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@@ -1,36 +1,4 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Onslaught from Rigel, by Fletcher Pratt - -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: The Onslaught from Rigel - -Author: Fletcher Pratt - -Release Date: October 14, 2012 [EBook #41049] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ONSLAUGHT FROM RIGEL *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41049 *** The Onslaught from Rigel @@ -232,7 +200,7 @@ uncomfortably responsible. in the park and look at. Come along. We've got a lot of stairs to go down ... we're too noisy; need a good bath in non-rusting oil." -They reached the street level after an aeon of stairs, Ben leading the +They reached the street level after an æon of stairs, Ben leading the way to the corner drug store. All about them was a complete silence; fleecy white clouds sailed across the little ribbon of blue visible at the top of the canyon of the New York city street. @@ -797,7 +765,7 @@ that morning. O'Hara brought in a metallic scrubwoman from one of the downtown buildings, the tines that represented her teeth showing stains of rust where she had incautiously drunk water; Stevens turned up with a slow-voiced young man who proved to be Georgios Pappagourdas, the -attache of the Greek consulate whose name had been in the papers in +attaché of the Greek consulate whose name had been in the papers in connection with a sensational divorce case; and Mrs. Roberts came in with two men, one of them J. Sterling Vanderschoof, president of the steamship lines which bore his name. @@ -1218,7 +1186,7 @@ They've got the Greek." girl here can." The "little girl" lifted her head. She had recovered. "What did we come -to this joint for, anyhow?" she asked. "To hang crepe on the +to this joint for, anyhow?" she asked. "To hang crêpe on the chandeliers?" The words had the effect of an electric shock. @@ -2093,7 +2061,7 @@ February fifteenth by American time. Even in our country, which is around on the other side of the earth, it caused a good deal of damage. The gases it set free put everybody to sleep and caused a lot of wreckage. Our scientists say the gases of the comet in some unexplained -way altered the iron in the haemoglobin of our blood to cobalt. It seems +way altered the iron in the hæmoglobin of our blood to cobalt. It seems to work just as well, but that's why we're all blue. I don't quite understand it myself, but you know how these medical Johnnies are. Now what happened to you people?" @@ -7803,360 +7771,4 @@ THE END End of Project Gutenberg's The Onslaught from Rigel, by Fletcher Pratt -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ONSLAUGHT FROM RIGEL *** - -***** This file should be named 41049.txt or 41049.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/0/4/41049/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan 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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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: The Onslaught from Rigel - -Author: Fletcher Pratt - -Release Date: October 14, 2012 [EBook #41049] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ONSLAUGHT FROM RIGEL *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - The Onslaught from Rigel - - By FLETCHER PRATT - -[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Wonder Stories -Quarterly Winter 1932. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence -that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -[Illustration: A jagged beam of flame, intenser than the hottest furnace -leaped through the air, struck the green globe and reached the earth in -a thousand tiny rivulets of light.] - - * * * * * - - THE ONSLAUGHT FROM RIGEL - - _By the author of "The Reign of the Ray," "The War of the Giants," etc._ - - - [Illustration: FLETCHER PRATT] - -Mr. Pratt is well known for his "Reign of the Ray," and "The War of the -Giants" where in both stories he showed his excellent knowledge of -warfare, and what a future war might be like. - -In this story he combines that knowledge with a vivid and fertile -scientific imagination to construct an interplanetary story that marks a -new triumph for WONDER STORIES QUARTERLY. - -We know that many scientists believe that life may originally have come -to earth in the form of spores, from other solar systems and other -universes. We therefore might really have had our home dim ages ago, on -worlds distantly removed from our earth. - -The ability to travel the interstellar spaces, however, might also be -possessed by other creatures--creatures driven by fear, necessity and by -the will to conquer. And if they come, in mighty waves, with scientific -powers far beyond us, to dominate the earth, a terrible time will face -the puny human race. - -And in this story they do come, and provoke some of the strangest and -most exciting adventures that have yet been recorded. - - * * * * * - -THE ONSLAUGHT FROM RIGEL - - -Murray Lee woke abruptly, with the memory of the sound that had roused -him drumming at the back of his head, though his conscious mind had been -beyond its ambit. His first sensation was an overpowering stiffness in -every muscle--a feeling as though he had been pounded all over, though -his memory supplied no clue to the reason for such a sensation. - -Painfully, he turned over in bed and felt the left elbow where the ache -seemed to center. He received the most tremendous shock of his life. The -motion was attended by a creaking clang and the elbow felt exceedingly -like a complex wheel. - -He sat up to make sure he was awake, tossing the offending arm free of -the covers. The motion produced another clang and the arm revealed -itself to his astonished gaze as a system of metal bands, bound at the -elbow by the mechanism he had felt before, and crowned, where the -fingers should be, by steely talons terminating in rubber-like -finger-tips. Yet there seemed to be no lack of feeling in the member. -For a few seconds he stared, open-mouthed, then lifted the other arm. It -was the right-hand counterpart of the device he had been gazing at. He -essayed to move one, then the other--the shining fingers obeyed his -thought as though they were flesh and blood. - -A sense of expectant fear gripped him as he lifted one of the hands to -unbutton his pajamas. He was not deceived in the half-formed -expectation; where the ribs clothed in a respectable amount of muscle -should have been, a row of glistening metal plates appeared. Thoughts of -body-snatching and bizarre surgery flitted through his mind to be -instantly dismissed. Dreaming? Drunk? A dreadful idea that he might be -insane struck him and he leaped from the bed to confront a mirror. His -feet struck the floor with a portentous bang and each step produced a -squeak and clank--and he faced the mirror, the familiar mirror before -which he had shaved for years. With utter stupefaction he saw an iron -countenance, above which a stiff brush of wire hair projected -ludicrously. - -One does not go mad at such moments. The shock takes time to sink in. -"At all events I may as well get dressed," he remarked to himself -practically. "I don't suppose water will do this hardware any good, so -I'll omit the bath; but if I'm crazy I might as well go out and have a -good time about it." - -Dressing was a process prolonged by an examination of himself and the -discovery that he was a most efficient metal machine. He rather admired -the smoothness of the hip joints and the way the sliding parts of his -arms fitted together, and was agreeably surprised to find that in the -metallizing process his toes had become prehensile. Just for the fun of -it, he pulled one shoe on with the opposite foot. - -It was not until he was nearly dressed that he realized that the wonted -noise of New York, which reached one as a throaty undertone at the -forty-eighth story of a modern apartment building, was somehow absent. -Surely, at this hour--he glanced at the clock. It had stopped at a -quarter to two. No help there. His watch was inexplicably missing. -Probably Ben had borrowed it.... Ah! - -That was the idea. Ben Ruby, with whom he occupied the duplex apartment -in the penthouse of the Arbuckle Building, was a scientist of sorts -(mainly engaged in the analysis of "booze" samples for millionaires -distrustful of their bootleggers, these days)--he would be able to -explain everything. - -He stepped across to the door and dropped the brass knocker, a little -timorous at the sound of his own thudding steps. The door was snatched -open with unexpected suddenness by a caricature of Ben in metal--as -complete a machine as himself, but without most of the clothes. - -"Come in! Come in!" his friend bellowed in a voice with an oddly -phonographic quality to it. "You look great. Iron Man MacGinnity! What -did you put on clothes for? As useful as pants on a rock-drill. I have -breakfast." - -"What is it? Am I crazy, are you, or are we both?" - -"Of course not. Greatest thing that ever happened. The big comet. They -said she was radioactive, but most of 'em wouldn't believe it. Now look -what it did." (Murray Lee remembered vaguely some newspaper palaver -about a giant comet that was going to strike the earth--argument and -counter-argument as to whether it would have a serious effect.) -"Everybody's turned to metal; nize machinery, ate oop all de -axle-grease. You need oil. Stick around." - -He disappeared into the bowels of the apartment, the sound of his -footsteps ringing enormous in the vast silence. In an instant he was -back with a radio battery in one hand and an oil-can in the other. - -"Sorry, no grease on tap," he remarked briskly. "Typewriter oil." He -went to work busily, squirting drops of oil into Lee's new metallic -joints. "Connect this thing up yourself. It fills you with what it -takes." He indicated the battery with an extended toe. "One arm and the -opposite leg. There seems to be a resistance chamber in us somewhere -that collects the juice." - -Without in the least understanding what it was all about, Murray Lee -made shift to follow his instruction. It was the most singular meal he -had ever partaken of, but he found it curiously invigorating. - -"How about another? No? Have you seen anybody else? It finished most of -them." - -"Will you sit down and tell me consecutively what it's all about before -I bash you?" asked Murray, petulantly. "Being turned into a machine is -not the easiest thing in the world on one's temper; it upsets the -disposition." - -"Some sort of a special extra radioactive gas storm connected with the -comet, I think, though I can't be sure. It's made machines of all of us, -now and forever more. We'll live on electric current after this and -won't have to bother about little things like doctors if we can find a -good mechanic. But it killed a lot of people. Come along, I'll show -you." - - * * * * * - -His hand rang on Murray's arm as he grasped it to lead the way. The hall -was portentously dark, and Ben pulled him straight across it to the door -marked "Fire Exit." - -"Elevator?" queried Murray. - -"No go. No power." - -"Oh, Lord, forty-eight stories to walk." - -"You'll get used to it." They were clanking to the landing of the floor -below and Ben, without the slightest compunction, pushed boldly into the -door of the apartment there. The lock showed signs of being forced. "Oh, -I broke it in," Ben answered Murray's unspoken query. "Thought I might -be able to help, but it was no use. That fat woman lives here--you know, -the one that used to sniff at us in the elevator when we went on a -bender." - -Any qualms Murray felt about looking on the naked face of death were -perfunctorily laid to rest as the scientist led him into the room -occupied by the late lady of the elevator. She lay solidly in her bed -amidst the meretricious gorgeousness she had affected in life, the -weight of her body sagging the bed grotesquely toward its center. -Instead of the clean-running mechanical devices which marked the -appearance of the two friends, she was nothing but lumps and bumps, a -bulging, ugly cast-iron statue, distending the cheap "silk" nightdress. - -"See?" said Ben, calmly. "The transmutation wasn't complete. Prob'ly -didn't get it as strong as we did. Look, the window's closed. This will -be a warning to people who are afraid to sleep in a draft. Come along." - -Murray lingered. "Isn't there anything ... we can do?" He felt -uncomfortably responsible. - -"Not a thing," said Ben, cheerfully. "All she's good for is to stand -in the park and look at. Come along. We've got a lot of stairs to go -down ... we're too noisy; need a good bath in non-rusting oil." - -They reached the street level after an æon of stairs, Ben leading the -way to the corner drug store. All about them was a complete silence; -fleecy white clouds sailed across the little ribbon of blue visible at -the top of the canyon of the New York city street. - -"Lucky it's a nice day," said Ben, boldly stepping into the drug store, -the door of which stood open. "We'll have to figure out this rainy -weather thing. It's going to present a problem." - -Within, the drug store presented the same phenomena of arrested -development as the apartment of the fat lady at the forty-seventh story. -A cast-iron statue of a soda-clerk leaned on the fountain in an attitude -of studied negligence, its lips parted as though addressing some words -to the equally metallic figure of a girl which faced him across the -counter. On her steely features was a film of power, and the caked and -curling remains of her lip stick showed she had been there for some -time. - -"By the way," Murray asked, "have you any idea what day it is, and how -long we were--under the influence? It couldn't have happened overnight." - -"Why not?" came Ben's voice from the rear of the store. "Say, old dear, -rummage around some of those drawers for rubber gloves, will you? I'd -hate to run into high voltage with this outfit." - -"Ah, here they are," came from Ben finally. "Well, let's go." - -"What's the next step?" They were outside. - -"Rubber shoes, I fancy," said Ben, as his feet skidded on the pavement. -"Let's take a taxi there and go find a shoe store." - -Together they managed to slide the cast-iron taxi driver from his seat -(Murray was surprised at how easily he was able to lift a weight he -could not have budged in his flesh and blood days), deposited him on the -curb and climbed in. The key was fortunately in the switch. - -As they swung around the corner into Madison Avenue, Lee gave an -exclamation. A scene of ruin and desolation met their eyes. Two or three -street cars had telescoped and an auto or so had piled into the -wreckage. All about were the iron forms of the passengers in these -conveyances, frozen in the various attitudes they had assumed at the -moment of the change, and from one or two of them thin streamers of -metal showed where blood had flowed forth before it had been -irretrievably crystallized to metal. - -Murray Lee suddenly realized that an enormous amount of machinery had -gone to smash everywhere when the guiding hands had been removed and the -guiding brains frozen to useless metal. He gave a little shudder. - - * * * * * - -They swung round before a shoe store with grating brakes. The door was -locked, but Ben, lifting his foot, calmly kicked a hole in the show -window. Murray extended a restraining hand, but his friend shook it off. - -"No use asking permission. If the proprietor of this place is still -alive anywhere, it will be easy enough to settle up for the damage; if -he isn't, we have as good a right to it as anybody." - -The new toes, which appeared to be longer than those he remembered, made -fitting a difficulty, and Murray split two or three shoes before he got -a pair on. - -"What next?" he asked. "I feel like a drink." - -"No use," said Ben. "You're on the wagon for good. Alcohol would play -merry hell with your metalwork. The best thing is to find out how many -people we are. For all we know, we're the only ones in the world. This -thing seems to have knocked out everybody along the street level. Let's -try some of the taller apartment buildings and see if we can find more -penthouse dwellers." - -"Or maybe the others came to before us and went away," offered Murray. - -"True," Ben replied. "Anyhow, look-see." He led the way to the taxi. - -"Wait," said Murray. "What's that?" - -Above the sound of the starting engine came the echo of heavy footsteps, -muffled by shoes. - -"Hey! Coo-ee! This way!" shouted Ben. The footsteps tentatively -approached the corner. Murray ran forward, then stopped in amazement. -The newcomer was a girl--or would have been a girl had she not been all -metal and machinery like themselves. To his eyes, still working on -flesh-and-blood standards, she was anything but good-looking. She was -fully and formally dressed, save that she wore no hat--the high pile of -tangled wire that crowned her head made this obviously impossible. - -"Oh, what _has_ happened?" she cried at them. "What can I do? I took a -drink of water and it hurt." - -"Everything's all right. Just a little metal transformation," said Ben. -"Stick around, I'll get you some oil. You squeak." He was off down the -street in a clatter, leaving Murray with the newcomer. - -"Permit me to introduce myself," he offered. "I am--or was--Murray Lee. -My friend, who has gone to get you some oil, is Benjamin Franklin Ruby. -He thinks the big comet which hit the earth contained radioactive gas -that made us all into metal. Did you live in a penthouse?" - -She eyed him darkly. "Somebody told you," she said, "I'm Gloria -Rutherford, and we have the top floor of the Sherry-Netherland, but all -the rest were away when this happened.... Oh, pardon me, it hurts me to -talk." - -There came a crash from down the street, indicating that Ben was forcing -another store, and in a minute he was back with a handful of bottles. -With a flourish he offered one to the girl. "Only castor, but it's the -best the market affords," he said. "What we need is a good garage, but -there aren't many around here.... Go ahead, drink her down, it's all -right," he assured the girl, who was contemplating the bottle in her -hand with an expression of distaste. - -Following his own recommendation, he tipped up one of the bottles and -drank a deep draught, then calmly proceeded to douse himself from head -to foot with the remainder. - -She made a little grimace, then tried it. "Thank you," she said, setting -the bottle down. "I didn't think it was possible anybody could like the -stuff except in a magazine ad. Now tell me, where are all the other -people and what do we do?" - -"Do?" queried Ben. "Find 'em. How? Ask Mr. Foster. Anybody else in your -neck of the woods?" - -She shook her head. Murray noticed that the joints of her neck rattled. -"Paulson--that's my maid--was the only other person in our apartment, -and she seems to be even more solid-iron in the head than usual--like -this lot." She swung her hand round in an expressive gesture toward the -image of a policeman which was directing two similar images to pause at -the curb. - -"How about a bonfire?" suggested Murray. "That's the way the Indians or -South Africans or somebody, attract attention." - -"What could we burn?" asked Ben. "... A building, of course. Why not? -Property doesn't mean anything any more with all the property owners -dead." - -"I know," said Gloria Rutherford, falling into the spirit of his -suggestion. "The old Metropolitan Opera. That eyesore has worried me for -the last five years." - -The suggestion was endorsed with enthusiasm. They climbed into the taxi -and twenty minutes later were hilariously kindling a blaze in the -back-stage section of the old building, running out of it with childish -delight to watch the pillar of smoke grow and spread as the flames -caught the timbers, long dry with age. - -Murray sighed as they sat on the curb across the street. "This is the -only time I've ever been as close as I wanted to be to a big fire," he -complained, "and now there isn't even a policeman around for me to make -faces at. But such is life!" - -"What if it sets fire to the whole city?" inquired Gloria practically. - -Ben shrugged. "What if?" he replied. "Doesn't mean anything. Bet there -aren't more than a couple of dozen people alive. But I don't think it -will. Modern construction in most of these places is too fireproof." - -"Look, there's a bird," said Gloria, indicating a solid metal sparrow, -fixed, like the human inhabitants of the city, in his last position in -life at the edge of the curb. "By the way, what do we eat? Do we live on -castor oil all the time?" - - - - -CHAPTER II - -A Metal Community - - -The conversation turned into a discussion of the possibilities of their -new form. Whether they would need sleep was a moot point, and they were -discussing the advisability of training mechanics as doctors when the -first footsteps announced themselves. - -They belonged to a man whose face, ornamented by a neat Van Dyke in -wire, gave him the appearance of a physician of the more fleshly life, -but who turned out to be a lawyer, named Roberts. He was delighted with -the extraordinary youthfulness and vitality he felt in the new -incarnation. Fully dressed in morning clothes, he bore the information -that he was one of a group of four who had achieved the metal -transformation atop the French building. He promptly plunged into a -discussion of technicalities with Ben that left the other two out of it, -and they moved off to the Seventh Avenue side of the building to see -whether any more people were visible. - -"Do you miss the people much?" asked Murray, by way of making -conversation. - -"Not a bit," she confessed. "My chief emotion is delight over not having -to go to the de la Poers' tea tomorrow afternoon. Though I suppose we -will miss them as time goes on." - -"I don't know about that," Murray replied. "Life was getting pretty -complicated and artificial--at least for me. There were so many things -one had to do before one began living--you know, picking the proper -friends and all that." - -The girl nodded understandingly. "I know what you mean. My mother would -throw a fit if she knew I were here talking to you right now. If I met -you at a dance in Westchester it would be perfectly all right for me to -stay out with you half the night and drink gin together, but meeting you -in daylight on the street--oh, boy!" - -"Well," Murray sighed, "that tripe is all through with now. What do you -say we get back and see how the rest are getting along?" - -They found them still in the midst of their argument. - -"--evidently some substance so volatile that the mere contact with -animal tissue causes a reaction that leaves nothing of either the -element or the tissue," Ben was saying. "You note that these metal bands -reproduce the muscles almost perfectly." - -"Yes," the lawyer replied, "but they are too flexible to be any metal I -know. I'm willing to grant your wider knowledge of chemistry, but it -doesn't seem reasonable. All I can think of is that some outside agency -has interfered. These joints, for instance--," he touched Ben's elbow, -"--and what about the little rubber pads on your fingers and toes and -the end of your nose?" - -There was a universal motion on the part of the others to feel of their -noses. It was as the lawyer had said--they were, like the fingers and -toes, certainly very much like rubber--and movable! - -"Don't know," said Ben. "Who did it, though? That's what boggles your -scheme. Everybody's changed to metal and nobody left to make the changes -you mention. However, let's go get the rest of your folks. I wonder if -we ought to have weapons. You two wait here." - -He clanked off with the lawyer to the taxi. A moment later, the tooting -of the horn announced their return. The party consisted, beside Roberts -himself, of his daughter, Ola Mae, a girl of sixteen, petulant over the -fact that her high-heeled shoes were already breaking down under her -weight; a Japanese servant named Yoshio; and Mrs. Roberts, one of those -tall and billowy women of the earlier life who, to the irritation of the -men, turned out to be the strongest of any of them. Fat, apparently, had -no metallic equivalent, and her ample proportions now consisted of bands -of metal that made her extraordinarily powerful. - -With these additions the little group adjourned to Times Square to watch -the billowing clouds of smoke rising above the ruins of the opera house. - -"What next?" asked Gloria, seating herself on the curbstone. - -"Look for more people," said Murray. "Surely we can't be the only frogs -in the puddle." - -"Why not?" put in Ben, argumentatively, with a swing of his arm toward -the wreckage-strewn square. "You forget that this catastrophe has -probably wiped out all the animal life of the world, and we seven owe -our survival to some fortunate chance." - -The Japanese touched him on the arm. "Perhaps sir can inform inquirer, -in such case, what is curious avian object?" he said, pointing upward. - -They heard the beat of wings as he spoke and looked up together to see, -soaring fifty feet past their heads a strange parody of a bird, with -four distinct wings, a long feathered tail, and bright intelligent eyes -set in a dome-like head. - -There was a moment of excited babbling. - -"What is it?" - -"Never saw anything like it before." - -"Did the comet do _that_ to chickens?" And then, as the strange creature -disappeared among the forest of spires to the east, the voice of the -lawyer, used to such tumults, asserted its mastery over the rest. - -"I think," he said, "that whatever that bird is, the first thing to be -done is find a headquarters of some kind and establish a mode of life." - -"How about finding more people?" asked Gloria. "The more the -merrier--and there may be some who don't know how nice castor oil is." -She smiled a metallic smile. - -"The fire--" began Ben. - -"It would keep some people away." - - * * * * * - -They debated the point for several minutes, finally deciding that since -those present had all come from the top floors or penthouses of tall -buildings, the search should be confined to such localities. Each was to -take a car--there were any number for the taking around Times -Square--and cover a certain section of the city, rallying at sundown to -the Times building, where Ola Mae and Murray, who could not drive, were -to be left. - -Roberts was the first one back, swinging a big Peugeot around with the -skill of a racing driver. He had found no one, but had a curious tale. -In the upper floors of the New Waldorf three of the big windows were -smashed in, and in one corner of the room, amid a maze of chairs -fantastically torn as though by a playful giant, a pile of soft cloths. -In the midst of this pile, four big eggs reposed. He had picked up one -of the eggs, and after weighing the advisability of bringing it with -him, decided he had more important things to do. The owners of the nest -did not appear. - -As he emerged from the building, however, the quick motion of a shadow -across the street caused him to look up in time to catch a glimpse of -one of the four-winged birds they had seen before, and just as he was -driving the car away, his ears were assailed by a torrent of screeches -and "skrawks" from the homecomer. He did not look up until the shadow -fell across him again when he perceived the bird was following close -behind him, flying low, and apparently debating the advisability of -attacking him. - -Roberts waved his arms and shouted; it had not the slightest effect on -the bird, which, now that it was closer, he perceived to move its hind -wings only, holding its fore-wings out like those of an airplane. He -wished he had a weapon of some kind; lacking one, he drew the car up to -the curb and ran into a building. The bird alighted outside and began to -peck the door in, but by the time it got through Roberts had climbed a -maze of stairs, and though he could hear it screaming throatily behind -him, it did not find him and eventually gave up the search. - -The end of this remarkable tale was delivered to an enlarged audience. -Gloria had arrived, bringing a chubby little man who announced himself -as F. W. Stevens. - -"The boy plunger?" queried Murray absent-mindedly, and realized from -Gloria's gasp that he had said the wrong thing. - -"Well, I operate in Wall Street," Stevens replied rather stiffly. - -Ben came with three recruits. At the sight of the first, Murray gasped. -Even in the metal caricature, he had no difficulty in recognizing the -high, bald forehead, the thin jaws and the tooth-brush moustache of -Walter Beeville, the greatest living naturalist. Before dark the others -were back--Yoshio with one new acquisition and Mrs. Roberts, whose -energy paralleled her strength, with no less than four, among them an -elaborately gowned woman who proved to be Marta Lami, the Hungarian -dancer who had been the sensation of New York at the time of the -catastrophe. - -They gathered in the Times Square drug store in a strange babble of -phonographic voices and clang of metal parts against the stone floor and -soda fountains. It was Roberts who secured a position behind one of -these erstwhile dispensers of liquid soothing-syrup and rapped for -order. - -"I think the first thing to be done," he said, when the voices had grown -quiet in answer to his appeal, "is to organize the group of people here -and search for more. If it had not been for the kindness of Mr. Ruby -here, my family and I would not have known about the necessity of using -oil on this new mechanical make-up nor of the value of electrical -current as food. There may be others in the city in the same state. What -is the--ah--sense of the gathering on this topic?" - -Stevens was the first to speak. "It's more important to organize and -elect a president," he said briefly. - -"A very good idea," commented Roberts. - -"Well, then," said Stevens, ponderously, "I move we proceed to elect -officers and form as a corporation." - -"Second the motion," said Murray almost automatically. - -"Pardon me." It was the voice of Beeville the naturalist. "I don't think -we ought to adopt any formal organization yet. It hardly seems -necessary. We are practically in the golden age, with all the resources -of an immense city at the disposal of--fourteen people. And we know very -little about ourselves. All the medical and biological science of the -world must be discarded and built up again. At this very moment we may -be suffering from the lack of something that is absolutely necessary to -our existence--though I admit I cannot imagine what it could be. I think -the first thing to do is to investigate our possibilities and establish -the science of mechanical medicine. As to the rest of our details of -existence, they don't matter much at present." - -A murmur of approval went round the room and Stevens looked somewhat put -out. - -"We could hardly adopt anarchy as a form of government," he offered. - -"Oh, yes we could," said Marta Lami, "Hurray for anarchy. The Red Flag -forever. Free love, free beer, no work!" - -"Yes," said Gloria, "what's the use of all this metallizing, anyway? We -got rid of a lot of old applesauce about restrictions and here you want -to tie us up again. More and better anarchy!" - - * * * * * - -"Say," came a deep and raucous voice from one of the newcomers. "Why -don't we have just a straw boss for a while till we see how things work -out? If anyone gets fresh the straw boss can jump him, or kick him out, -but those that stick with the gang have to listen to him. How's that?" - -"Fine," said Ben, heartily. "You mean have a kind of Mussolini for a -while?" - -"That's the idea. You ought to be it." - -There was a clanging round of metallic applause as three or four people -clapped their hands. - -"There is a motion--" began Roberts. - -"Oh, tie a can to it," said Gloria, irreverently, "I nominate Ben Ruby -as dictator of the colony of New York for--three months. Everybody -that's for it, stick up your hands." - -Eleven hands went up. Gloria looked around at those who remained -recalcitrant and concentrated her gaze on Stevens. "Won't you join us, -Mr. Stevens?" she asked sweetly. - -"I don't think this is the way to do things," said the Wall Street man -with a touch of asperity. "It's altogether irregular and no permanent -good can result from it. However, I will act with the rest." - -"And you, Yoshio?" - -"I am uncertain that permission is granted to this miserable worm to -vote." - -"Certainly. We're all starting from scratch. Who else is there? What -about you, Mr. Lee?" - -"Oh, I know him too well." - -The rest of the opposition dissolved in laughter and Ben made his way to -the place by the counter vacated by Roberts. - -"The first thing we can do is have some light," he ordered. "Does -anyone know where candles can be had around here? I suppose there ought -to be some in the drug store across the street, but I don't know where -and there's no light to look by." - -"How about flashlights? There's an electrical and radio store up the -block." - -"Fine, Murray