasurement of angular magnitudes, "are of course useless. I shall haveto construct large and accurate circles, and in order to produce theslow and fast motions of the required nature, without creep, slip, play, or backlash, I shall require a pure torque, capable of being increasedby infinitesimal increments.... Pure torque. "

He thought deeply for a time, then went on: "No gear-train or chainmechanism can be built of sufficient tightness, since in any mechanismthere is some freedom of motion, however slight, and for this purposethe director must have no freedom of motion whatever. We must have apure torque--and the only possible force answering our requirements isthe four hundred sixty-seventh band of the fourth order. I shalltherefore be compelled to develop that band. The director must, ofcourse, have a full equatorial mounting, with circles some two hundredand fifty feet in diameter. Must your projector tube be longer thanthat, for correct design?"

"That length will be ample. "

"The mounting must be capable of rotation through the full circle of arcin either plane, and must be driven in precisely the motion required toneutralize the motion of our planet, which, as you know, is somewhatirregular. Additional fast and slow motions must, of course, be providedto rotate the mechanism upon each graduated circle at the will of theoperator. It is my idea to make the outer supporting tube quite large, so that you will have full freedom with your inner, or projector tubeproper. It seems to me that dimensions X37 B42 J867 would perhaps be asgood as any. "

"Perfectly satisfactory. You have the apparatus well in mind. "

"These things will consume some time. How soon will you require thismechanism?" asked Caslor. 

"We also have much to do. Two periods of labor, let us say: or, if yourequire them, three. "

"It is well. Two periods will be ample time: I was afraid that you mightneed it today, and the work cannot be accomplished in one period oflabor. The mounting will, of course, be prepared in the Area ofExperiment. Farewell. "

"You aren't going to build the final projector here, then?" Seaton askedas Caslor's flier disappeared. 

"We shall build it here, then transport it to the Area, where itsdirigible housing will be ready to receive it. All mechanisms of thattype are set up there. Not only is the location convenient to allinterested, but there are to be found all necessary tools, equipment andmaterial. Also, and not least important for such long-range work as wecontemplate, the entire Area of Experiment is anchored immovably to thesolid crust of the planet, so that there can be not even the slightestvibration to affect the direction of our beams of force, which must, ofcourse, be very long. "

He closed the master switches of his power-plants and the two resumedwork where they had left off. The control panel was soon finished. Rovolthen plated an immense cylinder of copper and placed it in thepower-plant. He next set up an entirely new system of refractoryrelief-points and installed additional ground-rods, sealed through thefloor and extending deep into the ground below, explaining as he worked. 

"You see, son, we must lose one one-thousandth of one per cent of ourtotal energy, and provision must be made for its dissipation in order toavoid destruction of the laboratory. These air-gap resistances are thesimplest means of disposing of the wasted power. "

"I get you--but say, how about disposing of it when we get the thing ina ship out in space? We picked up pretty heavy charges in the_Skylark_--so heavy that I had to hold up several times in the ionizedlayer of an atmosphere while they faded--and this outfit will burn uptons of copper where the old ones used ounces. "

"In the projected space-vessel we shall install converters to utilizeall the energy, so that there will be no loss whatever. Since suchconverters must be designed and built especially for each installation, and since they require a high degree of precision, it is not worth whileto construct them for a purely temporary mechanism, such as this one. "

 * * * * *

The walls of the laboratory were opened, ventilating blowers were built, and refrigerating coils were set up everywhere, even in the tubularstructure and behind the visiplates. After assuring themselves thateverything combustible had been removed, the two scientists put on undertheir helmets, goggles whose protecting lenses could be built up to anydesired thickness. Rovol then threw a switch, and a hemisphere offlaming golden radiance surrounded the laboratory and extended for milesupon all sides. 

"I get most of the stuff you've pulled so far, but why such a light?"asked Seaton. 

"As a warning. This entire area will be filled with dangerousfrequencies, and that light is a warning for all uninsulated persons togive our theater of operations a wide berth. "

"I see. What next?"

"All that remains to be done is to take our lens-material and go, "replied Rovol, as he took from a cupboard the largest faidon that Seatonhad ever seen. 

"Oh, that's what you're going to use! You know, I've been wonderingabout that stuff. I took one back with me to the Earth to experiment on. I gave it everything I could think of and couldn't touch it. I couldn'teven make it change its temperature. What is it, anyway?"

"It is not matter at all, in the ordinary sense of the word. It isalmost pure crystallized energy. You have, of course, noticed that itlooks transparent, but that it is not. You cannot see into its substancea millionth of a micron--the illusion of transparency being purely asurface phenomenon, and peculiar to this one form of substance. I havetold you that the ether is a fourth-order substance--this also is afourth-order substance, but it is crystalline, whereas the ether isprobably fluid and amorphous. You might call this faidon crystallizedether without being far wrong. "

"But it should weigh tons, and it is hardly heavier than air--or no, wait a minute. Gravitation is also a fourth-order phenomenon, so itmight not weigh anything at all--but it would have terrific mass--orwould it, not having protons? Crystallized ether would displace fluidether, so it might--I'll give up! It's too deep for me!" said Seaton. 

"Its theory is abstruse, and I cannot explain it to you any more fullythan I have, until after we have given you a knowledge of the fourth andfifth orders. Pure fourth-order material would be without weight andwithout mass; but these crystals as they are found are not absolutelypure. In crystallizing from the magma, they entrapped sufficient numbersof particles of the higher orders to give them the characteristics whichyou have observed. The impurities, however, are not sufficient inquantity to offer a point of attack to any ordinary reagent. "

"But how could such material possibly be formed?"

"It could be formed only in some such gigantic cosmic body as this, ourgreen system, formed incalculable ages ago, when all the mass comprisingit existed as one colossal sun. Picture for yourself the condition inthe center of that sun. It has attained the theoretical maximum oftemperature--some seventy million of your centigrade degrees--theelectrons have been stripped from the protons until the entire centralcore is one solid ball of neutronium and can be compressed no morewithout destruction of the protons themselves. Still the pressureincreases. The temperature, already at the theoretical maximum, can nolonger increase. What happens?"

"Disruption. "

"Precisely. And just at the instant of disruption, during the veryinstant of generation of the frightful forces that are to hurl suns, planets and satellites millions of miles out into space--in that instantof time, as a result of those unimaginable temperatures and pressures, the faidon comes into being. It can be formed only by the absolutemaximum of temperature and at a pressure which can exist onlymomentarily, even in the largest conceivable masses. "

"Then how can you make a lens of it? It must be impossible to work it inany way. "

"It cannot be worked in any ordinary way, but we shall take this crystalinto the depths of that white dwarf star, into a region in which obtainpressures and temperatures only less than those giving it birth. Therewe shall play forces upon it which, under those conditions, will be ableto work it quite readily. "

"Hm--m--m. I want to see that! Let's go!"

They seated themselves at the panels, and Rovol began to manipulatekeys, levers and dials. Instantly a complex structure of visibleforce--rods, beams and flat areas of flaming scarlet energy--appeared atthe end of the tubular, telescope-like network. 

"Why red?"

"Merely to render them visible. One cannot work well with invisibletools, hence I have imposed a colored light frequency upon the invisiblefrequencies of the forces. We will have an assortment of colors if youprefer, " and as he spoke each ray assumed a different color, so that theend of the projector was almost lost beneath a riot of color. 

The structure of force, which Seaton knew was the secondary projector, swung around as if sentient, and a lurid green ray extended itself, picked up the faidon, and lengthened out, hurling the jewel a thousandyards out through the open side of the laboratory. Rovol moved morecontrols and the structure again righted itself, swinging back intoperfect alignment with the tube and carrying the faidon upon itsextremity, a thousand yards beyond the roof of the laboratory. 

"We are now ready to start our projection. Be sure your suit and gogglesare perfectly tight. We must see what we are doing, so the light-raysmust be heterodyned upon our carrier wave. Therefore the laboratory andall its neighborhood will be flooded with dangerous frequencies from thesun we are to visit, as well as with those from our own generators. "

"O. K. , chief! All tight here. You say it's ten light-years to thatstar. How long's it going to take us to get there?"

"About ten minutes. We could travel that far in less than ten secondsbut for the fact that we must take the faidon with us. Slight as is itsmass, it will require much energy in its acceleration. Our projections, of course, have no mass, and will require only the energy ofpropagation. "

[Illustration: _Looking into the visiplate, he was out in space inperson, hurtling through space at a pace, beside which the best effortof the Skylark seemed the veriest crawl. _]

Rovol flicked a finger, a massive pair of plunger switches shot intotheir sockets, and Seaton, seated at his board and staring into hisvisiplate, was astounded to find that he apparently possessed a dualpersonality. He _knew_ that he was seated motionless in the operator'schair in the base of the rigidly anchored primary projector, and bytaking his eyes away from the visiplate before him, he could see thatnothing in the laboratory had changed, except that the pyrotechnicdisplay from the power-bar was of unusual intensity. Yet, looking intothe visiplate, he was out in space _in person_, hurtling through spaceat a pace beside which the best effort of the _Skylark_ seemed theveriest crawl. Swinging his controls to look backward, he gasped as hesaw, so stupendous was their velocity, that the green system was onlybarely discernible as a faint green star!

 * * * * *

Again looking forward, it seemed as though a fierce white star hadseparated from the immovable firmament and was now so close to thestructure of force in which he was riding that it was already showing adisk perceptible to the unaided eye. A few moments more and theviolet-white splendor became so intense that the watchers began to buildup, layer by layer, the protective goggles before their eyes. As theyapproached still closer, falling with their unthinkable velocity intothat incandescent inferno, a sight was revealed to their eyes such asman had never before been privileged to gaze upon. They were fallinginto a white dwarf star, could see everything visible during such anunheard-of journey, and would live to remember what they had seen! Theysaw the magnificent spectacle of solar prominences shooting hundreds ofthousands of miles into space, and directly in their path they saw animmense sunspot, a combined volcanic eruption and cyclonic storm in agaseous-liquid medium of blinding incandescence. 

"Better dodge that spot, hadn't we, ace? Mightn't it be generatinginterfering fourth-order frequencies?" cried Seaton. 

"It is undoubtedly generating fourth-order rays, but nothing caninterfere with us, since we are controlling every component of our beamfrom Norlamin. "

Seaton gripped his hand-rail violently and involuntarily drew himselftogether into the smallest possible compass as, with their awful speedunchecked, they plunged through that flaming, incandescent photosphereand on, straight down, into the unexplored, unimaginable interior ofthat frightful and searing orb. Through the protecting goggles, now afull four inches of that peculiar, golden, shielding metal, Seaton couldsee the structure of force in which he was, and could also see thefaidon--in outline, as transparent diamonds are visible in equallytransparent water. Their apparent motion slowed rapidly and the materialabout them thickened and became more and more opaque. The faidon drewback toward them until it was actually touching the projector, and eddycurrents and striae became visible in the mass about them as theirprogress grew slower and slower. 

"'Smatter? Something gone screwy?" demanded Seaton. 

"Not at all, everything is working perfectly. The substance is now sodense that it is becoming opaque to rays of the fourth order, so that weare now partially displacing the medium instead of moving through itwithout friction. At the point where we can barely see to work; that is, when the fourth-order rays will be so retarded that they can no longercarry the heterodyned light waves without complete distortion, we shallstop automatically, as the material at that depth will have the requireddensity to refract the fifth-order rays to the correct degree. "

"How can our foundations stand it?" asked Seaton. "This stuff must be ahundred times as dense as platinum already, and we must he pushing ahorrible load in going through it. "

"We are exerting no force whatever upon our foundations nor uponNorlamin. The force is transmitted without loss from the power-plant inour laboratory to this secondary projector here inside the star, whereit is liberated in the correct band to pull us through the mass, usingall the mass ahead of us as anchorage. When we wish to return, we shallsimply change the pull into a push. Ah! we are now at a standstill--nowcomes the most important moment of the entire project!"

All apparent motion had ceased, and Seaton could see only dimly theoutlines of the faidon, now directly before his eyes. The structure offorce slowly warped around until its front portion held the faidon as ina vise. Rovol pressed a lever and behind them, in the laboratory, fourenormous plunger switches drove home. A plane of pure energy, flamingradiantly even in the indescribable incandescence of the core of thatseething star, bisected the faidon neatly, and ten gigantic beams, fiveupon each half of the jewel, rapidly molded two sections of ageometrically-perfect hollow lens. The two sections were then broughttogether by the closing of the jaws of the mighty vise, their edges inexact alignment. Instantly the plane and the beams of energy becametransformed into two terrific opposing tubes of force--vibrant, glowingtubes, whose edges in contact coincided with the almost invisible seambetween the two halves of the lens. 

Like a welding arc raised to the _nth_ power these two immeasurable andirresistible forces met exactly in opposition--a meeting of suchincredible violence that seismic disturbances occurred throughout theentire mass of that dense, violet-white star. Sunspots of unprecedentedsize appeared, prominences erupted to hundreds of times their normaldistances, and although the two scientists deep in the core of thetormented star were unaware of what was happening upon its surface, convulsion after Titanic convulsion wracked the mighty globe, andenormous masses of molten and gaseous material were riven from it andhurled far out into space--masses which would in time become planets ofthat youthful and turbulent luminary. 

Seaton felt his air-supply grow hot. Suddenly it became icy cold, andknowing that Rovol had energized the refrigerator system, Seaton turnedaway from the fascinating welding operation for a quick look around thelaboratory. As he did so, he realized Rovol's vast knowledge andunderstood the reason for the new system of relief-points andground-rods, as well as the necessity for the all-embracing scheme ofrefrigeration. 

Even through the practically opaque goggles he could see that thelaboratory was one mass of genuine lightning. Not only from therelief-points, but from every metallic corner and protuberance thepent-up losses from the disintegrating bar were hurling themselves uponthe flaring, blue-white, rapidly-volatilizing ground-rods; and the veryair of the room, renewed second by second though it was by the powerfulblowers, was beginning to take on the pearly luster of thehighly-ionized corona. The bar was plainly visible, a scintillatingdemon of pure violet radiance, and a momentary spasm of fear seized himas he saw how rapidly that great mass of copper was shrinking--fear thattheir power would be exhausted with their task still uncompleted. 

But the calculations of the aged physicist had been accurate. The lenswas completed with some hundreds of pounds of copper to spare, and thatgeometrical form, with its precious content of semi-neutronium, wasfollowing the secondary projector back toward the green system. Rovolleft his seat, discarded his armor, and signaled Seaton to do the same. 

"I've got to hand it to you, ace--you sure are a blinding flash and adeafening report!" Seaton exclaimed, writhing out of his insulatingsuit. "I feel as though I'd been pulled half-way through a knot-hole andriveted over on both ends! How big a lens did you make, anyway? Lookedas though it would hold a couple of liters; maybe three. "

"Its contents are almost exactly three liters. "

"Hm--m--m. Seven and a half million kilograms--say eight thousand tons. _Some_ mass, I'd say, to put into a gallon jug. Of course, being insidethe faidon, it won't have any weight, but it'll have all its full quotaof inertia. That's why you're taking so long to bring it in, of course. "

"Yes. The projector will now bring it here into the laboratory withoutany further attention from us. The period of labor is about to end, andtomorrow we shall find the lens awaiting us when we arrive to beginwork. "

"How about cooling it off? It had a temperature of something like fortymillion degree centigrade before you started working on it; and when yougot done with it, it was hot. "

"You're forgetting again, son. Remember that the hot, dense material isentirely enclosed in an envelope impervious to all vibrations longerthan those of the fifth order. You could put your hand upon it now, without receiving any sensation either of heat, or of cold. "

"Yeah, that's right, too. I noticed that I could take a faidon right outof an electric arc and it wouldn't even be warm. I couldn't explain whyit was, but I see now. So that stuff inside that lens will always stayas hot as it is right now! Zowie! Here's hoping she never explodes!Well, there's the bell--for once in my life, I'm all ready to quit whenthe whistle blows, " and arm in arm the young Terrestrial chemist and theaged Norlaminian physicist strolled out to their waiting airboat. 

CHAPTER XII

Flying Visits--Via Projection

"Well, what to do?" asked Seaton as he and Rovol entered the laboratory, "Tear down this fourth-order projector and tackle the big job? I see thelens is here, on schedule, so we can hop right into it. "

"We shall have further use for this mechanism. We shall need at leastone more lens of this dense material, and other scientists also may haveneed of one or two. Then, too, the new projector must be so large thatit cannot be erected in this room. "

As he spoke, Rovol seated himself at his control-desk and ran hisfingers lightly over the keys. The entire wall of the laboratorydisappeared, hundreds of beams of force darted here and there, seizingand working raw materials, and in the portal there grew up, to Seaton'samazement, a keyboard and panel installation such as the Earth-man, inhis wildest moments, had never imagined. Bank upon bank oftypewriter-like keys; row upon row of keys, pedals, and stops resemblingsomewhat those of the console of a gigantic pipe-organ; panel upon panelof meters, switches, and dials--all arranged about two deeply-cushionedchairs and within reach of their occupants. 

"Whew! That looks like the combined mince-pie nightmares of a wholeflock of linotype operators, pipe-organists, and hard-boiled radiohams!" exclaimed Seaton when the installation was complete. "Now thatyou've got it, what are you going to do with it?"

