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diff --git a/26882.txt b/26882.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..de09d8b --- /dev/null +++ b/26882.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1848 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Omega, the Man, by Lowell Howard Morrow + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Omega, the Man + +Author: Lowell Howard Morrow + +Illustrator: Leo Morey + +Release Date: October 11, 2008 [EBook #26882] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OMEGA, THE MAN *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +A Classic Reprint from AMAZING STORIES, January, 1933 + +[Illustration] + + +OMEGA, the MAN + +By LOWELL HOWARD MORROW + +Illustrated by MOREY + + +The silver airship cut swiftly through the hot thin air. The noonday sun +blazed down upon it and the desert world below. All about was the solemn +silence of death. No living thing appeared either in the air or on the +drab, gray earth. Only the aircraft itself displayed any signs of life. +The sky, blue as indigo, held not the shadow of a cloud, and on the +horizon the mountains notched into it like the teeth of a giant saw. + +The airship finally came to a hovering stop, then dropped rapidly toward +the salt-encrusted plain. It came to rest at last on the bottom of a +great, bowl-shaped hollow situated at the end of a chasm whose gray, +rock-strewn sides rose in rugged terraces for miles back into the sky. +In a few moments a panel in the vessel's side rolled noiselessly upward, +disclosing a brilliant light, and from the interior of the airship soon +appeared two figures who paused at the aperture and gazed out over the +parched earth. Then without fear or visible effort--although they were +seventy-five feet above the ground--they emerged from the ship and +floated down to earth. + +These two humans--the sole survivors of all earth's children--were man +and wife--Omega and Thalma. They were burned a deep cherry by the fierce +rays of the sun. In stature they were above the average man now on +earth. Their legs were slender and almost fleshless, because for many +centuries man had ceased to walk. Their feet were mere toeless +protuberances attached to the ankle bone. Their arms were long and as +spare as their legs, but their hands, although small, were +well-proportioned and powerful. Their abdominal regions were very small, +but above them were enormous chests sheltering lungs of tremendous +power, for thus nature had armored man against the rarefaction of the +earth's atmosphere. But the most remarkable parts about this truly +remarkable couple were there massive heads set upon short, slim necks. +The cranial development was extraordinary, their bulging foreheads +denoting great brain power. Their eyes--set wide apart--were large and +round, dark and luminous with intelligence and their ears were +remarkably large, being attuned to all the music and voices of life. +While their nostrils were large and dilated, their mouths were very +small, though sensuous and full-lipped. They were entirely hairless--for +even the eyebrows and the eyelashes of man had entirely disappeared ages +before. And when they smiled they betrayed no gleam of teeth, for nature +had long discarded teeth in man's evolution. + +The great, silver ship of the sky now rested in a deep pocket on the +floor of an ancient sea. Millions of years, under the sucking energy of +the sun and the whip of many winds, had sapped its waters, until only a +shallow, brackish lake remained. Along the shores of this lake, which +covered scarcely more than a hundred acres, a rim of yellowish, green +grass followed the water's edge and struggled against the inevitable, +and here and there among the grasses flowers of faded colors and +attenuated foliage reared their heads bravely in the burning sunshine. +And this lone lake, nestled in the lowest spot among the mountains and +valleys which once floored the Pacific, now held the last of earth's +waters. Barren and lifeless the rest of the world baked under a +merciless sun. + + * * * * * + +Now clasping hands, like children at play, Omega and Thalma approached +the lake. They glided over the ground, merely touching their feet to the +highest points, and finally stopped with their feet in the warm, still +water. + +Omega ran his cupped hand through the water, then drank eagerly. + +"It is good," he said in a low, musical voice. "And there is much of it. +Here we may live a long time." + +Thalma laughed with sheer joy, her large, red-rimmed eyes aglow with +mother light and love. + +"I am glad," she cried. "I know that Alpha will be happy here." + +"It is so, my love, and--" + +Omega checked and stared out over the glassy lake. A spot in its center +was stirring uneasily. Great bubbles rose to the surface and eddied to +one side, then suddenly huge cascades of water shot into the air as if +ejected by subterraneous pressure. As they stared in silent astonishment +the commotion suddenly ceased and the surface of the lake became as +tranquil as before. + +"There is volcanic action out there," said Omega fearfully. "At any time +the ground may open and engulf the lake in a pit of fire. But no, that +cannot be," he added, staring at Thalma with an odd light in his eyes. +For he suddenly recalled that no volcanic action or earth tremor had +disturbed the surface crust for ages. + +"What is it, Omega?" she whispered in accents of awe. + +"Nothing to fear, my dear, I am sure," he replied, averting his eyes. +"Likely some fissure in the rock has suddenly opened." + +And then he embraced her in the joy of new-found life. For long ages +mind had communicated with mind by telepathic waves, speech being used +for its cheer and companionship. + +"We will make ready for Alpha," said Omega joyfully. "In very truth he +may be able to carry on. Moisture may return to earth, and it is more +likely to return here than elsewhere. Remember what the Mirror showed +last week over the Sahara plains--the makings of a cloud!" + +They cheered each other by this remembrance how, just before they had +consumed the last of the water in their recent home and buried the last +of their neighbors and friends, the reflecting Mirror had brought a view +of a few stray wisps of vapor above the Great Sahara which once had been +reclaimed by man, where teeming millions in by-gone ages had lived their +lives. + +"The inclination of the earth's axis is changing as we know," he went on +hopefully as they turned back toward the ship. "The moisture may come +back." + +His was the voice of hope but not of conviction. Hope, planted in man's +soul in the beginning, still burned brightly in these last stout +hearts. + +Alpha was still unborn. Omega and Thalma had willed a male child. In him +was to be the beginning of a new race which they hoped with the aid of +science would repeople the earth. Hence his name, the first letter of +the Greek alphabet, of which "omega" is the last. + +"I am afraid, my love," said Thalma, looking back over her shoulder at +the placid lake. "I wonder what heaved the water about that way." + +"Don't worry about it, my dear," he said as they paused beneath the ship +and he put his arm protectingly about her. "As I have said, it probably +was the shifting of a rock on the bed of the lake. It is nothing to +worry about, and I feel that we have nothing to fear for a long, long +time. And we have so much joy to look forward to. Remember Alpha is +coming, and think of his glorious future! Think of his changing all +this!" And he swept his hand toward the grim, gray hills. "Just think of +again gardenizing the world!" + + * * * * * + +It was indeed a dreary view upon which they gazed. On every side, upon +the mountains and hills, over salt-encrusted plains and upon the rocks, +were the skeletons and shells of departed life. Fossils of the animal +and the vegetable kingdoms greeted one on every hand. Great fronds of +palms of the deep, draped with weird remains of marine life long +extinct, stood gaunt and desolate and rust-covered in the hollows and on +the hills. Long tresses of sea weed and moss, now crisp and dead as +desert sands, still clung in wreaths and festoons to rock and tree and +plant just as they had done in that far-off age, when washed by the +waters of the sea. Great forests of coral, once white and pink and red +with teeming life but now drab and dead, still thrust their arms upward, +their former beauty covered and distorted by the dust of the ages. +Whales and sharks and serpents and fish of divers species and sizes, +together with great eels and monsters of the deep, lay thickly over the +land, their mummified remains shriveled by the intense heat, their +ghastliness softened by the ashes of the years. + +Millions of ages had rolled away since the struggle began--the battle of +life on earth against the encroachments of death. And now death stalked +everywhere, grinning with malicious triumph, for he had but one more +battle to fight. Already his grisly clutch was closing on the standard +of victory. Man had mastered life but he had not conquered death. With +the magic wand of science he had reached out into space and viewed the +life of far-off worlds. He had routed superstition and fear and +selfishness. He had banished disease and learned all nature's secrets; +had even visited other worlds and had come to know and understand his +God, but still death had marched grimly on. For even the abysmal moment +of creation had marked the world for his prey. Slowly but surely death +had closed his cold hands about the earth. The sun flung forth his hot +rays and drew more and more of the earth's moisture and dissipated it in +space. Gradually the forests vanished and then the streams and lakes +dwindled and disappeared. By this time the atmosphere had thinned almost +imperceptibly--and only by the aid of his scientific instruments had man +been able to detect its thinning. Less and less rain fell, and finally +even the ice-caps about the poles trickled