you go look. Now Miss Roberts, will you be our secretary? -I think the first thing to do is to get down the name and occupation of -everyone here. That will give us a start toward finding out what we can -do. Ready? Now you, Miss Rutherford, first." - -"My name is Gloria Rutherford and I can't do anything but play tennis, -drink gin and drive a car." - -The rest of the replies followed: "F. W. Stevens, Wall Street," -"Theodore Roberts, lawyer," "Archibald Tholfsen, chess-player," "H. M. -Dangerfield, editor," "Francis X. O'Hara, trucking business," (this was -the loud-voiced man who had cut the Gordian knot of the argument about -organization). "Are you a mechanic, too?" asked Ben. - -"Well, not a first class one, but I know a little about machinery." - -"Good, you're appointed our doctor." - -"Paul Farrelly, publisher," "Albert F. Massey, artist"--the voices -droned on in the uncertain illumination of the flashlights. - -"Very well, then," said Ben at the conclusion of the list. "The first -thing I'll do is appoint Walter Beeville director of research. Fact -number one for him is that we aren't going to need much of any sleep. I -don't feel the need of it at all, and I don't seem to see any signs -among you. O'Hara will help him on the mechanical side.... I suggest -that as Mr. Beeville will need to observe all of us we make the -Rockefeller Institute our headquarters. He will have the apparatus there -to carry on his work. Let's go." - - - - -CHAPTER III - -Rebellion - - -They whirled away to the east side of the city and up Second Avenue like -a triumphal cortege, blissfully disregarding the dead traffic lights, -though now and then they had to dodge the ruins of some truck or taxi -that had come out second best from an argument with an elevated pillar -where the driver's hand had been frozen at the wheel. At Forty-ninth -Street Ben's car, in the lead, swung in to the curb and pulled up. - -"What is it?" ... "Is this the place?" ... "Anything wrong?" - -An illuminating voice floated up. "Electric store, get all the -flashlights and batteries you can. We're going to need them." - -A few moments later they were at the great institution, strangely dark -and silent now after all its years of ministering to the sick, with a -line of rust showing redly on the tall iron fence that surrounded the -grounds. They trooped into the reception room, flickering their lights -here and there like fireflies. Ben mounted a chair. - -"Just a minute, folks," he began. "I want to say something.... What we -have to do here is build civilization up all over again. Undoubtedly -there are more people alive--if not in New York, then in other places. -We have two jobs--to get in touch with them and to find out what we can -do. Mr. Beeville is going to find out about the second one for us, but -we can do a lot without waiting for him. - -"In the first place, there's that funny-looking bird that we all saw and -that chased Roberts. There may be others like it and a lot of new queer -forms of animal life around that would be dangerous to us. Therefore, I -think it's in line to get some weapons. Miss Lami, you and Mr. Tholfsen -are delegated to dig up a hardware store and find guns and -cartridges.... Now for the rest, I'm open to suggestions." - -Everybody spoke at once. "Wait a minute," said Ben. "Let's take things -in order. What was your idea, Mr. Stevens?" - -"Organize regular search parties." - -"And a good idea, too. We don't even need to wait for daylight. -Everybody who can drive, get a car and trot along." - -"X-ray machines are going to be awfully useful in my work," offered -Beeville. "I wonder if there isn't some way of getting enough current to -run one." - -"As far as I remember, this building supplies its own current. Murray, -you and Massey trot down and get a fire up under one of the boilers. -Anything else?" - -"Yes," came from Dangerfield, the editor. "It seems to me that the first -thing anyone else in the world would try to do if he found himself made -into a tin doll like this is get hold of a radio. How about opening up a -broadcasting station?" - -"I don't know whether you can get enough power, but you can try. Go to -it. Do you know anything about radio?" - -"A little." - -"All right. Pick whoever you want for an assistant and try it out. Any -more ideas?" - -"What day is it?" asked Ola Mae Roberts. - -Nobody had thought of it, and it suddenly dawned on the assemblage that -the last thing they remembered was when the snow on the roof-tops -bespoke a chilly February, while now all the trees were in leaf and the -air was redolent of spring. - -"Why--I don't know," said Ben. "Anybody here got any ideas on how to -find out?" - -"It would take an experienced astronomer and some calculation to -determine with accuracy," said Beeville. "We'd better set an arbitrary -date." - -"O. K. Then it's May 1, 1947. That's two years ahead of time, but it -will take that long to find out what it really is." - -The assumption that sleep would be unnecessary proved correct. All night -long, cars roared up to the door and away again on their quests. The -number of people found was small--the cream had apparently been gathered -that morning. O'Hara brought in a metallic scrubwoman from one of the -downtown buildings, the tines that represented her teeth showing stains -of rust where she had incautiously drunk water; Stevens turned up with a -slow-voiced young man who proved to be Georgios Pappagourdas, the -attaché of the Greek consulate whose name had been in the papers in -connection with a sensational divorce case; and Mrs. Roberts came in -with two men, one of them J. Sterling Vanderschoof, president of the -steamship lines which bore his name. - -At dawn Dangerfield came in. He had set up a powerful receiving set by -means of storage batteries but could find no messages on the air, and -could find no source of power sufficient for him to broadcast. - -The morning, therefore, saw another and somewhat less optimistic -conference. As it was breaking up Ben said, "You Tholfsen, take Stevens, -Vanderschoof and Lee and get a truck, will you? You'll find one about -half a block down the street. Go up to one of the coal pits and get some -fuel for our boilers here. We haven't too large a supply." - -There was a clanking of feet as they left and Ben turned into the -laboratory where Beeville was working, with the scrubwoman as a subject. - -"Something interesting here," said the naturalist, looking up as he -entered. "The outer surface of this metal appears to be rust-proof, but -when you get water on the inside, things seem to go. It acts like a -specially annealed compound of some kind. And look--" He seized one of -the arms of his subject, who gazed at him with mildly unresisting eyes, -and yanked at the outer layer of metal bands that composed it. The band -stretched like one of rubber, and she gave a slight squeal as it snapped -back into position. "I don't know of any metal that has that -flexibility. Do you? Why--" - - * * * * * - -The door swung open and they turned to see Murray and Tholfsen. - -"Beg pardon for interrupting the sacred panjandrum," said the former, -"but Stevens and Vanderschoof are indulging in a sulk. They don't want -to play with us." - -"Oh, hell," remarked Ben cheerfully and started for the door, the other -two following him. - -He found the recalcitrants soon enough. The Wall Street man was seated -across a doctor's desk from Vanderschoof and looked up calmly from an -interrupted conversation as Ben entered. - -"Thought I asked you two to go with the boys for some coal," said Ben, -waving at them. "My mistake. I meant to." - -"You did. I'm not going." - -Ben's eyes narrowed. "Why not?" - -"This is the United States of America, young man. I don't recognize that -I am under your orders or anyone else's. If you think you are going to -get us to accept any such Mussolini dictatorship, you've got another -guess coming. As I was saying--" he turned back to Vanderschoof with -elaborate unconcern, and Murray took a step toward him, bristling -angrily. - -"Leave me alone, boys, I can handle this," said Ben, waving the other -two back. "Mr. Stevens." The broker looked up with insolent politeness. -"This is not the United States, but the colony of New York. Conditions -have changed and the sooner you recognize that the better for all of us. -We are trying to rebuild civilization from the ruins; if you don't share -in the work, you shall not share in the benefits." - -"And what are you going to do about it?" - -"Put you out." - -There was a quick flash, and Ben was staring into the business end of a -Luger automatic, gripped tightly in the broker's hand. "Oh, no you -won't. You forget that you made this anarchy yourself when you refused -to have a president. Now get out of here, quick, and let me talk with my -friend." - -For a moment the air was heavy with tension. Then Vanderschoof smiled--a -superior smile. Stevens' eyes blinked, and in that blink Ben charged, -and as he moved, Murray and Tholfsen followed. There was a report like a -clap of thunder in the narrow room, a tremendous ringing clang as the -bullet struck the metal plate of Ben's shoulder and caromed to the -ceiling, whirling him around against the desk and to the floor by the -force of the impact. Murray leaped across his prostrate body, striking -at the gun and knocking it down just in time to send the second shot -wild; Tholfsen stumbled and fell across Ben. - -Ben was up first, diving for Murray and Stevens, now locked in close -grapple, but the chess-player's action was more effective. From his -prone position he reached up, grabbed Stevens' legs and pulled them from -under him, bringing him down with a crash, just as Ben's added weight -made the struggle hopelessly one-sided. In a moment more the dictator of -the New York colony was sitting on his subject's chest while Murray held -his arms. Vanderschoof, with the instinctive terror of the man of -finance for physical violence, sat cowering in his chair. - -"Get--some wire," gasped Ben. "Don't think--cloth will hold him." - -Tholfsen released his hold on the legs and climbed to his feet. "Watch -the other one, Murray," said Ben, his quick eye detecting a movement -toward the gun on Vanderschoof's part. - -"Now you, listen," he addressed the man beneath him. "We could tie you -up and lay you away to pickle until you died for the lack of whatever -you need, or we could turn you over to Beeville to cut up as a specimen, -and by God," glaring with a kind of suppressed fury, "I wouldn't -hesitate to do it! You're jeopardizing the safety of the whole -community." - -The grim face beneath him showed neither fear nor contrition. He -hesitated a moment. - -"If I let you go and give you a car and a couple of batteries, will you -promise to clear out and never come back?" - -Stevens laughed shortly. "Do you think you can bluff me? No." - -"All right, Tholfsen, get his feet first," said Ben, as the chess-player -reappeared with a length of light-cord he had wrenched from somewhere. -The feet kicked energetically, but the task was accomplished and the -arms secured likewise. "You watch him," said Ben, "while I get a car -around." - -"What are you going to do?" asked Vanderschoof, speaking for the first -time since the scuffle. - -"Throw him in the river!" declared Ben, with ruthless emphasis. "Let him -get out of that." Stevens took this statement with a calm smile that -showed not the slightest trace of strain. - -"But you can't do that," protested the steamship man. "It's--it's -inhuman." - -"Bring him outside boys," said Ben, without deigning to reply to this -protest, and clanged out to the car. - -They lifted the helpless man into the back seat, and with a man on -either side of him, started for Queensboro Bridge. The journey was -accomplished in a dead silence. - - * * * * * - -Halfway down the span, Ben brought the taxi round with a flourish and -climbed out, the other two lifting Stevens between them. Murray looked -toward his friend, half expecting him to relent at the last moment, but -he motioned them wordlessly on, and they set down their burden at the -rail. - -"Over with him!" said Ben remorselessly. They bent.... - -"I give up," said Stevens in a strangely husky voice. Murray and -Tholfsen paused. - -"Did you hear what I said?" said Ben. "Over with him!" - -They heaved. "Stop!" screamed the broker. "For God's sake, I'll give up. -I'll go. Oh-h-h!" The last was a scream, as Ben laid a detaining hand on -Murray's arm. - -"Let him down, boys," he said quietly. "Now listen, Stevens. I don't -want to be hard on you--but we've got to have unanimity. You're done. -Take a car and clear out. If I let you go now, will you promise to stay -away?" - -"Yes," said the Wall Street man. "Anything, only for God's sake don't do -that!" - -"All right," said Ben. - -As they were loading the banker in the car for the return trip a thought -struck Murray. "By the way, Ben," he remarked, "didn't he nick you with -that gun?" "That's right," said Ben, "he did." And gazed down at the -long bright scratch in the heavy metal that covered his shoulder joint. -It was uninjured. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -Flight! - - -But when Tholfsen and Murray returned with the coal, Vanderschoof was -missing as well as Stevens, and that evening when the car in which Marta -Lami had accompanied Roberts on the exploration of the Brooklyn Heights -district drew up at the Institute, it had only one occupant. - -"What happened to Miss Lami?" asked Ben. - -Roberts gazed at him, surprised. "Didn't you send them? While we were at -the St. George Hotel a car came along with Stevens and two of those new -men in it. One was the Greek. They spoke to her for a minute and she -said they brought a message from you that she was to go with them." - -"M-hm," said Ben. "I see. Well, as long as they don't come back, it's -all right." - - * * * * * - -The car whirled out the Albany Post Road in a silence that was -indicative of the rivalry that had already sprung up between Stevens and -Vanderschoof. As for Pappagourdas he found himself demoted to the -position of a "yes man." - -They had provided themselves with a liberal supply of guns and -ammunition, and with the foolish conservatism of the very rich, refusing -to believe that money was valueless, had raided store after store until -they had acquired a considerable supply of currency. - -"This is the Bear Mountain Bridge, isn't it?" said the dancer. "Let's -stop at West Point and pick up a cadet. They're so ornamental." - -Stevens glanced at her sourly from the wheel. "We've got to hurry if we -want to get to Albany," he said. - -"Still," offered Vanderschoof protectingly, "why not stop at the Point? -We might find some people there. I know Colonel Grayson. Played golf -with him there last summer. Ha, ha! When I holed out an eighteen-footer -at the seventh, he was so mad, he wouldn't speak to me all the rest of -the afternoon. It was the turning point of the battle. Ha, ha!" - -Stevens, with a grunt, swung the wheel round and began the ascent of the -long bridge ramp. He realized he had been outmaneuvered. To cover his -retreat, he remarked, "Isn't that a bird?" - -"The high muck-a-muck said something about birds last night," said the -dancer, "but he's such a Holy Joe that I didn't pay any attention." - -"Aren't the birds all dead?" asked the Greek, respectfully. "I saw some -in the gutter outside my window and they were turned to iron." - - * * * * * - -The car coughed to the rise, made it and slid across the bridge. - -"It is a bird," said the dancer, "and what a bird! Papa, look at the -ostrich." - -Pappagourdas and Vanderschoof followed her pointing finger. Along its -direction they saw, a couple of hundred feet behind and above them, the -widespread wings and heavy body of the same type of four-winged bird -Roberts had encountered. Vanderschoof tugged at his pocket. "Maybe it'll -come close enough to give us a shot," he said hopefully. - -The bird was certainly gaining on them, though the speedometer of the -car had risen beyond forty miles an hour. As it drew nearer, they could -make out the high-domed, most un-birdlike head set with pop-eyes fixed -in a permanent expression of astonishment, the short bill, slightly -hooked at the tip, and the huge expanse of the wings. It seemed to be -inspecting them as a smaller avian might inspect a bug crawling across a -road. - -As it drew nearer, it swooped to within a couple dozen feet of the car; -they noticed that its feet, folded back beneath the body, had a metallic -luster. Then Vanderschoof fired, with a bang that almost deafened the -rest. The bird seemed surprised rather than frightened or resentful. At -the sound of the gun it bounded upward a few feet and then swung again, -moving along parallel with the car and twisting its neck to take a good -look at the passengers. The chance was too good to be missed; both -Pappagourdas and Vanderschoof fired this time, steadying themselves -against the motion of the car. One of the shots evidently went home, for -a couple of feathers floated down, and the bird, with a series of -ear-piercing squawks, spiralled down the side of the mountain toward the -river-bank, three or four hundred feet below. - -"Bull's eye!" yelled Pappagourdas. "Gimme the cigar! Let's stop the car -and go get it." - -"What's the use," said Stevens, "you couldn't eat it, anyway. Listen to -him yell, would you?" - -Above the sound of the motor the screeching of the wounded bird still -reached them faintly from the bottom of the cliff. - -"I think it's a damn shame to shoot up the poor thing," said Marta Lami. - -"Oh, he'll be all right," declared Vanderschoof. "Don't believe we -touched anything but one wing, and it'll just sit and eat ground-berries -till it gets well." - -It was perhaps half an hour later, and the distant hills were beginning -to acquire a fine powder of dusk when they saw the second bird--a -rapidly moving speck, far behind them and to one side of the road. -Vanderschoof saw it first and called the attention of the rest, but they -quickly lost interest. - -He continued to observe it. Were there two? He thought so, yet--. A -moment later he was sure there was more than one, as the car breasted a -rise and gave them a better view. They seemed to be following fast. The -ridiculous idea that they meant to do something about their fallen -comrade came to him, to be dismissed instantly. Yet the birds were -certainly following them and he thought he made out a third, behind the -others. - -The car coasted down a long slope, crossed a bridge and began to go up a -hairpin rise. Vanderschoof looked back. The birds were invisible; he -looked again, in the right direction this time and saw them, so much -larger and nearer that he cried out. The others ceased their low-voiced -conversation at the sound of his voice. "What's the matter, papa?" asked -the dancer. - -"Those birds. Look." - -"Why it looks almost as though they were following us." - -She sat upright in the seat and squinted at them under an upraised hand. -The queer birds were close enough now so that the difference between -their fore-wings and the steadily beating hind wings could be made out. - -"You don't suppose they could be mad at us?" she asked. - -"Don't be foolish," said Stevens, without turning around. "Birds aren't -intelligent enough for that." A long straight stretch lay before him and -he let the car out. Vanderschoof, watching with a trace of anxiety, saw -the birds also put on more speed. "They are following us," he declared -with conviction. - -"Look," said Marta Lami, "that one is carrying something, too." - -As she spoke, the bird, flying high, gained a position just above and -ahead of the car, dropped the object and instantly wheeled off and down -to one side. There was a heavy thud on the road ahead, and a big rock -bounded and rolled a score of feet before the car. - -Marta Lami screamed. Vanderschoof swore, with feeling. "Get out your -guns and drive them off," said Stevens. "You fools, why did you have to -shoot at them in the first place?" - -Before he had finished speaking Vanderschoof had his revolver out and -was firing at the second of the birds, now swinging into position above -them with another rock. He missed, but the bird, surprised, dropped its -burden too soon, and they had the satisfaction of seeing it bounce among -the trees at the right of the road. - -"Keep after them, that's right," said Stevens. "We're not far from the -Point and we can get under cover there." - - * * * * * - -Both the men in the back were shooting now--Vanderschoof slowly and with -deliberate aim; Pappagourdas in a panic-stricken rafale at the third -bird, which, higher than the others, paid not the slightest attention to -them but jockeyed for position. Stevens began to twist the steering -wheel--the car described a fantastic series of zigzags. - -"What are they?" he asked. "I never saw anything like them." - -"I don't know," replied Vanderschoof. (Bang!) "Like the condors (Bang!) -I used to see in South America, only bigger." - -Crash! The third rock burst in a shower of fragments not ten feet away, -one piece striking the windshield with a ping, and sending a long -diagonal crack across it. The first of the three birds was swinging up -again with another rock, screeching hoarse communications at the others. - -Marta Lami had fallen silent. As the bird began to circle above them, -picking its position, Pappagourdas suddenly ceased firing, with a curse. -"Have you got any more bullets?" he asked. "Mine are all gone...." His -voice broke suddenly, half-hysterical, "It is the cranes of Ibicos," he -cried. - -The stone struck behind them. Evidently the bird had a healthy respect -for Vanderschoof's aim, which had kept it at such a height that it could -not aim accurately. But as the next stone missed they changed their -tactics, screaming to each other. The third bird, whose turn it was to -drop a stone, merely flew along parallel with them, high enough to be -out of range, waiting for the return of the others. When they arrived, -all three strung out in a line and released their rocks simultaneously. -There was a resounding crash, the car reeled perilously on the edge of -the steep road, then righted and drove on with a clattering bang. -Looking over the side Vanderschoof could see where the big rock had -struck the right running board, tearing a foot or two of it loose to -trail on the road. - -"Wait," he cried, but Stevens shook his head. - -They had a bit of luck at this point. The hunt for more stones or -something of the kind delayed their enemies, and when they next saw the -birds winging up behind them, the white classical lines of the West -Point administration building already loomed ahead, clear in the -gathering gloom. - -Stevens turned in, swung the car around at the door, and halted it with -screaming brakes, just as the first of the birds overhead overshot the -mark and turned to come back. In an instant the banker was out of the -car, dragging at Marta Lami's hand. Vanderschoof climbed numbly out the -other side, and ran around the car toward the door of the building, but -the Greek missed his footing where the running board should have been -and fell prone, just as one of the birds dived down with a yell of -triumph and dropped his stone accurately onto the struggling man. - -"Run!" shouted Stevens. - -"But--the Greek," panted Vanderschoof as they climbed the steps. - -"Hell with him. Or here--wait." Stevens turned and thrust his fist -through the glass upper portion of the door. Out in the dusk the three -bird-forms were settling round their fallen foe. The flash of the -banker's gun stabbed the night and was answered by a scream. Before he -could take aim again, with a quick beat of wings, they were gone and -when, daring greatly, he ran out a few moments later, he found that -Pappagourdas was gone also. - - * * * * * - -He found the others on one of the benches in the outer office of the -building, the girl with her face buried in her hands in an agony of -fright and reaction. Vanderschoof, too old and cool a hand to give way -in this fashion, looked up. - -"What are they, Stevens?" he asked. - -The Wall Street man shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "I don't know," -he said. "Some new kind of high-power bird that developed while we were -all being made into machines by that comet, I suppose. It's terrible.... -They've got the Greek." - -"Can't we get after them? There ought to be airplanes here." - -"In this light? Can you fly one? I can't and I don't imagine the little -girl here can." - -The "little girl" lifted her head. She had recovered. "What did we come -to this joint for, anyhow?" she asked. "To hang crêpe on the -chandeliers?" - -The words had the effect of an electric shock. - -"Why, of course," said Stevens, "we did come here to see if we could -find someone, didn't we?" and turning round he pushed open the door into -the next room. Nothing. - -"Wait," he said. "Not much use trying to do anything tonight. We haven't -any flashlights." - -"Aw, boloney," said the dancer, "what do you want us to do? Sit here and -count our fingers? Go on, big boy, find a garage, you can get a light -from one of the cars." - -"Won't those birds see it?" - -"You got a yellow streak a mile wide, haven't you? Birds sleep at -night." - -Stevens took a half-unwilling step toward the door. "Let me come with -you," said Vanderschoof, rising. - -"What's the matter, papa? You got a little yellow in you, too?" - -He was dignified. "Not at all. Here I'll leave my gun with you, Miss -Lami." - -"We'll be seeing you," said Stevens, over his shoulder. "Don't worry." -And they were gone. - -To the dancer their absence was endless. She would have given anything -for the velvet kick of a good drink of gin--"but I suppose it would burn -out my bearings," she mused ruefully. Heavens, she must spend the rest -of her days as a robot. In the fading light she ruefully contemplated -the legs that had delighted the audiences of two continents, now become -ingenious mechanical devices beyond the power of delighting anyone but -their owner. - -More clearly than the rest, she realized that very little was left of -the old relation between the sexes. What would happen when the forceful -Stevens made the discovery also? Probably he would make a thinking robot -of her to serve his ambition. Well, she had chosen to go with them--they -seemed to offer more amusement than the stuffy prigs of the colony.... - -What was that? - -She listened intently. A subdued rattling, slightly metallic in -character. It might be a rat--no, too mechanical. The men--probably it -was them, or one of them, returning. She glanced out of the window. Not -there. The sound again--not from outdoors, but behind her--within the -room? She gripped the gun Vanderschoof had given her. Rattle, rattle. -She wished furiously for a light. - -The birds? No--birds sleep at night. Rattle, rattle. Persistently. She -stood up, trying to pierce the gathering dimness. No, the birds would -make more noise. They moved surely, with hoarse screams, as though they -thought themselves the lords of the world. This sound was small, like -the chatter of a mechanical rat. What new horror in this strange world -might it not conceal? On slenderest tiptoes she backed cautiously across -the rug toward the outer door. Better the chance of the birds than this -unknown terror of the darkness. - -Holding the gun before her firmly, she stepped back, back, feeling with -one hand for the door. Her hand met its smooth surface, then clicked as -the metallic joints came in contact with the doorknob. She paused, -breathless. Rattle, rattle, went the small sound, undiscouraged. - -With a sudden jerk she flung the door open and tumbled down the steps, -half-falling, and as she fell, as though in answer to the metallic clang -of her body on the stone, a long pencil of violet light sprang silently -out from somewhere back in the hills, moved thrice across the sky and -then faded as swiftly as it had come. - -She felt the beam of a flashlight in her eyes, and got up, hearing her -voice with a sort of inward surprise as it babbled something slightly -incoherent about "things--in there." - -Stevens' voice, rough with irritation. "What is it you're saying?" He -shook her arm. "Come on, little woman, pull yourself together." - -"There must be someone else around here," remarked Vanderschoof, -irrelevantly. "Did you see that searchlight?" - -Marta Lami pulled herself up short, shaking loose the hand with a touch -of the arrogance that had made her the queen of the night life of New -York. - -"Something in there gives me the heeby-jeebies," she said, pointing. -"Sounds like some guy shooting craps with himself." - - * * * * * - -Stevens laughed, somewhat forcedly. "Well, it's nothing to be scared of, -unless it's one of those damn birds, and if it was that he'd be taking -us apart now. Come on!" - -He flung the door open and plunged in, the flashlight flickering before -him. Empty. - -There was a door at the further end, next to the one they had -investigated before. Toward this he strode, clump, clump on the carpet, -and flung it open likewise. Empty again. No, there was something. The -questing beam came to rest on a brown army tunic behind the desk, -followed it up quickly to the face and there held. For, staring at them -with mechanical fixity was another of those simulations of the human -face in metal with which they were by now, so familiar. But this one was -different. - -For it held the balance between the walking cartoons of men in metal, -such as they themselves were, and the ugly and solid statues they had -seen strewn about the streets of New York. It had the metal bands across -the forehead that they possessed, above which issued the same wiry hair, -but in this case curiously interwoven as though subjected to some great -heat and melted into a single mass. And the nose was all of solid metal, -and the eyes--the eyes ... were the eyes of a statue, giving back no -lustrous reflexion of glass. - -A moment they paused breathless, then stepped forward, and as the beam -of light shifted when Stevens moved, rattle, rattle, came the sound -Marta Lami had heard, and when the light went back those unseeing eyes -had moved. - -For a few seconds no one spoke. Then: - -"Good God, it's alive!" said Vanderschoof in a hushed voice and a thrill -of horror went through the others as they recognized the truth of his -words. - -Stevens broke the spell, stepping swiftly to the desk. "Can we do -anything for you?" he asked. No movement from the metal figure--only -that ghastly rustle of the eyes as they turned here and there in the -fixed head, searching for the light they would never find again. The -Wall Street man lifted one of the hands, tried to flex the arm that held -it. It dropped back to the deck with a crash. Yet the metal of which -they were composed seemed in itself to be as pliant as that of their own -arms. - -A feeling of wonderment mingled with the horror of the spectators. - -"What happened to him?" asked Marta Lami in a whisper as though she -feared awakening a sleeper. - -Stevens shrugged. "What's happened to all of us? He's alive, I tell you. -Let's ... get out of here. I don't like it." - -"But where to?" asked Vanderschoof. - -"Follow the Albany road," said Stevens. "We ought to move on. If those -birds come back in the morning--" he left the sentence unfinished. - -"But what about this poor egg?" asked Marta Lami. - -"Leave him," said Stevens, then suddenly giving way, "there's too much -mystery about this whole business around here. I'm going, I tell you, -going. You can stay here till you rot if you like. I'm clearing out." - - - - -CHAPTER V - -The Menace - - -Naturally, exploration of the familiar, yet unfamiliar world into which -they had suddenly been thrown was the first preoccupation of the New -York colonists. None of the group cared to wander far from the Institute -during the first weeks, however, in view of the possible difficulty of -obtaining electrical food for a long trip, and Beeville's researches on -the potentialities of their new bodily form advanced so slowly that they -hardly dared leave. - -His discoveries in the first weeks were, in fact, purely negative. -Farrelly, the publisher, smashed a finger in some machinery, but when -O'Hara turned an exact duplicate out on his lathe and Beeville attached -it, the new member altogether lacked sensation and could be moved only -with conscious effort--an indication that some as yet unfamiliar -reaction underlay the secret of motion in their metal form. - -But the greatest difficulty in the way of any activity lay in the almost -abysmal ignorance of the mechanical and technical arts on the part of -the whole group. O'Hara was a fair mechanic; Dangerfield dabbled in -radio, and Farrelly could run a printing press (he published a comical -parody of a newspaper on one for several days; then abandoned the -effort); but beyond that the utmost accomplishment was driving a car, -and most of them realized how helpless the old civilization had been -without its hewers of wood and drawers of water. - -To remedy this condition, as much as to keep them busy, Ben assigned to -each some branch of mechanical science to be learned, the supply of -information, in the form of books, and of experimental material, in -every form, being inexhaustible. Thus the first week found Tholfsen and -Mrs. Roberts scouring the line of the New York Central for a locomotive -in running order. After numerous failures, they succeeded in getting the -thing going, only to discover that the line was blocked with wrecks and -they would need a crane to clear the track for an exploring journey of -even moderate length. - -At the same time, Murray Lee, with Dangerfield and two or three others, -made an effort to get the Park Central's broadcasting station in -operation; a work of some difficulty, since it involved ventures into -what were, for them, unknown fields. Daily they tap-tapped messages to -each other on telegraph sets rescued from a Western Union office, in -preparation for the time when they could get a sending set put together. - -But the most ambitious effort and the one that was to have the largest -share of ultimate consequences, was the expedition of Farrelly, Gloria -and a clothing-store proprietor named Kevitz in quest of naval -adventure. After a week's intensive study of marine engines from books -the three appropriated a tug from the Battery and set off on a cruise of -the harbor. - -Half an hour later they were high and dry off Bedloe's Island, gloomily -contemplating the prospect of spending their lives there, for an attempt -to swim when weighted down with three hundred pounds of hardware could -end only in failure. Fortunately the tide came to their rescue, and with -more daring than judgment, they continued their voyage to Governor's -Island, where they were lucky enough to find a solitary artilleryman, -weak with hunger, but hilarious with delight at the discovery that his -metallic form was not a delirium tremens delusion induced by the quart -of gin he had absorbed on the night before the change. - -The giant birds, which Beeville had professionally named -"tetrapteryxes," seemed to have vacated the city with the appearance of -the colonists. Even the nest Roberts had stumbled on proved deserted -when an expedition cautiously revisited the place; and the memory of the -birds had sunk to the level of a subject for idle remarks when a new -event precipitated it into general attention. - -Massey, the artist, with all the time in the world, and the art supplies -of New York under his finger, had gone off on an artistic jag, painting -day and night. One morning he took his canvas to the top of the Daily -News building to paint the city at dawn from its weather-observation -station. The fact that he had to climb stairs the whole way up and -finally chisel through the door at the top was no bar to his enthusiasm. -Kevitz, hurrying down Lexington Avenue in a car to join his fellow -mariners in investigating the machinery of a freighter, saw him in the -little steel cage, silhouetted against the reddening light of day. - -There was an informal rule that everyone should gather at the Institute -at ten in the evening, unless otherwise occupied, to report on the day's -events, and when Massey did not appear two or three people made comments -on the fact, but it was not treated as a matter of moment. When the -artist had not shown up by dawn of the next day, however, Murray and -Gloria went to look for him, fearing accident. As they approached the -building Murray noticed that the edge of the weather observation -platform was twisted awry. He speeded up his car, but when they arrived -and climbed the mountainous flights of stairs he found no bent and -damaged form, as he had expected. - - * * * * * - -The roof of the building held nothing but the painting on which he had -been working--a half-completed color sketch of the city as seen from the -tower. - -"Where do you s'pose he went?" asked Gloria. - -"Don't know, but he went in a hurry," replied Murray. "He doesn't care -about those paintings much more than he does about his life." - -"Maybe he took a tumble," she suggested. "Look, there's his easel, and -it's busted." - -"Yes, and that little chair he totes around, and look how it's all -twisted out of shape." - -"Let's look over the edge. Maybe he went bugs and jumped. I knew a guy -that did that once." - -"Nothing doing," said Murray, peering over the parapet of the building. - -Mystery. - -"Say--" it was Gloria who spoke. "Do you suppose those birds--the -tetra-axes or whatever Beeville calls them--?" - -They turned and scanned the sky. The calm blue vault, flecked by the -fleecy clouds of summer, gave no hint of the doom that had descended on -the artist. - -"Nothing to do but go home, I guess," said Murray, "and report another -robbery in Prospect Park." - -The meeting of the colonists that evening was serious. - -"It comes to this, then," said Ben, finally. "These birds are dangerous. -I'm willing to grant that it might not have been they who copped Massey, -but I can't think of anything else. I think it's a good idea for us to -leave here only in pairs and armed, until we're certain the danger is -over." - -"Ain't that kind of a strong step, Mr. Ruby?" asked Kevitz. "It don't -seem to me like all that business is necessary." - -Ben shook his head decisively. "You haven't seen these things," he said. -"In fact, I think it would be a good idea for us all to get some guns -and ammunition and do target practice." - -The meeting broke up on that note and the members of the colony filed -into the room where the supply of arms was stored, and presently to form -an automobile procession through the streets in search of a suitable -shooting gallery. - -When targets were finally set up in the street in automobile lights, the -general mechanical efficiency of the colony revealed itself once more. -Gloria Rutherford was a dead shot and the artilleryman from Governor's -Island almost as good; Ben himself and Murray Lee, who had been to -Plattsburg, knew at least the mechanism of rifles, but the rest could -only shut their eyes and pull the trigger, with the vaguest of ideas as -to where the bullet would go. And as Ben pointed out after the buildings -along the street had been peppered with the major portion of Abercrombie -and Fitch's stock of ammunition, the supply was not inexhaustible. - -"And what shall we do for weapons then?" he asked. - -Yoshio, the little Japanese, raised his hand for attention. - -"I have slight suggestion, perhaps merely cat's meow and not worthy -exalted attention," he offered. "Why not all people as gentlemen old -time in my country, carry sword? It is better than without weapon." - -"Why not, indeed?" said Ben above a hum of laughter. "Let's go." And an -hour later the company re-emerged from an antique store, belted with the -strangest collection of swords and knives and fishing gaffs ever borne -by an earthly army. - -"I wonder, though," said Gloria to Murray Lee, as they reached the -Institute as dawn was streaking up the sky. "All this hooey doesn't seem -to mean much. If those birds are as big as that they aren't going to be -scared by these little toad-stabbers." - -She was right. That night Ola Mae Roberts was missing. - - * * * * * - -The siege came a week later. - -It was a week of strained tenseness; a certain electricity seemed at -hand in the atmosphere, inhibiting speech. The colonists felt almost as -though they were required to whisper.... - -A week during which Murray, with Dangerfield and Tholfsen, worked -energetically at their radio, and progressed far enough so they could do -a fairly competent job of sending and receiving in Morse code. A week -during which the naval party got a freighter from the South Street docks -and brought her round into the Hudson. - -At dawn one morning, Gloria, with Farrelly, Kevitz and Yoshio, piled -into a limousine with the idea of taking the freighter on a trip to -Coney Island. Murray accompanied them to try communicating with the -shore via the ship's wireless. - -The day was dark, with lowering clouds, which explains why they missed -seeing the tetrapteryxes. But for the General Sherman statue they never -would have seen them until too late. The general's intervention was -purely passive; Murray noticed and called Gloria's attention to the -curious expression the misty light gave the bronze face and she looked -up to see, to be recalled to her driving by a yell from Kevitz -announcing the metallic carcass of a policeman squarely in their path. - -Gloria twisted the wheel sharply to avoid it; the car skidded on the -damp pavement, and reeling crazily, caromed into the iron fence around -the statue with a crash. At the same moment an enormous mass of rock -struck the place where they should have been and burst like a shell, -sending a shower of fragments whistling about their ears. - -Shaken and dazed by the shock, they rolled out of the car, for the -moment mistaking the two impacts for one; and as they did so there came -a rush of wild wings, an eldritch scream and Yoshio was snatched into -the air before their very eyes. Kevitz fired first, wildly and at -random. Murray steadied himself, dropping his gun across his left -forearm, and shot cool and straight--but at too great a distance, and -they saw nothing but a feather or two floating down from the great -four-winged bird as it swung off over Central Park, carrying the little -Jap. They saw him squirm in the thing's grip, trying to get his sword -loose, and then with a rattle of dropped stones around them, more of the -birds charged home. - -Only Gloria had thought of this and withheld her fire. The others swung -round as she shot and in an instant the whole group was a maze of -whirling wings, clutching claws, shouts, shots and screams. In twenty -seconds it was done: Gloria and Murray rose panting and breathless, and -looked about. Beside them, two gigantic bird-forms were spilling their -lives in convulsive agony. Dangerfield and Farrelly were gone--and a -rending screech from behind the buildings told only too well where. - -"What's the next step?" asked Murray with such owlish solemnity that -Gloria gave a burst of half-hysterical laughter. She looked round. - -"Beat it for that building," she said, and gathering her torn skirts -about her, set the example. - -They made it by the narrowest of margins, standing breathless in what -had been the Peacock Alley of one of New York's finest hotels to see one -of the great birds strut past the door like a clumsy caricature of an -angel. - -"And poo-poo for you," said Murray, thumbing his nose at the apparition. -"But what we'll do now I don't know." - -"Play pinochle till they come look us up," suggested Gloria. "Besides, -my bullets are all gone." - -... They waited all day, taking tentative glances from one or another of -the windows. The birds remained invisible, apparently not caring for the -prospect of a battle in the constricted space of the hotel rooms. But -amid the rain and low-hung clouds they might be lurking just outside and -both Murray and Gloria judged it too dangerous to venture a dash. As -night came on, however, they made a try for the hotel's garage, achieved -it without accident, and between them, rolled one of the cars to the -door. - -"Wait," said Murray, as Gloria got in, "what was that?" - -"This dam' starter." She stirred her foot vigorously. "It won't work." - -"No. Wait." He held out a restraining hand. A sudden gust of wind bore a -dash of rain down against them and with it, from the northeast, a -far-away scream, then a tapping and a heavy thud. - -"Hot dog!" ejaculated Murray. "They're getting after the crowd. And at -night, too." - -The car jerked forward suddenly as the starter caught. "Hold it," cried -Murray. "Douse those headlights." They dodged the wreck of a street car, -swung round a corner and headed for First Avenue, gathering speed. -Another corner, taken on two wheels in the darkness, the way to the -Institute lay before them. - -Suddenly a great flame of light sprang out in the sky, throwing the -whole scene into sharpest relief. There was a crash of rifle-fire from -window and door of the building and across the front of it one of the -birds coasted past. Crash! In the street before them something like a -bomb burst, vomiting pennons of fire. Gloria swung the wheel, swung it -back; they had a mad glimpse of brilliantly burning flames inside one of -the buildings across the street from the Institute, and then they were -tumbling out of the car with rifle-fire beating all around them and the -thud of dropping objects on either side. - - * * * * * - -Murray stumbled, but the door was flung open and they were jerked in, -just as one of the huge bird forms flung itself down past them. - -"Thank God, you're safe," said Ben Ruby's voice. "They got Dearborn and -Harris and they're besieging us here." He pointed out of the window -across the street, where the rapidly-gaining fire was engulfing the -building. - -"Did the birds do that little trick?" asked Gloria. - -"I hope to tell you, sister. You ain't seen nothing yet, either. They're -shedding incendiary bombs all over the shop. How about Kevitz and -Farrelly?" - -"Got them, too. At the Plaza--and the little Jap. Too bad; I liked that -little sprout." - -"I thank gracious lady for kindly expressed sentiment, but oversize -avians have not yet removed me," said a voice and Gloria looked down to -see Yoshio bowing at her side. - -"Why, how did they come to let you off? Last I saw you were doing a -headspin over Central Park." - -"I was fortune," replied the little man. "Removing sword I operate on -said bird to such extent that he drop me as hot customer, plosh in large -tree. To get home is not so easy but I remember armored car provided by -intelligent corporation for transport of bankroll, so here I am. Cat's -Meow!" - -"Bright boy," said Gloria. "Listen!" Above their heads came another -crash, a tramp of feet and shouts. Roberts dashed into the room, rifle -in hand. "They've got the place on fire," he said. "We'll have to clear -out." - -Ben Ruby fumbled at his waist, drew forth a whistle and blew a piercing -blast, which was answered by shouts, as members of the colony began to -pour into the room from various points. - -Another bomb burst in a fluff of light, just outside the window, -throwing weird shadows across the gathering and splitting a pane here -and there by the force of its impact. - -"Hot stuff," remarked Gloria. "What are they trying to do--take us all -at one gulp?" - -"Beeville says they never thought it up on their own," Ben assured her. -"Not smart enough. He thinks somebody doesn't like us and is sending -them around to tell us so. Listen, everybody!" - -The room quieted down. - -"We've got to go at once. Our destination is the Times Square subway -station. They can't get us there. Anybody who gets separated meet the -rest there. We'll go in groups of three to a car; one to carry a gun, -one a sword and one a light. Everybody got it?... Good.... Somebody give -Gloria one of those express rifles.... Here's the list then. First -party--Miss Rutherford, gun; Yoshio, sword; O'Hara, light. Go ahead." - -A coil of smoke drifted across the room from somewhere above--the sough -of the burning made the only background to his words. With a quick -handshake the three made ready; a volley from the windows flashed out, -and they dashed off. Those inside caught a glimpse of the dark form of -their car as it rolled into the night. They were safe at all events. The -second carload, in Yoshio's armored vehicle, also got free, but the -third had trouble. They had hardly made half the distance to the parked -cars before there was a whir of wings, a scream, and the quick burst of -a bomb, luckily too far behind them to do damage. Those inside saw the -light-man stop suddenly, flashing his beam aloft, saw an orange flame -spring from the gun and then their view of the three was blotted out in -a whirl of wings and action. - -"Everybody out!" yelled Ben. "Now! While they're busy." In a concerted -rush the colonists poured through the door. - -Nobody could remember clearly what did happen. Someone was down--hurt -somewhere--but was flung into a car. Through the turmoil the tossing -form of one badly-wounded bird struggled on the ground, and with a roar -of motors the cavalcade started. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -The Terror by Night - - -It would be futile--and impossible--to chronicle all the events of that -wild ride; to tell how the light-bombs dropped unceasingly from above; -how the driver of one car, blinded by the glare, hurtled his vehicle -through the plate-glass window of a store, and how McAllister, the -artilleryman, fought off the birds with a huge shard of glass from the -window; how the passengers in another car, wrecked by a bomb, got a -fire-engine and cleared their way to Times Square with clanging bell and -clouds of malodorous fire-extinguisher chemicals; or how Mrs. Roberts -decapitated one of the monsters with a single blow of the cleaver she -carried. - -Dawn found them, a depressed group of fourteen, gathered in the -protection of the underground passages. - -"Well, what next?" asked Gloria, who seemed to have preserved more of -her normal cheerfulness than anyone. "Do we stay here till they come for -us, or do we go get 'em?" - -"We get out," said Ben Ruby. "No good here. They know too much for us." - -"Right," declared Beeville. "The usual methods of dealing with animals -won't work this time. They are all based on the fact that animals are -creatures of habit instead of intelligence, and unless I am much wrong, -these birds are intelligent and have some bigger intelligence backing -them." - -"You mean they'll try to bomb us out of here?" asked Roberts. - -McAllister looked up from the dice he was throwing. "You bet your sweet -life they will. Those babies know their stuff. The one that was after me -was onto the manual of the bayonet like he'd been raised on it." - -"That's nice," said Gloria, "but what are we going to do about it?" - -"Get an anti-aircraft gun from the Island and shell hell out of them -when they come round again," suggested the artilleryman. - -"Said gun would be considerable weight for individual to transport in -pocket," said Yoshio doubtfully, as Ben raised his hand for silence amid -the ensuing laughter. - -"There's a good deal in that idea," he said, "but I don't think it will -do as it stands. The birds would bomb our gun to blazes after they had a -dose or two from it. They're not so slow themselves you know. How about -some of the forts? Aren't there some big ones around New York?" - -McAllister nodded. "There's Hancock. We could get a ship through." - -"Say!" Gloria leaped suddenly to her feet. "While we're about it, can't -we get a warship--a battleship or something? Those babies would have a -hot time trying to bomb one of Uncle Sam's battleships apart and there's -all kinds of anti-aircraft guns on them." - -"There's a destroyer in the Hudson," said someone. - -"How many men does it take to run her?" - -"Hundred and fifty." - -"But," put in Gloria, "that's a hundred and fifty of the old style men -who had to have their three squares and eight hours' sleep every day, -and they did a lot of things like cooking that we won't have to. What do -you say, Dictator, old scout? Shall we give it a whirl?" - -"O. K.--unless somebody has something better to offer," declared Ben, -and in fifteen minutes more the colonists were cautiously poking their -way out of the subway station en route to take command of U. S. S. -_Ward_. - -Cleaning up the ship before the start took the colonists a whole day. A -sooty dust, like the product of a particularly obnoxious factory, had -settled over everything, and dealing with the cast-iron bodies of the -sailors, wedged in the queer corners where they had fallen at the moment -of the change, was a job in itself. - -As night shut down, the whole crew, with the exception of Beeville and -Murray Lee, who had spent some time in small boats and had therefore -been appointed navigators, was busy going over the engine-room, striving -to learn the complex detail of handling a warship. - -Murray and Beeville were poring over their navigating charts when a step -sounded outside the chartroom and the wire-frizzled head of Gloria was -thrust in. - -"How goes it, children?" she asked. "Do we sail for the cannibal islands -at dawn?" - -"Not on your life," replied Murray. "This hooker is going to pull in at -the nearest garage until we learn what it's all about. Talk about -arithmetic! This is worse than figuring out a time-table." - -Gloria laughed, then her face became serious. "Do you think they'll bomb -us again, Mr. Beeville?" - -"I don't see why not. They were clear winners in the last battle. But -what gets me is where they come from. Why, they're a living refutation -of the laws of evolution on the earth! Four wings and two legs! -Although ..." the naturalist looked at the sliding parts of his own arm, -"they are rather less incredible than the evolution that has overtaken -mankind, unless we're all off our heads. Do you know any way to account -for it?" - -"Not me," said Murray, "that's supposed to be your job; all we do is -believe you when--" Bang! The anti-aircraft gun had gone off just -outside with an earsplitting report. With a common impulse the three -made for the door and looked upward to see the shell burst in a puff of -white smoke, outlined against the dark clouds of evening, while above -and beyond it sailed a black dot with whirring wings. - -"That settles it," said Murray. "Whether we like it or not, we're going -away from here. I wish those nuts hadn't fired though. Now the birds -know what we've got. Trot down and tell them to get up steam, that's a -good girl, Gloria." - -The lone tetrapteryx seemed no more than a scout, for the attack was not -followed up. But it takes time to get steam up on long disused marine -engines and all hands were below when the real attack was delivered. - -It began with the explosion of a bomb somewhere outside and a dash of -water against the vessel's side that threw all of them off their feet. -There was a clang of metal and a rush for the deck--cut across by Ben's -voice. "Take it easy! Everybody to the engines but McAllister, O'Hara -and the navigators." - -The four sprang for the ladder, Murray in the lead. Crash! A sound like -the thunder of a thousand tons of scrap iron on a sidewalk and the -destroyer pitched wildly. - -Murray's head came level with the deck. Instead of the darkness he had -expected it was flung into dazzling illumination by a flare burning on -the water not fifty yards away, with a light so intense that it seemed -to have physical body. There was a perceptible wave of heat from it and -the water round it boiled like a cauldron. - -[Illustration: Instead of the darkness he had expected, the deck was -flung into dazzling illumination.] - -He tumbled onto the deck, running forward to trip the release of the -anchor chain. At the break of the forecastle, he stumbled, and the -stumble saved him, for at that moment another of the bombs fell, just in -front of the fore-deck gun. The whole bow of the ship seemed to burst -into intense, eye-searing flame. Deafened and blinded, Murray lay face -down on the deck, trying to recover his senses; behind him the others, -equally overwhelmed, tumbled on the iron surface, rolling over and over, -blindly. - -But the birds, apparently unaware of how heavy a blow they had struck, -seemed wary of the gun. The four groveling on the deck heard scream and -answering scream above them as the monsters discussed the question on -the wing. If they reached a decision it was too late, for McAllister and -O'Hara, blind, drunk and sick though they were, staggered to the gun and -sent a shot shrieking at wild venture into the heavens. Beeville, nearer -to the blinding blaze of light, recovered more slowly, but found his way -to the bridge where he fumblingly pulled the engine-room telegraph over -to "Full Speed Ahead." - -Below, in the bowels of the vessel, there was a rumble of activity; a -rapid whoosh of steam came from an exhaust pipe, a dash of sparks from -the destroyer's funnels, and slowly and haltingly she began to move. -Bang! went the anti-aircraft gun. Beeville heard Murray climbing the -bridge behind him and then his cry, "The anchor!" - -Too late--with a surge that changed to a rattle, the destroyer moved, -tearing the anchor from its ground and swinging slowly half-way round as -the weight dragged the damaged bow to one side. At that moment came -another bomb which, but for their motion, would have struck fair and -square amidships. Bang! Bang! went the anti-aircraft gun. Murray dragged -at the wheel, then swung the engine-room telegraph back to "Stop." Just -in time--the destroyer's bottom grated on something, her prow rent the -side of a big speed-boat and she came to rest, pointing diagonally -upstream. - -Fortunately the attack broke off as rapidly as it had begun. A few -screams, lost in the darkness of the night were the only answer to -another shell from the gun. But there was no assurance that this was -more than a temporary respite. Murray and Beeville strove desperately to -bring the warped bridge mechanism into running order while O'Hara -routed out a blow-torch from somewhere and attacked the anchor chain, -now welded into a solid mass with the deck by the force of the -light-bomb. Finally, weaving to and fro in the hands of the -inexperienced mariners, she was gotten round and pointed downstream and -out to sea. If the birds sought them again in the darkness there was no -sign of it. - -Day found them stumbling down the Jersey coast, the foredeck a mass of -wreckage and the ship leaking badly. - -"Well, where are we now?" called a cheerful voice, as Murray Lee stood -at the wheel. "Australia in sight yet?" - -He looked up to see Gloria's head emerging from the companion. - -"Come on up," he said, "I'm just going to turn the wheel over to -Beeville and get busy with this radio. Don't think the bomb knocked it -out. It did everything else, though. Look at that." - -He indicated the prow of the ship, where the big gun hung down like a -tired candle and the whole fore part of the vessel had dissolved into -tears of metal. - -"Golly," said Gloria, "that was some egg those birds laid. What was it, -anyway?" - -"Don't know. Never saw anything like it before. Must be some kind of -new-fangled high-power incendiary bomb to melt steel down like butter. -Why, even thermit wouldn't do that." - -"I hope our friends don't think of looking us up here, then, or we'll be -finding out what it's like to walk under water." - -"You said something, sister," declared Murray. "Wait! I think I got -something." - -He fumbled with the radio dials before him, swinging them this way and -that: then clamped on the headset. "Oh, boy, there's something coming -through ... we're not alone in the world then.... Yes, there she is.... -Damn, I wish they wouldn't send so fast.... AAM2 calling.... Now who is -AAM2?" His fingers pressed the key in reply as the others watched him -with bated breath. "Position, seventy-three, fifty-three west longitude; -forty, o-three, north latitude. Here ..." he wrote the figures down. -"Take this, one of you and dope it out. Ssh, there's more coming. Oh, he -wants to know who we are and where. Call Ben, will you Gloria?" - -She dashed off to return with the dictator of the colonists just as -Beeville, who had been fumbling over the charts with one hand, called -suddenly, "Why, the position they give is right near here--hardly a -hundred miles away. I don't know just what ours is, but it can't be far -from this spot. Tell them that." - -"Find out who they are first," Ben put in, practically. "After what -they've done, I wouldn't put it past the tetrapteryxes to handle a radio -set." - -"... His Majesty's Australian ship _Brisbane_, they say," said Murray. -"Wait a minute, since they're so near, I think I can switch them over to -the radiophone." He ticked the key a moment, then twisted more dials and -leaned back as a full and fruity voice, with a strong English accent, -filled the room. - -"Compliments of Captain Entwhistle of the Royal Australian Navy to the -commander of the U. S. S. _Ward_, and can we arrange a meeting? The -Comet appears to have done a good deal of damage in your part of the -world and you are the first people we have encountered." - -"Where's your microphone?" asked Ben. "Oh, there.... Compliments of -Benjamin Franklin Ruby, temporarily in command of U. S. S. _Ward_ to -Captain Entwhistle of the Royal Australian Navy, and none of us are -sailors. We just borrowed this ship, and if you want to see us you'll -have to pick us up. We'll keep along the coast toward Cape May. Can you -meet us?" - -A chuckle was audible from the radiophone. "I think we can manage it. -Are there any of the big birds about in your part of the world? They -have been bothering us all summer." - -"Yes," replied Ben, "that's what we're running away from now. They've -got some bombs that are pure poison and they've been making regular war -on us--or probably you know about it?" - -"We haven't seen anything like that yet," declared the voice from the -loud-speaker, "but we've had plenty of trouble with them. Hold on a -moment. Our lookout reports sighting smoke from your funnels. Hold your -course and speed. We'll pick you up." - -The voice ceased with a snap, and the four in the control room of the -destroyer looked at each other. - -"I'm glad he came around," remarked Ben. "This destroyer is getting -shopworn. Besides with a good warship on hand we'll be able to give -those birds what they're looking for. I hope he's got some airplanes." - -"And somebody to fly them," continued Murray. "What'll we do if he -has--go back and give them hell?" - -"If we can. Apparently he doesn't like the birds any too well himself. -It was the first thing he mentioned." - -They ceased speaking as the thin pennon of smoke, followed by two tall -masts, became visible over the horizon. In a few minutes more the -_Brisbane_ swept up, swung a circle and came to rest near them, while -out from her side dropped a boat that began to move toward them with -dipping oars. - -A moment later she was alongside. Ben stepped out on the deck, and as he -did so, there was a mutual exclamation of horrified amazement--for -Captain Entwhistle of the Royal Australian Navy was as much flesh and -blood as any man they had seen in the old days, but a pale blue in -color, and all his sailors were of the same extraordinary hue. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -An Exploration - - -There was a moment's silence as the Australian captain steadied himself -against the roll of the vessel, staring incredulously at the group that -gathered round him. - -"Are you--human?" he finally managed to gasp. - -"If we aren't somebody's been kidding us," said Gloria, irreverently. -"But are you? You're all blue!" - -"Of course," said the captain. "It was the comet. We knew it struck in -America somewhere but didn't know where or what it did. What's the -matter with your ship?" He indicated the wrecked and leaking bow. "She -seems to be down by the head." - -"Oh, that was a valentine from the birds," said Ben. "Can you give us -quarters on your vessel? There aren't many of us." - -Captain Entwhistle seemed to come out of a dream. "Of course, of course. -Come on. We can discuss things better in my cabin." - -As they mounted to the deck of the _Brisbane_, even the trained sailors, -the light blue of their faces oddly at variance with the dark blue of -their uniforms, could not refrain from staring at the colonists. They -crowded into the captain's cabin past rows of eager blue faces. - -"I suggest," said Captain Entwhistle, "that we begin by telling each -other how this happened. I can scarcely credit the fact that you are -human and can walk and talk. Would any of you care for a whiskey and -soda?" - -"No, thanks," said Murray, the spirit of fun stirring in him, "but I'll -have a drink of lubricating oil if you can find any." - -The naval officer looked at him, and remarked, a trifle stiffly, -"Certainly, if you wish. Williams--" - -"Oh, don't mind him," Ben Ruby cut in. "Pardon me, Captain, he can drink -lubricating oil perfectly well, but he's just joking with you. You were -saying about the comet--" - -"Why, you knew that the big comet struck the earth as predicted, didn't -you? It was on the morning of February sixteenth, last year--evening of -February fifteenth by American time. Even in our country, which is -around on the other side of the earth, it caused a good deal of damage. -The gases it set free put everybody to sleep and caused a lot of -wreckage. Our scientists say the gases of the comet in some unexplained -way altered the iron in the hæmoglobin of our blood to cobalt. It seems -to work just as well, but that's why we're all blue. I don't quite -understand it myself, but you know how these medical Johnnies are. Now -what happened to you people?" - -"May I ask something first?" said Beeville. "What day is this?" - -"August eighteenth, 1946," said the captain as though slightly baffled -by the question. - -"Good God!" said the scientist. "Then we were there for over a year!" - -"Yes," said Ben. "All of us you see here and several others returned to -consciousness about the same time, two months ago. We know nothing of -what the comet did to us or how this change occurred except that when we -woke up we were just what you see. Dr. Beeville has been experimenting -with a view to finding out what happened, but he hasn't made much -progress so far. All we know is that we're composed of metal that -doesn't rust easily, make our meals off electricity, and find the taste -of any kind of oil agreeable. And the birds--" he broke off with a -gesture. - -"Oh, yes, the birds," said the captain. "Have they been annoying you, -too? That's one of the reasons, aside from exploration, why we're here. -I assume you mean the big four-winged birds that we call dodos down -under. We haven't seen much of them, but occasionally they come and fly -away with a sheep or even a man. One of our aviators chased one several -hundred miles out to sea recently and we had assumed they came from one -of the islands. Our scientists don't know what to make of them." - -"Neither do ours, except that they're an unadulterated brand of hell," -put in Murray. "We were all living in New York, snug as bugs in a rug, -when they began dropping incendiary bombs on us and carrying off anyone -they could get hold of." - -"Including this insignificant person," said Yoshio, proudly. - -"Incendiary bombs! Do you mean to tell me they have intelligence enough -for that?" - -"I'll tell the cockeyed world they have! Did you see the prow of our -ship? That's where one of their little presents got home. If anyone had -been there, he wouldn't be anything but scrap iron now. If you really -want to find out what it's all about come on up to New York, but get -ready for the fight of your life." - -The captain leaned back, sipping his drink meditatively. "Do you know," -he said, "that's just what I was thinking of doing? Frankly your story -is all but incredible, but here you are as proof of it and you don't -seem to be robots, except in appearance." - -"Oh, boy," whispered Murray to Gloria, "wait till these babies get after -the birds with their eight-inch guns. They'll wish they'd never heard of -us. I'm glad I'm going to be on hand to see the fun." - -"Yeh, but maybe the birds will have something up their feathers, too," -she replied. "I wouldn't like to place any bets. We thought we had them -licked when we got the destroyer and now look at us." - -"Well, I'm willing to try an attack, or at least a reconnaissance of -them," said the captain. "Just now we're in the position of an armed -exploring party. The Australian government has sent out several ships to -see what it could find on the other continents. After the comet struck -all the cables went dead. We got into radio communication with the Dutch -colonial stations at Batavia and later with South Africa, but the rest -of the world is just being re-explored and my commission authorizes me -to resist unfriendly acts. I think you could call an incendiary bomb an -unfriendly act." - - * * * * * - -His eyes twinkled over this mild witticism, and the party broke up with -a scraping of chairs. A couple of hours later, the blue line of Sandy -Hook was visible, and then the vague cliffs of the New York skyscrapers. -The clouds had cleared away after the rain of the last few days; not -even a speck of mist hung in the air and everything stood out bright and -clear. The colonists felt a pang of emotion grip them as they watched -the tall towers of the city rise over the horizon, straight and -beautiful as they had always stood, but now without a sign of life or -motion, all the busy clamor of the place hushed forever. - -Of the tetrapteryxes or "dodos" as the Australian had called them, there -was no sign. The sky bent high, unbrokenly blue, not a flicker of motion -in it. Murray Lee felt someone stir at his side and looked round. - -"Oh, damn," said Gloria Rutherford, "it's so beautiful that I want to -cry. Did you ever feel like that?" - -He nodded silently.... "And those birds--isn't it a shame somehow that -they should have the most beautiful city in the world?" - -The shrill of a whistle cut off his words. With marvelous, machine-like -precision, the sailors moved about the decks. The _Brisbane_ lost way, -came to a halt, and there was a rush of steel as the anchor ran out. -Captain Entwhistle came down from the bridge. - -"I don't see anything of your dodos yet," he said. "Do you think it -would be wise to send out a landing party, Mr. Ruby?" - -"Most certainly not," said Ben. "You don't know what you're up against -yet. Wait till they come round. You'll have plenty to do." - -The captain shrugged. Evidently he was not at all unwilling to match the -Australian navy against anything the dodos might do. "Very well, I'll -accept your advice for the present, Mr. Ruby. It is near evening in any -case. But if there is no sign of them in the morning, I propose to land -and look over the city." - -But the landing was never accomplished. - -For, in the middle of the night, as Ben, Murray and Gloria were seated -in the chartroom of the ship, chatting with the young lieutenant on duty -there, there came a quick patter of feet on the deck, and a shout of -"Light, ho!" - -"There are your friends now, I'll wager," said the lieutenant. "Now -watch us go get 'em. If you want to see the fun, better go up on the -bridge. All we do here is wrestle slide-rules." - -Hastily the three climbed the bridge, where a little group of officers -was clustered. Following the direction in which they were looking, they -saw, just above the buildings on the Jersey shore, what looked like a -tall electric sign, burning high in the air and some distance away, with -no visible means of support. - -"What do you make of it?" asked Captain Entwhistle, turning and -thrusting a pair of glasses into Ben's hands. Through them he could read -the letters. Printed in capitals, though too small to be read from the -ship with the naked eye, he saw: - -"SOFT MEN EXIT. HARD MEN ARE WORKERS BELONGING. MUST RETURN. THIS MEANS -YOU." - -"Looks like a dumb joke by someone who doesn't know English very well," -he opined, passing the glasses to Gloria. "I don't think those birds -would figure that out anyway." - -"Wait a minute, though," said Gloria, as she read the letters. "Remember -they caught Dangerfield and Farrelly and the rest. Maybe they taught -them how to speak." - -"Yes, but those two didn't know anything about 'soft men.' It's all -crazy, like Tweedledum and Tweedledee. And what do they mean by -'belonging'? None of our gang thought up that bright remark." - -"Look, sir," said one of the younger officers, "it's changing." - -Abruptly the lights were blotted out, to reappear, amid a swimming of -colors, nearer and larger. "WARNING" they read this time, "FLY AWAY -ACCURSED PLACE." - -"What beats me," said Ben, "is what makes that light. I'll bet a dollar -against a dodo-feather it isn't electrical and fireworks wouldn't hang -in the air like that. How do they do it?" - -"Well, we'll soon find out," said the Captain, practically. "Mr. -Sturgis, switch on searchlights three and four and turn them on the -source of that light." - -A few quick orders and two long beams of light leaped out from the ship -toward the source of the mysterious sky-writing--leaped, but not fast -enough, for even as the searchlights sought for their goal the lights -were extinguished and the long beams swung across nothing but the empty -heavens. - -Gloria shivered. "I think I want to go away from this place," she said. -"There's too much we don't know about around here. We'll be getting -table-tappings next." - -"Apparently someone wants us to clear out," said Captain Entwhistle -cheerfully. "Mr. Sturgis, get steam on three boilers and send the men to -reserve action stations. We may have something doing here before -morning." - -Orders were shouted, iron doors were slammed and feet pattered in the -interior of the warship. From their station on the bridge Ben, Gloria -and Murray could see the long shafts of the turret guns swing upward to -their steepest angle, then turn toward the Jersey shore. The _Brisbane_ -was preparing for emergencies. - -But there was to be no fight that night, though all night long the weary -sailors stood or slept beside their guns. The dark skies remained -inscrutable; the mysterious lights did not reappear. - -At four o'clock, Captain Entwhistle had retired, reappearing at eight, -fresh as though he had slept through the whole night. The colonists, of -course, did not need sleep, but while the sailors stared at them, -submitted themselves to an electric meal from one of the ship's dynamos. -Morning found them gathering about the upper decks, eager for action, -particularly McAllister, who had spent most of the night engaged in -highly technical discussions of the _Brisbane's_ artillery with one of -the turret-captains. - -"What do you suggest?" asked the captain. "Shall we land a party?" - -"I hate to go without taking a poke at those birds," said Ben, "but -still I don't think it would be safe--" - -"What's the matter with that airplane?" asked Gloria, pointing to the -catapult between the funnels, where a couple of blue-visaged sailors had -taken the covering from a seaplane and were giving it a morning bath. - -The captain looked at Ben. "There may be something in that idea. What do -you say to a scout around? I'll let you or one of your people go as an -observer." - -"Tickled to death," Ben replied. "We never got beyond the upper part of -the city ourselves. The dodos were too dangerous. I'd like to find out -what it's all about." - -"How about me?" offered Gloria. - -"Nothing doing, kid. You get left this time. If those birds get after us -we may land in the bay with a bump and I don't want this party to lose -its little sunshine." - -"Up anchor!" came the command. "Revolutions for ten knots speed.... I'm -going to head down the bay," he explained to the colonists. "If anything -happens I want to have sea-room, particularly if they try bombing us." - -Fifteen minutes later, with the _Brisbane_ running into the morning -land-breeze in an ocean smooth as glass, the catapult let go and Ben and -the pilot--a lad whose cheeks would have been rosy before the comet, but -were now a vivid blue--were shot into the air. - -Beneath them the panorama of New York harbor lay spread; more silent -than it had been at any day since Hendrick Hudson brought his -high-pooped galleys into it. As they rose, Ben could make out the line -of the river shining through the pearly haze like a silver ribbon; the -towers of the city tilted, then swung toward them as the aviator swept -down nearer for an examination. Everything seemed normal save at the -north and east, where a faint smoky mist still lingered over the -buildings they had occupied. Of birds, or of other human occupation than -their own, there was no slightest sign. - -A faint shout was borne to his ears above the roar of the motor and he -saw the pilot motioning toward a set of earphones. - -"What do you say, old chap?" asked the pilot when he had clamped them -on. "What direction shall we explore?" - -Ben glanced down and around. The cruiser seemed to hang in the water, a -tiny droplet of foam at her bow the only sign she was still in motion. -"Let's go up the Hudson," he suggested. "They seemed to come from that -direction." - -"Check," called the pilot, manipulating his controls. The airplane -climbed, swung and went on. They were over Yonkers; Ben could see a -river steamer at the dock, where she had made her last halt. - -"Throw in that switch ahead of you," came through the earphones. "The -one marked RF. That's the radiophone for communicating with the ship. We -may need it." - -"O.K.," said Ben.... "Hello.... Yes, this is Ruby, in the airplane. -Nothing to report. Everything serene. We're going to explore farther up -the river." - -In the distance the Catskills loomed before them, blue and proud. Ben -felt a touch on his back and looked round. The pilot evidently wished -to say something else. He cut in and heard, "What's that off on the -left--right in the mountains? No, there." - -Following the indicated direction Ben saw something like a scar on the -projecting hillside--not one of the ancient rocks, but a fresh cut on -the earth, as though a wide spot had been denuded of vegetation. - -"I don't know," he answered. "Never saw it before. Shall we go see?... -Hello, _Brisbane_. Ruby reporting. There is a mysterious clearing in the -Catskills. We are investigating." - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -The Dodos are Bombing - - -The bare area seemed to run all down a long valley and spread out as it -rounded the crest of a hill which hid what lay behind it from their -view. As they watched a grey speck that might have been an ant at that -height and distance, lumbered slowly down the valley, and then Ben -noticed a tiny flicker of red light, so bright as to be clearly visible -even in the day, where the grey speck moved against the hillside. A door -seemed to open in the hillside; focusing the glasses the aviator handed -him, he could just make out a square, bulky object that trundled forth. -And then one--two--three--four--five of the huge dodo-tetrapteryx birds -shot out, poised for a moment, and leaped into flight. - -"Hello, _Brisbane_," called Ben into the radiophone. "Five dodos have -taken off from the cutting in the hills. I think they are after us. -Better turn back this way and get ready for trouble." - -The aviator, understanding without being warned, had turned the plane. -Ben swung round to look over his shoulder. The dodos were already some -yards in the air; behind them the bulky object was running slowly out of -the opening in the hillside. It had the appearance of a very long, -flexible cannon. As he held his glasses on it, it stopped, straightened -out and the muzzle was elevated in their direction. - -"Dive!" he shouted suddenly into the voice-tube, entirely on impulse. -The airplane banked sharply and seemed to drop straight down, and at the -same instant right through the spot where they had just passed shot a -beam of light so brilliant that it outshone the morning sun. There was a -roar louder than that of the motor; the plane pitched and heaved in the -disturbed air, and the light-beam went off as suddenly as it had snapped -on. - -"Didn't I tell you those babies were poison?" he remarked. "Boy, if that -ever hit us!" - -"What was it?" asked the aviator's voice. - -"Don't know, but it was something terrible. Let's head for home and -mamma. I don't care about this." - -The plane reeled as the pilot handled the controls. Rrrr! said something -and the light-beam shot out again, just to one side this time. Out of -the corner of his eye Ben could see one of the birds--gaining on them! - -"How do you work this machine-gun?" he asked. - -"Just squeeze the trigger. Look out! I'm going to dive her again." - -With a roar, the light-beam let go a third time. Ben saw the edge of it -graze their right wing-tip; the airplane swung wildly round and down, -with the pilot fighting for control; the earth seemed to rush up to meet -them, tumbling, topsy-turvy. Ben noted a warped black spot where the -beam had touched the wing-tip, then surprisingly, they were flying -along, level with the surface of the Hudson beneath them, and hardly a -hundred feet up. - -"That was close," came the aviator's voice, shaky with relief. "I -thought they had us that time. Say, that's some ray they have." - -"It sure is one first-class heller," agreed Ben. "Are you far enough -down to duck it now?" - -"I think so, unless they can put it through the hills or chase us with -it. Do you suppose those dodos thought that up themselves?" - -"Can't tell. They're right on their toes, though. Look!" He pointed up -and back. Silhouetted against the sky, they could see three of them, -flying in formation like airplanes. "Can we make it?" - -"I'm giving the old bus all she'll stand. The _Brisbane_ will come -toward us though. Wait till those guys get going. They'll find we can -take a trick or two." - -Yonkers again. Ben looked anxiously over his shoulder. The three -silhouettes were a trifle nearer. Would they do it? 125th Street and the -long bridge swung into view, then Riverside Drive and the procession of -docks with the rusting liners lying beside them. Ben waggled the -machine-gun, tried to adjust its sights and squeezed the trigger. A -little line of smoke-puffs leaped forth. Tracer bullets--but nowhere -near the birds. On and on--lower New York--the Battery. Wham! The water -beneath and behind them boiled. Ben looked up. The birds were above -them, too high to be reached, dropping bombs. - -"All right, old soaks," he muttered, "keep that up. You'll never hit us -that way." - -Again something struck the water beneath them. The airplane pitched and -swerved as the pilot changed course to disturb the aim of the bombers. -In the distance the form of the cruiser could be seen now, heading -toward them. As he watched, there was a flash from her foredeck. Up in -the blue above them appeared the white burst of a shell, then another -and another. - -One of the dodos suddenly dived out of the formation, sweeping down more -swiftly than Ben would have believed possible. He swung the gun this way -and that, sending out streams of tracers, but the bird did not appear to -heed. Closer--closer--and then with a crash something burst right behind -him. The airplane gyrated; the water rushed upward. The end? he thought, -and wondered inconsequentially whether his teeth would rust. The next -moment the water struck them. - - * * * * * - -When Ben Ruby came to, he beheld a ceiling which moved jerkily to and -fro and stared lazily at it, wondering what it was. Then memory returned -with a snap; he sat up and looked about him. He was in one of those -cubby-holes which are called "cabins" on warships, and alone. Beneath -him he could hear the steady throb of the engines; at his side was a -small table with a wooden rack on it, in one compartment of which stood -a glass, whose contents, on inspection, proved to be oil. He drank it, -looked at and felt of himself, and finding nothing wrong, got out of the -hammock and stepped to the door. A seaman was on guard in the corridor. - -"Where is everybody?" - -"On deck, sir. I hope you are feeling all right now sir." - -"Top of the world, thanks. Is the aviator O.K.?" - -"Yes, sir. This way." - -He ascended to the bridge, to be greeted riotously by the assembled -company. The _Brisbane_ was steaming steadily along in the open sea, -with no speck of land in sight and no traces of the giant birds. - -"What happened?" Ben asked. "Did you get rid of 'em?" - -"I think so. We shot down two and the rest made off after trying to bomb -us. What did you two find out?" - -Ben briefly described their experiences. "I thought there was something -wrong with one of your wingtips," said the captain, "but your plane sank -so quickly after being hit that we didn't have time to examine it. That -light-ray cannon of theirs sounds serious. Do you suppose the dodos -managed it?" - -"Can't tell," said Ben. "From what I could make out through the glasses, -it didn't look like birds that were handling it." - -"But what could it be?" - -"Ask me! Delirium tremens, I guess. Nothing in this world is like what -it ought to be any more. Where did those birds come from; how did we get -this way, all of us; who is it up there in the Catskills that don't like -us? Answer me those and I'll tell you who was handling the gun." - -"Message, sir," said a sailor, touching his cap, and handing a folded -paper. The captain read it, frowning. - -"There you are--" he extended the sheet to Ben. "My government is -recalling all ships. Our sister-ship, the _Melbourne_, has been attacked -off San Francisco and severely damaged by bomb-dropping dodos, and they -have made a mass descent on Sumatra. Gentlemen, this has all the -characteristics of a formal war." He strode off to give the necessary -orders to hurry the cruiser home, but Walter Beeville, who had joined -the group at the bridge, said under his breath: - -"If those birds have enough intelligence to plan out anything like that -I'll eat my hat." - - * * * * * - -"If you were not before my eyes," said Sir George Graham Harris, -president of the Australian Scientific Commission, "as living proof of -what you say, and if our biological and metallurgical experts did not -report that your physiology is utterly beyond their comprehension, I do -not know but that I would believe you were some cleverly constructed -machines, actuated in some way by radio. However, that is not the -point ... I have here a series of reports from different quarters on -such explorations as have been made since the arrival of the comet and -our recovery from its effects. We are, it appears, confronted with a -menace of considerable seriousness in the form of these birds. - -"In the light of your closer acquaintance with them and with conditions -generally in the devastated areas, they may be more suggestive to you -than to us." He stopped and ruffled over the papers piled beside him at -the big conference table. He was a kindly old gentleman, whose white Van -Dyke and pale blue lips contrasted oddly with the almost indigo tint of -his visage (before the comet it had been a rich wine-red, the result of -a lifelong devotion to brandy and soda). Smiling round the table at his -scientific colleagues and at Ben, Murray, Gloria and Beeville, who -occupied the position of honor, he went on: - -"I give you mainly excerpts.... The first is from the South African -government. They have ... hm, hm ... sent an aerial expedition -northward, all lines of communication appearing to be broken. At -Nairobi, they report for the first time, finding a town entirely -unoccupied and its inhabitants turned into cast-metal statues ... Addis -Ababa the same ... Wadi Hafa likewise. Twenty miles north of Wadi Hafa -they noted the first sign of life--a bird of some kind at a considerable -distance to the west of them and flying parallel with them and very -rapidly." - -The scientist looked up. "It would appear beyond doubt that this bird -belonged to the species we call dodos and to which Dr. Beeville has -given the excellent scientific name, tetrapteryx.... As the expedition -proceeded northward, they encountered more of them; sometimes as many as -four being in sight at one time. At Alexandria, where they halted for -supplies, the dodos closed in. When the expedition took the air again -with the object of flying to Crete and thence to Europe, these -remarkable avians came very close, apparently trying to turn the -expedition back. They reached Crete that afternoon, in spite of the -interference of the birds, but that night were actively attacked on the -ground. The phenomena that accompanied all other attacks were observed; -the birds used incendiary bombs of great intensity. One machine was -entirely destroyed with its aviators. The others, since their object was -exploration, at once took to the air and returned. - -"Any comments, gentlemen? No? Well the next is the report of the Dutch -ship _Corlaer_, which attempted to reach Japan. She was permitted to -proceed to within a few miles of the islands, and then began to receive -light-warnings in the sky, such as Captain Entwhistle reports. -Unfortunately they were in Japanese characters and there was no one -aboard who could read them. She put in at the port of Nagasaki and sent -out a landing party. It never returned; as in the other cases the ship -was bombed at night and only made Sumatra with the greatest difficulty, -one of the bombs having fallen on the quarter-deck, wrecking the -steering-gear and causing extensive internal damage.... - -"There are minor reports with which I will not bother you. But the -report of H. M. A. S. _Melbourne_ appears highly significant. She -touched at several South American ports. In the cities she reports -finding all life at a standstill, although at Iquique, the landing party -encountered some hill-Indians who had suffered a bluing of the blood -similar to ours, and who proved distinctly unfriendly. They are reported -as engaged in looting the city and getting drunk on the contents of the -bodegas. - -"North of Callao she found no signs of life until she reached San Pedro -Bay. There a man was observed to be waving from the beach. The -_Melbourne_ put in and launched a boat, but before it reached shore, one -of the birds made its appearance overhead and the man disappeared into -the trees and was not seen again. From the ship he appeared to be a -mechanical man, such as you. Shortly afterward, the _Melbourne_ began to -see the dodos constantly, and at the region of San Francisco, she saw -one of the light signals. The wording of it was: 'DEPART AWAY FAREWELL -FOREVER.'" - -Gloria stirred and Sir George looked at her with mild eyes. "Nothing, -sir. I was just thinking that these dodos are uncommonly poetical. They -told us to fly from the accursed place." - -"Yes, yes.... Naturally the _Melbourne_, not anticipating any trouble as -the result of a refusal to obey this absurd command, did not heed the -warning, and steamed into the bay. Like the other ships she was attacked -at night. One of the bombs fell on the fire-control station and wrecked -it, bringing down the tripod mast and fusing the top of the conning -tower. She got under way immediately and replied with all guns, but -before escaping number three turret was struck by another bomb and all -the men in the turret were killed. The roof of the turret was driven in -and even the breeches of the guns melted.... That, I think, summarizes -the reports we have. We have seen a little of the birds, mostly at a -distance, and they appear to have carried off several individuals, -especially in Sumatra. I am afraid that is all we can offer." - -There was a moment's silence. - -"Well, what the material in the bombs is I can't say," said Ben, "but -they know all about projecting it from guns in the form of a beam. I -told you about my experience in company with the aviator from the -_Brisbane_?" - -"The eggs Roberts found, too," said Gloria. - -"Oh, yes, Dr. Beeville can tell you about that." - -"Why, there's nothing much to it," said the scientist. "One of our -people found what appeared to be a nest of these birds in a building. -The nest was built of soft cloths and contained large eggs, but when the -place was revisited the eggs had been removed.... I may say that I have -examined the remains of one rather badly mangled specimen. The -brain-case is extraordinarily large--larger than I have ever seen in any -animal, and they appear to be of a high order of intelligence. - -"On the other hand I should certainly put the use and control of such a -material as these bombs contain beyond their powers. And the fact that -the nest was found in a building would indicate that the headquarters in -the Catskills were used by some other and higher intelligence which was -separate from and perhaps in control of these birds. Moreover, they do -not appear to wish to destroy us mechanical men, but to carry us off, -and the messages seen by the ships seem to indicate that the -intelligence behind these birds is capable of reading and understanding -English. I cannot conceive that the birds themselves would be able to do -this. - -"Further, there is the very strong evidence of the gun which fired on -Mr. Ruby. In every case where these birds have attacked man, they have -used bombs of this material put up in portable form, although the gun -would have been much more effective. It would have gone right through -the _Melbourne_ or the _Brisbane_ like a red-hot poker through a board. -From this I argue that the birds are directed rather than directing, and -that the directing intelligence is either too indolent or too -contemptuous of us to attack man except through their agency. Finally, I -deduce that we are dealing with some powerful and as yet unknown form of -life. What it is or how it reached the earth, I am not prepared to say." - -"Wunnerful," said Gloria irreverently, and a smile passed across the -faces of the conferees. - -"But what are the bombs made of and what makes them tick?" asked Murray -Lee. - -"That is a question to which I would very much like to know the answer," -said Sir George, stroking his white beard. "Perhaps Mr. Nasmith, our -chemical member, will be good enough to give us something on the point." - -"Not much," said Nasmith, a lantern-jawed man with black hair. "We made -a chemical analysis of the portions of the _Melbourne_ which had been -struck by the bombs, and all we can say is that it gave a most -extraordinary result. These portions were originally made of Krupp armor -steel, as you know. Our analysis showed the presence of a long series of -chemical elements, including even gold and thorium, most of them in -minute quantities. Titanium appeared to be the leading constituent after -iron." - -"Then," said Sir George, "the situation appears to be this. We don't -know what the dodos are or what is behind them, but they have possession -of a large part of the world to which they are disposed to forbid us -any access. They have powerful weapons and the intelligence to use them, -and they appear to be unfriendly. I suggest that the sense of this -meeting is that the government should take immediate measures of -investigation and if necessary, of hostility." - -"Swell," said Gloria, "only you didn't go half far enough. We've been -there and you haven't. You want to get the best guns you've got and go -for them right away." - -There was a murmur of approval. As Sir George rose to put the question -to a vote there came a knock at the door. Heads were turned to greet a -young man who hurried to the president and whispered something. Sir -George turned to the meeting with a startled face. - -"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "the dodos are bombing Canberra, the -capital of Australia, and are being engaged by the Australian air -force." - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -The Opening of the Conflict - - -"I'm glad," said Gloria to Murray Lee, as they leaned against the rail -of the steamer _Paramatta_ in their new American Army uniforms, "that -they're going to attack these things in the old U. S. I'd hate like -anything to think we last Americans were shoved out of our country by a -lot of chickens." - -Murray glanced around him. In every direction the long lines of the -convoy stretched out, big liners loaded to the funnels with men, guns, -tanks and ammunition. On the fringes of the troopships the sleek grey -sides of the cruisers and destroyers that protected them were visible, -and overhead there soared an armada of fast airplanes--no mere -observation machines, or peaceful explorers like the South Africans, but -fierce, deadly fighting planes, rocket-powered, which could step along -at four miles a minute and climb, dive and maneuver better than a dodo. - -He nodded. "You said something, sister. Say won't it be great to take a -whack at them under the Stars and Stripes. I'm glad they let us do it, -even if there are only fourteen of us." - -In the four months since the conference with the Australian Scientific -Committee it had been amply demonstrated to the three remaining -governments of the world that there was not room for both man and dodos -on the same planet. A carefully-worked out campaign had evidently been -set in operation by whatever central intelligence led the four-winged -birds with the object of wiping human life from the earth. The bombing -of Canberra was merely the first blow. - -While Australia was arming and organizing to meet the menace the second -blow fell--on Sourabaya, the great metropolis of Java, which was wiped -out in a single night. At this evidence of the hostile intentions of the -dodos radio apparatus began to tap in Australia, in the Dutch colonies -and in South Africa; old guns forgotten since the last great war, were -wheeled out; the factories began to turn out fighting airplanes and the -young men drilled in the parks. - -When, late in November, a flock of twenty-five dodos was observed over -north Australia, headed for Sydney, the forces of the defence were on -their guard. Long before the birds reached the town they were met by a -big squadron of rocket-powered fighting planes and in a desperate battle -over the desert, with claw and beak and bomb against machine-gun, were -shot down to the last bird. With that the attacks had suddenly ceased, -and the federated governments, convinced that it was but the calm -before a greater storm, had gathered their strength for a trial of arms. - -It was realized that whatever lay behind this attempt to conquer all -there was left of the old earth must be in some way due to the coming of -the great comet and must center somewhere in America, where