"There is not a control system in Norlamin adequate for the task weface, since the problem of the projection of rays of the fifth order hasheretofore been of only academic interest. Therefore it becomesnecessary to construct such a control. This mechanism will, I amconfident, have a sufficiently wide range of application to perform anyoperation we shall require of it. "

"It sure looks as though it could do almost anything, provided the manbehind it knows how to play a tune on it--but if that rumble seat is forme, you'd better count me out right now. I followed you for aboutfifteen seconds, then lost you completely; and now I'm sunk without atrace, " said Seaton. 

"That is, of course, true, and is a point I was careless enough tooverlook. " Rovol thought for a moment, then got up, crossed the room tohis control desk, and continued, "We shall dismantle the machine andrebuild it at once. "

"Oh no--too much work!" protested Seaton, "You've got it about done, haven't you?"

"It is hardly started. Two hundred thousand bands of force must belinked to it, each in its proper place, and it is necessary that youshould understand thoroughly every detail of this entire projector, "Rovol answered. 

"Why? I'm not ashamed to admit that I haven't got brains enough tounderstand a thing like that. "

"You have sufficient brain capacity; it is merely undeveloped. There aretwo reasons why you must be as familiar with the operation of thismechanism as you are with the operation of one of your Earthlyautomobiles. The first is that a similar control is to be installed inyour new space-vessel, since by its use you can attain a perfection ofhandling impossible by any other system. The second, and more importantreason, is that neither I nor any other man of Norlamin could compelhimself, by any force of will, to direct a ray that would take away thelife of any fellow-man. "

While Rovol was speaking, he reversed his rays, and soon the componentparts of the new control had been disassembled and piled in orderlyarray about the room. 

"Hm--m--m. Never thought of that. It's right too, " mused Seaton. "How'reyou going to get it into my thick skull--with an educator?"

"Exactly, " and Rovol sent a beam of force after his highly developededucational mechanism. Dials and electrodes were adjusted, connectionswere established, and the beams and pencils of force began toreconstruct the great central controlling device. But this time, insteadof being merely a bewildered spectator, Seaton was an active participantin the work. As each key and meter was wrought and mounted, there wereindelibly impressed upon his brain the exact reason for and function ofthe part, and later, when the control itself was finished and theseemingly interminable task of connecting it up to the outputforce-bands of the transformers had begun, he had a completeunderstanding of everything with which he was working, and understoodall the means by which the ends he had so long desired were to beattained. For to the ancient scientist the tasks he was then performingwere the merest routine, to be performed in reflex fashion, and hedevoted most of his attention to transferring from his own brain to thatof his young assistant as much of his stupendous knowledge as thesmaller brain of the Terrestrial was capable of absorbing. More and morerapidly as the work progressed the mighty flood of knowledge poured intoSeaton's mind. After an hour or so, when enough connections had beenmade so that automatic forces could be so directed as to finish the job, Rovol and Seaton left the laboratory and went into the living room. Asthey walked, the educator accompanied them, borne upon its beam offorce. 

"Your brain is behaving very nicely indeed, " said Rovol, "much betterthan I would have thought possible from its size. In fact, it may bepossible for me to transfer to you all the knowledge I have which mightbe of use to you. That is why I took you away from the laboratory. Whatdo you think of the idea?"

"Our psychologists have always maintained that none of us ever uses morethan a minute fraction of the actual capacity of his brain, " Seatonreplied after a moment's thought. "If you think you can give me even apercentage of your knowledge without killing me, go to it--I'm for it, strong!"

"Knowing that you would be, I have already requested Drasnik, the Firstof Psychology, to come here, and he has just arrived, " answered Rovol. And as he spoke, that personage entered the room. 

When the facts had been set before him, the psychologist nodded his head

"That is quite possible, " he said with enthusiasm, "and I will be onlytoo glad to assist in such an operation. "

"But listen!" protested Seaton, "You'll probably change my wholepersonality! Rovol's brain is three times the size of mine. "

"Tut-tut--nothing of the kind, " Drasnik reproved him. "As you have said, you are using only a minute portion of the active mass of your brain. The same thing is true with us--many millions of cycles would have topass before we would be able to fill the brains we now have. "

"Then why are your brains so large?"

"Merely a provision of Nature that no possible accession of knowledgeshall find her storehouse too small, " replied Drasnik, positively. "Ready?"

All three donned the headsets and a wave of mental force swept intoSeaton's mind, a wave of such power that the Terrestrial's every sensewilted under the impact. He did not faint, he did not loseconsciousness--he simply lost all control of every nerve and fiber ashis entire brain passed into the control of the immense mentality of theFirst of Psychology and became a purely receptive, plastic medium uponwhich to impress the knowledge of the aged physicist. 

 * * * * *

Hour after hour the transfer continued, Seaton lying limp as thoughlifeless, the two Norlaminians tense and rigid, every facultyconcentrated upon the ignorant, virgin brain exposed to their gaze. Finally the operation was complete and Seaton, released from the weird, hypnotic grip of that stupendous mind, gasped, shook himself, andwrithed to his feet. 

"Great Cat!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide with astonishment. "I wouldn'thave believed there was as much to know in the entire Universe as I knowright now, and I know it as well as I ever knew elementary algebra. Thanks, fellows, a million times--but say, did you leave any open spacesfor more? In one way, I seem to know less than I did before, there's somuch more to find out. Can I learn anything more, or did you fill me upto capacity?"

The psychologist, who had been listening to the exuberant youth withundisguised pleasure, spoke calmly. 

"The mere fact that you appreciate your comparative ignorance shows thatyou are still capable of learning. Your capacity to learn is greaterthan it ever was before, even though the waste space has been reduced. Much to our surprise, Rovol and I gave you all of his knowledge thatwould be of any use to you, and some of my own, and still theoreticallyyou can add to it more than nine times the total of your presentknowledge. "

The psychologist departed, and Rovol and Seaton returned to thelaboratory, where the forces were still merrily at work. There wasnothing that could be done to hasten the connecting, and it was late inthe following period of labor before they could begin the actualconstruction of the projector. Once started, however, it progressed withamazing rapidity. Now understanding the system, it did not seem strangeto Seaton that he should merely actuate a certain combination of forceswhen he desired a certain operation performed; nor did it seem unusualor worthy of comment that one flick of his finger over that switchboardwould send a force a distance of hundreds of miles to a factory whereother forces were busily at work, to seize a hundred angle-bars oftransparent purple metal that were to form the backbone of thefifth-order projector. Nor did it seem peculiar that the same force, with no further instruction, should bring these hundred bars back tohim, in a high loop through the atmosphere; should deposit them gentlyin a convenient space near the site of operations; and then shoulddisappear as though it had never existed! With such tools as that, itwas a matter of only a few hours before the projector was done--a taskthat would have required years of planning and building upon Earth. 

Two hundred and fifty feet it towered above their heads, a tubularnetwork of braced and latticed bars of purple metal, fifty feet indiameter at the base and tapering smoothly to a diameter of about tenfeet at the top. Built of a metal thousands of times as strong and hardas steel, it was not cumbersome in appearance, and yet was strong enoughto be absolutely rigid. Ten enormous supporting forces held the lens ofneutronium immovable in the exact center of the upper end; at intervalsdown the shaft similar forces held variously-shaped lenses and prismsformed from zones of force; in the center of the bottom or floor of thetowering structure was the double controlling system, with a universalvisiplate facing each operator. 

"Well, Rovol, that's that, " remarked Seaton as the last connection wasmade. "What say we hop in and give the baby a ride over to the Area ofExperiment? Caslor must have the mounting done, and we've got timeenough left in this period to try her out. "

"In a moment. I am setting the fourth-order projector to go out to thedwarf star after an additional supply of neutronium. "

Seaton, knowing from the data of their first journey, that the controlscould be so set as to duplicate their feat in every particular withoutsupervision, stepped into his seat in the new controller, pressed a key, and spoke. 

"Hi, Dottie, what's on your mind?"

"Nothing much, " Dorothy's clear voice answered. "Got it done and can Isee it?"

"Sure--sit tight and I'll send a boat after you. "

As he spoke, Rovol's flier darted into the air and away; and in twominutes it returned, slowing abruptly as it landed. Dorothy stepped out, radiant, and returned Seaton's enthusiastic caresses with equal fervorbefore she spoke. 

"Lover, I'm afraid you violated all known speed laws getting me overhere. Aren't you afraid of getting pinched?"

"Nope--not here. Besides, I didn't want to keep Rovol waiting--we're allready to go. Hop in here with me, this left-hand control's mine. "

Rovol entered the tube, took his place, and waved his hand. Seaton'shands swept over the keys and the whole gigantic structure wafted intothe air. Still upright, it was borne upon immense rods of force towardthe Area of Experiment, which was soon reached. Covered as the Area waswith fantastic equipment, there was no doubt as to their destination, for in plain sight, dominating all the lesser instruments, there rose astupendous telescopic mounting, with an enormous hollow tube of metalliclattice-work which could be intended for nothing else than theirprojector. Approaching it carefully, Seaton deftly guided the projectorlengthwise into that hollow receptacle and anchored it in the exactoptical axis. Flashing beams of force made short work of welding the twotubes together immovably with angles and lattices of the same purplemetal, the terminals of the variable-speed motors were attached to thecontrollers, and everything was in readiness for the first trial. 

"What special instructions do we need to run it, if any?" Seaton askedof the First of Mechanism, who had lifted himself up into the projector. 

"Very little. This motor governs the hour motion, that one the rightascension. The potentiometers regulate the degree of vernier action--anyratio is possible, from direct drive up to more than a hundred millioncomplete revolutions of that graduated dial to give you one second ofarc. "

"Plenty fine, I'd say. Thanks a lot, ace. Whither away, Rovol--anychoice?"

"Anywhere you please, son, since this is merely a try-out. "

"O. K. We'll hop over and tell Dunark hello. "

The tube swung around into line with that distant planet and Seatonstepped down hard, upon a pedal. Instantly they seemed infinite myriadsof miles out in space, the green system barely visible as a faint greenstar behind them. 

"Wow, that ray's fast!" exclaimed the pilot, ruefully. "I overshot abouta thousand light years. We'll try again, with considerably less power, "and he rearranged and reset the dials and meters before him. Adjustmentafter adjustment and many reductions in power had to be made before theprojection ceased leaping millions of miles at a touch, but finally theoperators became familiar with the new technique and the ray becamemanageable. Soon they were hovering above what had been Mardonal, andsaw that all signs of warfare had disappeared. Slowly turning thecontrols, Seaton flashed the projection over the girdling Osnomian seaand guided it through the impregnable metal walls of the palace into thethrone room of Roban, where they saw the Emperor, Tarnan the Karbix, andDunark in close conference. 

"Well, here we are, " remarked Seaton. "Now we'll put on a littlevisibility and give the natives a treat. "

"Sh-sh, " whispered Dorothy, "they'll hear you, Dick--we're intrudingshamefully. "

"No, they won't hear us, because I haven't heterodyned the audio in onthe wave yet. And as for intruding, that's exactly what we came overhere for. "

 * * * * *

He imposed the audio system upon the inconceivably high frequency oftheir carrier wave and spoke in the Osnomian tongue. 

"Greetings, Roban, Dunark, and Tarnan, from Seaton. " All three jumped totheir feet, amazed, staring about the empty room as Seaton went on, "Iam not here in person. I am simply sending you my projection. Just amoment and I will put on a little visibility. "

He brought more forces into play, and solid images of force appeared inthe great hall; images of the three occupants of the controller. Introductions and greetings over, Seaton spoke briefly and to the point. 

"We've got everything we came after--much more than I had any idea wecould get. You need have no more fear of the Fenachrone--we have found ascience superior to theirs. But much remains to be done, and we havenone too much time; therefore I have come to you with certain requests. "

"The Overlord has but to command, " replied Roban. 

"Not command, since we are all working together for a common cause. Inthe name of that cause, Dunark, I ask you to come to me at once, accompanied by Tarnan and any others you may select. You will be pilotedby a ray which we shall set upon your controls. Upon your way here youwill visit the First City of Dasor, another planet, where you will pickup Sacner Carfon, who will be awaiting you there. "

"As you direct, so it shall be, " and Seaton flashed the projector to theneighboring planet of Urvania. There he found that the giganticspace-cruiser he had ordered had been completed, and requested Urvan andhis commander-in-chief to tow it to Norlamin, piloted by a ray. He thenjumped to Dasor, there interviewing Carfon and being assured of the fullco-operation of the porpoise-men. 

"Well, that's that, folks, " said Seaton as he shut off the power. "Wecan't do much more for a few days, until the gang gets here for thecouncil of war. How'd it be, Rovol, for me to practice with this outfitwhile you are finishing up the odds and ends you want to clean up? Youmight suggest to Orlon, too, that it'd be a good deed for him to pilotthose folks over here. "

As Rovol wafted himself to the ground from their lofty station, Craneand Margaret appeared and were lifted up to the place formerly occupiedby the physicist. 

"How's tricks, Mart? I hear you're quite an astronomer?" said Seaton. 

"Yes, thanks to Orlon and the First of Psychology. He seemed quiteinterested in increasing our Earthly knowledge. I certainly know muchmore than I had ever hoped to know of anything. "

"Yeah, you can pilot us to the Fenachrone system now without anytrouble. You also absorbed some ethnology and kindred sciences. Whatd'you think--with Dunark and Urvan, do we know enough to go ahead orshould we take a chance on holding things up while we get acquaintedwith some of the other peoples of these planets of the green system?"

"Delay is dangerous, as our time is already short, " Crane replied aftera time. "We know enough, I believe; and furthermore, any additionalassistance is problematical; in fact, it is more than doubtful. TheNorlaminians have surveyed the system rather thoroughly, and no otherplanet seems to have inhabitants who have even approached thedevelopment attained here. "

"Right--that's the way I dope it, exactly. We'll wait until the gangassembles, then go over the top. In the meantime, I called you over totake a ride in this projector--it's a darb. I'd like to shoot for theFenachrone system first, but I don't quite dare to. "

"Don't _dare_ to? You?" scoffed Margaret. "How come?"

"Cancel the 'dare'--change it to 'prefer not to. ' Why? Because whilethey can't work through a zone of force, some of their realscientists--and they have lots of them, not like the bull-headed soldierwe captured--may well be able to detect a fifth-order ray--even if theycan't work with them intelligently--and if they detected our ray, it'dput them on guard. "

"You are exactly right, Dick, " agreed Crane. "And there speaks theNorlaminian physicist, and not my old and reckless playmate RichardSeaton. "

"Oh, I don't know--I told you I was getting timid as a mouse. But let'snot sit here twiddling our thumbs--let's go places and do things. Whither away? I want a destination a good ways off, not something in ourown back yard. "

"Go back home, of course, stupe, " put in Dorothy, "do you have to betold every little thing?"

"Sure--never thought of that, " and Seaton, after a moment's rapid mentalarithmetic, swung the great tube around, rapidly adjusted a few dials, and stepped down upon a pedal. There was a fleeting instant ofunthinkable velocity; then they found themselves poised somewhere inspace. 

"Well, wonder how far I missed it on my first shot?" Seaton's crispvoice broke the stunned silence. "Guess that's our sun, over to theleft, ain't it, Mart?"

"Yes. You were about right for distance, and within a few tenths of alight-year laterally. That is fairly close, I should have said. "

"Rotten, for these controls. Except for the effect of relative propermotions, which I can't calculate yet for lack of data. I should be ableto hit a gnat right in the left eye at this range--and the difference inproper motions couldn't have thrown me off more than a few hundred feet. Nope, I was too anxious--hurried too much on the settings of the slowverniers. I'll snap back and try it again. "

He adjusted the verniers very carefully, and again threw on the power. Again there was the sensation of the barest perceptible moment ofunimaginable speed, and they were in the air some fifty feet above theground of Crane Field, almost above the testing shed. Seaton rapidlyadjusted the variable-speed motors until they were perfectly stationary, relative to the surface of the earth. 

"You are improving, " commended Crane. 

"Yeah--that's more like it. Guess maybe I can learn in time to shootthis gun. Well, let's go down. "

They dropped through the roof into the laboratory where Maxwell, now incharge of the place, was watching a reaction and occasionally takingnotes. 

"Hi, Max! Seaton speaking, on a television. Got your range?"

"Exactly, Chief, apparently. I can hear you perfectly, but can't seeanything, " Maxwell stared about the empty laboratory. 

"You will in a minute. I knew I had you, but didn't want to scare youout of a year's growth, " and Seaton thickened the image until they wereplainly visible. 

"Please call Mr. Vaneman on the phone and tell him you're in touch withus, " directed Seaton as soon as greetings had been exchanged. "Betteryet, after you've broken it to them gently, Dot can talk to them, thenwe'll go over and see 'em. "

The connection established, Dorothy's image floated up to the telephoneand apparently spoke. 

"Mother? This is the weirdest thing you ever imagined. We're not reallyhere at all you know--we're actually here in Norlamin--no, I mean Dick'sjust sending a kind of a talking picture of us to see you on earthhere.... Oh, no, I don't know anything about it--it's like a talkie sentby radio, only worse, because I am saying this myself right now, withoutany rehearsal or anything ... We didn't want to burst in on you withoutwarning, because you'd be sure to think you were seeing actual ghosts, and we're not dead the least bit ... We're having the most perfectlygorgeous time you ever imagined.... Oh, I'm so excited I can't explainanything, even if I knew anything about it to explain. We'll all four ofus be over there in about a second and tell you all about it. 'Bye!"

Indeed, it was even less than a second--Mrs. Vaneman was still in theact of hanging up the receiver when the image materialized in the livingroom of Dorothy's girlhood home. 