away. Cold and gaunt and +shadowy those regions lay silent and lifeless throughout the long +nights, and loomed like gray ghosts in the hushed light of the summer. +The sun blazed on relentlessly and the shores of the seven seas receded +age after age, but with his science and his machines man had doggedly +followed the retreating waters, husbanded and harnessed them and thus +retained his grip on life. + +But now at last life on earth had come to its final battlefield. The +plans of the battle were sharply drawn, but there could be no doubt of +the issue. No one knew this better than Omega, for the sun shone on with +undiminished power. Yet the rotation of the earth had slackened until +twenty-five hours constituted a day, while the year was 379 days and a +fraction in length. Man, gradually adjusting himself to the new +conditions and environment, had triumphed even in the face of a losing +fight. For he had learned to smile into the hollow sockets of death, to +laugh at the empty promises of life. + + * * * * * + +Back in their ship Omega and Thalma gazed out over the dead world, where +the salt crystals gleamed and sparkled in the sunshine. + +"Will all this ever become green again and full of joy and life?" asked +Thalma wearily. + +"Why not?" asked Omega. "Although the race has come to its last stand, +water is here and before it is gone who knows what may happen?" + +Omega spoke only to please his wife, for well he knew in his heart that +the star of hope had forever set. And always he was thinking of that +commotion in the waters of the lake. What could have caused it? What did +it portend? He was sure that the answer was to be one of tragedy. + +"We know that for uncounted ages the world was green and beautiful, was +vibrant with life and joy," he went on. "And why may it not be so again, +even though now it is garbed in the clothes of the sepulchre? Let us +trust in the power of our son." + +Thalma did not answer, and Omega, seeing that she was terribly +depressed, fell silent. So they sat in their great airship, strangely +dejected despite the close proximity of the life-giving water, while the +sun flamed through the cloudless sky and set in a crimson flood beyond +the lifeless plains. Night fell but still they sat brooding. The stars +shone out in the purple heavens, but they noticed not their glory. The +ship was wrapped in an awful silence. No night wind whispered its +message nor warmed the cold, desolate earth, stretching down from the +poles, nor cooled the hot wastes about the equator. The naked mountains +rose stark and forbidding into the sky, which hung like a great, +bejeweled bowl over the sun-scorched plains, where the dust of many ages +lay undisturbed. The shadows lay deep and dark over the valleys and +among the streets of cities dead and silent for many ages, and searched +out deep chasms which when the world was young had felt the surge of the +restless seas. No form of life winged its way through the darkness and +called to its mate. No beast of prey rent the air with its challenge. No +insect chirped. No slimy shape crawled over the rocks. Dark and solemn, +mysterious and still, the earth sped on through the night. + + * * * * * + +Morning found them in much better spirits. Over their breakfast, which +consisted almost wholly of food in tablet form, they discussed their +plans. After which they went to the lookout in the bow of the ship and +gazed out at the gray world. There was no change. The same +heart-breaking monotony of death confronted them. But despite it all +they finally smiled into each other's eyes. + +"It is home," said Omega proudly. "The last home we shall ever know." + +"My God, look!" suddenly gasped Thalma, clutching his arm and pointing a +trembling finger toward the lake. "What--is that?" + +Following her gesture he stared in terror and stupefaction. Rising above +the center of the lake where the day before they had beheld the agitated +waters, was an enormous, scale-covered neck surmounted by a long, +snake-like head whose round, red eyes were sheltered beneath black, +horny hoods. The horrible creature's head was swaying back and forth as +its black tongue darted in and out between wide-open jaws displaying +single rows of sharp teeth. Fully fifteen feet above the lake the awful +eyes looked toward the land. And as the neck moved in unison with the +swaying head the scales seemed to slide under and over one another a +perfect armor for the neck. + +"A plesiosaurian!" exclaimed Omega, leveling his glasses at the beast. +"No--how can that be?" he added in bewilderment. "Those monsters were +supposed to be extinct ages ago. And they had a smooth skin, while this +thing has scales, like those of a brontosaurus, which was really a land +animal. This must be a cross between the two that through the process of +evolution has been developed. Anyway it is the last of the species and +it has come here--to die." + +"Like us it has followed the water and come here to die," said Thalma as +she also leveled glasses. + +For several minutes they watched the swaying head which every little +while twisted from side to side, as the blazing eyes seemed to be +searching for prey, while a whitish saliva dripped from the jaws. The +body of the beast, which they knew to be enormous, was hidden beneath +the water, but the agitation on the surface showed that powerful feet +and legs were stirring. + +"Yes, it has come here to die," repeated Omega, "to fight for the last +drop of earth's water. It now has possession of the lake, and unless we +kill it, it will kill us or drive us away." + +Almost with the words Omega seized an atomic gun and pointed it at the +brute's head. But before he could sight the weapon and pull the trigger +the monster, as though sensing danger, suddenly jerked down its head and +a moment later it had disappeared beneath the surface. + +"It has gone!" cried Thalma. She was trembling as with a chill, and her +eyes were wide with terror. + +"It will appear again," said Omega, "and then we will kill it, for the +water belongs to man. Doubtless that huge beast is all that remains of +life on earth save ourselves. To-night while you sleep here in the ship, +I will take a gun, take position behind a rock on the shore of the lake +and watch for its appearance. I think shortly after nightfall when the +rocks are cool it leaves the water and comes on land in a vain search +for food, for beyond a doubt it has devoured everything in the lake, +save marine mosses and the like. Yet as it has survived all contemporary +life except man, it may live for centuries unless we destroy it." + +"But there are not centuries of water out there," Thalma said. "As to +your hunting this monster alone, I will not hear of it. I shall go with +you. Together we will destroy this menace of our new home." + + * * * * * + +All Omega's eloquence could not dissuade her. So, after the sun had set +and the dry cold had chilled the hot rocks, they set out along the shore +of the lake and looked eagerly out over the still water for a sight of +their enemy. Nothing disturbed the silvery surface of the water. +Crouching behind a mass of coral they waited, but throughout the long, +still night they watched without reward, for nothing moved within their +range of vision. The stars, wonderfully large and brilliant in that +rarefied atmosphere, seemed to be the only link between them and the +unknown. Only their own hurried breathing and the muffled thumps of +their wildly beating hearts broke the silence. And as the sun rose again +above the dead plains, weary and discouraged they returned to the ship. + +While keeping up a bold front for Thalma's sake, Omega's heart was sad, +for he well knew that unless they could vanquish that marine monster +they were doomed. That such a dreadful creature had come to them from +the mists of antiquity, as it were, was incredible. Yet he had seen it, +Thalma had seen it, and it resembled some of the sea-monsters he had +heard of in the past. They could not doubt its existence and must +prepare for the worst. + +Omega's name had been conferred on him by an ironical whim of fate. When +he was born there were still many people on earth inhabiting the low +valleys of the Pacific's floor where much water still remained. But the +droughts had increased with the years, and before Omega had reached +middle-life all rain had ceased to fall. The atmosphere became so rare, +even near the ground, that it was difficult for the people with the aid +of their machines to draw sufficient oxygen and nitrogen from it to +prepare the food which had been man's principal sustenance for ages. + +Gradually the weaker peoples had succumbed. But the remnants of the +nations gathered about the receding waters, all foreseeing the end, but +all determined to defer it as long as possible. There was no recourse. +For ages before Omega was born the nations, knowing that the earth was +drying up, had fought one another for the privilege of migrating to +another planet to fight its inhabitants for its possession. The battle +had been so bitterly contested that two-thirds of the combatants were +slain. By the aid of their space-cars the victors colonized other +planets in our solar system leaving the vanquished on earth to shift for +themselves. There was nothing for them to do but to fight on and await +the end, for no space-car that man had ever devised was able to +penetrate the cold, far-reaches of space. Only among the family of our +own sun could he navigate his ships. And now, like the earth, every +member of that once glorious family was dead or dying. For millions of +years, Mars, his ruddy glow gone forever, had rolled through space, the +tomb of a mighty civilization. The ashes of Venus were growing cold. +Life on Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn already was in the throes of +dissolution, and the cold, barren wastes of Uranus and Neptune always +had forbidden man. + +So it seemed that the name, Omega, had been fittingly bestowed. More +than ever the stark truth