the comet -had struck. So for the first time the race of man began to learn what -international cooperation meant. Delegates from the three surviving -governments met in conference at Perth with Ben Ruby accorded a place as -the representative of the United States. The decision of the conference -was to mobilize every man and weapon to attack the birds in America and -exterminate them there if possible; if impossible to do this, then to -keep them so occupied at home that they would be unable to deliver any -counter-attack. - -There was plenty of shipping to carry an army far larger than the -federated governments could mobilize; the main weakness of the -expedition lay in the lack of naval protection, for the great navies of -the world had perished when the northern hemisphere passed under the -influence of the comet. It was sought to make up for this deficiency by -a vast cloud of airplanes, flying from the decks of many merchant ships, -converted into aircraft carriers, though some of the new rocket-planes -were powerful enough to cruise around the world under their own power. -And so, on this March morning in 1947 the whole vast armada was crossing -the Atlantic toward the United States. In view of the fact that the -headquarters of the dodos seemed to be somewhere in the Catskills, it -had been decided to land in New Jersey, form a base there and work -northward. - -In the preliminary training for the coming conflict the metal Americans -had played an important part. Their construction made them impossible as -aviators, which they would have preferred. But quite early it was -discovered that they made ideal operators for tanks. The oil fumes and -the lack of air did not in the least affect beings to whom breathing had -become unimportant, and the oil was actually a benefit. - -As a result the little American army had been composed of fourteen tanks -of a special type, fitted at the direction of the military experts, with -all the latest and best in scientific devices. They were given -extra-heavy armor, fitted in two thicknesses, with a chamber between, as -a protection against the light-bombs, and each tank, intended to be -handled by a single operator, was provided with one heavy gun, so -arranged that it could be used against aerial attack. - - * * * * * - -A stir of motion was visible at the head of the convoy. A destroyer -dashed past the _Paramatta_, smoke pouring from her funnels, the white -bow-wave rising as high as her bridge as she put on full speed. From the -airplane carrier just behind them in the line, one, two, three flights -of fighters swung off, circled a moment to gain altitude and then -whirled off to the north and west. - -"What is it?" asked Gloria. - -A sailor touched his cap. "Sighted a dodo, I believe, miss," he said. - -"Oh, boy," said Gloria, "here we go. What would you give to be in one of -those planes?" - -They craned their necks eagerly, but nothing was visible except a few -flecks in the sky that might be dodos or might equally well be -airplanes. Faint and far, a rattle of machine-guns drifted down; there -was a flash of intense light, like the reflection in a far-distant -mirror, and the machine-guns ceased. A few moments later the airplanes -came winging back to their mother ship. A sailor on her deck began to -swing his arms in the curious semaphore language of the sea. - -"What happened?" asked Gloria of the man by their side. - -"I'm trying to make out, miss. One dodo, he says, carrying a -bomb--hit--by--machine-gun.... Oh, the bomb went off in the dodo's claws -and blew him all to pieces." - -The echo of a cheer came across the water from the other ships. The -first brush had gone in favor of the race of man! - -That night dodos announced their presence by a few bombs dropped -tentatively among the ships, but did no damage, being so hurried and -harried by the airmen, and by morning the dream-towers of Atlantic City, -necked with the early morning sun, rose out of the west. Far in the -distance the aviators of the expedition had spied more of the birds, but -after the first day's encounter with the airplanes they kept a healthy -distance, apparently contented to observe what they could. - -As ship after ship swung in toward the piers and discharged its cargo of -men, guns and munitions, the birds became bolder, as though to inspect -what was going on. But the Australian aviators attacked them fiercely, -driving them back at every attempt to pierce the aerial cordon, and when -night came on, nearly a third of the force had been landed and quartered -in parts of the one-time pleasure city. - -Covered by the darkness a few dodos came down to drop bombs that night. -They met with poor success. Delicate listening apparatus, intended -originally to pick up the sound of approaching enemy airplanes had been -one of the first things landed. The whir of the birds' wings was plainly -audible, and before they had realized that man had a weapon to meet -their night attacks half a dozen of them had been caught in the bursts -of anti-aircraft guns and more had been met and shot down by the -night-patrolling airmen. - -The next morning saw the unloading beginning anew, while the emptied -transports were taken around into Delaware Bay. Fortunately, the weather -continued unusually fine for late March, bright with sunshine, giving -the dodos no opportunity to attack behind the cover of clouds. There was -just enough cold in the air to make the Australians and South Africans -lively, though the Americans found the temperature caused the oil to -move sluggishly in their metallic joints. - -At daybreak the whole American unit had been pushed out to the railroad -line at Greenwood with the advance guard of tanks, and finding no -opposition they continued on to Farmington, where there was an airport -that would serve for the leading squadrons of planes. - -"Do you know," said Ben to Murray, "I wish those dodos would show a -little more pep. Fighting them is no cinch. We're a little ahead of the -game now, but it's largely because they've let us alone and haven't -brought up any of those light-beam guns." - -"Maybe we've got 'em on the run," replied Murray. "You can't tell when -anyone will develop a yellow streak, you know." - -"Yes, but we've seen enough of these babies to know they haven't got a -yellow streak a millimeter wide in their whole make-up. Yet here they -let us do just about as we please. Makes me think they're just laying -for us, and when they get us where they want us--zowie!" - -"Mebbe so, mebbe so," replied Murray. "Beeville still thinks it isn't -the birds at all; that they've got a big boss somewhere running the -whole works and till we find out what's behind it we're fighting in the -dark. Well, they'll unload the rest of the army tomorrow and then we'll -get down to cases." - - * * * * * - -The country between Atlantic City and Philadelphia is flat, with a few -gentle elevations and dotted with small towns, farms and tiny bits of -woodland. In the cold spring morning of the next day, with rain -portended, the army of the federated governments pushed out along the -roads through this land like a huge, many-headed snake, tanks and -airplanes in the lead, the steady ranks of infantry and the big guns -coming behind. Back at Atlantic City all machine-shops and factories had -been set in operation and wrecking crews were already clearing the -railroads and mounting huge long-range guns on trucks, preparatory to -covering the advance. All along the route was bustle and hurry; camp -kitchens rumbled along, harassed officers galloped up and down the lines -on their horses (now, like their masters with a strange bluish cast of -skin) and messengers rushed to and fro on popping motorcycles. - -Out with the advance the American division of fourteen tanks rolled -along. The dodos seemed to have completely disappeared, even the -scouting aviators, far ahead, reporting no sign of them. The army was -succeeding in establishing itself on American soil. - -But around noon a "stop" signal flashed on the control boards of the -tanks. They halted at the crest of a little rise and climbed out to look -around. - -"What is it?" asked someone. - -"Perhaps gentlemanly general wishes to disport in surf," suggested -Yoshio, with his flashing, steel-toothed smile, "and proceeding is -retained without presence." - -"Perhaps," said Gloria, "but I'll bet a dollar to a handful of blue -kangaroos that the dodos are getting in their licks somewhere." - -"Well, we'll soon know," said Murray Lee. "Here comes a dispatch rider." - -The man on the motorcycle dashed up, saluted. "General Ruby?" he -inquired, and handed the dispatch to Ben. The latter read it, then -motioned the others about him. - -"Well, here it is, folks," he said, "Listen to this--'General Grierson -to General Ruby. Our flank guard was heavily attacked at Atsion this -morning. The Third Brigade of the Fourteenth Division has suffered -heavy loss and has been forced back to Chew Road. We are bringing up -heavy artillery. The enemy appear to be using large numbers of light-ray -guns. Advance guard is recalled to Waterford in support of our left -flank.'" - -"Oh--oh," said somebody. - -"I knew they'd start giving us hell sooner or later," remarked Murray -Lee as he climbed into his tank. - -At Waterford there was ordered confusion when they arrived. Just outside -the town a long line of infantrymen were plying pick and shovel in the -formation of a system of trenches. Machine-gun units were installing -themselves in stone or brick buildings and constructing barricades -around their weapons; line after line of tanks had wheeled into position -under cover of woods or in the streets of the town, the little whippets -out in front, fast cruiser-tanks behind them and the lumbering -battle-tanks with their six-inch guns, farther back. - -Artillery was everywhere, mostly in little pits over which the gunners -were spreading green strips of camouflage. As the American tanks rolled -up, a battery of eight-inch howitzers behind a railroad embankment at -the west end of the town was firing slowly and with an air of great -solemnity at some target in the invisible distance, the angle of their -muzzles showing that they were using the extreme range. A couple of -airplanes hummed overhead. But of dead or wounded, of dodos or any other -enemy there was no sign. It might have been a parade-war, an elaborately -realistic imitation of the real thing for the movies. - -Guides directed the Americans to a post down the line toward Chew Road. -"What's the news?" asked Ben of an officer whose red tabs showed he -belonged to the staff. - -"They hit the right wing at Atsion," replied the officer. "Just what -happened, I'm not sure. Somebody said they had a lot of those light-ray -guns and they just crumpled up our flank like that." He slapped his -hands together to show the degree of crumpling the right flank had -endured. "We lost about fifteen hundred men in fifteen minutes. Tanks, -too. But I think we're stopping them now." - -"Any dodos?" asked Ben. - -"Just a few. The airplanes shot down a flock of seven just before the -battle and after that they kept away.... What is it? General -Witherington wants me? Oh, all right, I'll come. Excuse me, sir," and -the staff officer was off. - -Most of the afternoon was spent in an interminable period of waiting and -watching the laboring infantry sink themselves into the ground. About -four o'clock a fine, cold drizzle began to fall. The Americans sought -the shelter of their tanks, and about the same time their radiophones -flashed the order to move up, toward the north and east through a barren -pasture with a few trees in it, to the crest of a low hill. It was -already nearly dark; the tanks bumped unevenly over the stony ground, -their drivers following each other by the black silhouettes in the -gloom. Off to the right a battery suddenly woke to a fever of activity, -then as rapidly became silent and in the intervals of silence between -the motor-sounds the Americans could catch the faint rat-tat of -machine-guns in the heavens above. Evidently dodos were abroad in the -gloom. - -At the crest of the hill they could see across a flat valley in the -direction of Chew Road. Something seemed to be burning behind the next -rise; a ruddy glare lit the clouds. Down the line guns began to growl -again, and the earth trembled gently with the sound of an explosion -somewhere in the rear. Murray Lee, sitting alone at the controls of his -tank. So this was war! - -There were trees along their ridge, and looking through the side -peep-hole of his tank Murray could make out the vague forms of a line of -whippets among them, waiting, like themselves, for the order to advance. -He wondered what the enemy were like; evidently not all dodos, since so -many tanks had been pushed up to the front. This argued a man or animal -that ran along the ground. The dodos seemed to spend most of their time -in the air.... - -He was recalled from his meditations by the ringing of the attention -bell and the radiophone began to speak rapidly: - -"American tank division--enemy tanks reported approaching. Detain them -as long as possible and then retire. Your machines are not to be -sacrificed; Radio your positions with reference to Clark Creek as you -retire for guidance of artillery registering on enemy tanks. There--" - -The voice broke off in mid-sentence. So the dodos had tanks! Murray Lee -snapped in his controls and glanced forward. Surely in the gloom along -that distant ridge there was a darker spot--next to the -house--something. - -Suddenly, with a roar like a thousand thunders, a bolt of sheer light -seemed to leap from the dark shape on the opposite hill, straight toward -the trees where Murray had noticed the whippets. He saw one of the trees -leap into vivid flame from root to branch as the beam struck it; saw a -whippet, sharply outlined in the fierce glow, its front armor-plate -caving; then its ammunition blew up in a shower of sparks, and he was -frantically busy with his own controls and gun. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -Hopelessness - - -All along the line of the American tanks the guns flamed; flame-streaked -fountains of dirt leaped up around the dark shape on the opposite hill -and a burst of fire came from the farmhouse beside it as a misdirected -shell struck it somewhere. - -The beam from the unknown enemy snapped off as suddenly as it had come -on, leaving, like lightning, an aching of the eyes behind it. Murray Lee -swung his tank round, making for the reverse slope of the hill to avoid -the light-beam. Crack! The beam came on again--right overhead this time. -It flashed through the tree-tops leaving a trail of fire. He heard a -torn branch bang on the roof of his tank, manipulated the gun to fire at -the source of the beam and discovered that the magazine was empty. As he -bent to snap on the automatic shell-feeding device, a searchlight from -somewhere lashed out toward the black shape that opposed them, then went -off. In the second's glimpse it afforded the enemy appeared as a huge, -polished, fish-shaped object, its mirror-like sides unscarred by the -bombardment it had passed through, its prow bearing a long, prehensible -snout--apparently the source of the light-beam. - -Suddenly a shell screamed overhead and the whole scene leaped into -dazzling illumination as it burst just between the enemy tanks and their -own. It must be a shell from the dodos! The federated armies had no -shells that dissolved into burning light like that. Then another and -another, a whole chorus of shells, falling in the village behind them. -Murray had a better look at their opponent in the light. It seemed to -lie flush with the ground; there was no visible means of either support -or propulsion. It was all of twenty feet in diameter, widest near the -head, tapering backward. The questing snout swung to and fro, fixed its -position and discharged another of those lightning-bolts. Off to the -right came the answering crash as it caved in the armor of another of -the luckless whippets. He aimed his gun carefully at the base of the -snout and pulled the trigger; on the side of the monster there appeared -a flash of flame as the shell exploded, then a bright smear of metal--a -direct hit, and not the slightest damage! - -Ben Ruby's voice came through the radiophone, cool and masterful. "Pull -out, folks, our guns are no good against that baby. I'm cutting off; -radio positions back to the heavy artillery. Put the railroad guns on." - -Murray glanced through the side peep-hole again--one, two, three, four, -five--all the American tanks seemed undamaged. The monster had confined -its attention to the whippets, apparently imagining they were doing the -shooting. He pulled his throttle back, shot the speed up, rumbling down -the hill, toward the village. As he looked back, darkness had closed in; -the brow of the hill, its rows of trees torn and broken by the -light-beam stood between him and the enemy. Before him amid the flaring -light of the enemy shells was a stir of movement, the troops seemed to -be pulling out also. - -The tanks rumbled through the streets of Waterford and came to a halt on -a corner behind a stone church which held three machine-gun nests. -Murray could see one of the gunners making some adjustment by the light -of a pocket torch and a wave of pity for the brave man whose weapon was -as useless as a stick swept over him. - -A messenger dashed down the street, delivered his missive to someone, -and out of the shadows a file of infantry suddenly popped up and began -to stream back, getting out of range. Then, surrounded by bursts of -artillery fire, illumined by the glare of half a dozen searchlights that -flickered restlessly on and off, the strange thing came over the brow of -the hill. - -It halted for a moment, its snout moving about uneasily as though it -were smelling out the way, and as it did so, it was joined by a second. -Neither of them seemed to be in the least disturbed by the shells all -the way from light artillery to six-inch, that were bursting about them, -filling the air with singing fragments. For a moment they stood at ease, -then the left-hand one, the one that had led the advance, pointed its -snout at the village and discharged one of its flaming bolts. It struck -squarely in the center of an old brick house, whose cellar had been -turned into a machine-gun nest. With a roar, the building collapsed, a -bright flicker of flames springing out of the ruins. As though it were a -signal every machine-gun, every rifle in the village opened fire on the -impassive shapes at the crest of the hill. The uproar was terrific; even -in his steel cage Murray could hardly hear himself think. - -The shining monster paid no more attention to it than to the rain. One -of them slid gently forward a few yards, turned its trunk toward the -spouting trenches, and in short bursts, loosed five quick bolts; there -were as many spurts of flame, a few puffs of earth and the trenches -became silent, save for one agonized cry, "First aid, for God's sake!" - -Ben Ruby's voice came through the microphone. "Retreat everybody. -Atlantic City if you can make it." - - * * * * * - -With a great, round fear gripping at his heart, Murray Lee threw in the -clutch of his machine and headed in the direction he remembered as that -of the main road through the town toward Atlantic City. The night had -become inky-black; the town was in a valley and the shadow of trees and -houses made the darkness even more Stygian. Only by an occasional match -or flashlight glare could the way be seen, but such light as there was -showed the road already filled with fugitives. Some of them were -helmetless, gunless, men in the last extremity of terror, running -anywhere to escape from they knew not what. - -But through the rout there plowed a little company of infantry, revealed -in a shell-burst, keeping tight ranks as though at drill, officers at -the head, not flying, but retreating from a lost battle with good heart -and confidence, ready to fight again the next day. The dancing beam of a -searchlight picked them out for a moment; Murray Lee looked at them and -the fear died within him. He slowed up his machine, ran it off the road -and out to the left where there seemed to be a clearing that opened in -the direction of the town. After all, he could at least observe the -progress of the monsters and report on them. - -He was astonished to find that he had come nearly a mile from the center -of the disturbance. Down there, the glittering monsters, still brightly -illumined by searchlight and flare, seemed to be standing still amid the -outer houses of the town, perhaps examining the trench system the -Australians had dug that afternoon. The gunfire on them had ceased. From -time to time one of the things, perhaps annoyed at the pointlessness of -what it saw, would swing its trunk around and discharge a light-bolt at -house, barn or other object. The object promptly caved in, and if it -were wood, began to burn. A little train of the blazing remains of -buildings marked the progress of the shining giants, and threw a weird -red light over the scene. - -[Illustration: One of the things would swing its trunk around and -discharge a light-bolt at a house or other object.] - -Now that he could see them clearly, Murray noted that they were all of -fifty or sixty feet long. Their polished sides seemed one huge mirror, -bright as glass, and a phosphorescent glow hung about their tails. Along -either side was a slender projection like the bilge-keel of a ship, -terminating about three quarters of the way along, and with a small dot -of the phosphorescence at its tip. They seemed machines rather than -animate objects. Murray wondered whether they were, or (remembering his -own evolution into a metal man) whether they were actually metal -creatures of some unheard-of breed. - -As he watched, a battery out beyond the town that had somehow gotten -left behind, opened fire. He could see the red flash-flash-flash of the -guns as they spoke; hear the explosions of the shells as they rent the -ground around the giants. One of them swung impassively toward the -battery; there were three quick stabs of living flame, and the guns -ceased firing. Murray Lee shuddered--were all man's resources, was all -of man, to disappear from the earth? All his high hopes and aspirations, -all the centuries of bitter struggle toward culture to be wiped out by -these impervious beasts? - -He was recalled from his dream by the flash of light at his control -board and a voice from the radiophone "... to all units," came the -message. "Railroad battery 14 about to fire on enemy tanks in Waterford. -Request observation for corrections ... General Stanhope to all units. -Railroad battery 14, twelve-inch guns, about to fire on enemy tanks in -Waterford. Request observation for correction...." - -"Lieut. Lee, American Tank Corps, to General Stanhope," he called into -the phone. "Go ahead with railroad battery 14. Am observing fire from -east of town." - -Even before he had finished speaking there was a dull rumble in the air -and a tremendous heave of earth behind and to one side of the shining -enemy, not two hundred yards away. "Lieut. Lee to railroad battery 14," -he called, delightedly, "two hundred yards over, ten yards right." -Berrrroum! Another of the twelve-inch shells fell somewhere ahead of the -giants in the village. As Murray shouted the correction one of the metal -creatures lifted its snout toward the source of the explosion curiously -and as if it had not quite understood its meaning, fired a light-beam at -it. Another shell fell, just to one side. A wild hope surging in him, he -called the corrections--these were heavier guns than any that had yet -taken a hand. - -"Lieut. Lee, American Tank Corps, to railroad battery 14--Suggest you -use armor-piercing shell. Enemy tanks appear to be armored," he called -and had the comforting reply. "Check, Lieut. Lee. We are using -armor-piercers." Slam! Another of the twelve-inch shells struck, not ten -yards behind the enemy. The ground around them rocked; one of them -turned as though to examine the burst, the other lifted its snout -skyward and released a long, thin beam of blue light, not in the least -like the light-ray. It did not seem to occur to either of them that -these shells might be dangerous. They seemed merely interested. - -And then--the breathless watchers in the thickets around the doomed town -saw a huge red explosion, a great flower of flame that leaped to the -heavens, covered with a cloud of thick smoke, pink in the light of the -burning houses, and as it cleared away, there lay one of the monsters on -its side, gaping and rent, the mirrored surface scarred across, the -phosphorescent glow extinguished, the prehensile snout drooping -lifelessly. Murray Lee was conscious of whooping wildly, of dancing out -of his tank and joining someone else in an embrace of delight. They were -not invincible then. They could be hurt--killed! - -"Hooray!" he cried, "Hooray!" - -"That and twelve times over," said his companion. - -The phrase struck him as familiar; for the first time he looked at his -fellow celebrant. It was Gloria. - -"Why, where in the world did you come from?" he asked. - -"Where did you? I've been here all the time, ever since Ben ordered us -home. Didn't think I'd run out on all the fun, did you? Are those things -alive?" - -"How do I know? They look it but you never can tell with all the junk -that comet left around the earth. They might be just some new kind of -tank full of dodos." - -"Yeh, but--" The buzzing roar of one of the light-rays crashing into a -clump of trees not a hundred yards away, recalled them to themselves. -Gloria looked up, startled. The other monster was moving slowly forward, -systematically searching the hillside with its weapon. - -"Say, boy friend," she said, "I think it's time to go away from here. -See you at high mass." - - * * * * * - -But the conference at headquarters in Hammonton that night was anything -but cheerful. - -"It comes to this, then," said General Grierson, the commander-in-chief -of the expedition. "We have nothing that is effective against these dodo -tanks but the twelve-inch railroad artillery, using armor-piercing shell -and securing a direct hit. Our infantry is worse than useless; the tanks -are useless, the artillery cannot get through the armor of these things, -although it damages the enemy artillery in the back areas." - -Ben Ruby rubbed a metal chin. "Well, that isn't quite all, sir. One of -the American tanks was hit and came through--damaged I will admit. The -lightning, or light-ray these dodos threw, penetrated the outer skin but -not the inner. We could build more tanks of this type." - -General Grierson drummed on the table. "And arm them with what? You -couldn't mount a twelve-inch gun in a tank if you wanted to, and we -haven't any twelve-inch guns to spare." - -One of the staff men looked up. "Has airplane bombing been tried on -these--things. It seems to me that a one or two-thousand pound bomb -would be as effective as a twelve-inch shell." - -"That was tried this afternoon," said the head of the air service, with -an expression of pain. "The 138th bombing squadron attacked a group of -these tanks. Unfortunately, the tanks kept within range of their -light-ray artillery and the entire squadron was shot down." - -"Mmm," said the staff man. "Let's add up the information we have secured -so far and see where it leads. Now first they have a gun which shoots a -ray which is effective either all along its length or when put up in -packages like a shell, and is rather like a bolt of lightning in its -effect. Any deductions from that?" - -"Might be electrical," said someone. - -"Also might not," countered Walter Beeville. "Remember the _Melbourne's_ -turret. No electrical discharge would produce chemical changes like that -in Krupp steel." - -"Second," said the officer, "they appear to have three main types of -fighting machines or individuals. First, there are the dodos themselves. -We know all about them, and our airplanes can beat them. Good.... -Second, there is their artillery--a large type that throws a beam of -this emanation and a smaller type which throws it in the form of shells. -Thirdly, there are these--tanks, which may themselves be the individuals -we are fighting. They are capable of projecting these discharges to a -short distance--something over four thousand yards, and apparently do -not have the power of projecting it in a prolonged beam, like their -artillery. They are about fifty feet long, fish-shaped, heavily armored -and have some unknown method of propulsion. Check me if I'm wrong at any -point." - -"The projection of these lightning-rays would seem to indicate they are -machines," offered General Grierson hopefully. - -"Not on your life," said Beeville, "think of the electric eel." - -"As I was saying," said the staff man, "our chief defect seems a lack of -information, and--" - -General Grierson brought his fist down on the table. "Gentlemen!" he -said. "This discussion is leading us nowhere. It's all very well to -argue about the possibilities of man or machine in time of peace and at -home, but we are facing one of the greatest dangers the earth has ever -experienced, and must take immediate measures. Unless someone has -something more fruitful to develop than this conference has provided -thus far, I shall be forced to order the re-embarkation of what remains -of the army and sail for home. My duty is to the citizens of the -federated governments, and I cannot uselessly sacrifice more lives. Our -supply of railroad artillery is utterly inadequate to withstand the -numbers of our adversaries. Has anyone anything to offer?" - -There was a silence around the conference table, a silence pregnant with -a heavy sense of defeat, for no one of them but could see the General -was right. - -But at that moment there came a tap at the door. "Come," called General -Grierson. An apologetic under-officer entered. "I beg your pardon, sir, -but one of the iron Americans is here and insists that he has something -of vital importance for the General. He will not go away without seeing -you." - -"All right. Bring him in." - -There stepped into the room another of the mechanical Americans, but a -man neither Ben Ruby nor Beeville had ever seen before. A stiff wire -brush of moustache stood out over his mouth; he wore no clothes but a -kind of loin-cloth made, apparently, of a sheet. The metal plates of his -powerful body glittered in the lamp-light as he stepped forward. -"General Grierson?" he inquired, looking from one face to another. - -"I am General Grierson." - -"I'm Lieutenant Herbert Sherman of the U. S. Army Air Service. I have -just escaped from the Lassans and came to offer you my services. I -imagine your technical men might wish to know how they operate their -machines and what would be effective against them, and I think I can -tell you." - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -Capture - - -Herbert Sherman had wakened with a vague sense of something wrong and -lay back in his seat for a moment, trying to remember. Everything seemed -going quietly, the machine running with subdued efficiency.... It came -to him with a jerk--he could not hear the motor. With that subconscious -concentration of the flying man on his ship, he glanced at the -instrument board first, and taking in the astonishing information that -both the altimeter and the air-speed meter registered zero, he looked -over the side. His vision met the familiar dentilated line of the -buildings surrounding the Jackson Heights airport, with a tree plastered -greenly against one of them. Queer. - -His sense of memory began to return. There was the night-mail flight -from Cleveland; the spot of light ahead that grew larger and larger like -the most enormous of shooting stars, the sensation of sleepiness.... He -remembered setting the controls to ride out the short remainder of the -journey with the automatic pilot on the Jackson Heights' radio beam, -since he was clearly not going to make Montauk. But what came after -that? - -Then another oddity struck his attention. He recalled very clearly that -he had been flying over the white landscape of winter--but now there was -a tree in full leaf. Something was wrong. He clambered hastily from the -cockpit. - -As he swung himself over the side, his eye caught the glint of an -unfamiliar high-light on the back of his hand and with the same -stupefaction that Murray Lee was contemplating the same phenomenon -several miles away, he perceived that instead of a flesh-and-blood -member he had somehow acquired an iron hand. The other one was the -same--and the arm--and the section of stomach which presently appeared -when he tore loose his shirt to look at it. - -The various possibilities that might account for it raced through his -mind, each foundering on some fundamental difficulty. Practical -joke--imagination--insanity--what else? Obviously some time had elapsed. -But how about the ground staff of the airport? He