"Hello, mother and dad, " Seaton's voice was cheerful but matter-of-fact. "I'll thicken this up so you can see us better in a minute. But don'tthink that we are flesh and blood. You'll see simply three-dimensionaltalking pictures of ourselves, transmitted by radio. "

For a long time Mr. And Mrs. Vaneman chatted with the four visitors fromso far away in space, while Seaton gloried in the working of thatmarvelous projector. 

"Well, our time's about up, " Seaton finally ended the visit. "Thequitting-whistle's going to blow in five minutes, and they don't likeovertime work here where we are. We'll drop in and see you again maybe, sometime before we come back. "

"Do you know yet when you are coming back?" asked Mrs. Vaneman. 

"Not an idea in the world, mother, any more than we had when we started. But we're getting along fine, having the time of our lives, and arelearning a lot besides. So-long!" and Seaton clicked off the power. 

 * * * * *

As they descended from the projector and walked toward the waitingairboat, Seaton fell in beside Rovol. 

"You know they've got our new cruiser built of dagal, and are bringingit over here. Dagal's good stuff, but it isn't as good as your purplemetal, inoson, which is the theoretical ultimate in strength possiblefor any material possessing molecular structure. Why wouldn't it be asound idea to flash it into inoson when it gets here?"

"That would be an excellent idea, and we shall do so. It also hasoccurred to me that Caslor of Mechanism, Astron of Energy, Satrazon ofChemistry, myself, and one of two others, should collaborate ininstalling a very complete fifth-order projector in the new _Skylark_, as well as any other equipment which may seem desirable. The security ofthe Universe may depend upon the abilities and qualities of youTerrestrials and your vessel, and therefore _nothing_ should be leftundone which it is possible for us to do. "

"You chirped something then, old scout--thanks. You might do that, whileI attend to such preliminaries as wiping out the Fenachrone fleet. "

In due time the reinforcements from the other planets arrived, and themammoth space-cruiser attracted attention even before it landed, soenormous was she in comparison with the tiny vessels having her in tow. Resting upon the ground, it seemed absurd that such a structure couldpossibly move under her own power. For two miles that enormous mass ofmetal extended over the country-side, and while it was very narrow forits length, still its fifteen hundred feet of diameter dwarfedeverything near by. But Rovol and his aged co-workers smiled happily asthey saw it, erected their keyboards, and set to work with a will. 

Meanwhile a group had gathered about a conference table--a group such ashad never before been seen together upon any world. There was Fodan, theancient Chief of the Five of Norlamin, huge-headed, with his leoninemane and flowing beard of white. There were Dunark and Tarnan of Osnomeand Urvan of Urvania--smooth-faced and keen, utterly implacable andruthless in war. There was Sacner Carfon Twenty Three Forty Six, theimmense, porpoise-like, hairless Dasorian. There were Seaton and Crane, representatives of our own Earthly civilization. 

Seaton opened the meeting by handing each man a headset and running areel showing the plans of the Fenachrone; not only as he had securedthem from the captain of the marauding vessel, but also everything theFirst of Psychology had deduced from his own study of that inhumanbrain. He then removed the reel and gave them the tentative plans ofbattle. Headsets removed, he threw the meeting open for discussion--anddiscussion there was in plenty. Each man had ideas, which were thrownupon the table and studied, for the most part calmly anddispassionately. The conference continued until only one point was left, upon which argument waxed so hot that everyone seemed shouting at once. 

"Order!" commanded Seaton, banging his fist upon the table. "Osnome andUrvania wish to strike without warning, Norlamin and Dasor insist upon aformal declaration of war. Earth has the deciding vote. Mart, how do wevote on this?"

"I vote for formal warning, for two reasons, one of which I believe willconvince even Dunark. First, because it is the fair thing to do--whichreason is, of course, the one actuating the Norlaminians, but whichwould not be considered by Osnome, nor even remotely understood by theFenachrone. Second, I am certain that the Fenachrone will merely beenraged by the warning and will defy us. Then what will they do? Youhave already said that you have been able to locate only a few of theirexploring warships. As soon as we declare war upon them they will almostcertainly send out torpedoes to every one of their ships of war. We canthen follow the torpedoes with our rays, and thus will be enabled tofind and to destroy their vessels. "

"That settles that, " declared the chairman as a shout of agreementarose. "We shall now adjourn to the projector and send the warning. Ihave a ray upon the torpedo, announcing the destruction by us of theirvessel, and that torpedo will arrive at its destination in less than anhour. It seems to me that we should make our announcement immediatelyafter their ruler has received the news of their first defeat. "

In the projector, where they were joined by Rovol, Orlon, and severalothers of the various "Firsts" of Norlamin, they flashed out to theflying torpedo, and Seaton grinned at Crane as their fifth-order carrierbeam went through the far-flung detector screens of the Fenachronewithout setting up the slightest reaction. In the wake of that speedingmessenger they flew through a warm, foggy, dense atmosphere, through areceiving trap in the wall of a gigantic conical structure, and on intothe telegraph room. They saw the operator remove spools of tape from thetorpedo and attach them to a magnetic sender--heard him speak. 

"Pardon, your majesty--we have just received a first-degree emergencytorpedo from flagship Y427W of fleet 42. In readiness. "

"Put it on, here in the council chamber, " a deep voice snapped. 

"If he's broadcasting it, we're in for a spell of hunting, " Seatonremarked. "Nope, he's putting it on a tight beam--that's fine, we canchase it up, " and with a narrow detector beam he traced the invisibletransmission beam into the council room. 

"'Sfunny. This place seems awfully familiar--I'd swear I'd seen itbefore, lots of times--seems like I've been in it, more than once, "Seaton remarked, puzzled, as he looked around the somber room, with itsdull, paneled metal walls covered with charts, maps, screens, andspeakers; and with its low, massive furniture. "Oh, sure, I'm familiarwith it from studying the brain of that Fenachrone captain. Well, whileHis Nibs is absorbing the bad news, we'll go over this once more. You, Carfon, having the biggest voice of any of us ever heard utteringintelligible language, are to give the speech. You know about what tosay. When I say 'go ahead' do your stuff. Now, everybody else, listen. While he's talking I've got to have audio waves heterodyned both ways inthe circuit, and they'll be able to hear any noise any of us make--soall of us except Carfon want to keep absolutely quiet, no matter whathappens or what we see. As soon as he's done I'll cut off the audiosending and say something to let you all know we're off the air. Gotit?"

"One point has occurred to me about handling the warning, " boomedCarfon. "If it should be delivered from apparently empty air, directlyat those we wish to address, it would give the enemy an insight into ourmethods, which might be undesirable. "

"H--m--m. Never thought of that ... It sure would, and it would beundesirable, " agreed Seaton. "Let's see ... We can get away from that bybroadcasting it. They have a very complete system of speakers, but nomatter how many private-band speakers a man may have, he always has oneon the general wave, which is used for very important announcements ofwide interest. I'll broadcast you on that wave, so that everygeneral-wave speaker on the planet will be energized. That way, it'lllook as if we're shooting from a distance. You might talk accordingly. "

"If we have a minute more, there's something I would like to ask, "Dunark broke the ensuing silence. "Here we are, seeing everything thatis happening there. Walls, planets, even suns, do not bar our vision, because of the fifth-order carrier wave. I understand that, partially. But how can we see anything there? I always thought that I knewsomething about rays, but I see that I do not. The light-rays must bereleased, or deheterodyned, close to the object viewed, with nothingopaque to light intervening. They must then be reflected from the objectseen, must be gathered together, again heterodyned upon the fifth-ordercarrier, and retransmitted back to us. And there is neither receiver nortransmitter at the other end. How can you do all that from our end?"

"We don't, " Seaton assured him. "At the other end there are all thethings you mentioned, and a lot more besides. Our secondary projectorout there is composed of forces, visible or invisible, as we please. Part of those forces comprise the receiving, viewing, and sendinginstruments. They are not material, it is true, but they arenevertheless fully as actual, and far more efficient, than any othersystem of radio, television, or telephone in existence anywhere else. Itis force, you know, that makes radio or television work--the actualcopper, insulation, and other matter serve only to guide and to controlthe various forces employed. The Norlaminian scientists have found outhow to direct and control pure forces without using the cumbersome andhindering material substance.... "

He broke off as the record from the torpedo stopped suddenly and theoperator's voice came through a speaker. 

"General Fenimol! Scoutship K3296, patrolling the detector zone, wishesto give you an urgent emergency report. I told them that you were incouncil with the Emperor, and they instructed me to interrupt it, nomatter how important the council may be. They have on board a survivorof the Y427W, and have captured and killed two men of the same race asthose who destroyed our vessel. They say that you will want their reportwithout an instant's delay. "

"We do!" barked the general, at a sign from his ruler. "Put it on here. Run the rest of the torpedo report immediately afterward. "

In the projector, Seaton stared at Crane a moment, then a light ofunderstanding spread over his features. 

"DuQuesne, of course--I'll bet a hat no other Terrestrial is this farfrom home. I can't help feeling sorry for the poor devil--he's a darngood man gone wrong--but we'd have had to kill him ourselves before wegot done with him; so it's probably as well they got him. Pin your earsback, everybody, and watch close--we want to get this, all of it. "

CHAPTER XIII

The Declaration of War

The capital city of the Fenachrone lay in a jungle plain surrounded bytowering hills. A perfect circle of immense diameter, its buildings ofuniform height, of identical design, and constructed of the same dullgray, translucent metal, were arranged in concentric circles, like theannular rings seen upon the stump of a tree. Between each ring ofbuildings and the one next inside it there were lagoons, lawns andgroves--lagoons of tepid, sullenly-steaming water; lawns which wereveritable carpets of lush, rank rushes and of dank mosses; groves ofpalms, gigantic ferns, bamboos, and numerous tropical growths unknown toEarthly botany. At the very edge of the city began jungle unrelieved andprimeval; the impenetrable, unconquerable jungle, possible only to suchmeteorological conditions as obtained there. Wind there was none, norsunshine. Only occasionally was the sun of that reeking world visiblethrough the omnipresent fog, a pale, wan disk; always the atmosphere wasone of oppressive, hot, humid vapor. In the exact center of the cityrose an immense structure, a terraced cone of buildings, as thoughimmense disks of smaller and smaller diameter had been piled one uponthe other. In these apartments dwelt the nobility and the high officialsof the Fenachrone. In the highest disk of all, invisible always from thesurface of the planet because of the all-enshrouding mist, were theapartments of the Emperor of that monstrous race. 

Seated upon low, heavily-built metal stools about the great table in thecouncil-room were Fenor, Emperor of the Fenachrone; Fenimol, hisGeneral-in-Command, and the full Council of Eleven of the planet. Beingprojected in the air before them was a three-dimensional moving, talkingpicture--the report of the sole survivor of the warship that hadattacked the _Skylark II_. In exact accordance with the facts as theengineer knew them, the details of the battle and complete informationconcerning the conquerors were shown. As vividly as though the scenewere being re-enacted before their eyes they saw the captive revive inthe _Violet_, and heard the conversation between the engineer, DuQuesne, and Loring. 

In the _Violet_ they sped for days and weeks, with ever-mountingvelocity, toward the system of the Fenachrone. Finally, power reversed, they approached it, saw the planet looming large, and passed within thedetector screen. 

DuQuesne tightened the controls of the attractors, which had never beenentirely released from their prisoner, thus again pinning the Fenachronehelplessly against the wall. 

"Just to be sure you don't try to start something, " he explained coldly. "You have done well so far, but I'll run things myself from now on, sothat you can't steer us into a trap. Now tell me exactly how to goabout getting one of your vessels. After we get it, I'll see aboutletting you go. "

"Fools, you are too late! You would have been too late, even had youkilled me out there in space and had fled at your utmost acceleration. Did you but know it, you are as dead, even now--our patrol is upon you!"

DuQuesne whirled, snarling, and his automatic and that of Loring wereleaping out when an awful acceleration threw them flat upon the floor, amagnetic force snatched away their weapons, and a heat-ray reduced themto two small piles of gray ash. Immediately thereafter a beam of forcefrom the patrolling cruiser neutralized the retractors bearing upon thecaptive, and he was transferred to the rescuing vessel. 

The emergency report ended, and with a brief "Torpedo message fromflagship Y427W resumed at point of interruption, " the report from theill-fated vessel continued the story of its own destruction, but addedlittle in the already complete knowledge of the disaster. 

Fenor of the Fenachrone leaped up from the table, his terrible, flame-shot eyes glaring venomously--teetering in Berserk rage upon hisblock-like legs--but he did not for one second take his full attentionfrom the report until it had been completed. Then he seized the nearestobject, which happened to be his chair, and with all his enormousstrength hurled it across the floor, where it lay, a tattered, twisted, shapeless mass of metal. 

"Thus shall we treat the entire race of the accursed beings who havedone this!" he stormed, his heavy voice reverberating throughout theroom. "Torture, dismemberment and annihilation to every.... "

"Fenor of the Fenachrone!" a tremendous voice, a full octave lower thanFenor's own terrific bass, and of ear-shattering volume and timbre inthat dense atmosphere boomed from the general-wave speaker, itsdeafening roar drowning out Fenor's raging voice and every other lessersound. 

"Fenor of the Fenachrone! I know that you hear, for every general-wavespeaker upon your reeking planet is voicing my words. Listen well, forthis warning shall not be repeated. I am speaking by and with theauthority of the Overlord of the Green System, which you know as theCentral System of this, our Galaxy. Upon some of our many planets thereare those who wished to destroy you without warning and out of hand, butthe Overlord has ruled that you may continue to live provided you heedthese, his commands, which he has instructed me to lay upon you. 

"You must forthwith abandon forever your vainglorious and senselessscheme of universal conquest. You must immediately withdraw your everyvessel to within the boundaries of your solar system, and you must keepthem there henceforth. 

"You are allowed five minutes to decide whether or not you will obeythese commands. If no answer has been received at the end of thecalculated time the Overlord will know that you have defied him, andyour entire race shall perish utterly. Well he knows that your veryexistence is an affront to all real civilization, but he holds that evensuch vileness incarnate, as are the Fenachrone, may perchance have someobscure place in the Great Scheme of Things, and he will not destroy youif you are content to remain in your proper place, upon your own dankand steaming world. Through me, the two thousand three hundred andforty-sixth Sacner Carfon of Dasor, the Overlord has given you yourfirst, last and only warning. Heed its every word, or consider it theformal declaration of a war of utter and complete extinction!"

 * * * * *

The awful voice ceased and pandemonium reigned in the council hall. Obeying a common impulse, each Fenachrone leaped to his feet, raised hishuge arms aloft, and roared out rage and defiance. Fenor snapped acommand, and the others fell silent as he began howling out orders. 

"Operator! Send recall torpedoes instantly to every outlying vessel!" Hescuttled over to one of the private-band speakers. "X-794-PW! Radiogeneral call for all vessels above E blank E to concentrate on battlestations! Throw out full-power defensive screens, and send the fullseries of detector screens out to the limit! Guards and patrols oninvasion plan XB-218!"

"The immediate steps are taken, gentlemen!" He turned to the Council, his rage unabated. "Never before have we supermen of the Fenachrone beenso insulted and so belittled! That upstart Overlord will regret thatwarning to the instant of his death, which shall be exquisitelypostponed. All you of the Council know your duties in such a time asthis--you are excused to perform them. General Fenimol, you will staywith me--we shall consider together such other details as requireattention. "

After the others had left the room Fenor turned to the general. 

"Have you any immediate suggestions?"

"I would suggest sending at once for Ravindau, the Chief of theLaboratories of Science. He certainly heard the warning, and may be ableto cast some light upon how it could have been sent, and from what pointit came. "

The Emperor spoke into another sender, and soon the scientist entered, carrying in his hand a small instrument upon which a blue light blazed. 

"Do not talk here, there is grave danger of being overheard by thatself-styled Overlord, " he directed tersely, and led the way into aray-proof compartment of his private laboratory, several floors below. 

"It may interest you to know that you have sealed the doom of our planetand of all the Fenachrone upon it, " Ravindau spoke savagely. 

"Dare you speak thus to me, your sovereign?" roared Fenor. 

"I dare so, " replied the other, coldly. "When all the civilization of aplanet has been given to destruction by the unreasoning stupidity andinsatiable rapacity of its royalty, allegiance to such royalty is at anend. SIT DOWN!" he thundered as Fenor sprang to his feet. "You are nolonger in your throne-room, surrounded by servile guards and byautomatic rays. You are in MY laboratory, and by a movement of my fingerI can hurl you into eternity!"

The general, aware now that the warning was of much more serious importthan he had suspected, broke into the acrimonious debate. 

"Never mind questions of royalty!" he snapped. "The safety of the raceis paramount. Am I to understand that the situation is really grave?"

"It is worse than grave--it is desperate. The only hope for evenultimate triumph is for as many of us as possible to flee instantlyclear out of the Galaxy, in the hope that we may escape the certaindestruction to be dealt out to us by the Overlord of the Green System. "

"You speak folly, surely, " returned Fenimol. "Our science is--mustbe--superior to any other in the Universe?"

"So thought I until this warning came in and I had an opportunity tostudy it. Then I knew that we are opposed by a science immeasurablyhigher than our own. "

"Such vermin as those two whom one of our smallest scouts capturedwithout a battle, vessel and all? In what respects is their science evencomparable to ours?"