made him shudder with apprehension, and he +felt that only the coming of Alpha would give him strength to carry on. + +"Now we must make ready for Alpha," said Omega, even while thoughts of +the sea-monster chilled his heart. "We will make our servants prepare +the way. Here in this valley must be born a new race of men. Life must +come from death. Come, Thalma." + + * * * * * + +She smiled back at him, reassured by his confident manner, and together +they entered a lower compartment of the ship. This compartment contained +the servants of which Omega had spoken--divers machinery and other +marvels of man's construction. Omega touched several buttons and a +section of the ship's hull rolled aside. He pressed other buttons and +whirled wheels. Then great sections of mirror slid out into the air and +without apparent direction or control they ranged themselves far up on a +steep hillside. Yet all were under perfect control. With invisible, +atomic rays Omega made all do his bidding. For countless centuries man +had mastered the atom, divided it, harnessed its electrons. Following +the discoveries of the great French scientist, Becquerel, man had +learned that the potential energy of all atoms--especially that of +radium--is almost limitless. And as the disintegration of the atom +carries an electrical discharge, man had learned to control this energy. +Omega's machines, utilizing atoms from everywhere, even the ether, split +them by radio-activity through electromagnetic waves, and utilized the +energy of their electrons which always move in fixed orbits. There being +forty radio-active substances, Omega took advantage of them all, and +equalizing the atomic weight of the atoms--whether those around a +hydrogen nucleus or a helium nucleus--he broke the atoms down and +directed the charges of their electrons. Then his motors amplified the +discharges and, through the medium of an electric current, projected +them in the form of invisible atomic rays which he could control and +direct against any object and sustain and move at will by means of +oscillating currents. + +Soon upon the hillside, perfectly arranged and adjusted, appeared a +giant, parabolic, refracting mirror with which he could obtain a view of +any portion of the earth's surface by sending vibrating currents around +the world and reproducing impressions already recorded on the ether, on +the surface of the mirror. And beneath its center was a receiver, +through which he might have heard the minutest sound around the world, +had there been any to hear. + +The small, atomic motors--which drew their energy both from hydrogen +nuclei, the ether of space and the radio-active substances of all +metals--now were placed on the hillside near the great mirror. There +motors were capable of creating and focusing light, without bulb or +other container, whenever and wherever needed. All were operated with +scarcely any effort by Omega. + +In a measure it seemed strange that the Greek alphabet and all the +classics of the ancients had survived antiquity. But the latest +inventions of man explained it all. For man with his machines had +reached far back into the shadowy past and proved the immortality of all +thought and action. All the records of history, all the triumphs and +defeats, the joys and sorrows and aspirations of humanity, came out of +the past and marched across the screen of his historical recorder. As +nothing is ever lost, all sounds and impressions occurring on earth +since the dawn of its creation, being already impressed on the sensitive +plastic and all-pervading ether, the same as a photograph is recorded on +its film or plate, man had developed a machine for drawing on these +impressions until at will the history of the world was before him. Even +the varied life of the ancients came out of the past. Saints and +sinners, slaves and masters mingled. Confucius sat before him in +humility; Guatama counseled his followers to be humble; Christ died upon +the cross. Warriors and statesmen shouted their triumphs and bewailed +their defeats. Philosophers expounded their wisdom and Socrates drank +the hemlock. Hannibal and Caesar and Alexander fought their battles, +and Napoleon marched gory and unafraid from Austerlitz to Waterloo. All +came back at the call of Omega's science. + + * * * * * + +As has been stated it was a giant craft on which Omega and Thalma had +come to this last retreat of man. Within its interior were all the +latest marvels of man's ingenuity and skill. These instruments of almost +supernatural power not only reached back into the past but also +penetrated the future. There was a great atomic-electric motor used in +creating and controlling climate as long as there was any to control. +Sending forth electromagnetic waves it massed and directed the +atmospheric pressure, sending heat waves here, cold ones there, thus +causing droughts and rainfall at will. But now, as with the case of most +of the other machines, Omega needed it no longer. He kept it because it +linked him with the joy of the past. Besides, there was the mind-control +appliance by whose aid man's mind might visit other worlds. This was +done through the development of the subconscious and the discipline of +the will. But Omega was weary of these pilgrimages, because his body +could not perform those far-off flights. As time went on he realized +that the earth was his natural home. Even the earth's neighbors, dead +and dying, offered him no haven. + +Yes, Omega and Thalma had garnered the gist of the world's treasures +before commencing this last trek. Gold and precious stones were common +objects to them, because for countless ages man had made them at will, +but around those they had brought clustered sacred memories of loved +ones gone before. The biological machine in the chemical laboratory of +the ship--the machine that brought forth life from nature's bountiful +storehouse--was of little use now that both atmosphere and moisture were +nearly gone. Yet Omega cherished this machine, and aside from its +associations with the past, it held for him a fascination that he could +not understand. + +Having set the Mirror and other mechanical servants in position, Omega +and Thalma returned to the ship, and slept throughout the day, for with +the descending sun they must again go forth to hunt that scaly demon +which had taken possession of the earth's last water. + +The night was moonless, but the bright starlight brought all objects +into plain relief against the dark rocks. Taking position on the slope +several rods above the beach, Omega and Thalma watched the lake eagerly, +but nothing disturbed its mirror-like surface. As on the preceding +night the awful silence appalled them--even though they were accustomed +to the vast solitude. It was so calm and still, so full of death and +mystery, that it seemed they must cry out in the agony of their +emotions. As the very silence was crushing their spirits so the +knowledge that only one form of life on earth stood between them and the +water to which their last hope clung, was maddening. How they longed to +battle the hideous monster! But the hours dragged on with nothing to +disturb the dead, heart-breaking silence. At last the Great Dipper had +swung so far around that dawn appeared. Yet there had been not a ripple +on the lake. Omega concluded that his guess was wrong--the beast did not +leave the water at night to search for food. Perhaps it had learned the +futility of such a search in a dead, dust-covered world. + + * * * * * + +Wearied by their long and fruitless vigil they must have dozed, for +suddenly Omega, who sat but a yard or two from Thalma, was aroused by a +padded footfall and the exhalations of a noisome breath. Looking up he +was horrified to see the monster towering above him, its head swaying +gently to and fro, as its great, awkward feet sent it lunging forward +and backward for many feet, its spotted, scale-covered body trailed over +the rocks. By suddenly rounding the shoulder of the rock, sheltering +Omega and Thalma, its head held high, it seemed not to have seen the two +humans, for its terrible unblinking eyes were fixed ahead on the water. +However, Omega, paralyzed with fear and astonishment, and being directly +in the beast's path, believed that his hour had come. This was to be the +end of all his plans--to be crushed by the enormous weight of the +monster which challenged his right to live. But in that tense moment +when he thought that it was all over, the lithe form of Thalma reached +his side and in a frenzy of terror pulled him away. But even then the +sloping belly of the onrushing beast tore him from her frail hands and +dashed him against the rock. + +While he lay there stunned and unable to move, Thalma discharged her +weapon at the monster. Three times she fired in quick succession but the +shots went wild, and in another moment the great brute struck the water +with a resounding splash and disappeared from view. For a few minutes a +trail of surface bubbles marked its rapid course toward the lake's +center, then all was motionless and still as before. + +"Are you hurt, Omega?" Thalma cried anxiously, kneeling by his side. + +"Just shaken up a bit," he returned, sitting up with an effort. "Great +hunters are we," he went on with a laugh. "We almost allowed the game to +catch the hunters! Well, let's go back to the ship. We'll get him next +time." + +But their narrow escape had shaken their nerve. All day long they +remained safely in the ship and kept their guns trained on the lake +hoping that the beast would show himself. How or when it had left the +lake they could not surmise, but that it was more formidable than they +had thought now seemed certain, and Omega concluded to bring science to +his aid. In this way he was sure that he would soon exterminate the +monster. + +So the next day he lay a cable carrying a high voltage all around the +lake and connected it with traps of various designs both in the water +and on the land. No more would they risk their