shouted. No answer. - -Muttering a few swears to himself he trudged across the flying field, -noting that it was grown up with daisies and far from newly rolled, to -the hangars. He shouted again. No answer. No one visible. He pounded at -the door, then tried it. It was unlocked. Inside someone sat tilted back -in a chair against the wall, a cap pulled over his face. Sherman walked -over to the sleeper, favoring him with a vigorous shake and the word, -"Hey!" - -To his surprise the stranger tilted sharply over to one side and went to -the floor with a bang, remaining in the position he had assumed. -Sherman, the thought of murder jumping in his head, bent over, tugging -at the cap. The man was as metallic as himself, but of a different -kind--a solid statue cast in what seemed to be bronze. - -"For Heaven's sake!" said Herbert Sherman to himself and the world at -large. - -There seemed to be nothing in particular he could do about it; the man, -if he had ever been a man, and was not part of some elaborate scheme of -flummery fixed up for his benefit, was beyond human aid. However there -was one way in which all difficulties could be solved. The sun was high -and the town lay outside the door. - -... He spent a good deal of the day wandering about Jackson Heights, -contemplating such specimens of humanity as remained in the streets, -fixed in the various ungraceful and unattractive attitudes of life. He -had always been a solitary and philosophical soul, and he felt neither -loneliness nor overwhelming curiosity as to the nature of the -catastrophe which had stopped the wheels of civilization. He preferred -to meditate on the vanity of human affairs and to enjoy a sense of -triumph over the ordinary run of bustling mortals who had always -somewhat irritated him. - -In justice to Herbert Sherman it should be remarked that he felt no -trepidation as to the outcome of this celestial joke on the inhabitants -of the world. Beside being an aviator he was a competent mechanic, and -he proved the ease with which he could control his new physique by -sitting down in a restaurant next to the bronze model of a sleepy cat, -removing one shoe and sock and proceeding to take out and then replace -the cunningly concealed finger-nut which held his ankle in position, -marvelling at how any chemical or other change could have produced a -threaded bolt as an integral part of the human anatomy. - -Toward evening, he returned to the flying field and examined his -machine. One wing showed the effect of weathering, but it was an -all-metal Roamer of the latest model and it had withstood the ordeal -well. The gasoline gauge showed an empty tank, but it was no great task -to get more from the big underground tanks at the field. Oil lines and -radiators seemed all tight and when he swung the propeller, the motor -purred for him like a cat. - -With a kind of secret satisfaction gurgling within him Herbert Sherman -taxied across the field, put the machine into a climb, and went forth to -have a look at New York. - -He thought he could see smoke over central Manhattan and swung the -Roamer in that direction. The disturbance seemed to be located at the -old Metropolitan Opera House which, as he approached it, seemed to have -been burning, but had now sunk to a pile of glowing embers. The fire -argued human presence of some kind. He took more height and looked down. -Times Square held a good many diminutive dots, but they didn't seem to -be moving. - - * * * * * - -He swung over to examine the downtown section. All quiet. When he -returned he saw a car dodging across Forty-Second Street and realizing -that he could find human companionship whenever he needed it, which he -did not at present, he returned to the flying field. - -At this point It occurred to him to be hungry. Reasoning the matter out -in the light of his mechanical experience, he drank a pint or more of -lubricating oil and searched for a place to spend the night. Not being -sleepy he raided a drug store where books were sold, for as much of its -stock as he could use, and arranging one of the flares at the field in a -position convenient for reading, he settled down for the night. In the -course of it he twice tried smoking and found that his new make-up had -ruined his taste for tobacco. - -With the first streaks of day he was afoot again, going over the Roamer -with a fine-toothed comb, since he had no mechanic to do it for him, -tuning her up for a long flight. He had no definite purpose in mind -beyond a look round the country. Was it all like this, or only New York? - -Newark attracted his attention first. He noted there were ships at most -of the piers in the river and that none of them bore signs of life. -Neither had the streets on the Jersey side of the river any occupants -other than those who were obviously still forever. - -As he flew along toward the Newark airport, a shadow fell athwart the -wing and he looked up. - -A big bird was soaring past, flying above and fully as fast as the -plane. In his quick glance Sherman caught something unfamiliar about its -flight, and leaned over to snap on the mechanical pilot while he had -another look. The bird, if bird it was, was certainly a queer specimen; -it seemed to have two sets of wings and was using them as though it were -an airplane, with the fore pair outstretched and rigid, the hind wings -vibrating rapidly. As he gazed at the bird it drew ahead of the plane, -gave a few quick flips to its fore-wings and banked around to pick him -up again. - -It was coming closer and regarding him with an uncommonly intelligent -and by no means friendly eye. Sherman swung his arm at it and gave a -shout--to which the bird paid not the slightest attention. Newark was -running away under him. Reluctantly, he resumed control of the stick, -put the plane into a glide and made for the airport. It occurred to him -that this would be an awkward customer if it chose to attack him and he -meditated on the possibility of finding a gun in Newark. - -The field was bumpy, but he taxied to a stop and climbed out to look -over the silent hangars before one of which a little sports plane stood -dejectedly, with a piece of torn wing flapping in the breeze. As the -Roamer came to rest he looked back at the bird. It was soaring away up -in a close spiral, emitting a series of screams. Sherman determined to -find a gun without delay. - -Newark was like Jackson Heights; same stony immobility of inhabitants, -same sense of life stopped at full tide in the streets. He prowled -around till he found a hardware store and possessed himself of a fine -.50-.50 express rifle with an adequate supply of cartridges as well as a -revolver, added to it a collection of small tools, and stopped in at a -library to get a supply of reading matter more to his taste than the -drug store could provide. - -As he took off again two specks in the sky far to the north represented, -he decided, additional specimens of the peculiar bird life that had -spread abroad since the change. How long it could have been, he had no -idea. - -He decided on a flight northwest, following the line of the mail route. -There was a chance that the whole country might not be engulfed by this -metal plague, though the absence of life in New York was not -encouraging. - - * * * * * - -Port Jervis was his first control point, but Sherman was fond enough of -the green wooded slopes of the Catskills to run a little north of his -course, bumpy though the air was over the mountains. He set the -automatic pilot and leaned back in his seat to enjoy the view. - -Just north of Central Valley something seemed different about the -hillside; a new scar had appeared along its edge. He turned to examine -it, swooping as he did so and in a quick glance from the fast-moving -airplane saw that the great forest trees, maples and oaks, were all -down, twisted, barren and leafless, along a line that ran right up the -valley and across the hill, as though they had been harrowed by some -gigantic storm. The line was singularly definite; there were no -half-broken trees. - -He swooped for another look, and at that moment was conscious of the -beat of swift wings and above the roar of the motor heard the scream of -one of those strange four-winged birds. Half-unconsciously, he put the -Roamer into a steep climb and kicked the rudder to one side, just as the -bird flew past him on whistling pinions, like an eagle that has missed -its plunge, and recovered to rise again in pursuit. Sherman flattened -out, and without paying any attention to direction, snapped in the -automatic pilot and reached for his gun. - -As he bent there came a sharp crack from above and behind him and -another scream right overhead. He looked over his shoulder to see a -second bird clutching at the edge of the cockpit with one giant claw, -its forewings fluttering rapidly in the effort to keep its balance in -the propeller's slipstream. With the other claw it grabbed and grabbed -for him. - -Sherman flattened himself against the bottom of the cockpit and fired up -and back, once--twice--three times. The plane rocked; the bird let go -with a shrill scream, a spurt of blood showing on its chest feathers, -and as Sherman straightened up he saw it whirling down, the wings -beating wildly, uselessly, the red spot spreading. But he had no time -for more than a glance. The other bird was whirling up to the attack -beneath him, yelling in quick jerks of sound as though it were shouting -a battle-cry. - -The pistol, half-empty, might too easily miss. Sherman sought the rifle, -and at that moment felt the impact of a swift blow on the floor of the -plane. The bird understood that he had weapons and was attacking him -from beneath to avoid them! The thought that it was intelligent flashed -through his mind with a shock of surprise as he leaned over the side, -trying to get a shot at his enemy. Beneath the plane he caught a -momentary glimpse of the ground again, torn and tortured, and in the -center of the devastation the ruins of a farmhouse, its roof canting -crazily over a pulled-out wall. - -The bird dodged back and forth, picking now and then at the bottom of -the plane with its armored beak. He leaned further trying to get in a -shot, and drew a chorus of yells from the bird, but no more definite -result. Bang! Again. Miss. Out of the tail of his eye he saw the line of -green leap into being again. Flap, flap went the wings beneath him. - -Suddenly from below and behind him there rose a deep humming roar, low -pitched and musical. Abruptly the screaming of the bird ceased; it -dropped suddenly away, its forewings folded, the rear wings spread, -glider-like as it floated to the ground. He turned to look in the -direction of the sound, and as he turned a great glare of light sprang -forth from somewhere back there, striking him full in the eyes with -blinding force. At the same moment something pushed the Roamer forward -and down, down, down. He could feel the plane give beneath him, but in -the blind haze of light his fumbling fingers could not find the stick, -and as he fell a wave of burning heat struck his back and the sound of a -mighty torrent reached his ears. There was a crash and everything went -out in a confusion of light, heat and sound. - - * * * * * - -When he recovered consciousness the first thing he saw was a blue dome, -stretched so far above his head that it might have been the sky save for -the fact that the light it gave had neither glare nor shadow. He puzzled -idly over this for a moment, then tried to turn his head. It would not -move. "That's queer," thought Herbert Sherman, and attempted to lift an -arm. The hands responded readily enough but the arms were immovable. -With an effort he tried to lift his body and discovered that he was -tightly held by some force he could not feel. - -Herbert Sherman was a patient man but not a meek one. He opened his -mouth and yelled--a good loud yell with a hard swearword at the end of -it. Then he stood still for a moment, listening. There was a sound that -might be interpreted as the patter of feet somewhere, but no one came -near him, so he yelled again, louder if possible. - -This time the result accrued with a rapidity that was almost startling. -A vivid bluish light struck him in the face, making him blink, then was -turned off, and he heard a clash of gears and a hum that might be that -of a motor. A moment later he felt himself lifted, whirled round, -dropped with a plunk, and the blue dome overhead began to flow past at -rapidly mounting speed to be blotted out in a grey dimness. He perceived -he was being carried down some kind of a passage whose ceiling consisted -of dark stone. A motor whirred rapidly. - -The stone ceiling vanished; another blue dome, less lofty, took its -place. The object on which he was being carried stopped with a -mechanical click and he was lifted, whirled round again and deposited on -some surface. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of -something round, of a shining black coloring, with pinkish highlights, -like the head of some enormous beast, and wiggled his fingers in angry -and futile effort. - - * * * * * - -He was flopped over on his face and found himself looking straight down -at a grey mass which from its feel on nose and chin, appeared to be -rubber. - -He yelled again, with rage and vexation and in reply received a tap over -the head with what felt like a rubber hose. He felt extraordinarily -helpless. And as the realization came that he was helpless, without any -control of what was going on he relaxed. After all, there was no use.... -Some kind of examination was in progress. There was the sound of -soft-treading feet behind him. - -After a slight pause he was bathed in a red light of such intensity as -to press upon him with physical solidity. He closed his eyes against it, -and as he did so, felt a terrible pain in the region of his spine. Was -it death? He gripped metallic teeth together firmly in an effort to -fight the pain without yelling (perhaps this was deliberate torture and -he would not give them the satisfaction) and dully, amid the throbbing -pain, Sherman heard a clatter of metal instruments. Then the pain -ceased, the light went off and something was clamped about his head. - -A minute more and he had been flipped over on his back, and with the -same whirring of motors that had attended his arrival, was carried back -through the passage and into the hall of the blue dome. He was still -held firmly; but now there was a difference. He could wiggle in his -bonds. - -With a clicking of machinery, he was tilted up on the plane that held -him. A hole yawned before his feet and he slid rapidly down a smooth -incline, through a belt of dark, to drop in a heap on something soft. -The trapdoor clicked behind him. - -He found himself, unbound, on a floor of rubber-like texture and on -rising to look around, perceived that he was in a cell with no visible -exit, whose walls were formed by a heavy criss-crossed grating of some -red metal. It was a little more than ten feet square; in the center a -seat with curving outlines rose from the floor, apparently made of the -same rubbery material as the floor itself. A metallic track ended just -in front of the seat; following back, his eye caught the outline of a -kind of lectern, now pushed back against the wall of the cell, with -spaces below the reading flat and handles attached. Against the back -wall of the cell stood a similar device, but larger and without any -metal track. Beside it two handles dangled from the wall on cords of -flexible wire. - -This was all his brief glance told him about the confines of his new -home. Looking beyond it, he saw that he was in one of a row of similar -cells, stretching back in both directions. In front of the row of cells -was a corridor along which ran a brightly-burnished metal track, and -this was lined by another row of cells on the farther side. - -The cell at Sherman's right was empty, but he observed that the one on -the left had a tenant--a metal man, like himself in all respects and -yet--somehow unlike. He stepped over to the grating that separated them. - -"What is this place, anyway?" he inquired. - -His neighbor, who had been sitting in the rubber chair, turned toward -him a round and foolish face with a long, naked upper lip, and burst -into a flood of conversation of which Sherman could not understand one -word. He held up his hand. "Wait a minute, partner," he said. "Go slow. -I don't get you." - -The expression on the fellow's face changed to one of wonderment. He -made another effort at conversation, accompanying it with gestures. -"Wait," said the aviator, "_Sprechen Sie Deutsch?... Francais?... Habla -Espanol?..._ No? Dammit what does the guy talk? I don't know any -Italian--Spaghetti, macaroni, Mussolini!" - -No use. The metal face remained blankly uninspired. Well, there is one -thing men of all races have in common. Sherman went through the motions -of drawing from his pocket a phantom cigarette, applying to it an -imaginary match, and blowing the smoke in the air. - -It is impossible for a man whose forehead is composed of a series of -lateral metal bands to frown. If it were the other would have done so. -Then comprehension appeared to dawn on him. He stepped across to his -lectern, and _with his toes_, pulled the bottom slide open, extracted -from it a round rubber container and reaching through the bars, handed -it to Sherman. - -The aviator understood the difference that had puzzled him in the -beginning. Instead of the graceful back-sweeping curve that sets a man's -head vertical with his body, this individual had the round-curved neck -and low-hung head of the ape. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -The Poisoned Paradise - - -To hide his surprise Sherman bent his head to examine the object the -ape-man had handed him. It was about the size of a baseball with little -holes in it. He inserted a finger in one of the holes, and a stream of -oil squirted out and struck him in the eye. His neighbor gave a cry of -annoyance at his clumsiness and reached through the bars to have the -ball returned. As he received it there came sudden flickerings of lights -along the hall from somewhere high up, like the trails of blue and green -rockets. The mechanical ape-man dropped the oil-ball and dashed to the -front of his cell. - -Sherman saw a vehicle proceeding down the line of cells; a kind of truck -that rode on the track of the corridor and was so wide it just missed -the gratings. It had a long series of doors in its sides, and as it came -opposite an occupied cell, stopped. Something invisible happened; the -bars of the cell opened inward and the inmate emerged to step into a -compartment which at once closed behind him. - -When it stopped at the ape-man's cage Sherman watched the procedure -closely. A little arm appeared from beneath the door of the compartment -and did something to one of the lower bars of the cell. But the truck -passed Sherman by, moving silently along to other cells beyond him. - -He turned to examine the room more closely, and as he did so, saw that a -second truck was following the first. This one, with an exactly reversed -procedure, was returning robots to their cells. This second truck -dropped an inmate in the cell at his right (another ape-man) and -trundled along down the line, but as it reached the end of the corridor, -turned back and running along till it came to his cell, stopped, flung -out the metal arm, and opened the bars in invitation. - -Sherman had no thought of disobeying; as long as he was in this queerest -of all possible worlds, he thought, one might as well keep to the rules. -But he was curious about the joint of the cage and how it unlocked and -he paused a moment to examine it. The machine before him buzzed -impatiently. He lingered. There came a sudden clang of metal from inside -the car, a vivid beam of blue light called his attention, and looking -up, he saw the word "EXIT" printed in letters of fire at the top of the -compartment. - -With a smile he stepped in. A soft light was turned on and he found -himself in a tiny cubbyhole with just room for the single seat it -provided and on which he seated himself. There was no window. - -The machine carried him along smoothly for perhaps five minutes, stopped -and the door opened before him. He issued into another blue-domed hall. -A small one this time, containing a rubber seat like that in his cell, -but with an extended arm on which rested a complex apparatus of some -kind. The seat faced a white screen like those in movie theaters. - -He seated himself and at once a series of words appeared in dark green -on the screen. "Dominance was not complete," it said. "Communication?" -Then below, in smaller type, as though it were the body of a newspaper -column. "Lassans service man. Flier writing information through -communication excellent. Dinner bed, book. No smoking. Yours very -truly." - -As he gazed in astonishment at this cryptic collection of words it was -erased and its place was taken by a picture which he recognized as a -likeness of himself in his present metallic state. A talking picture, -which made a few remarks in the same incomprehensible gibberish the -ape-man had used, then sat down in a chair like that in which he now -rested, and proceeded to write on the widespread arm with a stylus which -was attached to it. The screen went blank.... Evidently he was supposed -to communicate something by writing. - -The stylus was a metal pencil, and the material of the arm, though not -apparently metallic, must be, he argued from the fact that it seemed to -have electric connections attached. As he examined it, the blue lights -flickered at him impatiently. "The white knight," he wrote in a fit of -impish perversity, "is climbing up the poker." Instantly the words -flashed on the screen. - -Pause. "IS CLIMBING" declared the screen, in capitals; then below it -appeared a fairly creditable picture of a knight in armor followed by a -not very creditable picture of a poker. Sherman began to comprehend. -Whoever it was behind this business had managed a correspondence course -of a sort in English, but had failed to learn the verbs and he was -being asked to explain. - -For answer he produced a crude drawing of a monkey climbing a stick and -demonstrated the action by getting up and going through the motions of -climbing. Immediately the screen flashed a picture of the knight in -armor ascending the poker by the same means, but it had hardly appeared -before it was wiped out to be replaced by a flickering of blue lights -and an angry buzz. His interlocutor had seen the absurdity of the -sentence and was demanding a more serious approach to the problem. For -answer Sherman wrote, "Where am I and who are you?" - -A longer pause. "Dominance not complete," said the screen. Then came the -picture of the first page of a child's ABC book with "A was an Archer -who shot at a frog" below the usual childish picture. Then came the word -"think." With the best will in the world Sherman was puzzled to -illustrate this idea, but by tapping his forehead and drawing a crude -diagram of the brain as he remembered it from books, he managed to give -some satisfaction. - - * * * * * - -The process went on for three or four hours as nearly as Sherman could -judge the time, ending with a flash of the word "Exit" in red from the -screen and a dimming of the blue-dome light. He turned toward the door -and found the car that had brought him, ready for the return journey. As -it rumbled back to his cell he ruminated on the fact that none of the -men (or whatever it was) behind this place had yet made themselves -visible, for it was incredible that beings of the type of the metallic -ape-man who occupied the next cell to his should have intelligence -enough to operate such obviously highly-developed machinery. - -But what next? He pondered the question as the car deposited him in his -cell. Obviously, he was being kept a prisoner. He didn't like it, -however comfortable the imprisonment. - -The first thing that suggested itself was a closer inspection of his -cell. The lectern yielded an oil-ball like that the ape-man had given -him and another, similar device, containing grease. There were various -tools of uncertain purpose and in the last drawer he examined a complete -duplicate set of wrist and finger joints. The larger cupboard had deep -drawers, mostly empty, though one of them contained a number of books, -apparently selected at random from a good-sized sized library--"Mystery -of Oldmixon Hall," "Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1903," "The -Poems of Jerusha G. White"--a depressing collection. - -This seemed to exhaust the possibilities of the cell and Sherman looked -about for further amusement. His ape neighbor had pressed himself close -to the bars on that side, indicating his interest in what Sherman was -doing by chuckling bubbles of amusement. Further down the line one of -the ape-men was holding the pair of handles that projected from the wall -beside his cabinet. Sherman grasped his also; there was a pleasant -little electric shock and in the center of the wall before him a slide -moved back to disclose a circle of melting light that changed color and -form in pleasing variations. The sensation was enormously invigorating -and it struck the aviator with surprise that this must be the way these -creatures.... "These creatures!" he thought, "I'm one of them...." the -way these creatures acquired nourishment. The thought gave him an -inspiration. - -"Hey!" he called in a voice loud enough to carry throughout the room. -"Is there anyone here that can understand what I'm saying?" - -There was a clank of metal as faces turned in his direction all down the -line of cages. "Yes, I guess so," called a voice from about thirty feet -away. "What do you want to say?" - -Sherman felt an overwhelming sense of relief. He would not have believed -it possible to be so delighted with a human voice. "Who's got us here -and why are they keeping us here?" he shouted back. - -A moment's silence. Then--"Near's I can make out it's a passel of -elephants and they've got us here to work." - -"What?" Sherman shouted back, not sure he had heard aright. - -"Work!" came the answer. "Make you punch the holes on these goddam light -machines. It wears your fingers off and you have to screw new ones in at -night." - -"No, I mean about the elephants." - -"That's what I said--elephants. They wear pants, and they're right -smart, too." - -Insoluble mystery. "Who are you?" called the aviator. - -"Mellen. Harve Mellen. I had a farm right here where they set up this -opry house of theirs." - -Along the edge of Sherman's cell a blue light began to blink. He had an -uncomfortable sensation of being watched. "Is there any way of getting -out of here?" he shouted to his unseen auditor. - -"Sssh," answered the other. "Them blue lights mean they want you to shut -up. You'll get a paste in the eye with the yaller lights if you don't." - -So that was it! They were being held as the servants--slaves--of some -unseen and powerful and very watchful intelligence. As for "elephants -with pants" they might resemble that and they might not; it was entirely -possible that the phrase represented merely a picturesque bit of -metaphor on the part of the farmer. - -Why it must be an actual invasion of the earth, as in H. G. Wells' "War -of the Worlds," a book he had read in his youth. The comet could have -been no comet then, and.... Yet the whole thing--this transformation of -himself into a metal machine, the crash of the Roamer and his subsequent -bath in the painful red light. It was all too fantastic--then he -remembered that one does not feel pain in dreams.... - -They were giving him books, food--if this electrical thing was indeed -the food his new body required--little to do; keeping him a prisoner in -a kind of poisoned paradise. - -... At all events the locks on these bars should offer no great -difficulty to a competent mechanic. He set himself to a further -examination of the tools in the lectern. - - * * * * * - -The main difficulty in the way of any plan of escape lay in his complete -lack of both information and the means of obtaining it. The mechanical -ape-men were hopeless; they merely babbled incoherent syllables and -seemed incapable of fixing their attention on any object for as long as -five minutes. As for the New York farmer his cage was so far away that -the conversation could be carried on only in shouts, and every shout -brought a warning flicker of the blue lights. On the second day, out of -curiosity, Sherman kept up the conversation after the blue lights went -on. A vivid stream of yellow light promptly issued from one corner of -the cage, striking him fully in the eyes, and apparently it was -accompanied by some kind of a force-ray for he found himself stretched -flat on the floor. After that he did not repeat the experiment. - -The next question was that of the lock on the cell-bars. The closest -inspection he could give did not reveal the joints; they were -extraordinarily well fitted. On the other hand, he remembered that the -arm of the truck had reached under one of the lower bars. Lying flat on -his back, Sherman pulled himself along from bar to bar, inspecting each -in turn. About mid-way along the front of the cell, he perceived a tiny -orifice in the base of one bar--a mere pin-hole. Marvelling at the -delicacy of the adjustment which could use so tiny a hole as a lock he -sat down to consider the question. - -He was completely naked and had nothing but the objects that had been -placed in his cell by his jailers. However-- - -Among the assortment of tools in his bureau was a curve-bladed knife -with the handle set parallel to the blade as though it were meant for -chopping, and forming the wall of the same drawer was a strip of a -material like emery cloth. After some experimenting he found a -finger-hole which, when squeezed, caused this emery-cloth to revolve, -giving a satisfactory abrasive. - -Thus armed with a tool and a means of keeping an edge on it, he took one -of the metal bands from the drawer that contained the duplicate set of -hands and set to work on it.... - -Producing a needle that would penetrate the hole in the bars was all of -three days' work, though he had no means of marking the time accurately. -The metal band was pliable, light, and for all its pliability and -lightness, incredibly hard. His tool would barely scratch it and -required constant sharpenings. Moreover, he had little time to himself; -his unseen scholar required constant lessons in English. But at last the -task was done. Choosing a moment when one of the cages at his side was -empty and the occupant of the other was busy over some silly sport of -his own--tossing a ball from one hand to another--Sherman lay down on -the floor, found the opening and drove his needle home. Nothing -happened. - -He surveyed the result with disappointment. It was disheartening, after -so much labor to attain no result at all. But it occurred to him that -perhaps he had not learned the whole secret of the arm, and the next -time the car came down the corridor for him, he was lying on the floor, -carefully watching the opening. - -As he had originally surmised, a needle-like point was driven home. But -he noted that on either side of the point the arm gripped the bar -tightly, pressing it upward. - -This presented another difficulty. He had only two hands; if one of them -worked the needle he could grip the bar in only one place. But he -remembered, fortunately, that his toes had showed a remarkable power of -prehension since the change that had made him into a machine. - -He finally succeeded in bracing himself in a curiously twisted attitude -and driving the needle home under the proper auspices. To his delight -it worked--when the needle went in the bars opened in the proper place, -swinging back into position automatically as the pressure was withdrawn. - -With a new sense of freedom Sherman turned to the next step. This was -obviously to find out more of the place in which he was confined and of -the possibilities of escape. It seemed difficult. - -But even on this point he was not to be long without enlightenment. His -unseen pupil in English was making most amazing progress. The white -screen which was their means of communication now bore complicated -messages about such subjects as what constituted philosophy. Sherman -felt himself in contact with an exceptionally keen and active mind, -though one to which the simplest earthly ideas were unfamiliar. There -were queer misapprehensions--for instance, no process of explanation he -could give seemed to make the unseen scholar understand the use and -value of money, and they labored for a whole day over the words -"president" and "political." - -In technical matters it was otherwise; Sherman had barely to express the -idea before the screen made it evident that the auditor had grasped its -whole purport. When he wrote the word "atom" for instance, and tried to -give a faint picture of the current theory of the