"Not those vermin, no. The one who calls himself the Overlord. That oneis our master. He can penetrate the impenetrable shield of force and canoperate mechanisms of pure force behind it; he can heterodyne, transmit, and use the infra-rays, of whose very existence we were in doubt untilrecently! While that warning was being delivered he was, in allprobability, watching you and listening to you, face to face. You inyour ignorance supposed his warning borne by the ether, and thoughttherefore he must be close to this system. He is very probably at homein the Central System, and is at this moment preparing the forces heintends to hurl against us. "

The Emperor fell back into his seat, all his pomposity gone, but thegeneral stiffened eagerly and went straight to the point. 

"How do you know these things?"

"Largely by deduction. We of the school of science have cautioned yourepeatedly to postpone the Day of Conquest until we should have masteredthe secrets of sub-rays and of infra-rays. Unheeding, you of war havegone ahead with your plans, while we of science have continued to study. We know a little of the sub-rays, which we use every day, andpractically nothing of the infra-rays. Some time ago I developed adetector for infra-rays, which come to us from outer space in smallquantities and which are also liberated by our power-plants. It has beenregarded as a scientific curiosity only, but this day it proved of realvalue. This instrument in my hand is such a detector. At normal impactsof infra-rays its light is blue, as you see it now. Some time before thewarning sounded it turned a brilliant red, indicating that an intensesource of infra-rays was operating in the neighborhood. By plottinglines of force I located the source as being in the air of the councilhall, almost directly above the table of state. Therefore the carrierwave must have come through our whole system of screens without so muchas giving an alarm. That fact alone proves it to have been an infra-ray. Furthermore, it carried through those screens and released in thecouncil room a system of forces of great complexity, as is shown bytheir ability to broadcast from those pure forces without material aid amodulated wave in the exact frequency required to energize our generalspeakers. 

"As soon as I perceived these facts I threw about the council room ascreen of force entirely impervious to anything longer than ultra-rays. The warning continued, and I then knew that our fears were only too wellgrounded--that there is in this Galaxy somewhere a race vastly superiorto ours in science and that our destruction is a matter of hours, perhaps of minutes. "

"Are these ultra-rays, then, of such a dangerous character?" asked thegeneral. "I had supposed them to be of such infinitely high frequencythat they could be of no practical use whatever. "

 * * * * *

"I have been trying for years to learn something of their nature, butbeyond working out a method for their detection and a method of possibleanalysis that may or may not succeed I can do nothing with them. It isperfectly evident, however, that they lie below the level of the ether, and therefore have a velocity of propagation infinitely greater thanthat of light. You may see for yourself, then, that to a science able toguide and control them, to make them act as carrier waves for any otherdesired frequency--to do all of which the Overlord has this day shownhimself capable--they should theoretically afford weapons before whichour every defense would be precisely as efficacious as so much vacuum. Think a moment! You know that we know nothing fundamental concerningeven our servants, the sub-rays. If we really knew them we could utilizethem in thousands of ways as yet unknown to us. We work with the meresthandful of forces, empirically, while it is practically certain that theenemy has at his command the entire spectrum, visible and invisible, embracing untold thousands of bands of unknown but terrificpotentiality. "

"But he spoke of a calculated time necessary before our answer could bereceived. They must, then, be using vibrations in the ether. "

"Not necessarily--not even probably. Would we ourselves revealunnecessarily to an enemy the possession of such rays? Do not bechildish. No, Fenimol, and you, Fenor of the Fenachrone, instant andheadlong flight is our only hope of present salvation and of ultimatetriumph--flight to a far distant Galaxy, since upon no point in this oneshall we be safe from the infra-beams of that self-styled Overlord. "

"You snivelling coward! You pusillanimous bookworm!" Fenor had regainedhis customary spirit as the scientist explained upon what grounds hisfears were based. "Upon such a tenuous fabric of evidence would you havesuch a people as ours turn tail like beaten hounds? Because, forsooth, you detect a peculiar vibration in the air, will you have it that we areto be invaded and destroyed forthwith by a race of supernatural ability?Bah! Your calamity-howling clan has delayed the Day of Conquest fromyear to year--I more than half believe that you yourself or some othertreacherous poltroon of your ignominious breed prepared and sent thatwarning, in a weak and rat-brained attempt to frighten us into againpostponing the Day of Conquest! Know now, spineless weakling, that thetime is ripe, and that the Fenachrone in their might are about tostrike. But you, foul traducer of your emperor, shall die the death ofthe cur you are!" The hand within his tunic moved and a vibrator burstinto operation. 

"Coward I may be, and pusillanimous, and other things as well, " thescientist replied stonily, "but, unlike you, I am not a fool. Thesewalls, this very atmosphere, are fields of force that will transmit norays directed by you. You weak-minded scion of a depraved and obscenehouse--arrogant, overbearing, rapacious, ignorant--your brain is toofeeble to realize that you are clutching at the Universe hundreds ofyears before the time has come. You by your overweening pride and follyhave doomed our beloved planet--the most perfect planet in the Galaxy inits grateful warmth and wonderful dampness and fogginess--and our entirerace to certain destruction. Therefore you, fool and dolt that you are, shall die--for too long already have you ruled. " He flicked a finger andthe body of the monarch shuddered as though an intolerable current ofelectricity had traversed it, collapsed and lay still. 

"It was necessary to destroy this that was our ruler, " Ravindauexplained to the general. "I have long known that you are not in favorof such precipitate action in the Conquest: hence all this talking uponmy part. You know that I hold the honor of Fenachrone dear, and that allmy plans are for the ultimate triumph of our race?"

"Yes, and I begin to suspect that those plans have not been made sincethe warning was received. "

"My plans have been made for many years; and ever since an immediateConquest was decided upon I have been assembling and organizing themeans to put them into effect. I would have left this planet in anyevent shortly after the departure of the grand fleet upon its finalexpedition--Fenor's senseless defiance of the Overlord has only made itnecessary for me to expedite my leave-taking. "

"What do you intend to do?"

"I have a vessel twice as large as the largest warship Fenor boasted;completely provisioned, armed, and powered for a cruise of one hundredyears at high acceleration. It is hidden in a remote fastness of thejungle. I am placing in that vessel a group of the finest, brainiest, most highly advanced and intelligent of our men and women, with theirchildren. We shall journey at our highest speed to a certain distantGalaxy, where we shall seek out a planet similar in atmosphere, temperature, and mass to the one upon which we now dwell. There we shallmultiply and continue our studies; and from that planet, in that daywhen we shall have attained sufficient knowledge, there shall descendupon the Central System of this Galaxy the vengeance of the Fenachrone. That vengeance will be all the sweeter for the fact that it shall havebeen delayed. "

"But how about libraries, apparatus and equipment? Suppose that we donot live long enough to perfect that knowledge? And with only one vesseland a handful of men we could not cope with that accursed Overlord andhis navies of the void. "

"Libraries are aboard, so are much apparatus and equipment. What wecannot take with us we can build. As for the knowledge I mentioned, itmay not be attained in your lifetime nor in mine. But the racial memoryof the Fenachrone is long, as you know; and even if the necessaryproblems are not solved until our descendants are sufficiently numerousto populate an entire planet, yet will those descendants wreak thevengeance of the Fenachrone upon the races of that hated one, theOverlord, before they go on with the Conquest of the Universe. Manyquestions will arise, of course; but they shall be solved. Enough! Timepasses rapidly, and all too long have I talked. I am using this timeupon you because in my organization there is no soldier, and theFenachrone of the future will need your great knowledge of warfare. Areyou going with us?"

"Yes. "

"Very well. " Ravindau led the general through a door and into an airboatlying upon the terrace outside the laboratory. "Drive us at speed toyour home, where we shall pick up your family. "

Fenimol took the controls and laid a ray to his home--a ray serving adouble purpose. It held the vessel upon its predetermined course throughthat thick and sticky fog and also rendered collision impossible, sinceany two of these controller rays repelled each other to such a degreethat no two vessels could take paths which would bring them together. Some such provision had been found necessary ages ago, for allFenachrone craft were provided with the same space-annihilating drive, to which any comprehensible distance was but a journey of a few moments, and at that frightful velocity collision meant annihilation. 

"I understand that you could not take any one of the military into yourconfidence until you were ready to put your plans into effect, " thegeneral conceded. "How long will it take you to get ready to leave? Youhave said that haste is imperative, and I therefore assume that you havealready warned the other members of the expedition. "

"I flashed the emergency signal before I joined you and Fenor in thecouncil room. Each man of the organization has received that signal, wherever he may have been, and by this time most of them, with theirfamilies, are on the way to the hidden cruiser. We shall leave thisplanet in fifteen minutes from now at most--I dare not stay an instantlonger than is absolutely necessary. "

The members of the general's family were bundled, amazed, into theairboat, which immediately flew along a ray laid by Ravindau to thesecret rendezvous. 

In a remote and desolate part of the planet, concealed in the depths ofthe towering jungle growth, a mammoth space-cruiser was receiving hercomplement of passengers. Airboats, flying at their terrific velocitythrough the heavy, steaming fog as closely-spaced as their controllerrays would permit, flashed signals along their guiding beams, dove intothe apparently impenetrable jungle, and added their passengers to thethrong pouring into the great vessel. 

 * * * * *

As the minute of departure drew near, the feeling of tension aboard thecruiser increased and vigilance was raised to the maximum. None of thepassengers had been allowed senders of any description, and now even thehair-line beams guiding the airboats were cut off, and received onlywhen the proper code signal was heard. The doors were shut, no one wasallowed outside, and everything was held in readiness for instant flightat the least alarm. Finally a scientist and his family arrived from theopposite side of the planet--the last members of the organization--and, twenty-seven minutes after Ravindau had flashed his signal, the prow ofthat mighty space-ship reared toward the perpendicular, poising itsmassive length at the predetermined angle. There it halted momentarily, then disappeared utterly, only a vast column of tortured and shatteredvegetation, torn from the ground and carried for miles upward into theair by the vacuum of its wake, remaining to indicate the path taken bythe flying projectile. 

Hour after hour the Fenachrone vessel bored on, with its frightful andever-increasing velocity, through the ever-thinning stars, but it wasnot until the last star had been passed, until everything before themwas entirely devoid of light, and until the Galaxy behind them began totake on a well-defined lenticular aspect, that Ravindau would consent toleave the controls and to seek his hard-earned rest. 

Day after day and week after week went by, and the Fenachrone vesselstill held the rate of motion with which she had started out. Ravindauand Fenimol sat in the control cabin, staring out through thevisiplates, abstracted. There was no need of staring, and they were notreally looking, for there was nothing at which to look. Outside thetransparent metal hull of that monster of the trackless void, there wasnothing visible. The Galaxy of which our Earth is an infinitesimal mote, the Galaxy which former astronomers considered the Universe, was so farbehind that its immeasurable diameter was too small to affect the visionof the unaided eye. Other Galaxies lay at even greater distances away oneither side. The Galaxy toward which they were making their stupendousflight was as yet untold millions of light-years distant. Nothing wasvisible--before their gaze stretched an infinity of emptiness. No stars, no nebulæ, no meteoric matter, nor even the smallest particle of cosmicdust--absolutely empty space. Absolute vacuum and absolute zero. Absolute nothingness--a concept intrinsically impossible for the mosthighly trained human mind to grasp. 

Conscienceless and heartless monstrosities though they both were, byheredity and training, the immensity of the appalling lack of anythingtangible oppressed them. Ravindau was stern and serious, Fenimol moody. Finally the latter spoke. 

"It would be endurable if we knew what had happened, or if we ever couldknow definitely, one way or the other, whether all this was necessary. "

"We shall know, general, definitely. I am certain in my own mind, butafter a time, when we have settled upon our new home and when theOverlord shall have relaxed his vigilance, you shall come back to thesolar system of the Fenachrone in this vessel or a similar one. I knowwhat you shall find--but the trip shall be made, and you shall yourselfsee what was once our home planet, a seething sun, second only inbrilliance to the parent sun about which she shall still be revolving. "

"Are we safe, even now--what of possible pursuit?" asked Fenimol, andthe monstrous, flame-shot wells of black that were Ravindau's eyesalmost emitted tangible fires as he made reply:

"We are far from safe, but we grow stronger minute by minute. Fifty ofthe greatest minds our world has ever known have been working from themoment of our departure upon a line of investigation suggested to me bycertain things my instruments recorded during the visit of theself-styled Overlord. I cannot say anything yet: even to you--exceptthat the Day of Conquest may not be so far in the future as we havesupposed. "

CHAPTER XIV

Interstellar Extermination

"I hate to leave this meeting--it's great stuff" remarked Seaton as heflashed down to the torpedo room at Fenor's command to send recallmessages to all outlying vessels, "but this machine isn't designed tolet me be in more than two places at once. Wish it were--maybe afterthis fracas is over we'll be able to incorporate something like thatinto it. "

The chief operator touched a lever and the chair upon which he sat, withall its control panels, slid rapidly across the floor toward anapparently blank wall. As he reached it, a port opened a metal scrollappeared, containing the numbers and last reported positions of allFenachrone vessels outside the detector zone, and a vast magazine oftorpedoes came up through the floor, with an automatic loader to place atorpedo under the operator's hand the instant its predecessor had beenlaunched. 

"Get Peg here quick, Mart--we need a stenographer. Till she gets here, see what you can do in getting those first numbers before they roll offthe end of the scroll. No, hold it--as you were! I've got controlsenough to put the whole thing on a recorder, so we can study it at ourleisure. "

Haste was indeed necessary for the operator worked with uncannyquickness of hand. One fleeting glance at the scroll, a lightningadjustment of dials in the torpedo, a touch upon a tiny button, and amessenger was upon its way. But quick as he was, Seaton's flying fingerskept up with him, and before each torpedo disappeared through the ethergate there was fastened upon it a fifth-order tracer ray that wouldnever leave it until the force had been disconnected at the giganticcontrol board of the Norlaminian projector. One flying minute passedduring which seventy torpedoes had been launched, before Seaton spoke. 

"Wonder how many ships they've got out, anyway? Didn't get any idea fromthe brain-record. Anyway, Rovol, it might be a sound idea for you toinstall me some more tracer rays on this board, I've got only a coupleof hundred, and that may not be enough--and I've got both hands full. "

Rovol seated himself beside the younger man, like one organist joininganother at the console of a tremendous organ. Seaton's nimble fingerswould flash here and there, depressing keys and manipulating controlsuntil he had exactly the required combination of forces centered uponthe torpedo next to issue. He then would press a tiny switch and upon apanel full of red-topped, numbered plungers; the one next in serieswould drive home, transferring to itself the assembled beam andreleasing the keys for the assembly of other forces. Rovol's fingerswere also flying, but the forces he directed were seizing and shapingmaterial, as well as other forces. The Norlaminian physicist, set up oneintegral, stepped upon a pedal, and a new red-topped stop precisely likethe others and numbered in order, appeared as though by magic upon thepanel at Seaton's left hand. Rovol then leaned back in his seat--but thered-topped stops continued to appear, at the rate of exactly seventy perminute, upon the panel, which increased in width sufficiently toaccommodate another row as soon as a row was completed. 

Rovol bent a quizzical glance upon the younger scientist, who blushed afiery red, rapidly set up another integral, then also leaned back in hisplace, while his face burned deeper than before. 

"That is better, son. Never forget that it is a waste of energy to dothe same thing twice with your hands and that if you know precisely whatis to be done, you need not do it with your hands at all. Forces aretireless, and they neither slip nor make mistakes. "

"Thanks, Rovol--I'll bet this lesson will make it stick in my mind, too. "

"You are not thoroughly accustomed to using all your knowledge as yet. That will come with practice, however, and in a few weeks you will be asthoroughly at home with forces as I am. "

"Hope so, Chief, but it looks like a tall order to me. "

Finally the last torpedo was dispatched, the tube closed, and Seatonmoved the projection back up into the council chamber, finding it empty. 

"Well, the conference is over--besides, we've got more important fish tofry. War has been declared, on both sides, and we've got to get busy. They've got nine hundred and six vessels out, and every one of them hasgot to go to Davy Jones' locker before we can sleep sound of nights. Myfirst job'll have to be untangling those nine oh six forces, gettinglines on each one of them, and seeing if I can project straight enoughto find the ships before the torpedoes overtake them. Mart, you andOrlon, the astronomer, had better dope out the last reported positionsof each of those vessels, so we'll know about where to hunt for them. Rovol, you might send out a detector screen a few light years indiameter, to be sure none of them slips a fast one over on us. Bystarting it right here and expanding it gradually, you can be sure thatno Fenachrone is inside it. Then we'll find a hunk of copper on thatplanet somewhere, plate it with some of their own 'X' metal, and blowthem into Kingdom Come. "

"May I venture a suggestion?" asked Drasnik, the First of Psychology. 

"Absolutely--nothing you've said so far has been idle chatter. "

"You know, of course, that there are real scientists among theFenachrone; and you yourself have suggested that while they cannotpenetrate the zone of force nor use fifth-order rays, yet they mightknow about them in theory, might even be able to know when they werebeing used--detect them, in other words. Let us assume that such ascientist did detect your rays while you were there a short time ago. What would he do?"

"Search me.... I bite, what would he do?"

"He might do any one of several things, but if I read their naturearight, such a one would gather up a few men and women--as many as hecould--and migrate to another planet. For he would of course graspinstantly the fact that you had used fifth-order rays as carrier waves, and would be able to deduce your ability to destroy. He would alsorealize that in the brief time allowed him, he could not hope to learnto control those unknown forces; and with his terribly savage andvengeful nature and intense pride of race, he would take every possiblestep both to perpetuate his race and to obtain revenge. Am I right?"