lives hunting the beast +in the open after nightfall. + +The hot, still days that followed were anxious ones for these last +children of life. Not a trap was sprung. The beast did not drag his +slimy body and tail across the heavily charged cable. The last of his +kind, fighting the last battle of existence, it seemed that nature had +endowed him with uncanny cunning. There was the life-giving water for +whose possession no human kind challenged them, but this enemy was more +terrible than any man, savage or civilized whom the earth had ever +known. + + * * * * * + +During these anxious, watchful days Omega and Thalma went often to the +Mirror and gazed into it in search of vapor clouds. And more than once +those gossamer-like formations appeared over different parts of the +world to gladden their hearts only to fade away before their vision. The +reflections of those embryo clouds became less frequent as the days wore +on. Omega and Thalma knew that they had no right to hope for the return +of water vapor. Their instruments, so finely attuned as to appear +endowed with intelligence, the records of the past and their own common +sense told them that. But nature and life in the upper reaches of the +air were dying as hard as their own hope. They knew that the aerial +manifestations they witnessed were but symptoms of the death struggle. +And yet a real cloud, dark and pregnant with moisture, suddenly appeared +in the Mirror. Consulting the chart they saw that it was hovering over a +great land of plain and mountains which formerly had been a part of the +United States of America. + +"We will go and examine this gift from heaven," said Omega. "It moves +over a once beautiful land, which the voices of history tell us, +harbored a race of the free millions of years ago." + +"Yes, we will go," agreed Thalma. "It may be after all that Alpha will +first see the light far from this dreadful hollow and--and--that monster +out there in the lake." + +Omega hung his head. Well he knew that the presence of the monster was +slowly killing his beloved. She complained not, but her dreams were +disturbed with frightful visions, and often Omega awakened to find her +at a window staring out over the lake with terror-stricken eyes. + +This new cloud was thousands of miles to the east but with fond +anticipations they entered the ship and plunged toward it. But although +they reached the spot in one hour, the last remnant of vapor dissolved +before their eyes, and they turned sadly homeward, once more beaten by +the inexorable decrees of fate. + +So having decided at last that this deep valley must remain their home +forever, Omega looked about for a suitable building site, for although +the ship was safe and comfortable they longed for a home on the earth. +But the ever present menace of the sea-monster saddened them and filled +them with misgivings, despite the fact that Omega could guard the +cottage electrically. But Omega wondered whether electric safeguards +would keep this creature from coming some night to the cottage and +sticking his loathsome head in at door or window. Omega shuddered at the +thought, but refrained from mentioning such a possibility to Thalma. + +Having selected a site under the branches of a great coral tree standing +within the shade of an overhanging rock, Omega erected a cottage. It +took him but a few days to build and furnish this building from supplies +on the ship. It was complete in every feature, even to running water +from the lake. Grass was brought from the lake and a lawn laid out about +the cottage in the shadows of the rock. The grass was kept watered for +Thalma's sake, even though the water was needed for other purposes and +the lake was diminishing steadily. But she was sacred in his eyes--she +the last mother the old earth ever was to know. + +The interior of the cottage was embellished like a palace, for treasures +were brought from the airship to grace its walls. The richest rugs, +curtains, tapestries and silks the world had ever known were there for +Thalma's pleasure and comfort. Paintings of green verdure, of forests +and plains of waving grass, of tumbling mountain streams and cool, +placid lakes, Omega drew from the young days of the earth. The power to +portray nature's moods and beauties had increased in many men with the +passing of time. He placed these scenes before Thalma's couch that their +cool and inspiring presence might comfort her while she awaited the +coming of the child. + + * * * * * + +One morning being weary of the stark monotony of the valley, whose +eastern wall was distant many miles, Omega and Thalma determined to +scale the heights above. For sometimes in the sinister aspect of the +chasm's walls, it seemed that the rocks would close together and crush +out their lives. They concluded not to take the air-car, but to go on a +rambling picnic with the ever present hope that they might discover +another oasis of life. + +Hand in hand they rose into the air, up and up for miles past frowning +cliffs and dark caverns, yawning like grinning skulls above the outposts +of death. There was no visible effort in their flight. They but took +advantage of nature's laws which man had long understood. At last on the +highest peak they paused to rest on a dust-covered rock. + +The red sun rose above the cheerless horizon and blazed on them from a +deep azure sky slashed across by bars of purple and gold. More than nine +miles beneath them spread the deep gorge, where nestled their little +home, looking like a doll-house, and above it shone the great, silver +ship. The lake shone like a speck of silver on the drab rocks. They +gazed down upon it in an attitude of worship, for it alone in all that +vast realm of peaks and plains and valleys symbolized life. Then +suddenly a dark speck appeared on the surface of the lake. Omega looked +at Thalma apprehensively, for well he knew the meaning of that speck. +Her face was pale and drawn, and she clung to Omega as they pointed +their glasses at the water. + +The monster was again disporting himself. He threshed the water into +foam with his long, sinuous body, while his head wagged and his terrible +eyes looked toward the land. It was the first sight they had had of him +since the night he almost killed Omega. + +"Look!" breathed Thalma, "it is coming ashore. Oh, I did hope that it +was dead!" And trembling violently she clung closer to her lord. + +"Never mind, dear," consoled Omega as he watched the great beast waddle +toward the shore. "We will get him this time," he went on exultingly. +"Watch--he is going to get into the trap!" + +But they were again doomed to disappointment. Within a few rods of the +shore, with its great, spotted body nearly all out of the water, the +monster stopped, lifted its head and looked slowly around in every +direction. Then apparently scenting danger, it turned, floundered back +to the center of the lake and submerged. + +"I--I--am afraid," shuddered Thalma. + +"There is nothing to fear," reassured Omega. "The beast cannot get to +our home, and one of these days he will either get caught in a trap or +we will get a shot at him." + +Although Omega spoke bravely he was really worried about the beast and +the influence it was having on Thalma. He realized that he must at once +devise a better method of extermination. Even though he did not fear it +so much personally its presence was disturbing, and it was daily +absorbing so much water needful for themselves. + + * * * * * + +This great gash in the earth's crust stretching for many miles below +them had been the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean when its blue waves +still lapped the shores of continents, and that little lake, far down in +the earth's bosom, was the pitiful remainder of that once mighty sea. +Far to the north-west, showing plainly against the sky in the focus of +their binoculars, were great ridges of mountain and table land, rising +gaunt and desolate from the ancient bed of the sea--the site of the +ancient empire of Japan. Round about them on every hand were the mute +remains of marine life, for the spot where they sat had been far below +the surface of the sea. Silent, mysterious, hopeless and dreary, the +prospect appalled even their stout hearts. How they yearned for the +sight of some living thing there upon those high peaks. Silence supreme +and dreadful, in which even their voices, hushed and tremulous, sounded +profane, cowed them by its unending solemnity and the relentless grip. +Gray and nude save for their pall of dust the mountains rose into the +sky, eternal in their ghostly majesty. And the dark valleys between with +their gray lips of death looked like the gaping mouths of hell. + +"Death! death! eternal and triumphant death, thou art everywhere!" cried +Omega, springing up and gazing with hopeless eyes about over the +desolation. + +Thalma rose and touched his arm. A smile of faith and confidence shone +on her face. He looked at her in wonder. + +"Nay, death is not everywhere," she reproved gently. "Remember Alpha, +our son. In him life does and will live again." + +"Forgive me, Thalma," said Omega, taking her in his arms. "You speak +truly. With your loyalty and courage I know we will win." + +And so as it had always been from the beginning of time, even so in +these last days it took woman's love and devotion to sustain man. + +Now Omega gazed around on the abode of death with an expression of +disdain. He challenged it and dared it to do its worst. Life still +triumphed, for he had Thalma and Alpha was coming soon. He would not +surrender. He would fight the dark forces of death--even that horrible +monster down there in the lake--and conquer them all. He would again +'gardenize' the world. The stubborn power of hope, that heritage from +his atavistic ancestors, was surging through his blood. + +"We will change all this," he went on, waving his hand toward the far +rim of the sky. "We are still masters of life. But now let us descend," +he added in answer to her approving