 * * * * *

Seaton swung to his controls savagely, and manipulated dials and keysrapidly. 

"Right as rain, Drasnik. There--I've thrown around them a fifth-orderdetector screen, that they can't possibly neutralize. Anything that goesout through it will have a tracer slapped onto it. But say, it's beenhalf an hour since war was declared--suppose we're too late? Maybe someof them have got away already, and if one couple of 'em has beat us toit, we'll have the whole thing to do over again a thousand years or sofrom now. You've got the massive intellect, Drasnik. What can we doabout it? We can't throw a detector screen all over the Galaxy. "

"I would suggest that since you have now guarded against further exodus, it is necessary to destroy the planet for a time. Rovol and hisco-workers have the other projector nearly done. Let them project me tothe world of the Fenachrone, where I shall conduct a thorough mentalinvestigation. By the time you have taken care of the raiding vessels, Ibelieve that I shall have been able to learn everything we need toknow. "

"Fine--hop to it, and may there be lots of bubbles in your think-tank. Anybody else know of any other loop-holes I've left open?"

No other suggestions were made, and each man bent to his particulartask. Crane at the star-chart of the Galaxy and Orlon at the Fenachroneoperator's dispatching scroll rapidly worked out the approximatepositions of the Fenachrone vessels, and marked them with tiny greenlights in a vast model of the Galaxy which they had already causedforces to erect in the air of the projector's base. It was soon learnedthat a few of the ships were exploring quite close to their home system;so close that the torpedoes, with their unthinkable acceleration, wouldreach them within a few hours. Ascertaining the stop-number of thetracer ray upon the torpedo which should first reach its destination, Seaton followed it from the stop upon his panel out to the flyingmessenger. Now moving with a velocity many times that of light, it was, of course, invisible to direct vision; but to the light wavesheterodyned upon the fifth-order projector rays, it was as plainlyvisible as though it were stationary. Lining up the path of theprojectile accurately, he then projected himself forward in that exactline, with a flat detector-screen thrown out for half a light year uponeach side of him. Setting the controls, he flashed ahead, the detectorstopping him the instant that the invisible barrier encountered thepower-plant of the exploring raider. An oscillator sounded a shrill andrising note, and Seaton slowly shifted his controls until he stood inthe control room of the enemy vessel. 

The Fenachrone ship, a thousand feet long and more than a hundred feetin diameter, was tearing through space toward a brilliant blue-whitestar. Her crew were at battle stations, her navigating officers peeringintently into the operating visiplates, all oblivious to the fact that astranger stood in their very midst. 

"Well, here's the first one, gang, " said Seaton, "I hate like sin to dothis--it's altogether too much like pushing baby chickens into a creekto suit me, but it's a dirty job that's got to be done. "

As one man, Orlon and the other remaining Norlaminians leaped out of theprojector and floated to the ground below. 

"I expected that, " remarked Seaton. "They can't even think of a thinglike this without getting the blue willies--I don't blame them much, atthat. How about you, Carfon? You can be excused if you like. "

"I want to watch those forces at work. I do not enjoy destruction, butlike you, I can make myself endure it. "

Dunark, the fierce and bloodthirsty Osnomian prince, leaped to his feet, his eyes flashing. 

"That's one thing I never could get about you, Dick!" he exclaimed inEnglish. "How a man with your brains can be so soft--so sloppilysentimental, gets clear past me. You remind me of a bowl of mush--youwade around in slush clear to your ears. Faugh! It's their lives orours! Tell me what button to push and I'll be only too glad to push it. I wanted to blow up Urvania and you wouldn't let me; I haven't killed anenemy for ages, and that's my trade. Cut out the sob-sister act and forCat's sake, let's get busy!"

"'At-a-boy, Dunark! That's tellin' 'im! But it's all right with me--I'llbe glad to let you do it. When I say 'shoot' throw in that plungerthere--number sixty-three. "

Seaton manipulated controls until two electrodes of force were clampedin place, one at either end of the huge power-bar of the enemy vessel;adjusted rheostats and forces to send a disintegrating current throughthat massive copper cylinder, and gave the word. Dunark threw in theswitch with a vicious thrust, as though it were an actual sword which hewas thrusting through the vitals of one of the awesome crew, and thevery Universe exploded around them--exploded into one mad, searingcoruscation of blinding, dazzling light as the gigantic cylinder ofcopper resolved itself instantaneously into the pure energy from whichits metal originally had come into being. 

Seaton and Dunark staggered back from the visiplates, blinded by theintolerable glare of light, and even Crane, working at his model of thegalaxy, blinked at the intensity of the radiation. Many minutes passedbefore the two men could see through their tortured eyes. 

"Zowie! That was fierce!" exclaimed Seaton, when a slowly-returningperception of things other than dizzy spirals and balls of flame assuredhim that his eyesight was not permanently gone. "It's nothing but my ownfool carelessness, too. I should have known that with all the lightfrequencies in heterodyne for visibility, enough of that same stuffwould leak through to make strong medicine on these visiplates--for Iknew that that bar weighed a hundred tons and would liberate energyenough to volatilize our Earth and blow the by-products clear toArcturus. How're you coming, Dunark? See anything yet?"

"Coming along O. K. Now, I guess--but I thought for a few minutes I'dbeen bloody well jobbed. "

"I'll do better next time. I'll cut out the visible spectrum before theflash, and convert and reconvert the infra-red. That'll let us see whathappens, without the direct effect of the glare--won't burn our eyesout. What's my force number on the next nearest one, Mart?"

"Twenty-nine. "

 * * * * *

Seaton fastened a detector ray upon stop twenty-nine of the tracer-raypanel and followed its beam of force out to the torpedo hastening uponits way toward the next doomed cruiser. Flashing ahead in its line as hehad done before, he located the vessel and clamped the electrodes offorce upon the prodigious driving bar. Again, as Dunark drove home thedetonating switch, there was a frightful explosion and a wild glare offrenzied incandescence far out in that desolate region of interstellarspace; but this time the eyes behind the visiplates were not torn by thehigh frequencies, everything that happened was plainly visible. Oneinstant, there was an immense space-cruiser boring on through the voidupon its horrid mission, with its full complement of the hellishFenachrone performing their routine tasks. The next instant there was aflash of light extending for thousands upon untold thousands of miles inevery direction. That flare of light vanished as rapidly as it hadappeared--instantaneously--and throughout the entire neighborhood of theplace where the Fenachrone cruiser had been, there was nothing. Not aplate nor a girder, not a fragment, not the most minute particle nordroplet of disrupted metal nor of condensed vapor. So terrific, soincredibly and incomprehensibly vast were the forces liberated by thatmass of copper in its instantaneous decomposition, that every atom ofsubstance in that great vessel had gone with the power-bar--had beenresolved into radiations which would at some distant time and in somefar-off solitude unite with other radiations, again to form matter, andthus obey Nature's immutable cyclic law. 

Thus vessel after vessel was destroyed of that haughty fleet which untilnow had never suffered a reverse and a little green light in thegalactic model winked out and flashed back in rosy pink as each menacewas removed. In a few hours the space surrounding the system of theFenachrone was clear; then progress slackened as it became harder andharder to locate each vessel as the distance between it and its torpedoincreased. Time after time Seaton would stab forward with his detectorscreen extended to its utmost possible spread, upon the most carefullyplotted prolongation of the line of the torpedo's flight, only to havethe projection flash far beyond the vessel's furthest possible positionwithout a reaction from the far-flung screen. Then he would go back tothe torpedo, make a minute alteration in his line, and again flashforward, only to miss it again. Finally, after thirty fruitless attemptsto bring his detector screen into contact with the nearest Fenachroneship, he gave up the attempt, rammed his battered, reeking briar full ofthe rank blend that was his favorite smoke, and strode up and down thefloor of the projector base--his eyes unseeing, his hands jammed deepinto his pockets, his jaw thrust forward, clamped upon the stem of hispipe, emitting dense, blue clouds of strangling vapor. 

"The maestro is thinking, I perceive, " remarked Dorothy, sweetly, entering the projector from an airboat. "You must all be blind, Iguess--you no hear the bell blow, what? I've come after you--it's timeto eat!"

"'At-a-girl, Dot--never miss the eats! Thanks, " and Seaton put hisproblem away, with perceptible effort. 

"This is going to be a job, Mart, " he went back to it as soon as theywere seated in the airboat, flying toward "home. " "I can nail them, withan increasing shift in azimuth, up to about thirty thousand light-years, but after that it gets awfully hard to get the right shift, and uparound a hundred thousand it seems to be darn near impossible--gets tobe pure guesswork. It can't be the controls, because they can hold apoint rigidly at five hundred thousand. Of course, we've got a prettyshort back-line to sight on, but the shift is more than a hundred timesas great as the possible error in backsight could account for, andthere's apparently nothing either regular or systematic about it that Ican figure out. But.... I don't know.... Space is curved in the fourthdimension, of course.... I wonder if ... Hm--m--m. " He fell silent andCrane made a rapid signal to Dorothy, who was opening her mouth to saysomething. She shut it, feeling ridiculous, and nothing was said untilthey had disembarked at their destination. 

"Did you solve the puzzle, Dickie?"

"Don't think so--got myself in deeper than ever, I'm afraid, " heanswered, then went on, thinking aloud rather than addressing any one inparticular:

"Space is curved in the fourth dimension, and fifth-order rays, withtheir velocity, may not follow the same path in that dimension thatlight does--in fact, they do not. If that path is to be plotted itrequires the solution of five simultaneous equations, each complete andgeneral, and each of the fifth degree, and also an exponential serieswith the unknown in the final exponent, before the fourth-dimensionalconcept can be derived ... Hm--m--m. No use--we've struck something thatnot even Norlaminian theory can handle. "

"You surprise me. " Crane said. "I supposed that they had everythingworked out. "

"Not on fifth-order stuff--it's new, you know. It begins to look asthough we'd have to stick around until every one of those torpedoes getssomewhere near its mother-ship. Hate to do it, too--it'll take sixmonths, at least, to reach the vessels clear across the Galaxy. I'll putit up to the gang at dinner--guess they'll let me talk business a coupleof minutes overtime, especially after they find out what I've got tosay. "

He explained the phenomenon to an interested group of white-beardedscientists as they ate. Rovol, to Seaton's surprise, was elated andenthusiastic. 

"Wonderful, my boy!" he breathed. "Marvelous! A perfect subject foryears after year of deepest study and the most profound thought. Perfect!"

"But what can we _do_ about it?" asked Seaton, exasperated. "We don'twant to hang around here twiddling our thumbs for a year waiting forthose torpedoes to get to wherever they're going!"

"We can do nothing but wait and study. That problem is one of splendiddifficulty, as you yourself realize. Its solution may well be a matterof lifetimes instead of years. But what is a year, more or less? You candestroy the Fenachrone eventually, so be content. "

"But content is just exactly what I'm _not_!" declared Seaton, emphatically. "I want to do it, and do it _now_!"

"Perhaps I might volunteer a suggestion, " said Caslor, diffidently; andas both Rovol and Seaton looked at him in surprise he went on: "Do notmisunderstand me. I do not mean concerning the mathematical problem indiscussion, about which I am entirely ignorant. But has it occurred toyou that those torpedoes are not intelligent entities, acting upon theirown volition and steering themselves as a result of their own orderedmental processes? No, they are mechanisms, in my own province, and Iventure to say with the utmost confidence that they are guided to theirdestinations by streamers of force of some nature, emanating from thevessels upon whose tracks they are. "

"'Nobody Holme' is right!" exclaimed Seaton, tapping his temple with anadmonitory forefinger. "'Sright, ace--I thought maybe I'd quit using myhead for nothing but a hatrack now, but I guess that's all it's goodfor, yet. Thanks a lot for the idea--that gives me something I can getmy teeth into, and now that Rovol's got a problem to work on for thenext century or so, everybody's happy. "

"How does that help matters?" asked Crane in wonder. "Of course it isnot surprising that no lines of force were visible, but I thought thatyour detectors screens would have found them if any such guiding beamshad been present. "

"The ordinary bands, if of sufficient power, yes. But there are manypossible tracer rays not reactive to a screen such as I was using. Itwas very light and weak, designed for terrific velocity and forinstantaneous automatic arrest when in contact with the enormousforces of a power bar. It wouldn't react at all to the minute energyof the kind of beams they'd be most likely to use for that work. Caslor's certainly right. They're steering their torpedoes with tracerrays of almost infinitesimal power, amplified in the torpedoesthemselves--that's the way I'd do it myself. It may take a little whileto rig up the apparatus, but we'll get it--and then we'll run thosebirds ragged--so fast that their ankles'll catch fire--and won't needthe fourth-dimensional correction after all. "

 * * * * *

When the bell announced the beginning of the following period of labor, Seaton and his co-workers were in the Area of Experiment waiting, andthe work was soon under way. 

"How are you going about this, Dick?" asked Crane. 

"Going to examine the nose of one of those torpedoes first, and see whatit actually works on. Then build me a tracer detector that'll pick it upat high velocity. Beats the band, doesn't it, that neither Rovol nor I, who should have thought of it first, ever did see anything as plain asthat? That those things are following a ray?"

"That is easily explained, and is no more than natural. Both of you werenot only devoting all your thoughts to the curvature of space, but werealso too close to the problem--like the man in the woods, who cannot seethe forest because of the trees. "

"Yeah, may be something in that, too. Plain enough, when Caslor showedit to us, " said Seaton. 

While he was talking, Seaton had projected himself into the torpedo hehad lined up so many times the previous day. With the automatic motionsset to hold him stationary in the tiny instrument compartment of thecraft, now traveling at a velocity many times that of light, he set towork. A glance located the detector mechanism, a set of short-wave coilsand amplifiers, and a brief study made plain to him the principlesunderlying the directional loop finders and the controls which guidedthe flying shell along the path of the tracer ray. He then built adetector structure of pure force immediately in front of the torpedo, and varied the frequency of his own apparatus until a meter upon one ofthe panels before his eyes informed him that his detector was in perfectresonance with the frequency of the tracer ray. He then moved ahead ofthe torpedo, along the guiding ray. 

"Guiding it, eh?" Dunark congratulated him. 

"Kinda. My directors out there aren't quite so hot, though. I'm a trifleshy on control somewhere, so much so that if I put on anywhere near fullvelocity, I lose the ray. Think I can clear that up with a littleexperimenting, though. "

He fingered controls lightly, depressed a few more keys, and set onevernier, already at a ratio of a million to one, down to ten million. Hethen stepped up his velocity, and found that the guides worked well upto a speed much greater than any ever reached by Fenachrone vessels ortorpedoes, but failed utterly to hold the ray at anything approachingthe full velocity possible to his fifth-order projector. After hours anddays of work and study--in the course of which hundreds of theFenachrone vessels were destroyed--after employing all the resources ofhis mind, now stored with the knowledge of rays accumulated by hundredsof generations of highly-trained research specialists in rays, he becameconvinced that it was an inherent impossibility to trace any ether wavewith the velocity he desired. 

"Can't be done, I guess, Mart, " he confessed, ruefully. "You see, itworks fine up to a certain point; but beyond that, nothing doing. I'vejust found out why--and in so doing, I think I've made a contributionto science. At velocities well below that of light, light-waves areshifted a minute amount, you know. At the velocity of light, and upto a velocity not even approached by the Fenachrone vessels on theirlongest trips, the distortion is still not serious--no matter how fastwe want to travel in the _Skylark_, I think I can guarantee that wewill still be able to see things. That is to be expected from thegenerally-accepted idea that the apparent velocity of any ethervibration is independent of the velocity of either source or receiver. However, that relationship fails at velocities far below that offifth-order rays. At only a very small fraction of that speed thetracers I am following are so badly distorted that they disappearaltogether, and I have to distort them backwards. That wouldn't be toobad, but when I get up to about one per cent of the velocity I want touse, I can't calculate a force that will operate to distort them backinto recognizable wave-forms. That's another problem for Rovol to chewon, for another hundred years. "

"That will, of course, slow up the work of clearing the Galaxy of theFenachrone, but at the same time I see nothing about which to bealarmed, " Crane replied. "You are working very much faster than youcould have done by waiting for the torpedoes to arrive. The presentcondition is very satisfactory, I should say, " and he waved his hand atthe galactic model, in nearly three-fourths of whose volume the greenlights had been replaced by pink ones. 

"Yeah, pretty fair as far as that goes--we'll clean up in ten days orso--but I hate to be licked. Well, I might as well quit sobbing and getbusy!"

In due time the nine hundred and sixth Fenachrone vessel was checked offon the model, and the two Terrestrials went in search of Drasnik, whomthey found in his study, summing up and analyzing a mass of data, facts, and ideas which were being projected in the air around him. 

"Well, our first job's done, " Seaton stated. "What do you know that youfeel like passing around?"

"My investigation is practically complete, " replied the First ofPsychology, gravely. "I have explored many Fenachrone minds, and withoutexception I have found them chambers of horror of a kind unimaginable toone of us. However, you are not interested in their psychology, but infacts bearing upon your problem. While such facts were scarce, I diddiscover a few interesting items. I spied upon them in public and intheir most private haunts. I analyzed them individually andcollectively, and from the few known facts and from the great deal ofguesswork and conjecture there available to me, I have formulated atheory. I shall first give you the known facts. Their scientists cannotdirect nor control any ray not propagated through ether, but they candetect one such frequency or band of frequencies which they call'infra-rays' and which are probably the fifth-order rays, since they liein the first level below the ether. The detector proper is a type oflamp, which gives a blue light at the ordinary intensity of such rays aswould come from space or from an ordinary power plant, but gives a redlight under strong excitation. "

"Uh-huh, I get that O. K. , " said Seaton. "Rovol'sgreat-great-great-grandfather had 'em--I know all about 'em, " Seatonencouraged Drasnik, who had paused, with a questioning glance. "I knowexactly how and why such a detector works. We gave 'em an alarm, allright. Even though we were working on a tight beam from here to there, our secondary projector there was radiating enough to affect every suchdetector within a thousand miles. "

 * * * * *

Drasnik continued: "Another significant fact is that a great manypersons--I learned of some five hundred, and there were probably manymore--have disappeared without explanation and without leaving a trace;and it seems that they disappeared very shortly after our communicationwas delivered. One of these was Fenor, the Emperor. His family remain, however, and his son is not only ruling in his stead, but is carryingout his father's policies. The other disappearances are all alike andare peculiar in certain respects. First, every man who vanished belongedto the Party of Postponement--the minority party of the Fenachrone, whobelieve that the time for the Conquest has not yet come. Second, everyone of them was a leader in thought in some field of usefulness, andevery such field is represented by at least one disappearance--even thearmy, as General Fenimol, the Commander-in-Chief, and his whole family, are among the absentees. Third, and most remarkable, each suchdisappearance included an entire family, clear down to children andgrand-children, however young. Another fact is that the FenachroneDepartment of Navigation keeps a very close check upon all vessels, particularly vessels capable of navigating outer space. Every vesselbuilt must be registered, and its location is always known from itsindividual tracer ray. No Fenachrone vessel is missing. "

"I also sifted a mass of gossip and conjecture, some of which may bearupon the subject. One belief is that all the persons were put to deathby Fenor's secret service, and that the Emperor was assassinated inrevenge. The most widespread belief, however, is that they have fled. Some hold that they are in hiding in some remote shelter in the jungle, arguing that the rigid registration of all vessels renders a journey ofany great length impossible and that the detector screens would havegiven warning of any vessel leaving the planet. Others think thatpersons as powerful as Fenimol and Ravindau could have built any vesselthey chose with neither the knowledge nor consent of the Department ofNavigation, or that they could have stolen a Navy vessel, destroying itsrecords; and that Ravindau certainly could have so neutralized thescreens that they would have given no alarm. These believe that theabsent ones have migrated to some other solar system or to some otherplanet of the same sun. One old general loudly gave it as his opinionthat the cowardly traitors had probably fled clear out of the Galaxy, and that it would be a good thing to send the rest of the Party ofPostponement after them. There, in brief, are the salient points of myinvestigation in so far as it concerns your immediate problem. "

"A good many straws pointing this way and that, " commented Seaton. "However, we know that the 'postponers' are just as rabid on the idea ofconquering the Universe as the others are--only they are a lot morecautious and won't take even a gambler's chance of a defeat. But you'veformed a theory--what is it, Drasnik?"

"From my analysis of these facts and conjectures, in conjunction withcertain purely psychological indices which we need not take time to gointo now, I am certain that they have left their solar system, probablyin an immense vessel built a long time ago and held in readiness forjust such an emergency. I am not certain of their destination, but it ismy opinion that they have left this Galaxy, and are planning uponstarting anew upon some suitable planet in some other Galaxy, fromwhich, at some future date, the Conquest of the Universe shall proceedas it was originally planned. "

"Great balls of fire!" blurted Seaton. "They couldn't--not in a millionyears!" He thought a moment, then continued more slowly: "But theycould--and, with their dispositions, they probably would. You're onehundred per cent. Right, Drasnik. We've got a real job of hunting on ourhands now. So-long, and thanks a lot. "

Back in the projector Seaton prowled about in brown abstraction, hisvillainous pipe poisoning the circumambient air, while Crane sat, quietand self-possessed as always, waiting for the nimble brain of his friendto find a way over, around, or through the obstacle confronting them. 

"Got it, Mart!" Seaton yelled, darting to the board and setting up oneintegral after another. "If they did leave the planet in a ship, we'llbe able to watch them go--and we'll see what they did, anyway, no matterwhat it was!"

"How? They've been gone almost a month already, " protested Crane. 

"We know within half an hour the exact time of their departure. We'llsimply go out the distance light has traveled since that time, gather inthe rays given off, amplify them a few billion times, and take a look atwhatever went on. "

"But we have no idea of what region of the planet to study, or whetherit was night or day at the point of departure when they left. "

"We'll get the council room, and trace events from there. Day or nightmakes no difference--we'll have to use infra-red anyway, because of thefog, and that's almost as good at night as in the daytime. There is nosuch thing as absolute darkness upon any planet, anyway, and we've gotpower enough to make anything visible that happened there, night or day. Mart, I've got power enough here to see and to photograph the actualconstruction of the pyramids of Egypt in that same way--and they werebuilt thousands of years ago!"

"Heavens, what astounding possibilities!" breathed Crane. "Why, youcould.... "

"Yeah, I could do a lot of things, " Seaton interrupted him rudely, "butright now we've got other fish to fry. I've just got the city wevisited, at about the time we were there. General Fenimol, whodisappeared, must be in the council room down here right now. I'llretard our projection, so that time will apparently pass more quickly, and we'll duck down there and see what actually did happen. I canheterodyne, combine, and recombine just as though we were watching theactual scene--it's more complicated, of course, since I have to followit and amplify it too, but it works out all right. "

"This is unbelievable, Dick. Think of actually seeing something thatreally happened in the past!"

"Yeah, it's kinda strong, all right. As Dot would say, it's just tooperfectly darn outrageous. But we're doing it, ain't we? I know justhow, and why. When we get some time I'll shoot the method into yourbrain. Well, here we are!"

 * * * * *

Peering into the visiplates, the two men were poised above the immensecentral cone of the capital city of the Fenachrone. Viewing withinfra-red light as they were, the fog presented no obstacle and theindescribable beauty of the city of concentric rings and the wonderfullyluxuriant jungle growth were clearly visible. They plunged down into thecouncil chamber, and saw Fenor, Ravindau, and Fenimol deep inconversation. 

"With all the other feats of skill and sorcery you have accomplished, why don't you reconstruct their speech, also?" asked Crane, with achallenging glance. 

"Well, old Doubting Thomas, it might not be absolutely impossible, atthat. It would mean two projectors, however, due to the difference inspeed of sound-waves and light-waves. Theoretically, sound-waves alsoextend to an infinite distance, but I don't believe that any possibledetector and amplifier could reconstruct a voice more than an hour or soafter it had spoken. It might, though--we'll have to try it some time, and see. You're fairly good at lip-reading, as I remember it. Get asmuch of it as you can, will you?"

As though they were watching the scene itself as it happened--which, ina sense, they were--they saw everything that had occurred. They sawFenor die, saw the general's family board the airboat, saw the orderlyembarkation of Ravindau's organization. Finally they saw the stupendoustake-off of the first inter-galactic cruiser, and with that take-off, Seaton went into action. Faster and faster he drove that fifth-orderbeam along the track of the fugitive, until a speed was attained beyondwhich his detecting converters could not hold the ether-rays they werefollowing. For many minutes Seaton stared intently into the visiplate, plotting lines and calculating forces, then he swung around to Crane. 

"Well, Mart, noble old bean, solving the disappearances was easier thanI thought it would be; but the situation as regards wiping out the lastof the Fenachrone is getting no better, fast. "

"I glean from the instruments that they are heading straight out intospace away from the Galaxy, and I assume that they are using theirutmost acceleration?"

"I'll say they're traveling! They're out in absolute space, you know, with nothing in the way and with no intention of reversing their poweror slowing down--they must've had absolute top acceleration on everyminute since they left. Anyway, they're so far out already that Icouldn't hold even a detector on them, let alone a force that I cancontrol. Well, let's snap into it, fellow--on our way!"

"Just a minute, Dick. Take it easy, what are your plans?"

"Plans! Why worry about plans? Blow up that planet before any more of'em get away, and then chase that boat clear to Andromeda, if necessary. Let's go!"

"Calm down and be reasonable--you are getting hysterical again. Theyhave a maximum acceleration of five times the velocity of light. So havewe, exactly, since we adopted their own drive. Now if our accelerationis the same as theirs, and they have a month's start, how long will ittake us to catch them?"

"Right again. Mart--I sure was going off half-cocked again, " Seatonconceded ruefully, after a moment's thought. "They'd always be going amillion or so times as fast as we would be, and getting further ahead ofus in geometrical ratio. What's your idea?"

"I agree with you that the time has come to destroy the planet ofFenachrone. As for pursuing that vessel through intergalactic space, that is your problem. You must figure out some method of increasing ouracceleration. Highly efficient as is this system of propulsion, it seemsto me that the knowledge of the Norlaminians should be able to improveit in some detail. Even a slight increase in acceleration would enableus to overtake them eventually. "

"Hm--m--m. " Seaton, no longer impetuous, was thinking deeply. "How farare we apt to have to go?"

"Until we get close enough to them to use your rays--say half a millionlight-years. "

"But surely they'll stop, some time?"

"Of course, but not necessarily for many years. They are powered andprovisioned for a hundred years, you remember, and are going to 'adistant galaxy. ' Such a one as Ravindau would not have specified a_distant_ Galaxy idly, and the very closest Galaxies are so far awaythat even the Fenachrone astronomers, with their reflecting mirrors fivemiles in diameter, could form only the very roughest approximations ofthe true distances. "

"Our astronomers are all wet in their guesses, then?"

"Their estimates are, without exception, far below the true values. Theyare not even of the correct order of magnitude. '"

"Well, then, let's mop up on that planet. Then we'll go places and dothings. "

Seaton had already located the magazines in which the power bars of theFenachrone war-vessels were stored, and it was a short task to erect asecondary projector of force in the Fenachrone atmosphere. Working outof that projector, beams of force seized one of the immense cylinders ofplated copper and at Seaton's direction transported it rapidly to one ofthe poles of the planet, where electrodes of force were clamped upon it. In a similar fashion seventeen more of the frightful bombs were placed, equidistant over the surface of the world of the Fenachrone, so thatwhen they were simultaneously exploded, the downward forces would becertain to meet sufficient resistance to assure complete demolition ofthe entire globe. Everything in readiness, Seaton's hand went to theplunger switch and closed upon it. Then, his face white and wet, hedropped his hand. 

"No use, Mart--I can't do it. It pulls my cork. I know darn well youcan't either--I'll yell for help. "

"Have you got it on the infra-red?" asked Dunark calmly, as he shot upinto the projector in reply to Seaton's call. "I want to see this, allof it. "

"It's on--you're welcome to it, " and, as the Terrestrials turned away, the whole projector base was illuminated by a flare of intense, thoughsubdued light. For several minutes Dunark stared into the visiplate, savage satisfaction in every line of his fierce green face as hesurveyed the havoc wrought by those eighteen enormous charges ofincredible explosive. 

"A nice job of clean-up, Dick, " the Osnomian prince reported, turningaway from the visiplate. "It made a sun of it--the original sun is nowquite a splendid double star. Everything was volatized, clear out, farbeyond their outermost screen. "

"It had to be done, of course--it was either them or else all the restof the Universe, " Season said, jerkily. "However, even that fact doesn'tmake it go down easy. Well, we're done with this projector. From now onit's strictly up to us and _Skylark Three_. Let's beat it over there andsee if they've got her done yet--they were due to finish up today, youknow. "

 * * * * *

It was a silent group who embarked in the little airboat. Half way totheir destination, however, Seaton came out of his blue mood with ayell. 

"Mart, I've got it! We can give the _Lark_ a lot more acceleration thanthey are getting--and won't need the assistance of all the minds ofNorlamin, either. "

"How?"

"By using one of the very heavy metals for fuel. The intensity of thepower liberated is a function of atomic weight, or atomic number, anddensity; but the fact of liberation depends upon atomic configuration--afact which you and I figured out long ago. However, our figuring didn'tgo far enough--it couldn't: we didn't know anything then. Copper happensto be the most efficient of the few metals which can be decomposed atall under ordinary excitation--that is, by using an ordinary coil, suchas we and the Fenachrone both use. But by using special exciters, sending out all the orders of rays necessary to initiate the disruptiveprocesses, we can use any metal we want to. Osnome has unlimitedquantities of the heaviest metals, including radium and uranium. Ofcourse we can't use radium and live--but we can and will use uranium, and that will give us something like four times the accelerationpossible with copper. Dunark, what say you snap over there and smelt usa cubic mile of uranium? No--hold it--I'll put a flock of forces on thejob. They'll do it quicker, and I'll make 'em deliver the goods. They'lldeliver 'em fast, too, believe us--we'll see to that with a ten-ton bar. The uranium bars'll be ready to load tomorrow, and we'll have enoughpower to chase those birds all the rest of our lives!"

Returning to the projector, Seaton actuated the complex system of forcesrequired for the smelting and transportation of the enormous amount ofmetal necessary, and as the three men again boarded their aerialconveyance, the power-bar in the projector behind them flared intoviolet incandescence under the load already put upon it by the newuranium mine in distant Osnome. 

The _Skylark_ lay stretched out over two miles of country, exactly asthey had last seen her, but now, instead of being water-white, theten-thousand-foot cruiser of the void was one jointless, seamlessstructure of sparkling, transparent, purple inoson. Entering one of theopen doors, they stepped into an elevator and were whisked upward intothe control room, in which a dozen of the aged, white-bearded studentsof Norlamin were grouped about a banked and tiered mass of keyboards, which Seaton knew must be the operating mechanism of the extraordinarilycomplete fifth-order projector he had been promised. 

"Ah, youngsters, you are just in time. Everything is complete and we arejust about to begin loading. "

"Sorry, Rovol, but we'll have to make a couple of changes--have torebuild the exciter or build another one, " and Seaton rapidly relatedwhat they had learned, and what they had decided to do. 

"Of course, uranium is a much more efficient source of power, " agreedRovol, "and you are to be congratulated for thinking of it. It perhapswould not have occurred to one of us, since the heavy metals of thathighly efficient group are very rare here. Building a new exciter foruranium is a simple task, and the converters for the corona-loss will, of course, require no change, since their action depends only upon thefrequency of the emitted losses, not upon their magnitude. "

"Hadn't you suspected that some of the Fenachrone might be going to leadus a life-long chase?" asked Dunark curiously. 

"We have not given the matter a thought, my son, " the Chief of the Fivemade answer. "As your years increase, you will learn not to anticipatetrouble and worry. Had we thought and worried over the matter before thetime had arrived, you will note that it would have been pain wasted, forour young friend Seaton has avoided that difficulty in a truly scholarlyfashion. "

"All set, then, Rovol?" asked Seaton, when the forces flying from theprojector had built the compound exciter which would make possible thedisruption of the atoms of uranium. "The metal, enough of it to fill allthe spare space in the hull, will be here tomorrow. You might give Craneand me the method of operating this projector, which I see is vastlymore complex even than the one in the Area of Experiment. "

"It is the most complete thing ever seen upon Norlamin, " replied Rovolwith a smile. "Each of us installed everything in it that he couldconceive of ever being of the slightest use, and since our combinedknowledge covers a large field, the projector is accordingly quitecomprehensive. "

Multiple headsets were donned, and from each of the Norlaminian brainsthere poured into the minds of the two Terrestrials a complete andminute knowledge of every possible application of the stupendousforce-control banked in all its massed intricacy before them. 

"Well, that's some outfit!" exulted Seaton in pleased astonishment asthe instructions were concluded. "It can do anything but lay an egg--andI'm not a darn bit sure that we couldn't make it do that! Well, let'scall the girls and show them around this thing that's going to be theirhome for quite a while. "

While they were waiting, Dunark led Seaton aside. 

"Dick, will you need me on this trip?" he asked. "Of course I knew therewas something on your mind when you didn't send me home when you letUrvan, Carfon and the others go back. "

"No, we're going it alone--unless you want to come along. I did want youto stick around until I got to a good chance to talk to you alone--nowwill be a good a time as any. You and I have traded brains, and besides, we've been through quite a lot of grief together, here and there--I wantto apologize to you for not passing along to you all this stuff I'vebeen getting here. In fact, I really wish I didn't have to have itmyself. Get me?"

"Got you? I'm 'way ahead of you! Don't want it, not any part ofit--that's why I've stayed away from any chance of learning any of it, and the one reason why I am going back home instead of going with you. Ihave just brains enough to realize that neither I nor any other man ofmy race should have it. By the time we grow up to it naturally we shallbe able to handle it, but not until then. "

The two brain brothers grasped hands strongly, and Dunark continued in alighter vein: "It takes all kinds of people to make a world, youknow--and all kinds of races, except the Fenachrone, to make a Universe. With Mardonale gone, the evolution of Osnome shall progress rapidly, andwhile we may not reach the Ultimate Goal, I have learned enough from youalready to speed up our progress considerably. "

"Well, that's that. Had to get it off my chest, although I knew you'dget the idea all right. Here are the girls--Sitar too. We'll show 'emaround. "

 * * * * *

Seaton's first thought was for the very brain of the ship--the preciouslens of neutronium in its thin envelope of the eternal jewel--withoutwhich the beam of fifth-order rays could not be directed. He found it aquarter of a mile back from the needle-sharp prow, exactly in thelongitudinal axis of the hull, protected from any possible damage bybulkhead after massive bulkhead of impregnable inoson. Satisfied uponthat point, he went in search of the others, who were exploring theirvast new space-ship. 