smile. + +So saying again hand in hand they stepped off into space and floated +easily down toward their last home. + +Omega knew that his first important task was to get rid of the beast. +The fear-haunted expression in Thalma's eyes brooked no delay. +Accordingly they went to the ship, and each taking a small sack they +filled them with depth bombs. Thus armed they floated out over the lake +in quest of their enemy. But although quite shallow the water was opaque +for the most part being discolored by vegetable matter stirred up by the +monster, and the transparent portions were too deep for them to see +bottom. Long and carefully they searched at a safe distance above the +water, but no sight of the beast could be seen. Then hoping that a +chance shot might reach and destroy him they passed to and fro over the +lake's center and dropped their bombs. Great columns of water were sent +high in air deluging them with spray. That was all. Still, they had no +way of knowing whether a bomb had struck home. In spots the water was so +violently agitated as to suggest that the monster writhed in a death +struggle. But at last all became as quiet as before. + + * * * * * + +It now occurred to Omega to surround the lake with an invisible wall of +electricity of such power as to electrocute the beast should he attempt +to go over or through it. This was accomplished by increasing the power +of his motors and by automatic controls projecting a high voltage +potential through the air around the lake. And then in addition to other +protective appliances already installed Omega put a similar wall about +the cottage, much to Thalma's relief and delight. + +One night they had retired early, Thalma being weary and her time but a +few weeks away. To the sweet strain of music which had been in the air +for ages, they soon fell asleep. How long he had slept Omega could never +guess, but he was awakened suddenly. He sat up bewildered and stared +into the darkness, because for some reason all lamps were out. And then +he became aware of a peculiar sound coming from afar. It was a queer +noise combining the roar of the surf upon a rock-bound coast, the sigh +of the night wind through a forest and the rumble of thunder. Suddenly +it seemed to him that earth and cottage were trembling, and the walls of +the room swayed and buckled as though smitten by a great wind. + +Frantically he rubbed his eyes, convinced that it was all a dream. But +the noise drew nearer, thundered in his ears. In terror he got to his +feet, tried to cry out. The words froze on his lips, for just then the +wall before him crashed in as though struck by an avalanche. Then came a +grinding, splitting jumble of sounds, the solid ground shook under the +passage of some mighty force which increased for a moment followed by a +piercing scream. + +Frozen with horror Omega stared around the wrecked room whose tottering +walls seemed about to fall upon him. Where was Thalma? In a frenzy he +stared into the darkness, felt over the couch. She was gone! + +In some way he got outside and there in the direction of the lake he saw +the monster, its great bulk looming high above the ground, its head +swaying with the swing of its legs as it lumbered along. And, merciful +God--held in the grip of the monster's jaws was Thalma! + +The awful sight galvanized Omega to action. With a hoarse scream he +launched himself at the beast, passed rapidly through the air above the +monster and reached out for his wife. Scream after scream rent the still +air as he pressed forward and the beast lurched on in its haste to reach +the lake with its prey. But now Omega was close to his beloved, and he +reached out to grasp her as once more he screamed right into the ears of +his enemy. Then perhaps in sheer terror at the audacity of man, the +great jaws of the monster relaxed and Thalma fell limp and unconscious +to the ground. + +As the beast lumbered on Omega knelt by her side. + +"Thank God," he breathed, "she lives!" + +Then he took her in his arms and turned back to the ruined home just as +a great splash informed him that once more the monster had entered his +element to challenge them for its possession. + + * * * * * + +Thalma soon revived, but she clung to Omega and gazed about fearfully. +How she had wandered out of doors and had been snapped up by the beast +she could not tell, but Omega said that she must have been walking in +her sleep. They went at once to the ship and there spent the remainder +of the night. + +Every light, including those about the Mirror, had been extinguished by +the beast breaking the circuit. Yet it appeared that the latter's +passage through the electric wall had caused no harm. Omega explained +that likely its bony scales had acted as an insulator against the action +of the invisible wall. + +While the cottage was being repaired they remained on the ship. But +despite their recent harrowing experience, they went back to the cottage +when the repairs were complete. It was more home-like than the ship, and +Thalma had learned to love it, for it was to be the cradle of a new +race. But before they again took up their residence there Omega had +erected a high fence around the cottage yard. This fence was built of +heavy cables securely fastened to huge posts, and each cable carried an +electric charge of 75,000 volts. Omega was confident that the beast +could never break through. His confidence was shared by Thalma, but as +an additional precaution she suggested that Omega place a similar fence +about the lake. He did so, and when the last cable was in place they +stood back and surveyed the work with satisfaction. + +"We have him now," exulted Omega. "He can never leave the lake alive, +much less reach the cottage. Despite his tough armor of scales this high +potential will penetrate to his vitals." + +"It is well," said Thalma as they turned away. + +As they neared the cottage they knew that a crisis was at hand. +Forgetting the dead world about them and subduing the fears that +sometimes clutched their hearts, they lived in the joy of anticipation +and made ready for the advent of a new soul. + +Night came down moonless and dark save for the light of the stars. In +the recesses of the rocks and in the bottoms of the valleys intense +darkness held sway. But the grounds and the home of Omega and Thalma +were ablaze with a thousand lamps, and on the near-by hillsides giant +searchlights, which seemed to have no basis, which were born in the +bosom of the air and blazed without visible cause, shot their rays into +the sky for miles. Yet the powerful lights about the cottage were so +tinted as to be restful to the eye. Thus silent and with clock-like +regularity the agents of Omega performed their functions. Man had +mastered all the elements of life. All were his friends and servants, +and none was his master save one--death. + +In a perfect setting and exactly at the time set for the event Alpha +came into the world, the child thrived from its first intake of earth's +air. + +Three weeks from birth Alpha partook of solid food in tablet form drawn +chiefly from gaseous sources. At two months his speech was perfect, and +at six months his education began. By glandular control Omega nurtured +both his body and his mind and developed them rapidly. Small wonder that +this child--the last to grace and bless the world--became his parent's +only joy and hope. They guarded him from all dangers, instructed him in +the great part he was to play in the world's future and set about to +conserve that element on which all depended--the waters of the lake. + + * * * * * + +But during all these long, hot days and frigid nights, the close +proximity of the monster cast a shadow over their souls, marred their +happiness by day and terrorized their dreams by night. Often, when the +sun beat down upon the lake, they saw his hideous head rise high above +the water and regard them with baleful eyes. Twice while at play Alpha +had seen him and had run screaming to the protection of his mother, who +had great difficulty in persuading him that there was no danger. This +seemed to be true, for the monster made no attempt to force the fence. +Endowed with more than the cunning of its remote progenitors, it seemed +to realize that it was trapped. Many nights Omega and Thalma, armed with +their ray guns and other implements of destruction, watched for the +beast to attempt to come on land. Sometimes he would raise his head and +look at them so long and steadily that icy chills ran along their spines +and their hands shook so that they could not sight their weapons and +therefore shot wild. Then the head would sink out of sight again. + +Secure as they felt against his horrible presence it finally began to +sap their courage. Besides, the lake fascinated Alpha, now but three +years old but large and strong. He loved to wander by its shore and +dabble in the water, but so long as the beast remained, an ever present +danger was in this play. Besides there was the fear that he might escape +the watchfulness of his parents and come in contact with one of the high +tension cables. + +And then Omega determined to try another plan--he would electrically +charge the water of the lake. He hoped that this would reach the monster +in his watery lair and kill him instantly. So he constructed two giant +magnets and placed one on each end of the lake. Then harnessing all the +electrical energy at his command he sent a tremendous current through +the water with high potential, alternating it at ten second intervals +for an hour. + +Two weeks later he watched for the carcass of the beast to rise. He felt +now that his problem was to get rid of it so that it would not pollute +the water, but it did not appear. + +With fear and trembling Omega observed that the water of the lake was +receding inch by inch. Then by chemical action on the coral beds and on +the rocks, he created a dense cloud and caused it to form over the lake, +thus in a measure protecting it from the sun's rays. But day by day, +despite the sheltering cloud, the water receded. Day after day Omega +moved his gauges hoping against hope that somehow and somewhere nature +would again awaken and bring water upon the earth. + +During all these days and months the monster did not raise its head +above the surface of the lake--Omega was certain of this, for had the +water been disturbed ever so little his water seismograph, as well as +his cameras, would have recorded it. The monster was dead at last and +they were profoundly thankful. They were the undisputed masters of the +earth's last water! Now Alpha could play about the shore and swim in the +shallow water in peace and safety. So the dangerous fence was removed. + + * * * * * + +Omega knew that in the beginning the Creator had made man master of his +own destiny. He had endowed him with reason and given the earth into his +keeping. Omega thoroughly understood the Ruling Power of the universe. +He read aright His commands, blazoned across the breasts of billions of +worlds, and by the same token he knew that humanity on earth was doomed. +Yet he was urged on by that unconquerable spirit which had made man king +of all. He set up his rain-making machinery with the smile of a +fatalist. For hundreds of miles its sinuous beams sprang into the sky, +writhed about like great, hungry serpents with their tremendous sucking +and receiving maws, then coiled back to earth bringing not a drop. But +one day the Mirror again showed small, faint clouds upon its surface. +They were scattered over various parts of the world and their presence +made Omega wonder. There appeared to be no reason for them. + +"I do not understand those clouds," he said to Thalma as he sat with her +and Alpha in the shade of the coral tree. "Perhaps there are hidden +places of moisture, that have escaped the receiving rays of this +mirror." + +"Let us go and see," exclaimed Thalma, her eyes agleam with a new hope. +"Let us make another voyage around the world. Alpha has never been far +from home." + +"That is so," he agreed. "We will go at once." + +So they entered the silver ship and sailed away over the hot, dry +wastes, on and on over the cities of antiquity. The ruins of New York, +London, Paris and other marts of the ancients were visited in their +melancholy quest for life. But even the sites of these cities were hard +to find. Only the tops of the tallest structures, such as the tip of the +Washington monument and the towers of office buildings stood above the +ashes and sands of centuries. But not even the shadow of a cloud was +seen. Still they sailed on--even skirted the dark wastes of the poles +and stopped in deep valleys to test for water. Twice around the +equatorial regions they voyaged in search of a new and better haven, but +in vain. The insistent cry for water burned in their souls and led them +back to the little lake--the last sop nature had to offer the remnant of +her children. + + * * * * * + +Although the days were still hot and blistering, the nights were cold, +ice often forming on the lake near the shore and lingering until touched +by the advancing sun. Omega understood, and again a cold fear clutched +his heart. Unless by some miracle of the heavens sufficient moisture +should come back to the earth, no human soul could long endure the heat +of the day and the freezing temperature of night. + +To still further conserve the precious water of the lake, Omega now +extended the folds of the cloud curtain down to its shores thus +completely enclosing it. And as this further reduced the evaporation to +a remarkable extent the hopes of Omega and Thalma took on new life. Here +they visioned Alpha and his children living and dying in peace, now that +the monster was no more. With the help of additional safeguards Omega +reckoned that the water might be made to last many more years, and, +before it could become wholly exhausted, some whim of nature might again +shower the earth with rain. + +Now to pass the time--for there was nothing to do except to direct the +appliances about them--this last trio of mortals loved to leave the +shelter of the cottage, now that they had nothing further to fear from +the sea-monster, when the westering sun was low, and ramble among the +shadows of the cliffs and commune with the past, until the chill of +night drove them indoors. Sometimes sitting there in the dusk Thalma and +Alpha would listen to Omega's rich voice as he recounted an epic story +in the life of long ago. So to-day seated together on a cliff above the +airship, they watched the sun descend. Thalma and Alpha had asked for a +story, but Omega refused. For some time he had sat silent, his great, +brilliant eyes on the flaming sun as it sank toward the rim of the +earth. A great loneliness had suddenly seized him. He recognized it as a +presentiment of disaster. It was beyond the analysis of reason, but for +the first time in his life he longed to hold back that sun. Somehow he +feared the advent of the night. It seemed to him that before the morning +light would again flood the earth a dire calamity would befall them. + +"Why so sad?" asked Thalma fearfully, and Alpha, at his father's knees, +looked up in wonder. + +"It is nothing," replied Omega with forced composure as he caressed the +boy. "Some foolish thoughts of mine. Now as it is getting chilly I think +we had better go down. Oh, how I dread this awful cold which is creeping +steadily and mercilessly over the world!" he added softly, his eyes +lingering on the sun. + +With her usual sweet smile Thalma agreed. So they rose and floated down. +When they reached the floor of the valley they paused and regarded the +cloud that screened the lake. + +"It does well," remarked Omega. "It will make the water last into the +years." + +"Yes, and all for our boy," said Thalma proudly. Alpha had left them and +was playing along the shore. + +"It is now time that a mate for him be on the way," went on Omega +wistfully. "He must have a sister, you know." + +"It is true," she agreed with a glad smile. + +Omega had spoken truly. Without a mate Alpha could not perpetuate the +race. And so it was arranged that before the rising of the morrow's sun +a new life should begin. + +Science had steadily advanced the span of life. When Alpha was born +Omega was two hundred years old, but that was only middle age. Thalma +was twenty-five years his junior. The human birth-rate had decreased +with the passing of the centuries and nature now demanded the most +exacting conditions for the propagation of the human species. Thalma at +her age could not afford to wait longer. Alpha's mate must be provided +forthwith. + +"Alpha wants to play a while before going in," Thalma continued +presently. "I will remain with him." + +"Very well, dear," said Omega. "I will go on and prepare dinner." + +So saying he set his face toward the cottage, but before he had taken a +dozen steps he was startled by a piercing scream from Thalma. He turned +swiftly, then stood paralyzed with terror and amazement. Out of the +cloud curtain surrounding the lake protruded the ugly scale-covered head +and neck of the monster he had believed dead! And the horrible, swaying +head was darting down toward the playing boy! The monster's jaws were +spread wide, its black tongue was leaping out and in like lightning, the +sickening saliva was dripping upon the sand, and its awful eyes were +blazing like coals. And then in a twinkling the huge jaws seized the +child, the head reared back, the jaws closed, stifling the lad's +screams, and it started to draw back into the cloud. + + * * * * * + +But, after the first onrush of horror, life came again to Omega's numbed +senses. He darted forward with a mad cry, and as he swung through the +air rather than ran, he seized a stone and hurled it at the brute's +head. His aim was true and the stone struck the great brute on the bony +hood above the right eye. It did not harm, but it maddened the monster. +Hissing horribly it swung Alpha high in the air and with a fling dashed +him down upon the rocks. Then with a hoarse bellow it turned upon Omega. +With its first forward lunge it seemed about to crush Thalma, who was +between it and its intended victim. But the sight of her mangled child +and the danger to her lord roused all the latent fury and courage in her +soul and made of her a fighting demon. Like Omega she grabbed the first +weapon at hand--a stone the size of a man's fist--and with the hot +breath of the monster in her face she hurled the stone with all her +strength straight into the red, gaping mouth. + +With a blood-curdling scream the brute halted, reared backward, then ran +its head back and forth over the rocks. Its loathsome body threshed +about in the lake, throwing water far up on the beach. Then in its +contortions it wallowed up out of the lake as it swung its terrible head +about in agony, all the while hissing its challenge. + +Terror-stricken, unable to move, Omega and Thalma watched it and could +not understand its writhings. But as it continued to writhe and groan +they understood at last--the stone had lodged firmly in its throat and +was choking it to death. + +Then they sprang to Alpha's side. Omega gathered him up in his arms, but +he saw with one agonized glance that he was dead. His skull was crushed +and it appeared that every bone in his body was broken. + +Omega's heart was bursting, but he did not cry out. Holding the crushed +body of his son, he raised his eyes to that God who throughout the ages +had hidden His face from man, and smiled a brave smile of humility and +resignation. While Thalma, understanding all, looked on dumb and +dry-eyed. + +Leaving the monster floundering about in its death agony, they took +their beloved son to the cottage and there injected those chemicals +which would forever arrest decay. Then they placed him on his cot that +he might be with them to the end of life. It was then that Thalma, +broken in spirit, found refuge and relief in tears which have always +been woman's solace and savior. + +And Omega, gazing