Huge as she was, there was no waste space--her design was as compact asthat of a fine radio set. The living quarters were grouped closely aboutthe central compartment, which housed the power plants, the many raygenerators and projectors, and the myriads of controls of the marvelousmechanism for the projection and direction of fifth-order rays. Severallarge compartments were devoted to the machinery which automaticallyserviced the vessel--refrigerators, heaters, generators and purifiersfor water and air, and the numberless other mechanisms which would makethe cruiser a comfortable and secure home, as well as an invinciblebattleship, in the heatless, lightless, airless, matterless waste ofillimitable, inter-galactic space. Many compartments were for thestorage of food-supplies, and these were even then being filled byforces under the able direction of the first of Chemistry. 

"All the comforts of home, even to the labels, " Seaton grinned, as heread "Dole No. 1" upon cans of pineapple which had never been withinthousands of light-years of the Hawaiian Islands, and saw quarter afterquarter of fresh meat going into the freezer room from a planet uponwhich no animal other than man had existed for many thousands of years. Nearly all of the remaining millions of cubic feet of space were for thestorage of uranium for power, a few rooms already having been filledwith ingot inoson for repairs. Between the many bulkheads that dividedthe ship into numberless airtight sections, and between the manyconcentric skins of purple metal that rendered the vessel space-worthyand sound, even though slabs many feet thick were to be shown off in anydirection--in every nook and cranny could be stored the metal to keepthose voracious generators full-fed, no matter how long or how severethe demand for power. Every room was connected through a series oftubular tunnels, along which force-propelled cars or elevators slidsmoothly--tubes whose walls fell together into air-tight seals at anypoint, in case of a rupture. 

As they made their way back to the great control-room room of thevessel, they saw something that because of its small size and cleartransparency they had not previously seen. Below that room, not too nearthe outer skin, in a specially-built spherical launching space, therewas _Skylark Two_, completely equipped and ready for an interstellarjourney on her own account!

"Why, hello, little stranger!" Margaret called. "Rovol, that was a kindthought on your part. Home wouldn't quite be home without our old_Skylark_, would it, Martin?"

"A practical thought, as well as a kind one, " Crane responded. "Weundoubtedly will have occasion to visit places altogether too small forthe really enormous bulk of this vessel. "

"Yes, and whoever heard of a sea-going ship without a small boat?" putin irrepressible Dorothy. "She's just too perfectly kippy for words, sitting up there, isn't she?"

CHAPTER XV

The Extra-Galactic Duel

Loaded until her outer skin almost bulged with tightly packed bars ofuranium and equipped to meet any emergency of which the combined effortsof the mightiest intellects of Norlamin could foresee even the slightestpossibility, _Skylark Three_ lay quiescent. Quiescent, but surchargedwith power, she seemed to Seaton's tense mind to share his own eagernessto be off; seemed to be motionlessly straining at her neutral controlsin a futile endeavor to leave that unnatural and unpleasant environmentof atmosphere and of material substance, to soar outward into absolutezero of temperature and pressure, into the pure and undefiled etherwhich was her natural and familiar medium. 

The five human beings were grouped near an open door of their cruiser;before them were the ancient scientists, who for so many days had beenlaboring with them in their attempt to crush the monstrous race whichwas threatening the Universe. With the elders were the Terrestrials'many friends from the Country of Youth, and surrounding the immensevessel in a throng covering an area to be measured only in square mileswere massed myriads of Norlaminians. From their tasks everywhere hadcome the mental laborers; the Country of Youth had been leftdepopulated; even those who, their lifework done, had betaken themselvesto the placid Nirvana of the Country of Age, returned briefly to theCountry of Study to speed upon its way that stupendous Ship of Peace. 

The majestic Fodan, Chief of the Five, was concluding his address:

"And may the Unknowable Force direct your minor forces to a successfulconclusion of your task. If, upon the other hand, it should by someunforeseen chance be graven upon the Sphere that you are to pass in thissupreme venture, you may pass in all tranquillity, for the massedintellect of our entire race is here supporting me in my solemnaffirmation that the Fenachrone shall not be allowed to prevail. In thename of all Norlamin, I bid you farewell. "

[Illustration: Very slowly at first, the unimaginable mass of the vesselfloated lightly upward. ]

Crane spoke briefly in reply and the little group of Earthly wanderersstepped into the elevator. As they sped upward toward the control room, door after door shot into place behind them, establishing a manifoldseal. Seaton's hand played over the controls and the great cruiser ofthe void tilted slowly upward until its narrow prow pointed almostdirectly into the zenith. Then, very slowly at first, the unimaginablemass of the vessel floated lightly upward, with a slowly increasingvelocity. Faster and faster she flew--out beyond measurable atmosphere, out beyond the outermost limits of the green system. Finally, ininterstellar space, Seaton threw out super-powered detector andrepelling screens, anchored himself at the driving console with a force, set the power control at "molecular" so that the propulsive forceaffected alike every molecule of the vessel and its contents, and, allsense of weight and acceleration lost, he threw in the plunger switchwhich released every iota of the theoretically possible power of thedriving mass of uranium. 

Staring intently into the visiplate, he corrected their course from timeto time by minute fractions of a second of arc; then, satisfied at last, he set the automatic forces which would guide them, temporarily out oftheir course, around any obstacles, such as the uncounted thousands ofsolar systems lying in or near their path. He then removed therestraining forces from his body and legs, and with a small pencil offorce wafted himself over to Crane and the two women. 

"Well, bunch, " he stated, matter-of-fact, "we're on our way. We'll bethis way for some time, so we might as well get used to it. Any littlething you want to talk over?"

"How long will it take us to catch 'em?" asked Dorothy "Traveling thisway isn't half as much fun as it is when you let us have some weight tohold us down. "

"Hard to tell exactly, Dottie. If we had precisely four times theiracceleration and had started from the same place, we would of courseovertake them in just the number of days they had the start of us, sincethe distance covered at any constant positive acceleration isproportional to the square of the time elapsed. However, there areseveral complicating factors in the actual situation. We started out notonly twenty-nine days behind them, but also a matter of five hundredthousand light-years of distance. It will take us quite a while to getto their starting-point. I can't tell even that very close, as we willprobably have to reduce this acceleration before we get out of theGalaxy, in order to give detectors and repellers time to act on starsand other loose impediments. Powerful as those screens are and fast asthey work, there is a limit to the velocity we can use here in thiscrowded Galaxy. Outside it, in free space, of course we can open her upagain. Then, too, our acceleration is not exactly four times theirs, only three point nine one eight six. On the other hand, we don't have tocatch them to go to work on them. We can operate very nicely at fivethousand light-centuries. So there you are--it'll probably be somewherebetween thirty-nine and forty-one days, but it may be a day or so moreor less. "

"How do you know they are using copper?" asked Margaret. "Maybe theirscientists stored up some uranium and know how to use it. "

"Nope, that's out like a light. First, Mart and I saw only copper barsin their ship. Second, copper is the most efficient metal found inquantity upon their planet. Third, even if they had uranium or any metalof its class, they couldn't use it without a complete knowledge of, andability to handle, the fourth and fifth orders of rays. "

"It is your opinion, then, that destroying this last Fenachrone vesselis to prove as simple a matter as did the destruction of the others?"Crane queried, pointedly. 

"Hm-m-m. Never thought about it from that angle at all, Mart.... You'restill the ground-and-lofty thinker of the outfit, ain't you? Now thatyou mention it, though, we may find that the Last of the Mohicans ain'tentirely toothless, at that. But say, Mart, how come I'm as wild andcock-eyed as I ever was? Rovol's a slow and thoughtful old codger, andwith his accumulation of knowledge it looks like I'd be the same way. "

"Far from it, " Crane replied. "Your nature and mine remain unchanged. Temperament is a basic trait of heredity, and is neither affected noracquired by increase of knowledge. You acquired knowledge from Rovol, Drasnik, and others, as did I--but you are still the flashing genius andI am still your balance wheel. As for Fenachrone toothlessness: now thatyou have considered it, what is your opinion?"

"Hard to say. They didn't know how to control the fifth order rays, orthey wouldn't have run. They've got real brains, though, and they'llhave something like seventy days to work on the problem. While itdoesn't stand to reason that they could find out much in seventy days, still they may have had a set-up of instruments on their detectors thatwould have enabled them to analyze our fields and thus compute thestructure of the secondary projector we used there. If so, it wouldn'ttake them long to find out enough to give us plenty of grief--but Idon't really believe that they knew enough. I don't quite know what tothink. They may be easy and they may not; but, easy or hard to get, we're loaded for bear and I'm plenty sure that we'll pull their corks. "

"So am I, really, but we must consider every contingency. We know thatthey had at least a detector of fifth-order rays.... "

"And if they did have an analytical detector, " Seaton interrupted, "they'll probably slap a ray on us as soon as we stick our nose out ofthe Galaxy!"

"They may--and even though I do not believe that there is anyprobability of them actually doing it, it will be well to be armedagainst the possibility. "

"Right, old top--we'll do that little thing!"

 * * * * *

Uneventful days passed, and true to Seaton's calculations, the awfulacceleration with which they had started out could not be maintained. Afew days before the edge of the Galaxy was reached, it became necessaryto cut off the molecular drive, and to proceed with an accelerationequal only to that of gravitation at the surface of the Earth. Tired ofweightlessness and its attendant discomforts to everyday life, thetravelers enjoyed the interlude immensely, but it was all too short--toosoon the stars thinned out ahead of "_Three's_" needle prow. As soon asthe way ahead of them was clear, Seaton again put on the maximum powerof his terrific bars and, held securely at the console, set up a longand involved integral. Ready to transfer the blended and assembledforces to a plunger, he stayed his hand, thought a moment, and turned toCrane. 

"Want some advice, Mart. I'd thought of setting up three or four coursesof five-ply screen on the board--a detector screen on the outside ofeach course, next to it a repeller, then a full-coverage ether-rayscreen, then a zone of force, and a full-coverage fifth-order ray-screenas a liner. Then, with them all set up on the board, but not out, throwout a wide detector. That detector would react upon the board at impactwith anything hostile, and automatically throw out the courses it foundnecessary. "

"That sounds like ample protection, but I am not enough of aray-specialist to pass an opinion. Upon what point are you doubtful?"

"About leaving them on the board. The only trouble is that the reactionisn't absolutely instantaneous. Even fifth-order rays would require amillionth of a second or so to set the courses. Now if they were usingether waves, that would be lots of time to block them, but if they_should_ happen to have fifth-order stuff it'd get here the same timeour own detector-impulse would, and it's just barely conceivable thatthey might give us a nasty jolt before the defenses went out. Nope, I'mdeveloping a cautious streak myself now, when I take time to do it. We've got lots of uranium, and I'm going to put one course out. "

"You cannot put everything out, can you?"

"Not quite, but pretty nearly, I'll leave a hole in the ether screen topass visible light--no, I won't either. You folks can see just as well, even on the direct-vision wall plates, with light heterodyned on thefifth, so we'll close all ether bands, absolutely. All we'll have toleave open will be the one extremely narrow band upon which ourprojector is operating, and I'll protect that with a detector screen. Also, I'm going to send out all four courses, instead of only one--thenI'll _know_ we're all right. "

"Suppose they find our one band, narrow as it is? Of course, if thatwere shut off automatically by the detector, we'd be safe; but would wenot be out of control?"

"Not necessarily--I see you didn't get quite all this stuff over theeducator. The other projector worked that way, on one fixed band out ofthe nine thousand odd possible. But this one is an ultra-projector, animprovement invented at the last minute. Its carrier wave can be shiftedat will from one band of the fifth order to any other one; and I'll beta hat that's _one_ thing the Fenachrone haven't got! Any othersuggestions?... All right, let's get busy!"

A single light, quick-acting detector was sent out ahead of four coursesof five-ply screen, then Seaton's fingers again played over the keys, fabricating a detector screen so tenuous that it would react to nothingweaker than a copper power bar in full operation and with so nearlyabsolute zero resistance that it could be driven at the full velocity ofhis ultra-projector. Then, while Crane watched the instruments closelyand while Dorothy and Margaret watched the faces of their husbands withonly mild interest, Seaton drove home the plunger that sent thatprodigious and ever-widening fan ahead of them with a velocityunthinkable millions of times that of light. For five minutes, untilthat far-flung screen had gone as far as it could be thrown by theutmost power of the uranium bar, the two men stared at the unresponsiveinstruments, then Seaton shrugged his shoulders. 

"I had a hunch, " he remarked with a grin. "They didn't wait for us asecond. 'I don't care for some, ' says they, 'I've already had any. 'They're running in a straight line, with full power on, and don't intendto stop or slow down. "

"How do you know?" asked Dorothy. "By the distance? How far away arethey?"

"I know, Red-Top, by what I didn't find out with that screen I just putout. It didn't reach them, and it went so far that the distance isabsolutely meaningless, even expressed in parsecs. Well, a stern chaseis proverbially a long chase, and I guess this one isn't going to be anyexception. "

 * * * * *

Every eight hours Seaton launched his all-embracing ultra-detector, butday after day passed and the instruments remained motionless after eachcast of that gigantic net. For several days the Galaxy behind them hadbeen dwindling from a mass of stars down to a huge bright lens; down toa small, faint lens; down to a faintly luminous patch. At the previouscast of the detector it had still been visible as a barely-perceptiblepoint of light in the highest telescopic power of the visiplate. Now, asDorothy and Seaton, alone in the control room, stared into thatvisiplate, everything was blank and black; sheer, indescribableblackness; the utter and absolute absence of everything visible ortangible. 

"This is awful, Dick.... It's just too darn horrible. It simply scaresme pea-green!" she shuddered as she drew herself to him, and he sweptboth his mighty arms around her in a soul-satisfying embrace. 

"'Sall right, darling. That stuff out there'd scare anybody--I'm scaredpurple myself. It isn't in any finite mind to understand anythinginfinite or absolute. There's one redeeming feature, though, cuddle-pup--we're together. "

"You chirped it, lover!" Dorothy returned his caresses with all herold-time fervor and enthusiasm. "I feel lots better now. If it gets toyou that way, too, I know it's perfectly normal--I was beginning tothink maybe I was yellow or something ... But maybe you're kidding me?"she held him off at arm's length, looking deep into his eyes: then, reassured, went back-into his arms. "Nope, you feel it, too, " and herglorious auburn head found its natural resting-place in the curve of hismighty shoulder. 

"Yellow!... You?" Seaton pressed his wife closer still! and laughedaloud. "Maybe--but so is picric acid; so is nitroglycerin; and so ispure gold. "

"Flatterer!" Her low, entrancing chuckle bubbled over. "But you know Ijust revel in it. I'll kiss you for that!"

"It _is_ awfully lonesome out here, without even a star to look at, " shewent on, after a time, then laughed again. "If the Cranes and Shiroweren't along, we'd be really 'alone at last, ' wouldn't we?"

"I'll say we would! But that reminds me of something. According to myfigures, we might have been able to detect the Fenachrone on the lasttest, but we didn't. Think I'll try 'em again before we turn in. "

Once more he flung out that tenuous net of force, and as it reached theextreme limit of its travel, the needle of the micro-ammeter flickeredslightly, barely moving off its zero mark. 

"Whee! Whoopee!" he yelled. "Mart, we're on 'em!"

"Close?" demanded Crane, hurrying into the control room upon his beam. 

"Anything but. Barely touched 'em--current something less than athousandth of a micro-ampere on a million to one step-up. However, itproves our ideas are O. K. "

The next day--_Skylark III_ was running on Eastern Standard Time, of theTerrestrial United States of America--the two mathematicians coveredsheet after sheet of paper with computations and curves. After checkingand rechecking the figures, Seaton shut off the power, released themolecular drive, and applied acceleration of twenty-nine point six ohtwo feet per second; and five human beings breathed as one a profoundsigh of relief as an almost-normal force of gravitation was restored tothem. 

"Why the let-up?" asked Dorothy. "They're an awful long ways off yet, aren't they? Why not hurry up and catch them?"

"Because we're going infinitely faster than they are now. If we kept upfull acceleration, we'd pass them so fast that we couldn't fight them atall. This way, we'll still be going a lot faster than they are when weget close to them, but not enough faster to keep us from maneuveringrelatively to their vessel, if things should go that far. Guess I'lltake another reading on 'em. "

"I do not believe that I should, " Crane suggested, thoughtfully. "Afterall, they may have perfected their instruments, and yet may not havedetected that extremely light touch of our ray last night. If so, whyput them on guard?"

"They're probably on guard, all right, without having to be putthere--but it's a sound idea, anyway. Along the same line I'll releasethe fifth-order screens, with the fastest possible detector on guard. We're just about within reach of a light copper-driven ray right now, but it's a cinch they can't send anything heavy this far, and if theythink we're overconfident, so much the better. "

"There, " he continued, after a few minutes at the keyboard. "All set. Ifthey put a detector on us, I've got a force set to make a noise like aNew York City fire siren. If pressed, I'd reluctantly admit that in myopinion we're carrying caution to a point ten thousand degrees below theabsolute zero of sanity. I'll bet my shirt that we don't hear a yip outof them before we touch 'em off. Furthermore.... "

 * * * * *

The rest of his sentence was lost in a crescendo bellow of sound. Seaton, still at the controls, shut off the noise, studied his meterscarefully, and turned around to Crane with a grin. 