out toward the lake, saw that the monster lay still. +They had won their long battle, but at an awful cost. Omega realized +that the gigantic creature, probably deep in a water cavern, had been +only stunned by the electric charges. + + * * * * * + +Thalma refused to be comforted. Day after day she wept above the +lifeless form of her boy. All Omega's words of consolation, all his +reasoning and faith in the wisdom and justice of all things, failed to +soothe her torn heart. Nor did the promise of another child, rouse her +from her sorrow. She steadfastly refused to consider another child. Life +had lost its last hold on her soul, and now she was ready to surrender +to that cruel fate which had given them mirages of promise and mocked +their misery. In vain Omega explained that it was their duty to fight +on; that they, the last of a once noble race, must not show the white +feather of cowardice. He mentioned the great consolation they had of +having their beloved son ever near them, though lifeless. But Thalma +longed for the presence of the soul, for those words of endearment and +love that had thrilled her mother heart. + +Before the embalmment it would have been possible for Omega to restore +life to his boy. Man had mastered all the secrets of biology and life. +He could have mended the broken bones and tissues, revitalized the heart +and lungs and cleared the brain. Alpha would have walked with them +again. But his personality would not have been there. That mysterious +something, men call the soul, had fled forever, and so far mankind had +not been able to create its counterpart. To have brought life again to +Alpha would have been a travesty on the brilliant mind they had known. +Omega recalled many pathetic examples of such resuscitation where the +living had walked in death. + +Omega foresaw the end, but he smiled in the face of it all. He was the +same kind and loving companion Thalma had always known, her every want +his command and law. But no more she realized its inspiration and love. +He seldom left her side any more, but sometimes overcome with sorrow he +would soar up above the peaks and commune alone with the past. + +So to-day he had risen higher than usual. The red sun beat upon his body +as he hovered in the hot air, his eyes fixed on the distant sky line. He +gazed like a famished animal, for it seemed to him that at last a cloud +must appear above that hopeless shore of land and sky and bring renewed +life to him and his. Yet he fully realized the impossibility of such a +thing. Slowly his great, dark eyes roved around the horizon. He loathed +its dreary monotony, and still it fascinated him. Beyond that dead line +of land and sky lay nothing but ghastly death. His many voyages in the +airship and the reflecting Mirror told him that, but still he hoped on. + +When at last he glided down to the cottage the sun was low. Having +registered the time in his mind when he left Thalma--for countless +generations man had dispensed with time-keeping devices--he realized +that he had been gone just three hours. Reproaching himself for his +negligence he entered the doorway, then stared aghast. + +Upon Thalma's wide couch facing a painting of the ancient, green world, +she had placed the body of Alpha, then lain down by his side. Her glazed +eyes were fixed upon the picture, and for the first time in many weeks +there was a smile about her lips. + +Omega knelt by her side, took her cold hands in his and feverishly +kissed her brow. With a grief too deep for tears he smiled at death, +thankful for the love she had borne him. Nor did he censure the Plan of +the Creator, the Plan that had led him, Omega, scion of the world's +great, up to the zenith of life and now left him alone, the sole +representative of its power. Thalma had passed on, and in the first +crushing moments of his agony Omega was tempted to join her. Without +effort and without fear or pain, his was the power to check the +machinery of life. + + * * * * * + +Crushed and broken, Omega sat by his dead, while the shadows of night +entered the valley and wrapped all in their soft embrace. When would his +own hour strike? He might retard or hasten that time, but the real +answer lay in that little lake out there under the stars, daily +shrinking despite the cloud curtain. There was nothing more to live for, +yet he determined to live, to go down fighting like a valiant knight of +old, to set an example for the sons of other worlds. + +But despite his brave resolution his grief for a while seemed likely to +master him. Heart-broken he finally went out into the cold dusk and +gazed up at the heavens appealingly. + +"Alone!" he whispered as an overwhelming sense of his isolation tore his +spirit. "Alone in a dead world--the sole survivor of its vanished life!" + +He slumped to the ground and buried his face in the cold dust. His +thoughts were jumbled in a maze of pain and sorrow. He could neither +pray nor think. Gasping, dying a thousand deaths, he lay there groveling +in the dust. But at last he rose, dashed the dust from his eyes and +again faced the sky. He would accept the cruel mandate of nature. He +would live on and try to conquer all--even death. + +He cast his eyes along the shore of the lake, and there in the starlight +loomed the form of the dead monster which, but for Thalma's unerring +aim, would have been the last of earth's creatures. Omega sighed and +turned back to his dead. + +But despite his resolution to live the loneliness was sapping Omega's +spirit. During the following weeks in a mood of recklessness and despair +he allowed the cloud curtain to dissolve above the lake. Once more the +sun's hot rays poured down unhindered and the lake receded rapidly. + +As time went on Omega grew more restless. Only by taking many voyages +around the world was he able to endure the appalling silence. He was the +last traveler to visit the ancient marts of man, he was the last hope +and despair of life. Sometimes he talked aloud to himself, but his words +sounded hollow and ghostly in that deep silence, which only added to his +misery. + +And then one day in a fit of desperation he rebelled. He cursed the fate +that had selected him to drink the last bitter dregs of life. In this +desperate frame of mind he evolved a daring plan. He would not drink +those dregs alone! + + * * * * * + +In the chemical laboratory of the ship were all the elements of creative +force and life known to man. From the four corners of the earth they had +been garnered, and some had come from sister planets. Here were the +ingredients of creation. For thousands of years man had been able to +create various forms of life. He had evolved many pulsing, squirming +things. He had even made man-like apes possessing the instinct of +obedience, and which he used for servants, and much of his animal food +also had been created in this manner. + +Being skilled in all branches of biology and chemistry Omega would +create a comrade to share his long wait for death. So he set to work and +the task eased the pain in his heart. He placed his chemicals in the +test tube and watched the cell evolve until it pulsated with life. +Carefully nursing the frail embryo he added other plasms, then +fertilized the whole with warm spermatozoa and placed it in the +incubator over which glowed a violet, radio-active light. + +The young life developed quickly and soon began to take form within the +glass walls. In a month it half-filled the incubator, and at the end of +six weeks he released it, but it still grew amazingly. + +At first Omega was appalled by the monstrosity he had created, for it +was a loathsome, repulsive creature. Its head was flat and broad and sat +upon its sloping shoulders without a connecting neck. Its legs were +short, but its arms were long, and when standing erect it carried them +well in front of an enormous torso. Its short hands and feet were webbed +like those of a duck. It had no visible ears, and its nostrils were mere +holes above a wide, grinning, thin-lipped mouth, which was always spread +in a grin. Its large, round, red eyes had no gleam of intelligence, and +its hairless skin, covered with minute, sucker-like scales, lay in +loose, ugly folds across its great chest. Most of its movements were +slow and uncertain, and it hopped about over the floor like a giant +toad, uttering guttural sounds deep within its chest. Omega had set out +to create an ape-man, but this thing was neither man nor beast, bird or +reptile, but a travesty on all--an unspeakable horror from the dead womb +of the past. + +Yet hideous as this creature was Omega looked upon it with a certain +degree of gratitude. It was a companion at least, and it seemed to +reciprocate the respect of its creator by fawning upon him and licking +his hand. Its red tongue always hung from its slavering mouth like that +of a panting dog. Omega named it The Grinner, because of its habitual +and ghastly smile. He took it to the cottage that it might wait on him +through the long hours of solitude. That night it slept by his side, +content and motionless. But the next morning after this first night of +incongruous companionship Omega was awakened by its stertorous +breathing and the touch of a cold, clammy sweat which was oozing from +its pores and dropping upon the floor. + + * * * * * + +Throughout the day Omega marveled at this phenomenon. He noticed that +the weird thing went often to the drinking fountain and wrapped its +tongue about the water jet. That night he awakened at midnight to find +The Grinner gone. He did not bother to look for him and mid-forenoon he +returned. His rotund form seemed to have grown even larger, and as he +ambled about on all fours the sweat trickled from his repulsive skin and +trailed across the floor. It was a strange thing and Omega was at a loss +to account for it, but his wonder was eclipsed by his appreciation of +The Grinner's companionship. The Grinner was often absent for hours at a +time, but he always returned of his own free will. Omega often saw him +ambling among the rocks or stretched out in the sun on the beach. He +formed the habit of letting him have his way, which was that of extreme +laziness. But during all this time he was growing prodigiously. In three +months he had become a monster weighing well over half a ton, but he +still retained his amiable nature and affection for his master. + + * * * * * + +Omega seldom left the cottage. Determined to live as long as +possible--for the age-old urge of life still persisted--to do nothing to +hasten his end, he, nevertheless, was doing nothing to defer it. His +soul in the past, he desired only to be near his dear ones. For hours he +would sit gazing on their peaceful features, pouring into their heedless +ears the love songs of his heart. Living for them, patiently awaiting +the day when he, too, could enter into rest, he paid less and less +attention to The Grinner, only noticing that he grew more horrible and +repulsive as his size increased. + +Lonely and despondent Omega at last left the cottage only to go to the +airship for supplies. He seldom even looked toward the lake. It was a +long time since he had walked about its shores, but one afternoon the +impulse came to wander that way again. He was amazed that the water was +disappearing so rapidly. The body of the monster now lay more than +fifteen rods from the water's edge, though it had been killed on the +edge of the lake. + +With an indifferent and melancholy gaze Omega looked across the lake. +Suddenly his stare became fixed and wild, like that of one stricken +dumb. About twenty rods out the water was suddenly agitated as though by +the movement of some great bulk along its bottom, and then for a +fleeting instant he glimpsed a dark, shining form heave above the +surface, then sink out of sight before he could grasp its details. + +"My God," he exclaimed hoarsely, "there is another sea-monster! Likely +it is the mate of the one Thalma killed. I might have known there would +be a mate. We were dealing with two of the beasts all that time. And now +this thing disputes my right to the water!" + +Omega's face grew grim and stern as he glared out over the water and his +heart-beats quickened. The latent combativeness of humanity was once +more aroused in him. He had considered himself the last representative +of life on earth. He should remain the last. No beast should claim that +honor. He would kill it. + +Then for two weeks he waited and watched for it to reappear, waited with +all the terrible atomic weapons at hand, but he saw it no more. The +Grinner sleeping in the sand was the only form of life to be seen, and +at last he became weary of the hunt. He figured that some day he would +charge the lake, but there was no hurry. + +At last Omega lost all interest in the things about him. The Grinner +came and went unhindered and almost unnoticed. He continued to grow, but +Omega gave him little thought. Even the treasures in the airship had +lost their lure for him. Disconsolate and hopeless, yet clinging grimly +to life, he passed his time in the company of his dead. + +He had not left the cottage for several weeks, when one cold morning +after a sleepless night, something impelled him to go in search of The +Grinner who had been absent all night. As this had become a frequent +occurrence during the past two months Omega's curiosity was aroused. As +he glided toward the lake he wondered why his interest in his +surroundings had been aroused by thoughts of The Grinner, and once more +he thought of killing that other sea-monster in the lake. The lake! He +stopped and stared and stared. The lake was gone! Only a pool of an acre +or two remained, and in its center, disporting himself in glee was--not +the monster he was looking for--but The Grinner! The bloated creature +was rolling about in the water with all the abandonment of a +mud-wallowing hog. + + * * * * * + +Omega gazed in astonishment, then a shrill laugh escaped him. He had +mistaken The Grinner for another monster of the deep. It was the last +joke of life, and it was on him. + +Then he realized that this grotesque child of his hands, having in its +system the combined thirst of the dry ages--man, animal, plant, bird +and reptile--was sucking up the lake, absorbing it through his pores, +then sweating it out only to repeat the process. Water was his element +and food. From the dim, dry past had come nature's cry for water to find +expression in this monster of Omega's making. That which he had created +for a companion had grown into a terrible menace, which was rapidly +exhausting his remaining stronghold of life. But, somehow, Omega did not +care, and as he watched the monstrous thing finally flounder its way to +the shore and lie down panting in the sun, he was glad that it was not +another monster of the deep. + +For a moment Omega's eyes rested on the drying form of the dead beast on +the slope above him, then with a shudder he turned to The Grinner. + +He went up close and stared into its terrible eyes which blinked back at +him as its mouth spread in a leer. Already the sweat was coursing along +the slimy folds of its skin and dripping off to be swallowed by the +thirsty ground. It was a huge water sucker. It took water in enormous +quantities, fed upon its organisms, then discharged it through its skin. +Assisted by the rays of the sun it was rapidly drying up the lake. + +Now, as Omega stood regarding it in awe and wonder, it showed signs of +distress. It began to writhe and utter hoarse cries of pain. Its eyes +rolled horribly, its great, barrel-like body heaved and trembled, and it +waved its long arms and threshed its feet upon the ground. Omega +realized that it was the victim of its own abnormal appetite. With the +relish of a gormandizer it had taken more of its peculiar food than even +its prodigious maw could assimilate. Soon its struggles became fiercer. +It rolled over and over in contortions of agony, the sweat streaming +from its body, while a pitiful moaning came from its horrid mouth. But +at last it became quiet, its moanings trailed off into silence, it +jerked spasmodically and lay still. + +Omega approached and placed his hand over its heart. There was no +pulsation. The Grinner was dead. + +With a sigh Omega turned back to the cottage. Although he was now alone +once more, he did not care. All he had to do was to prepare himself for +the Great Adventure, which despite all man's god-like achievements, +still remained a mystery. + +Now that the lake was almost gone it again drew his attention. The +sickly grass had long since given up trying to follow the retreating +water and now was only a dead and melancholy strip of yellow far back +from the shore. Every day Omega went to the little pool and calmly +watched it fade away, watched without qualms of fear or heartache. He +was ready. But even now, hot and weary, he refused adequately to slake +his thirst. He must fight on to the last, for such was the prerogative +and duty of the human race. He must conserve that precious fluid. + + * * * * * + +At last there came a morning when Omega, gazing from his doorway, looked +in vain for the shining pool. Nothing but a brown expanse of rock and +sand met his view where the lake had been. Already the salt crystals +were glinting in the sun. A long, lingering sigh escaped him. It had +come at last! The last water of those mighty seas which once had covered +nearly the whole earth, had departed leaving him alone with the dead of +ages. + +Hot and feverish he glided over the dry bed of the lake. Finally in the +lowest depression on earth he found, in a little hollow of rock, a mere +cupful of water. Like a thirst-maddened animal he sucked it up in great +gulps, then licked the rock dry. IT WAS THE LAST DROP! + +Omega rose, his face calm and resigned. With a smile of gratitude he +looked up at the sky. The water was bitter, but he was thankful he had +been given the final cup. + +Then he went to the airship and shot up into the blue and on around the +world in a voyage of farewell. In a few hours he was back. Reverently he +set the airship down on its landing place. He was through with it now. +Its usefulness was gone, its great, pulsing motors forever silent, soon +to be covered with the dust of ages, he would leave it a monument to +mankind. For a little while he wandered among the treasures of the ship. +Sacred as they were they still mocked him with their impotency to stay +the hand of death. But he loved them all. Thalma had loved them and they +had been Alpha's playmates, and their marvelous powers had been his hope +and inspiration. With loving caresses and a full heart he bade good bye +to these treasures of his fathers, soon to become the keepsakes of +death. + +At last having completed the rounds he let himself out into the still +air. Resolutely he set his face toward home. + +The hot noonday sun, beating fiercely down on the dead world, entered +the cottage and fell in a flood of glory about the couch where Omega, +the last man, lay between his loved ones. His great eyes were set and +staring, but on his features rested a smile of peace--the seal of life's +last dream. + +"The rest is silence." + + +THE END + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from _Amazing Stories_ January 1963 and was + first published in _Amazing Stories_ January 1933. Extensive + research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on + this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical + errors have been corrected without note. Significant typesetting + amendments have been made based on the original 1933 publication, + courtesy of www.booksfromthecrypt.com. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Omega, the Man, by Lowell Howard Morrow + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OMEGA, THE MAN *** + +***** This file should be named 26882.txt or 26882.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/8/8/26882/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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