"You win the shirt, Mart. I'll give it to you next Wednesday, when myother one comes back from the laundry. It's a fifth-order detector ray, coming in beautifully on band forty-seven fifty, right in the middle ofthe order. "

"Aren't you going to put a ray on 'em?" asked Dorothy in surprise. 

"Nope--what's the use? I can read theirs as well as I could one of myown. Maybe they know that too--if they don't we'll let 'em think we'recoming along, as innocent as Mary's little lamb, so I'll let their raystay on us. It's too thin to carry anything, and if they thicken it upmuch I've got an axe set to chop it off. " Seaton whistled a merrylilting refrain as his fingers played over the stops and keys. 

"Why, Dick, you seem actually pleased about it. " Margaret was plainlyill at ease. 

"Sure am. I never did like to drown baby kittens, and it kinda goesagainst the grain to stab a guy in the back, when he ain't even looking, even if he is a Fenachrone. If they can fight back some I'll get madenough to blow 'em up happy. "

"But suppose they fight back too hard?"

"They can't--the worst that can possibly happen is that we can't lickthem. They certainly can't lick us, because we can outrun 'em. If wecan't get 'em alone, we'll beat it back to Norlamin and bring upre-enforcements. "

"I am not so sure, " Crane spoke slowly. "There is, I believe, atheoretical possibility that sixth-order rays exist. Would an extensionof the methods of detection of fifth-order rays reveal them?"

"_Sixth_? Sweet spirits of niter! Nobody knows anything about them. However, I've had one surprise already, so maybe your suggestion isn'tas crazy as it sounds. We've got three or four days yet before eitherside can send anything except on the sixth, so I'll find out what I cando. "

He flew at the task, and for the next three days could hardly be tornfrom it for rest; but

"O. K. , Mart, " he finally announced. "They exist, all right, and I candetect 'em. Look here, " and he pointed to a tiny receiver, upon which asmall lamp flared in brilliant scarlet light. 

"Are they sending them?"

"No, fortunately. They're coming from our bar. See, it shines blue whenI put a grounded shield between it and the bar, and stays blue when Iattach it to their detector ray. "

"Can you direct them?"

"Not a chance in the world. That means a lifetime, probably manylifetimes, of research, unless somebody uses a fairly complete patternof them close enough to this detector so that I can analyze it. 'Sa gooddeal like calculus in that respect. It took thousands of years to get itin the first place, but it's easy when somebody that already knows itshows you how it goes. "

"The Fenachrone learned to direct fifth-order rays so quickly, then, byan analysis of our fifth-order projector there?"

"Our secondary projector, yes. They must have had some neutronium instock, too--but it would have been funny if they hadn't, atthat--they've had intra-atomic power for ages. "

Silent and grim, he seated himself at the console, and for an hour hewove an intricate pattern of forces upon the inexhaustible supply ofkeys afforded by the ultra-projector before he once touched a plunger. 

"What are you doing? I followed you for a few hundred steps, but couldgo no farther. "

"Merely a little safety-first stuff. In case they should send any realpattern of sixth-order rays this set-up will analyze it, record thecomplete analysis, throw out a screen against every frequency of thepattern, throw on the molecular drive, and pull us back toward thegalaxy at full acceleration, while switching the frequency of ourcarrier wave a thousand times a second, to keep them from shooting a hotone through our open band. It'll do it all in about a millionth of asecond, too--I want to get us all back alive if possible! Hm--m. They'veshut off their ray--they know we've tapped onto it. Well, war's declarednow--we'll see what we can see. "

Transferring the assembled beam to a plunger, he sent out a secondaryprojector toward the Fenachrone vessel, as fast as it could be driven, close behind a widespread detector net. He soon found the enemy cruiser, but so immense was the distance that it was impossible to hold theprojection anywhere in its neighborhood. They flashed beyond it andthrough it and upon all sides of it, but the utmost delicacy of thecontrols would not permit of holding even upon the immense bulk of thevessel, to say nothing of holding upon such a relatively tiny object asthe power bar. As they flashed repeatedly through the warship, they sawpiecemeal and sketchily her formidable armament and the hundreds of menof her crew, each man at battle station at the controls of somefrightful engine of destruction. Suddenly they were cut off as a screenclosed behind them--the Earth-men felt an instant of unreasoning terroras it seemed that one-half of their peculiar dual personalities vanishedutterly. Seaton laughed. 

"That was a funny sensation, wasn't it? It just means that they'veclimbed a tree and pulled the tree up after them. "

"I do not like the odds, Dick, " Crane's face was grave. "They have manyhundreds of men, all trained; and we are only two. Yes, only one, for Icount for nothing at those controls. "

"All the better, Mart. This board more than makes up the difference. They've got a lot of stuff, of course, but they haven't got anythinglike this control system. Their captain's got to issue orders, whereasI've got everything right under my hands. Not so uneven as they think!"

 * * * * *

Within battle range at last, Seaton hurled his utmost concentration ofdirect forces, under the impact of which three courses of Fenachronedefensive screen flared through the ultra-violet and went black. Therethe massed direct attack was stopped--at what cost the enemy aloneknew--and the Fenachrone countered instantly and in a manner totallyunexpected. Through the narrow slit in the fifth-order screen throughwhich Seaton was operating, in the bare one-thousandth of a second thatit was open, so exactly synchronized and timed that the screens did noteven glow as it went through the narrow opening, a gigantic beam ofheterodyned force struck full upon the bow of the _Skylark_, near thesharply-pointed prow, and the stubborn metal instantly flared blindingwhite and exploded outward in puffs of incandescent gas under the awfulpower of that Titanic thrust. Through four successive skins of inoson, the theoretical ultimate of possible strength, toughness, andresistance, that frightful beam drove before the automatically-reactingdetector closed the slit and the impregnable defensive screens, drivenby their mighty uranium bars, flared into incandescent defense. Drivenas they were, they held, and the Fenachrone, finding that particularattack useless, shut off their power. 

"Wow! They sure have got something!" Seaton exclaimed in unfeignedadmiration. "They sure gave us a solid kick that time! We will now taketime out for repairs. Also, I'm going to cut our slit down to a width ofone kilocycle, if I can possibly figure out a way of working on thatnarrow a band, and I'm going to step up our shifting speed to a hundredthousand. It's a good thing they built this ship of ours in a lot oflayers--if that'd go through the interior we would have been puncturedfor fair. You might weld up those holes, Mart, while I see what I can dohere. "

Then Seaton noticed the women, white and trembling, upon a seat. 

"'Smatter? Cheer up, kids, you ain't seen nothing yet. That was just acouple of little preliminary love-taps, like two boxers kinda feelingeach other out in the first ten seconds of the first round. "

"Preliminary love-taps!" repeated Dorothy, looking into Seaton's eyesand being reassured by the serene confidence she read there. "But theyhit us, and hurt us badly--why, there's a hole in our _Skylark_ as bigas a house, and it goes through four or five layers!"

"Yes, but we're not hurt a bit. They're easily fixed, and we've lostnothing but a few tons of inoson and uranium. We've got lots of sparemetal. I don't know what I did to him, any more than he knows what hedid to us, but I'll bet my other shirt that he knows he's been nudged!"

Repairs completed and the changes made in the method of projection, Seaton actuated the rapidly-shifting slit and peered through it at theenemy vessel. Finding their screens still up, he directed acomplete-coverage attack upon them with four bars, while with the entiremassed power of the remaining generators concentrated into onefrequency, he shifted that frequency up and down the spectrum, probing, probing, ever probing with that gigantic beam of intolerableenergy--feeling for some crack, however slight, into which he couldinsert that searing sheet of concentrated destruction. Although much ofthe available power of the Fenachrone was perforce devoted to repellingthe continuous attack of the Terrestrials, they maintained an equallycontinuous attack offensive, and in spite of the narrowness of the openslit and the rapidity with which that slit was changing from frequencyto frequency, enough of the frightful forces came through to keep theultra-powered defensive screens radiating far into the violet--and, theutmost power of the refrigerating system proving absolutely uselessagainst the concentrated beams being employed, mass after mass of inosonwas literally blown from the outer and secondary skins of the _Skylark_by the comparatively tiny jets of force that leaked through themomentarily open slit from time to time, as exact synchronization wasaccidentally obtained. 

Seaton, grimly watching his instruments, glanced at Crane, who, calm butwatchful at his console, was repairing the damage as fast as it wasdone. 

"They're sending more stuff, Mart, and it's getting hotter to handle. That means they're building more projectors. We can play that game, too. They're using up their fuel reserves fast; but we're bigger than theyare, carry more metal, and it's more efficient metal, too. Only one wayout of it, I guess--what say we put in enough generators to smother themdown by brute force, no matter how much power it takes?"

"Why don't you use some of those awful copper shells? Or aren't we closeenough yet?" Dorothy's low voice came clearly, so utterly silent wasthat frightful combat. 

"Close! We're still better than two hundred thousand light-years apart!There may have been longer-range battles than this somewhere in theUniverse, but I doubt it. And as for copper, even if we could get it tothem, it'd be just like so many candy kisses compared to the stuff we'reboth using. Dear girl, there are fields of force extending for thousandsof miles from each of these vessels beside which the exact center of thebiggest lightning flash you ever saw would be a dead area!"

He set up a series of integrals and, machine after machine, in a spaceleft vacant by the rapidly-vanishing store of uranium, there appearedinside the fourth skin of the _Skylark_ a row of gigantic generators, each one adding its hellish output to the already inconceivable streamof energy being directed at the foe. As that frightful flow increased byleaps and bounds, the intensity of the Fenachrone attack diminished, andfinally it ceased altogether as every iota of the enemy's power becamenecessary for the maintenance of the defenses. Still greater grew thestream of force from the _Skylark_, and, now that the attack had ceased, Seaton opened the slit wider and stopped its shifting, in order stillfurther to increase the efficiency of his terrible weapon. Face set in afighting mask and eyes hard as gray iron, deeper and deeper he drove hisnow irresistible forces. His flying fingers were upon the keys of hisconsole; his keen and merciless eyes were in a secondary projector nearthe now doomed ship of the Fenachrone, directing masterfully histerrible attack. As the output of his generators still increased, Seatonbegan to compress a searing hollow sphere of seething energy upon thefuriously-straining defensive screens of the Fenachrone. Course aftercourse of the heaviest possible screen was sent out, driven by massedbatteries of copper now disintegrating at the rate of tons in everysecond, only to flare through the ultra-violet and to go down beforethat dreadful, that irresistible onslaught. Finally, as the inexorablesphere still contracted, the utmost efforts of the defenders could notkeep their screens away from their own vessel, and simultaneously theprow and the stern of the Fenachrone cruiser was bared to that awfulfield of force, in which no possible substance could endure for even themost infinitesimal instant of time. 

There was a sudden cessation of all resistance, and those Titanicforces, all directed inward, converged upon a point with a power behindwhich there was the inconceivable energy of four hundred thousand tonsof uranium, being disintegrated at the highest possible rate, short ofinstant disruption. In that same instant of collapse, the enormous massof power-copper in the Fenachrone cruiser and the vessel's every atom, alike of structure and contents, also exploded into pure energy at thetouch of that unimaginable field of force. 

In that awful moment before Seaton could shut off his power it seemed tohim that space itself must be obliterated by the very concentration ofthe unknowable and incalculable forces there unleashed--must beswallowed up and lost in the utterly indescribable brilliance of thefield of radiance driven to a distance of millions upon incandescentmillions of miles from the place where the last representatives of themonstrous civilization of the Fenachrone had made their last standagainst the forces of Universal Peace. 

Epilogue

The three-dimensional, moving, talking, almost living picture, beingshown simultaneously in all the viewing areas throughout the innumerableplanets of the Galaxy, faded out and the image of an aged, white-beardedNorlaminian appeared and spoke in the Galactic language. 

"As is customary, the showing of this picture has opened the celebrationof our great Galactic holiday, Civilization Day. As you all know, itportrays the events leading up to and making possible the formation ofthe League of Civilization by a mere handful of planets. The League nowembraces all of this, the First Galaxy, and is spreading rapidlythroughout the Universe. Varied are the physical forms and varied arethe mentalities of our almost innumerable races of beings, but inCivilization we are becoming one, since those backward people who willnot co-operate with us are rendered impotent to impede our progressamong the more enlightened. 

"It is peculiarly fitting that the one who has just been chosen to headthe Galactic Council--the first person of a race other than one of thoseof the Central System to prove himself able to wield justly the vastpowers of that office--should be a direct descendant of two of therevered persons whose deeds of olden times we have just witnessed. 

"I present to you my successor as Chief of the Galactic Council, RichardBallinger Seaton, the fourteen hundred sixty-ninth, of Earth. "

THE END

SOME REMARKS ON THE "SKYLARK THREE" AND ABOUT ERRORS. A COMPLIMENT TODR. SMITH'S STORIES. 

_Editor_, AMAZING STORIES:

Dr. Smith, in his foreword to "Skylark Three" mentions two errors whichhe made knowingly. I think I can recognize the astronomical one, at anyrate. 

Of course, the acceleration of twice 186, 000 miles per second, as usedin escaping the field of the great "dud" star, as told in "Skylark ofSpace" was impossible. Nothing could withstand that strain. Further, nogravitational field could be that intense. It would have exactly theeffect Dr. Smith describes and allots to the zone of force in "SkylarkThree"--it would make a hole in space and pull the hole in after it. Light would be too heavy to leave the planet. The effect on space wouldbe so great as to curve it so violently as to shut it in about it like ablanket. The dud would be both invisible and unapproachable. 

The astronomical error? I wonder how Dr. Smith solved the problem ofthree--or more--bodies? Osnome is a planet of a sun in a group ofseventeen suns, is it not? The gravitational field about even two sunsis so exceedingly complex that a planet could take up an orbit onlysuch that one sun was at each of the two foci of the ellipse of itsorbit, and then only provided the suns were of very nearly the samemass, and stationary, which in turn means they must have _no_ attractionfor each other. No, I think his complex system of seventeen suns wouldnot be so good for planets. Celestial Mechanics won't let them staythere. And I really don't see why it was necessary to have so complex asystem. 

Further, I wonder if Dr. Smith considered the proposition of his ammoniacooling plant carefully? The ammonia "cooling" plant works only to_transmit_ heat, not to remove it. The heat is removed by it from theinside of an icebox for instance, and put outside, which is what iswanted. However, it must have some place to dump the heat. In the fightwith the Mardonalians, Seaton has an arenak cylinder on his compressor, and runs it very heavily, but if he can't get the heat outside the ship, and away from it, he wouldn't cool the machine at all. Since theMardonalians kept the outside so hot, and the story says thecompressor-cooling was accomplished by a water cooler which boiled--someamount of water, too, if it would absorb all the heat of thatMardonalian fleet in any way--and this heat was then merely transferredfrom outside to inside--where they DIDN'T want it!

Again, in this battle, to protect themselves against ultra-violetradiation, they smear themselves with _red_ paint--presumably becausered will stop ultra-violet. 

Personalty, I'd have picked some ultra-violet paint--if any were handyas that would _reflect_ the rays. Red wouldn't affect them at all, sofar as I can see--he might as well have used blue. What he wanted, was acomplementary color of ultra-violet, and I don't believe it isred--green is the complement of red. (Green light won't pass through redglass. )

Dr. Smith invited "knocks" with that foreword of his--I hope I amcomplying, as an interested reader, and a hopeful scientist. However, mypersonal opinion has always been that "Skylark of Space" was the beststory of scientifiction ever printed, without exception. I have recentlychanged my opinion, however, since "Skylark Three" has come out. 

John W. Campbell, Jr. 

Cambridge, Mass. 

(This letter from a fellow author is an excellent comment on Dr. Smith'sforeword to "Skylark Three. " But the writer of this letter is himselfinclined to deal with and use very large quantities and highaccelerations and velocities in his stories. We are going to let yourknocks await a reply from Dr. Smith. The Editor does not desire to findhimself between the upper and lower millstones represented by an authorand his critic. But you certainly make amends for your criticism by whatyou say about the merit of "The Skylark Stories. " We hope to hear fromDr. Smith. --EDITOR. )

 +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Transcriber's Note & Errata | | | | Images have been moved to their appropriate places in the | | text. | | | | All SmallCaps text has been changed to ALL CAPS. | | | | The heading and title of Chapter VII were reversed in order | | in the text. Restored. | | | | The following typographical errors have been corrected | | | | Error |Correction | | briar; |briar, | | musn't |mustn't | | heads |head | | torpedos |torpedoes | | corruscating |coruscating | | Tarnana |Tarnan | | The attackers |"The attackers | | concience |conscience | | tubular, |tubular | | psssible |possible | | trending |tending | | Normalin |Norlamin | | Seaton |Rovol | | gear-strain |gear-train | | long. |long. " | | You are |"You are | | emperically |empirically | | desired. " |desired. | | aways |always | | fast. |fast. " | | acceleration? |acceleration?" | | | | Both 'cerebin' and 'cerebrin' were used once each. No | | changes have been made. | | | | Variable hyphenation has not been corrected. Numbers in | | parentheses in the following table indicate the number of | | times each form has been used. | | | | air-lock (3) |airlock (4) | | air-tight (1) |airtight (1) | | Earth-men (2) |Earthmen (1) | | head-set (1) |headset (12) | | inter-galactic (2) |intergalactic (1) | | stop-watch (1) |stopwatch (1) | | store-rooms (1) |storerooms (1) | +--------------------------------------------------------------+