atom, it was hardly a -second before the screen flashed up with a series of diagrams and -mathematical formulae, picturing and explaining atoms of different -types. - -After four weeks or more (as nearly as Sherman could estimate it in that -nightless, sleepless place where time was an expression rather than a -reality) the car that came for him one day discharged him into a room -entirely different from the school-room. Like the school-room it was -small, and some twenty feet across. Against the wall opposite the door -stood a huge machine, the connections of which seemed to go back through -the wall. Its vast complex of pulleys, valves and rods, conveyed no hint -of its purpose, even to his mechanically-trained mind. - -Across the front of it was a long, black board, four feet or more across -and somewhat like the instrument board of an airplane in general -character. At the top of this board was a band of ground glass, set off -in divisions. Beneath this band a series of holes, each just large -enough to admit a finger, and each marked off by a character of some -kind though in no language Sherman had ever seen. - -To complete the picture, one of the mechanical ape-men stood before the -board as though expecting him. On the ape-man's head was a tight-fitting -helmet, connecting with some part of the machine by a flexible tube. As -Sherman entered the room the ape-man motioned him over to the board, -pointed to the holes and in thick, but intelligible English, said -"Watsch!" A flash of purple light appeared behind the first of the -ground-glass screens. The ape-man promptly thrust his finger into the -first of the holes. The light went out, and the ape-man turned to -Sherman. "Do," he said. The light flashed on again, and Sherman, not -unwilling to learn the purpose of the maneuver, did as his instructor -had done. - -He was rewarded by a tearing pain in the finger-tip and withdrew the -member at once. Right at the end it had become slightly grey. The -ape-man smiled. Behind the second ground-glass a red light now appeared -and the ape-man thrust his finger into another of the apertures, -indicating that Sherman should imitate him. This time the aviator was -more cautious, but as he delayed the light winked angrily. Again he -received the jerk of pain in the finger-tip and withdrew it to find -that the grey spot had spread. - -[Illustration: He was rewarded by a tearing pain in his fingertip. -Behind the ground glass a red light now appeared.] - -When the third light flashed on he refused to copy the motion of his -instructor. The light blinked at him insistently. He placed both hands -behind his back and stepped away from the machine. The ape-man, looking -at him with something like panic, beckoned him forward again. Sherman -shook his head; the ape-man threw back his head and emitted a long, -piercing howl. Almost immediately the door slid back and the car -appeared. As Sherman stepped to its threshold, instead of admitting him, -it thrust forth a gigantic folding claw which gripped him firmly around -the waist and held him while a shaft of the painful yellow light was -thrown into his eyes; then tossed him back on the floor and slammed shut -vengefully. - -Dazed by the light and the fall, Herbert Sherman rolled on the floor, -thoughts of retaliation flashing through his head. But he was no fool, -and before he had even picked himself up, he realized that his present -cast was hopeless. Gritting his teeth, he set himself to follow the -ape-man's instructions, looking him over carefully to recognize him -again in case--. - -The course of instruction was not particularly difficult to memorize. It -seemed that for each color of light behind the ground-glass panels one -must thrust a finger into a different one of the holes below; hold it -there in spite of the pain, till the colored light went out, and then -remove it. The process was very hard on the fingers, made of metal -though they were. What was it the farmer had shouted down the hall? -"Wears your fingers out?" Well, it did that, all right. After an hour or -two of it, when he had learned to perform the various operations with -mechanical precision and the tip of his index finger had already begun -to scale off, the ape-man smiled at him, waved approval and reaching -down beneath the black board, pulled out a drawer from which he -extracted a finger-tip, made in the same metal as those he already bore, -and proceeded to show Sherman how to attach it. - -As a mechanic, he watched the process with some interest. The "bone" of -the finger, with its joint, screwed cunningly into the bone of the next -joint below, the lower end of the screw being curiously cut away and -having a tiny point of wire set in it. The muscular bands had loose ends -that merely tucked in, but so well were they fashioned, that once in -position, it was impossible to pull them out until the finger-tip had -been unscrewed. - -The instruction process over, he was returned to his cell, wondering -what was to happen next. The poisoned paradise was becoming less of a -paradise. He speculated on the possibility of wrecking the car that bore -him from place to place, but finally decided that it could not be done -without some heavy tool and was hardly worth the trouble in any case -until he was more certain of getting away afterward. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -The Lassan - - -When the car next called for him, it took a much longer course; one -steadily downward and around a good many curves as he could judge from -the way in which it swayed and gained and lost speed. It was fully a -twenty-minute ride, and when he stepped out it was not into a room of -any kind, but in what appeared to be a tunnel cut in the living rock, at -least six feet wide and fully twice as high. The rock on all sides had -been beautifully smoothed by some unknown hand, except underfoot where -it had been left rough enough to give a grip to the feet. - -At his side were two of the ape-men who had been released from the car -at the same time. The tunnel led them straight ahead for a distance, -then dipped and turned to the right. As he rounded the corner he could -see that it ended below and before him in some room where machinery -whirred. The ape-men went straight on, looking neither to the right nor -the left. As they reached the door that gave into the machine-room they -encountered another ape-man wearing the same kind of helmet with its -attached tube, as Sherman's instructor had worn. The ape-men who came -with him stopped. The helmeted one looked at them stupidly for a moment -and then, as though obeying some unspoken command, took one by the arm -and led him across the room to the front of a machine and there thrust -one of the ubiquitous helmets on his head. - -The machine, as nearly as Sherman could make out, was a duplicate of -that on which he had injured his fingers; as the helmet was buckled on -the ape-man who stood before it he immediately began to watch the -ground-glass panels and put his fingers in the holes below. - -The process was repeated with the second ape-man, and then the sentinel -returned to Sherman. Taking him by the arm, the mechanical beast led him -past the row of machines (there seemed to be only four in the room) and -to a door at one side, giving him a gentle push. It was the opening of -another tunnel, down which Sherman walked for some forty or fifty yards -before encountering a second door and a second helmeted ape-man sentry. - -This one did exactly as the first had done. Stared at him for a moment, -then took him by the arm and led him across the room to a machine, where -it left him. Sherman perceived that he was supposed to care for it, and -with a sigh, bent to his task. - -It was some moments before the rapid flashing of lights gave him a -respite. Then he had an opportunity to look about him and observed that, -as in the other room, there were four machines. Two of them were -untenanted, but at the one next to his, there was someone working. When -he glanced again, he was sure it was a mechanized human like -himself--and a girl! - -"What is this place?" he asked, "and who are you?" - -The other gave a covert glance over his shoulder at the sentry by the -door. - -"Sssh!" she said out of the corner of her mouth, "not so loud.... I'm -Marta Lami--and I think this place is hell!" - -After a time they contrived a sort of conversation, a word at a time, -with covert glances at the ape-man sentry. He looked at them -suspiciously once or twice, but as he made no attempt to interfere they -gained confidence. - -"Who--is--keeping--us--here?" asked Sherman. - -"Don't--know," she replied in the same manner. -"Think--it's--the--elephants." - -"What elephants?" he asked a word at a time. "I haven't seen any." - -"You will. They come around and inspect what you're doing. Are you new -here?" - -"New at these machines. They had me teaching them to write English. This -is my first day in here." - -"This is my eightieth work-period. We lost track of the days." - -"So did I. Where are we? Are there any other humans with you?" - -"One in the cage across the corridor from me. Walter Stevens the Wall -Street man." - -"Have they got him on this job, too?" - -"Yes." - -Sherman could not avoid a snicker. Back in the days before the comet he -had had Stevens as a passenger once, and a more difficult customer to -satisfy, a more cocksure-of-his-own-importance man he had never seen. -The thought of him burning his fingertips up in one of these machines -gave him some amusement. But his next question was practical. - -"Do you know what these machines are for?" - -"Haven't the least idea; Stevens said they were for digging something. -They had the helmets on him twice." - -"What helmets?" - -"Like the dopey at the door wears. The dopeys all have to wear them." - -"Why?" - -"Haven't got any brains, I guess. I had one on once when they were -teaching me to do this. They tell you what to think." - -"What do you mean?" - -"You put the helmet on and it's like you're hypnotized. You can't think -anything but what they want you to think." - -Sherman shuddered slightly. So that was how the mechanical ape-men were -controlled so perfectly! - -"How did they get you?" asked the girl who had described herself as -Marta Lami. - -"In an airplane. I'm an aviator. They shot me down somewhere and when I -came to, put me in one of those cages. How did you get here?" - -"The birds. I was at West Point with Stevens and that old fool -Vanderschoof. They started shooting at the birds and the birds just -picked us up and flew away with us." - -"Where were you after you came to? I mean after the comet." - -"New York. Century Roof. I was dancing there before." - -"You aren't Marta Lami, the dancer?" - -"Sure. Who the hell do you think?" - - * * * * * - -He turned and regarded her deliberately, careless of the aroused -attention of the sentry. So this was the famous dancer who had blazed -across two continents and three divorce suits--who had been proclaimed -the most beautiful woman in the world in starring electric lights before -an applauding Broadway; for whose performances speculators held tickets -at prize-fight premiums! How little she resembled it now, a parody of -the human form, working her fingers off as the slave of an alien and -conquering race. - -She asked the next question: - -"Where have they got you?" - -"I don't know. In a cage somewhere. The only people around there are -like these mugs." He nodded toward the ape-man. - -"I wonder how long they'll keep us at this." - -"I wish I could tell you. How's chances of making a break?" - -"Rotten. There was a guy at the next machine tried it three or four -work-periods ago. He socked the dopey at the door." - -"What happened?" - -"They sent a machine down for him and gave him the yellow lights all -over. It was fierce, you should have heard him scream." - -"How far down are we, anyway?" - -"You got me, boy friend. Sssh! Watch the dopey." - -Sherman glanced over his shoulder to see the ape-man moving aside from -the door and bent back to his work. Evidently something important was -imminent, judging from the actions of the sentry and the energetic -attention the ex-dancer was giving to her machine. He was not deceived. -Down the passage came something moving; something flesh-like and smooth, -of a pale, grey-blue, dead-fish color, like a dangling serpent, then a -round bulging head and finally the full form of an elephant! - -But such an elephant as mortal eye had never before seen. For it stood -barely eight feet high and its legs were both longer and infinitely more -slender and graceful than the legs of any earthly elephant. The ears -were smaller, not loose flaps of skin, but possessed of definite form -and pressed close to the head. The skull was enormous, bulging at the -forehead, and wrinkled in the middle down over the large intelligent -eyes in an expression permanently cross and dissatisfied. As for the -trunk it reached nearly to the floor, longer and thinner in proportion -than the trunk of an ordinary elephant, and at its tip divided into four -finger-like projections set around the circle of the nostril. - -Oddest of all, the elephant wore clothes! Or at least an outer garment, -a kind of long cloak which appeared to be attached underneath its body -and which covered every portion except the ankles. The feet also were -covered. A kind of hood hung back from the head on that portion of the -cloak which rested on the creature's back. But what chiefly aroused -Sherman's sense of strangeness and loathing was that the naked skin, -wherever exposed, was of that same poisonous, dead-fish blue. - -For a moment the thing stood in the doorway, regarding them, swinging -its long trunk around restlessly, as though it could tell something -about them by its sense of smell. Then it advanced a step or two into -the room, and placing its trunk close to Sherman's body, began to run -over it, sniffing, a few inches away. He felt that he wanted to shriek, -to turn and strike the thing, or to run, but a warning glance from the -dancer kept him motionless. - -Apparently satisfied with the result of its examination the elephant -turned to go, stopping as it did so to unhook some projection on the -ape-man's helmet and apply it to its ear. After listening for a moment, -it put the end of the trunk to this projection, snorted into it, and -went away with soundless steps. - -For several minutes the two worked on in silence after this. Then: - -"Well, now you seen him," said the dancer, in the same word-by-word -fashion as before. "That was our boss." - -"That--thing?" asked Sherman, incredulously. - -"I'll tell the cockeyed world. Say, those babies know more than Einstein -ever heard of. Try to get fresh with one of them and see." - -"What do they do?" - -"Shoot you with one of the light-guns. They carry little ones around -with them. They melt you down wherever they hit you and you have to go -to the operating room to have things put back and it hurts like hell." - -"Oh, I must have been there after they brought me down in my plane. They -did something to my back." - -"Then you know, boy friend. After that they put the helmet on you and -you have to tell 'em what you're thinking about. You can beat that game, -though, if you're careful. All I'd give 'em was how good a couple of -Scotch highballs would taste and it made monkeys of 'em." - -It was all very strange and not a little bewildering. Intelligent -elephants that controlled forces beyond the powers of men; who could -place a helmet on your head and read your thoughts; who could repair the -new mechanized human form after it had apparently suffered irreparable -damage, and who treated men and women as lower animals. Their arrival -must have been that of the comet. - - * * * * * - -Herbert Sherman had read deeply enough, though not widely. He remembered -some Englishman--Colvin--Kevin--Kelvin, that was it!--who had a theory -that life had drifted to the earth from somewhere out in the void of -space and time. Had these, too, drifted in, in the same way the -ancestors of man had come, to set a period to the day of man's dominance -over creation? A strange enough creation it was now, though, with its -mechanical men and its animals turned to metal statues. He wondered what -Noah would say, and giggled at the thought. - -"What's the joke, boy friend?" - -"Oh, nothing. I had an idea." - -Their plight at the hands of these master-animals was bad, but it might -be worse. At least he had a certain amount of freedom, he was stronger -than he had ever before been in his life, and felt quite as intelligent. -It would be strange if he could not accomplish something.... He fell to -planning out ways of escaping and failed to notice the pain in his -fingers in the intensity of his thoughts. - -Everything seemed to show that the operation of most of these machines -was predominantly electrical. It would be strange if the car that -carried them to and fro was not, yes and by Jove, the helmets the -ape-men wore. If he could short-circuit the works, or even a part of -them.... - -Apparently his new body was a good conductor and impervious to the -injurious effects of the electric current. Short-circuit something, that -was the idea, create a confusion--and trust to escaping in the midst of -it? Perhaps--but at all events a good deal could be learned about these -elephant-men and their methods by watching them in such an emergency. -Their machinery was so efficient that a child could operate it; it was -in a pinch that their real intelligence would show. - -It struck him that it would do little good to escape unless he did learn -something about these elephant-people, their mysterious light-guns, -their vast city that they seemed to have hollowed out of the heart of -the solid Catskill rock, their chemistry and metallurgy and methods of -attack and defense. Otherwise escape would be a jumping from the -frying-pan into the fire. There would be nothing for it but a desperate, -harried existence, the existence of one of the lower animals faced by -the insupportable competition of man. - -Information! That was the first need. He must bend all his energies to -the task of obtaining it. - -"By the way, what do these eggs call themselves?" he asked. - -"Lassans," said the dancer. - -A light flickered along the corridor. The ape-man at the door came -forward, touched him on the arm and led him to the passage where he -caught the car back to his cage. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -In the Passages - - -The first thing to be done, Sherman decided, was to short-circuit the -mind-reading helmet of the guard at the door, if it were possible. He -was not certain that the thing was electrical, and ignorant of how the -current was conveyed if it were. He realized that he was dealing with -the products of an utterly alien form of mentality, one that might not -produce its results in the same way as an earth-man would at all. But -something had to be dared, and this seemed to offer the best -opportunity. - -If the thing were electrical, the current must come through the tube to -the top of the head. On his second work-period he observed this tube -with care. It ran through an aperture in the stone roof and was -apparently provided with some spring device, for a considerable length -of it reeled out when the ape-man wished to walk across the room, and -was absorbed as he returned. - -The tube seemed to be made of the rubber-like material that composed the -floor of his cage. The simplest plan, of course, would be to bring his -chopping-knife with him and when the ape-man paused before the wall, -swing it up in a sweep, severing the tube. But this, he felt, was not to -be recommended. It would not necessarily short-circuit the current and -the damage would be too readily laid at his door. The desideratum was -some damage that apparently accidental, would yet produce a good deal of -uproar. - -He talked it over with Marta Lami. - -"I think you're bugs," she said frankly, "but anything for excitement. -What do you want me to do about it?" - -"Well, here's what I figured out," Sherman explained. "We both arrive -about the same time. I'll bring my knife. When we come in you hang back -a bit, and while you're doing it, I'll take a poke at that cable with -the knife, not enough to cut it, but enough to damage it. Then about -half-way through the work period, I'll turn around and say something to -you. If I do it quick enough, I think the monk will start for me, and if -the cable doesn't go then, I'll miss my guess." - -The next period proved unsuitable; the dancer's car arrived considerably -before Sherman's and the plan was dropped for the time, but on the -following occasion, as Sherman came down the passage, he noticed Marta -Lami just ahead of him. He hurried to catch up and she evidently -understood, for she avoided the guard's outstretched hand and hung back -a minute against the wall as Sherman came up behind. He made one quick -motion; the cable sheared half-way through exposing two wires of bright -metal. - -As luck would have it, it proved unnecessary to put the second part of -the plan into operation. For just as Sherman was nerving himself to -swing round and attract the ape-man's attention, he heard the soft -pad-pad of one of the approaching Lassans. The ape-man stepped back to -clear the entrance as he had before, and as he did so, there was a -trickle of sparks, a blinding flash, and the cable short-circuited. - -The result was totally unexpected. From the great machine before Sherman -there came an answering flash; the ground glass split across with a -bang, there was a hissing sound and something blew up with a roar that -rocked the underground chambers.... - -Sherman came to himself flat on his back and with pieces of rock and the -debris of the machine lying across his legs. He looked around; Marta -Lami lay some little distance across the room, half covered with fallen -rock, one arm flung across her eyes as though to protect them. Above, -the solid granite looked as though a blasting charge had been fired in -its midst. Sherman pulled himself to a sitting posture, and finding -nothing damaged, stood upright. The machine, badly shattered, lay in -fragments of bent rods, broken pulleys and wrecked cylinders all about -him. In the place where it had stood was a long narrow opening, down at -the end of which something irregular shut off a bright point of light. A -blast of heat exuded from the place and a steady, deep-voiced roaring -was audible. The ape-man guard was nowhere to be seen. - -He bent to pick up the unconscious girl, wondering how one revived a -mechanical woman, especially without water, but she solved the problem -for him by opening her eyes and asking: - -"Who touched off the pineapple, boy friend?" - -"I did. Come out of it and tell me what we do next. Anything busted?" - -"Only my head." She patted the mass of stiff wire. "Boy, am I glad I -wore my hair long before they made a robot of me!" And with an effort -she stood up, looked down the pit where the machine had been and said, -"Say, let's get out of here. That don't look so good." - -"All right," said Sherman, "which way? Wait till I get my knife." - -"No, leave it," she said. "Those babies are nobody's saps. If they find -it on you they'll know you shot the well. Come on, I think that thing is -going to pop again." - -The roaring had increased in both volume and intensity, and the -machine-room had become unbearably hot. They turned toward the door, but -just at the entrance into the passage a pile of debris had descended, -making egress impossible. Behind them the roaring increased still more. -"Come on, boy friend," called the dancer, tearing at the rocks. "Get -these out of the road unless you want to be stewed in your own juice." - -Together they toiled over the blocks of granite, hurling them backward -toward the wreck of the machine. One minute, two, three--the roaring -behind them grew and spread, the heat became terrific. - - * * * * * - -"Ah!" cried Marta Lami at last. A tiny opening at the top of the heap -was before them. Sherman tugged at a rock--one more, and they would be -through. But it was too big, would not budge. - -"No, this one," shouted his companion and together they dragged at it. -It gave--a cascade of smaller stones rolled down the heap to the floor. -"You first," said Sherman and stood aside. - -The dancer wriggled through and reached back a hand to pull him after. -He dived, grunted, pushed--made it. As they turned to slide down the -other side of the heap, he looked back. A little rivulet of something -white, hot and liquid was creeping through the ruins of the machine and -into the room. - -Up the passage, strewn with wreckage, but with no more blockades, into -the upper machine room. The machines here also were deserted and from -one of them issued a minor variation on the roaring sound they had heard -in their own room. The guard was not on duty. They turned, sped up the -next passage to the place where the cars ordinarily met them. The -car-track was dark; by the illumination from the passage they could see -the rail on which it ran, a foot or two down from the level of the -passage, and about a foot broad--a single shining ribbon of metal. -Sherman looked in one direction, then the other. Nothing. The roaring -behind them continued. - -"Drive on, kid," said Marta Lami. "The boojums are going to get us if we -wait." - -"Stop, look, listen, watch out for the cars," he quoted as they leaped -down and both laughed. - -The roadbed was as smooth as glass, the rail set flush with it. Judging -that the best route was the one taking them upward Sherman turned to the -right and they began climbing, hand in metal hand. - -The track was on a curve as well as an ascent. After a few steps they -were in complete darkness and could only feel their way along, running -into the wall every few minutes. They climbed for what seemed hours. The -tunnel continued dark, without branches, simply winding on and on. -Finally, so quickly that Sherman missed his step, they reached a level -place, rounded one more curve, and saw ahead of them a band of light -across the track from some side-tunnel. - -"Shall we try it?" he asked as they reached the opening. - -"Might be another machine room," she said, "but let's go. This track is -terrible. If I wasn't made of iron I'd have bruises all over." - -He vaulted over the sill, reached down and hauled her after him. From -behind them came the roar, sunk to a vague purring by the distance. They -were in another granite-lined passage; one that went straight ahead for -a few yards, then branched sharply. The right hand fork seemed to lead -downward; automatically they took the other turn. A diffused radiance -from somewhere high in the walls, as though the granite had been -rendered transparent here and there, filled the whole place with -shadowless light. For a time the passage ran level, then it climbed -again, with another fork to the right, which dipped away from their -level and which they again avoided. Of any other living being there was -thus far no sign. - -The passage began climbing again, in a tight spiral, this time. - -"Good thing we're in training," remarked Marta Lami. "This is worse than -the stairs in the Statue of Liberty." - -"Oh, did you fall for climbing that, too?" asked Sherman. - -"Sure. Publicity stunt about a year ago. Dumb bunny of a publicity man. -Photographed on the old lady's spikes. Never will again." - -The spiral ended, a side passage branched off. The dancer stopped. - -"Sh," she said, "someone's coming. Duck in here." She seized Sherman's -hand and led him into the side passage, down which they ran for a few -feet, then paused to look back. Down the passage they had just vacated -came a group of the ape-men, four or five of them, each carrying on his -left arm a long, cylindrical shield like those one sees in pictures of -Roman soldiers, and in his right hand some instrument that looked like -a fire extinguisher with a long, flexible nozzle. - -Each of the group wore one of the helmets and behind them, wearing a -similar headgear to which all the tubes were connected from the -ape-men's helmets came one of the Lassans. The group hurried past -without a sideward glance, the metal feet of the ape-men ringing oddly -loud on the granite of the echoing passage. After a minute Sherman and -the dancer crept cautiously forward; the procession had gone straight on -down. Very likely a wrecking crew. - -Sherman and Marta sprinted up the passage in the direction from which -the ape-men and their guide had come. The passage no longer rose with -the same steepness, and as the ascent grew more gentle, the tunnel -widened, with frequent side-passages to the right and branches leading -down to the track at the left. Finally, after a sharp turn, it opened -out into a big room, untenanted like all they had seen so far, filled -with a complex maze of machinery, but machinery of a different character -from that they had labored at. At the farther end of the room a door -stood open. They dashed across it, plunged through--and found themselves -in one of the enormous blue-domed halls, whose ceiling seemed to stretch -miles above them. - - * * * * * - -It must have been all of three hundred feet across, and there was no -visible support for the ceiling. All about the place stood various -objects and pieces of machinery, and figures moved dimly among the -titanic apparatus at the far end. But what most attracted their -attention was the huge object that stood right before them. - -It looked like a metal fish on an enormous scale. Fully fifty feet long -and twenty feet high, its immense proportions dwarfed everything about -it, and its sides, of brilliantly polished metal, shone like a mirror. -The tail came to a stubby point, from which projected a circle of four -tubes; down the side was a rib which ended in a similar tube about half -way, and at the nose-end of the mechanical fish was a ten-foot snout, -not unlike an elephant's trunk in shape and apparently made of the same -rubbery material which held the cables of the helmets. - -Marta pulled Sherman down behind the thing, and they peered around the -edge seeking for a means of egress from the room. The nearest was twenty -or thirty feet away. Watching their opportunity, they chose a moment -when they seemed least likely to attract attention and made a dive for -it. - -They found themselves in another passage, terminating in two doors. - -"Which?" asked Sherman. - -"Eeny-meeny," said Marta--"this one," and stepping boldly to the right -hand door, pushed it open.... - -For a moment they could only gaze. The room they had entered was another -and smaller blue-domed hall. Around its sides was a row of curious -twisted benches of green material, each of which was now occupied by one -of the Lassans, hood thrown back from head, and elephant-trunk thrust -into a large pool of some viscous, green stuff with bright yellow flecks -in it, in the center of the circle. Half a dozen helmeted ape-men stood -behind the benches of their masters, apparently serving them at this -singular meal. - -[Illustration: Half a dozen ape-men stood behind the benches of their -masters apparently serving at this singular meal.] - -As the two humans entered there was one of those silences which are -pregnant with events. Then: - -"Good evening, folks. How's the boy?" said Marta, and curtsied -gracefully. - -The sound of her words seemed to release the spell. With a bellow of -rage the nearest Lassan leaped from his bench, fumbling at one of the -pouches in his cloak. "The light-gun!" thought Sherman and braced -himself to spring, but another of the masters extended his trunk and -detained the first one. There was a momentary babble of rumbling -conversation, then one of the Lassans reached behind him, picked up a -helmet and placed it on his head, and attaching a tube to one of the -ape-men, rose. - -The ape-man moved toward Marta and Sherman like a being in a dream. They -turned to run, but the Lassan produced a light-gun with such evident -intention of using it at the first motion that they paused. - -"Looks like we're in for it," said the dancer. "Oh, well, lead on -Napoleon. What do we care for expenses?" - -Under the direction of the Lassan the ape-man took them each by an arm -and led them back through the hall of the metal fish, down among the -machines, where two or three others stared at them curiously or lifted -inquisitive trunks in their direction. Then into another passage which -had one of the inevitable car-tracks. Their Lassan conductor reached -around the corner into the passage, applied his trunk briefly to -something and a moment later one of the cars slid silently into -position. The door opened. - -"So long, old scout," said Marta Lami. "Even if I never see you again, -we had a great time together." - -"So long," replied Sherman, taking his place in the car. He felt a -distinct pang at leaving this dancer--vulgar, no doubt, and flippant, -but gay and debonair, and the best of companions. - -The car did not take them far. It discharged Sherman in a little passage -before a narrow door, which opened automatically to admit him to a small -blue-domed room containing nothing but a seat, one of the benches on -which he had seen the Lassans reclining and a mass of wires and tubes. -There seemed nothing in particular to do. He was at liberty, save that -the door closed firmly behind him, cutting off escape, and seeing that -he was left alone, he seated himself and began to examine the machinery, -most of which was attached to his chair. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -The Lassan Explains - - -Before he had time to riddle out any of its secrets the door opened -again and one of the Lassans came in--a distinctly different type than -any he had hitherto seen. This one was smaller than most; his skin, -where exposed, was covered by a tracery of fine wrinkles and his -coloring was whiter than the rest. Little crowfeet stood around the -corners of his eyes, giving him an expression that was singularly -humorous. He approached Sherman on noiseless feet, moved his trunk up -and down as though examining him and then, producing from a pocket in -his cloak one of the thought-helmets, set it on Sherman's head, -tightened a connection or two with his trunk and placing a like device -on his own head, settled himself on the twisted bench. - -The ordeal of the helmet! "They make you think whatever they want you -to; it's like being hypnotized," Marta Lami had said. He braced himself -resolutely. This alien intelligence should not plumb his thoughts -without a struggle.... - -To his surprise, there seemed no attempt to force his mind. The thought -leaped up, unbidden, "Why, this--this Lassan is friendly!" No definite -image or plan or connection of ideas formed itself in his brain; he -merely felt enormously soothed and strengthened. After all, he found -himself arguing, nobody desired to hurt him; merely to discover what -curious process of thought had led him to act as he had. - -"You are too intelligent, too high a type to have been put to work at -the machines," came the unspoken thought of the Lassan. "We might better -have put you at the controls of one of the fighting machines." (This -thought caused a mental image of the giant silver fish he had seen in -the hall of the dome to rise in his mind; he pictured himself as seated -amid a mass of levers before a panel set with complex gauges.) - -"It was a mistake," the thought he was receiving went on, "that you were -sent there. The Alphen of the mental department, who had your case in -charge should have known better. You earth-men make much better machines -than the ones we brought with us. You do not even need the helmets in -order to control. Some of you are even capable of understanding and -operating the lights." (This, he explained afterward appeared not as a -consecutive sentence in Sherman's mind, but as a succession of ideas, -almost as though he were thinking them himself. With the word "lights" a -complex picture presented itself, involving the light-guns and a large -amount of other complex apparatus, whose exact uses he did not then or -later understand, but which he felt he understood at the moment.) - -"Now," the Lassan's thought went on, "I don't blame you for being -frightened and trying to run away, but you know we are different and I -don't quite understand what frightened you. You were working at a -machine, were you not?" And as Sherman unconsciously thought of himself -sticking his fingers in the apertures of the machines, "I thought so. -What happened?" - -Unbidden, the memory of the explosion came to him. Again he heard the -Lassan's step in the corridor, saw the guard move aside, the sputter -from the cable, and then the explosion; then his memory jumped to the -moment of tugging at the stones with the roar and heat all round and the -white-hot stream in pursuit. - -A vague, but sympathetic thought reached him, followed by a -question--"But what made that happen? You're intelligent, you understand -these things, you are a mechanic--what made it happen?" - -With a start of surprise Sherman realized that the Lassan had been -leading him gently along from place to place--to trap him! He struggled -desperately to keep the thought of the short-circuiting of the guard's -helmet from his mind; struggled to think about anything else at -all--thought of a plate of steaming corned beef and cabbage, of the -multiplication table--5 x 5 = 25, all in neat rows of figures, thought -of how to control a plane that had gone into a tail-spin.... - -The pressure suddenly relaxed, the mind opposite his became friendly -again; once more he received the vague intimation of sympathy and -understanding, even of admiration of his mental strength. - -"Why," the thought was telling him, "you have quite as much mentality as -a Lassan! That is a very high compliment. I have never before met one of -the lower animals who could withhold his thoughts from me. It is most -extraordinary. Is it possible for you to withhold your thoughts from -your own kind as well?" - -Not at all difficult, thought Sherman, relaxing a bit; indeed the -difficulty in human communication lies not in withholding thoughts but -in expressing them. - -His interlocutor went on, "Ah, but the feeling, the thought is generally -understood, though it may not be clear. Tell me, have you never withheld -a thought from someone who wished to know it?" - -Yes, thought Sherman, I have--and remembered the poker game at the -Cleveland airport when he had drawn two cards and unexpectedly filled a -straight flush to win the biggest pot of the evening from Barney's full -house; and of the time when he had thought of numerous unpleasant ways -of slaying the mechanic who had left a leak in his oil-line and of the -time when a girl had tried to gold-dig him and he had divined her -intention first, and of the time when he had lifted the knife--!!! - -Again that jar! He realized with a start that the Lassan having failed -to pick his brain with friendliness, was trying to do it with flattery, -and the realization so filled him with anger that he had no difficulty -in resisting the pressure that was applied to make him tell, tell, tell -what had happened in the machine-room at the end of the passage. - -Once more the pressure relaxed. The Lassan was congratulating him again. -"No, this is sincere this time and not flattery. You win. I shall not -try to make you tell me again. We can probably obtain it from the other -one anyway. Oh, man of a debased and alien race, I salute you. If your -race were all like you we might breed them for intelligence and live in -cooperation with you. It is almost a pity you had to be mechanized. If -there is any information you wish, I will gladly exchange with you. We -have seen your homes, we are curious--imagine living above the -ground!--and from others of your race we know that you have many fine -machines, almost a civilization, in fact. We would willingly know more -of it and in return will tell you of our accomplishments." - - * * * * * - -Could this offer conceal some new trap? Sherman wondered, but the Lassan -divined this thought as soon as formed, and reassured him. "Since we now -live here and since there are so few of your folk left it is important -that we know about each other. We must live side by side--why not in -friendship?" - -The offer seemed fair enough. At all events if there were any -injudicious questions he could turn them aside, and there was a good -deal he wished to learn--about his mechanized body, about the purpose of -those curious machines, the blue-domed halls, the silver fish, the -interweavings of this underground city, where the Lassans had come -from--he assented. - -"Good," the message reached him. "Suppose you ask a question and then I -will. What do you wish to know?" - -"How I was made into a machine." - -"I do not know that I can explain it to you. I perceive your knowledge -of the nature of light is elementary.... But the material with which we -surrounded the space-ship in which we came, in order to protect it from -the radiation of suns unknown to you, has a powerful action on all -animal substances. It is a material not unlike your radium, but a -thousand times more powerful. When we reached your planet, your -atmosphere carried it to every part of the earth, and all living things -received it. Those who were most affected by it were turned to metal -which retained that quality called 'life' within its interior reaches; -the others became merely solid metal. - -"Our birds are under instructions to bring us all such individuals as -possess life. In our laboratories we make their forms over, so they will -be useful to us as servants. Those who have become solid, of course, -nothing can be done for. We have found in the past that when we take a -new planet and make the individuals over into machines, unless we return -them to familiar surroundings, they lose their brains when they reawake. -Therefore you woke in the same place in which you passed from -consciousness." - -"Wonderful," said Sherman, "and where do you come from and how did you -get here?" - -He felt the Lassan's amusement. "That is two questions you have asked, -and not one. Nevertheless I will answer. We come from a planet of -another star, very far away--I do not know how to express it to you. -Your methods of measurement for these things are different from ours." -In Sherman's mind appeared a picture of the night heavens with the -tremendous ribbon of the Milky Way swinging across its center; his -attention was directed to one star, a very bright one. - -"Rigel!" his mind called, and the thought went on. He was suddenly -transported to the neighborhood of the star, felt that it was ages ago, -long before the earth had cooled, and saw that the star, then a sun like -our own, was threatened by some enormous catastrophe, a titanic -explosion. Abruptly the picture was wiped out and he beheld the comet, -the great comet the earthly astronomers had watched for so long before -it struck on that fateful night, and realized that it was no comet, but -an interplanetary vehicle bound from the planet of Rigel to the earth. - -[Illustration: The star, like our own sun, was threatened by some -enormous catastrophe, a titanic explosion.] - -"But how--?" he began to frame another question. The Lassan cut across -it firmly. "It is my turn to seek information now. We are interested in -the machine that brought you here--the bird machine. How does it -operate?" - -Sherman imagined himself in the airplane's seat, operating the controls -and as well as he could to a strange type of mind, explained how they -worked. "But what drives it?" insisted the Lassan. "I do not understand. -No, not the queer thing at the front that turns round. We have that -principle ourselves. But the thing that makes it turn." - -For answer, Sherman tried to picture the interior of the engine and show -the gasoline exploding and driving it. The mind opposite his became -thoughtful at once, and then flashed a question. "Are there -many--explosives--in this earth?" - -Sherman pictured gunpowder, dynamite and all the others he could think -of. He at once sensed that the Lassan was both astonished and troubled. -Something like a mental curtain which he could not pierce, dropped -between them. A moment later the elephant-man rose. - -"That will be sufficient for the present," he flashed, and came forward -to remove the helmet from Sherman's head. - - * * * * * - -A few moments later the door was swung open; Sherman saw that one of the -cars was waiting for him with the word "EXIT" beckoning him on and he -was soon back in his cage. - -As nearly as he could judge time, he was left alone for quite -twenty-four hours before being recalled for further questioning. As soon -as he entered the interrogation room he perceived that something serious -had engaged the attention of the Lassans. The seat was prepared for him -as before, but instead of one of the twisted benches, there were now -three. His acquaintance, the old Lassan, occupied the center one; on one -side was a chubby elephant-man whose obesity gave a singularly infantile -expression to his features and on the other a slender-limbed type, as -though by contrast. All three had tubes connected to the helmet which -was placed on his head, but he soon recognized that the older Lassan was -the only one to ask questions. - -"We wish to ask you about these explosives," came the message. "Are they -all alike?" - -"No," he answered instantly. - -"What causes them to explode?" - -"I am not a chemist. I don't know." The idea of chemistry was slightly -unfamiliar to them; it was apparent from their thoughts that chemistry -had never occurred to them as the subject of a special study. Then came -another question, "Are there many chemists?" - -An idea struck Sherman. He closed his mind resolutely against the -question and flashed back the message that he had come to learn as well -as teach. He sensed a certain annoyance among the new auditors, but the -old Lassan answered, "That is only just. What do you wish to know?" - -"What the machines are for." - -"In the center of this as of every other earth lies the substance of -life, as it lies at the heart of every sun. The machines pierce to it -and draw it up for our uses." - -"What is this substance of life?" - -"You would not understand if we told you. Sufficient that it is nothing -known on the surface of your world. Your idea that most nearly -approaches it is--" he paused for a moment, feeling about in Sherman's -mind for the proper expression "--is pure light; light having material -body and strength. Now let me ask--do you use explosives as we use the -substance of life, to fight your enemies?" - -"Yes." - -"What weapons do you use them in?" - -Sherman thought of a revolver and then of a cannon. - -"And do these weapons act at a distance?" - -"Yes. May I ask a question?" - -"If it is a brief one. This interview is important to us." - -"How many of your people are there on the earth?" - -"It is inadvisable to answer that fully, but there are some hundreds. -Now tell us, are there any of these weapons near this place?" - -Sherman thought. West Point--Watervliet Arsenal--Iona Island, leaped -into his mind. All three Lassans leaned back with a sigh of satisfaction -and exchanged thoughts among themselves so rapidly that he could not -follow the process. Then the two younger Lassans disconnected their -helmets and the older one said, - -"We are disposed to be generous to you, we will demonstrate one of our -fighting machines to you if you will show us how to use these -explosives." - -There could be no particular harm in it, he argued to himself. The army -was a thing of the past, and if there were other people out in the -world, and he could take them a knowledge of the Lassan fighting -machines it would be of as much value as any information he could give. -He agreed. - -The old Lassan rose. "You will retain your helmet. It is a rule that -none of the lower races are allowed in the fighting machines without -them, and you would be unable to control one without our help in any -case." - -The car carried them to the blue-domed hall where he and Marta Lami had -hidden behind the shining fish. A little pang of loneliness leaped up in -him at the sight; he wondered where she was and whether she had been -sent back to the machines. "No," the Lassan's thought answered his, "the -other servant has not been returned to the machines. Many of them are -not working as a result of the recent trouble and the servant has been -placed on other work instead. But I do not understand your idea that the -other servant is somehow different from you." - -"Do the Lassans, then, have no sex?" the thought raced through his -brain. - -"Sex? Oh, I understand. The difference between two of the lower soft -races that makes reproduction possible. Our birds have it. No, we have -abolished it of course, as all higher races have. Our young are produced -artificially." - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -A Dash for Freedom - - -They stood before the big machine. "You must do exactly as I tell you," -the Lassan informed him. "The machinery of this instrument is very -delicate. First, to enter, you must reach up there, by that fin, and -insert one of your fingers in the hole you will find." - -As he did so Sherman saw a door, so closely fitted that when it closed -there was no visible seam in the metal, swing back. They entered. - -The interior of the machine was disappointingly smaller than its outside -would have led one to expect. A narrow walk, railed on both sides, led -down the center to the forward part. Along and slightly below this walk -was a row of instrument boards not unlike those of the mining machine, -and at each of these one of the ape-men lay, helmet on head, apparently -asleep. "No, not asleep," the Lassan told him, "they do not require it, -like all our mechanical servants. They have merely been thrown into a -state of nothingness till we need them." - -At the prow of the machine the cat-walk widened into a control chamber. -One of the Lassan couches was here and above it dangled a helmet which -was connected with those of the slumbering ape-men. The Lassan removed -the helmet he wore and exchanged it for this. Before this was another -seat in which Sherman took his position. A complex of controls -surrounded him, most of them with the fingerholes which were the -ordinary Lassan method of handling machinery. Directly in front of this -seat was a ground-glass panel, now dark but which lit up as soon as the -Lassan had connected up his helmet, to give an accurate picture of the -hall in which the fighting machine stood. - -"And can you see to a distance?" Sherman wondered. The answer he -received was either confused or beyond his comprehension. He gathered -that the four-winged birds of the Lassans acted in some way or other as -their scouts, remaining in a kind of telepathic communication with the -Lassan in the fighting-machine they were assigned to help.... - -Sherman was surprised to find how readily the enormous bulk and weight -of the thing handled under the Lassan's skilled control. He understood, -without definitely asking, that the power was furnished by that -"substance of life" to which the Lassan had referred; in some way -connected with the absolute destruction of matter.... - -The door swung open before them, leading them down a passage that went -up for some distance, then through an immense room where some twenty -more of these giants lay stored, through it, and with surprising -suddenness into the bright sunlight of a Catskill autumn day. As they -emerged the viewing plate swung round to show them three of the big -four-winged birds go whirring up from some unseen covert, spiral into -the air above them and flying level with them, form an escort. - -Like most mail aviators, Sherman held a commission in the Army Reserve -and had been to West Point. It was not difficult for him to guide the -great fighting machine there, to find a field gun and ammunition and -load it into the fighting machine. He knew very little about artillery -of any kind, but when they returned to the door of the Lassan city, he -was enough of a mechanic to get the shell into the breech and find the -firing mechanism. The gun went off with an earsplitting crack and the -shell whistled down the valley to burst against a green hillside where -they saw a graceful pine dip and fall to the shock. - -And just at that moment such a sense of disturbance and alarm invaded -Sherman's mind as he had never felt before. He looked around; the group -of Lassans who had poured out of the city to see the experiment with the -gun was gathered in a tight knot, eagerly conversing with one another. -The old Lassan who was conducting him turned round abruptly. "Into the -fighting-machine at once," he commanded. "Our birds have sent a message -that they are being attacked by some strange creature of your world." - -As Sherman climbed through the door of the fighting machine he glanced -over his shoulder to see, far down the valley a black speck against the -sky. An airplane? he wondered and it suddenly occurred to him that -however great his thirst for information, he should have kept his -knowledge of guns from the Lassans; for if there were other people alive -out there in the world the day might come when it would be a battle--and -explosives were as new to the Lassans as the light-ray to the children -of men. - - * * * * * - -After that it became a struggle. - -Sherman found he had to be constantly on his guard; constantly he had to -conceal knowledge from the probing, insistent mind-helmets. The Lassans -seemed interested in only one subject now: human methods of making war, -human guns, human armor, human ships. Once they brought him an -encyclopedia and as he held it on his lap went over every word of the -articles on military subjects, questioning and cross-questioning him. -Fortunately, it was an old encyclopedia, and he knew so little about it -that in most cases he was able to throw open his mind and let his -opponents see that it lay empty on these subjects. And still they were -not satisfied. - -Yet if he gave information, he also received it; for little by little an -understanding of the subtle material they called pure light became part -of his mental equipment.... - -One day, as he returned from a long session in the questioning room and -his cage clicked into position behind him, he was startled by a cheery, -strident voice: - -"Well, well, if it isn't my old pal, Herbie. How's the boy?" - -Sherman looked around. In the next cage was Marta Lami, grinning and -extending her hand through the bars. - -"For Heaven's sake!" he said, and took the offered hand. "How did you -get here?" - -"How does anyone get anywhere around this place? In one of those patent -Fords of theirs." - -They gazed at each other for a moment, too glad of a familiar face to -make the ordinary banal remarks. The dancer spoke first: - -"Well, did they put the screws on you, big boy? They tried to pump me -about that accident but all I'd think about was how good Broadway would -look with all the lights, and they didn't make much out of me." - -"I'll say they put the screws on me. They've had me in there every day -since, trying to find out something about guns." - -"Guns? What t'hell! Ain't they got that light-ray? They could give cards -and spades to all the guns in the world with that. Wait a minute, -though...." She thought for a moment. "Do you know, I think they're -scared yellow about something and I'll bet a hundred dollars against a -case of bathtub gin I know what it is." - -"Yeh? Spring it. They keep pumping me and I'd like to know what it's all -about." - -The dancer glanced around. On the far side of her cage was an -inattentive ape-man tossing his oil-ball about, across the corridor -another. "Come over here," she said. "They haven't put me next to you -for the fun of it, and they may have a dictaphone stuck around -somewhere." - -Obediently Sherman approached the bars of the cage. - -"They put me to work making those fighting-machines," she whispered, -"you know, those big shiny things like we hid behind that day we tried -to make the break. They had the helmets on me most of the time because I -didn't know how to use their tools and machines and I got a lot of what -the guy that was running me was thinking about. He was damn nervous -about something, and I think it was because there are some people -outside going to take a whack at these babies." - -"People like--us?" asked Sherman. - -"I don't know. I didn't get it very good, but I think they're ordinary -flesh-and-blood people. They came and got a lot of the dopeys from the -room where I lived the other day and put them in one of the new -fighting-machines and took it out. It never came back." - -"Mmm," said Sherman, "do you s'pose that was because it got cracked up -or because they took it somewhere else?" - -"Dunno. But something's stirring." - -If the Lassans had set a dictaphone or some similar device to spy on -them there was no sign of it in the conversation which Sherman's -interrogator held with him during the next period. But when he saw the -dancer again, she beckoned him silently to her side, and producing from -one of her drawers a book, began to trace letters on it with a -fingernail dipped in grease. - -"_Be careful what you say_," she wrote. "_They know what we're talking -about. They pumped me._" - -He nodded. "Well, kid," he said aloud. "What do you think? Will you ever -make dancers of these Lassans?" - -She giggled her appreciation of this remark for their unseen audience. -"I'll say I won't. They're too slow on their pins. Rather sit still and -suck up that green gooey than do anything. Cheez! What would I give for -some good music." - -"If I had a hand-organ now--" said Sherman. "We've got the monk." He -nodded toward the ape-man, while with his own fingernail he wrote. -"_How's chances of getting out of here? Do you know the way?_" - -"I'll speak to one of the big shots tomorrow," she said aloud. "Maybe we -can get him to let us run a show." On the book's flyleaf appeared the -words. "_Only from the work-room on. It has an outside door._" - -"How would I do as a dancing partner?" asked Sherman. "_Good_," he -wrote. "_I've doped out how to work these cars. Are you game for a try -at it?_" - -"You haven't got the figure," she said. "I'd rather dance with that old -papa Lassan that does the questions." "_Sure_," she wrote, "_any time -you say._" - -They broke off the conversation at this point, and Sherman set himself -to study out a plan for escape. He had watched the cars intently both -inside and out. The same needle arrangement that released the cage bars, -apparently, actuated the mechanism of the car doors, and it was located -inside. This meant that he could secure admission to the same car that -carried the girl, and with luck, would be able to get out at the same -time she did. What to do after that was a matter of chance and -inspiration. If only he had a weapon!... The oil and grease balls. They -would do to throw--might spoil a Lassan's aim or check the rush of one -of the ape-man servants. - - * * * * * - -As finally arranged between them the plan was that he was to get in the -same car she did. She would tap on the back of her compartment to assure -him that everything was in order, and tap again when the door opened for -her to get out. He would leave her a second to get her bearings, then -they would make a rush of it. He weighed the usefulness of the knife as -a weapon and discarded it--too clumsy for throwing and in a close -struggle with one of the ape-men slaves, made of metal like himself, it -would be quite useless. But another tool, rather like a short-handled -and badly shaped hammer, he did take. - -At last the hour arrived. The car ran down the line of cages, paused; -opened before Marta Lami's. She smiled at him, nodded, and purposely -delayed getting in. He fumbled desperately with his needle, fearing he -could not make it, then it went home, the little arm at the bottom of -the car swung out and its door opened. As he stepped in he heard the -dancer's tap of encouragement from the compartment ahead. - -Evidently it was some little distance to the work room. The car made -several stops on the way, but Sherman, braced and ready, listened in -vain for the tap that would tell him they had reached their destination. -At last it came; two soft knocks. He bent, thrust home the needle. The -door slid back, and he stepped out into one of the blue-domed rooms. His -eyes caught a fantastic maze of machinery, helmeted ape-men busy at it -and beyond them the huge forms of several uncompleted fighting machines. - -The dancer gripped his hand. "This way," she said, pointing along the -wall past the machines. "Take it easy; don't run till they notice us." - -A feverish passion for activity burned in him. "Hurry, hurry," called -every sense, but he fought it down and followed Marta Lami down the line -of machines, past the impassive ape-men. - -They made over half the distance to the door before they were spotted. -Then one of the Lassans, who had sauntered over to the car stop, -evidently expecting Marta, missed her and looked around. The first -warning the two had was a sudden flickering of blue lights here and -there among the machines. "Come on," shouted Marta. "There she goes!" - -Sherman looked over his shoulder, saw the Lassan tugging at his pouch -for a ray-gun, and paused to throw one of the oil-balls, straight and -true, as one pitches a baseball. It struck the elephant-man squarely -between the eyes, at the base of his trunk. He squealed with pain and -fright and dropping the ray-gun, ran behind a machine. For a second all -the eyes in the room turned toward him; then with another flickering of -lights, the hunt was up. - -Sherman saw a helmeted ape-man at a machine just ahead turn slowly -round, gazing vacantly, and then fling himself at Marta. As she -side-stepped to avoid his rush, Sherman swung his left from the heels. -The metal fist took the slave flush on the jaw, and down he went with a -crash. The dazzling spout of a ray-gun shot past them, spattering -against the wall in a shower of stars, and they had reached the exit. - -"Come, oh come!" shouted Marta, tugging at the heavy door. Sherman -pulled with her, and at that moment another ray-gun flash struck it, -just over their heads. The door gave suddenly; they tumbled through. - -Into a gray twilight they struggled, shot with little dashes of rain -that had beaten the valley to mud. - -"Cheez!" said Marta, struggling through the gelatinous stuff. "If I live -through this, I'll live to be a million." - -"No, not that way," called Sherman. "They'll look for us down the valley. -Come on, up the hill." - -He pulled her upward. They slipped, stumbled, slid, gripped the stump of -a tree, then another. Below and behind them came a confused rumble and -they heard the great door swing open again. A burst of light, like a -star in the cloudy dark, broke out, and Sherman pulled the girl down -behind the stump of a huge tree. - -"What do you s'pose they'll bring after us?" he whispered, his lips -close to her ear. - -"Dunno. One of the little machines maybe. Look." - -Sherman peered cautiously round his side of the stump. In the valley -beneath them, shining brilliantly in the pure white light it had -released, was one of the metal fish--but a smaller one than the usual -fighting machine, and without the projecting trunk. - -"We've been working on them for a while," the girl whispered. "I don't -know what they're for, but they aren't fighting machines." - -Remembering how the vision plate of the fighting machine he had -controlled had reflected every object within range, Sherman made himself -small behind the stump. The machine below was probably trying to locate -them in the light it had released. - -"Wonder they don't bring the birds out," he thought, and as if in answer -to this idea, one of the four-winged creatures strutted around the -machine, blinking in the light, then took off with a whir of wings, and -spiralled upward. The light went out, reappeared as a beam, pointing -down the valley and the machine moved off, slowly sweeping the sides of -the hills with its pencil of illumination. He could see the multiple -glow of the tubes at the stern, greenly phosphorescent, as the machine -progressed. High above the bird screamed shrilly. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -Marta's Sacrifice - - -Progress up the hillside was slow. It had become completely dark; they -were without any means of making a light and would not have dared to -make one if they could. The mud was tenacious, the constant contact with -stumps and rocks both irritating and difficult. But at last in their -fumbling way, they reached a spot where the denudation gave place to a -line of trees, looming dark and friendly overhead against the skyline, -and after that they went faster. Where they were or what route to take -neither had any idea. That portion of the Catskills is still as wild as -in the days of the Iroquois, save for the few thin roads along the line -of the valleys and these they dared not seek. - -They solved the difficulty by keeping to the hillcrest till it ran out -in a valley, then rapidly climbing the next hill and proceeding along -that in the shelter of the forest. Though they necessarily went slowly -they did not halt; neither felt the need of rest or sleep, their metal -limbs took no serious bruises, and the slip of the hill kept them from -running in circles as people usually do when lost in the woods. - -Just as the eastern sky began to hold some faint promise of dawn they -came upon a farmhouse in a clearing at the top of a hill. It was an -unprepossessing affair with a sagging roof, but they burst in the door -and went through it in the hope of finding weapons and perhaps an -electric battery, for both were used to the bountiful electric meals of -the Lassans and were beginning to feel the lack. - -The best the place afforded, however, was a rather ancient axe, of which -Sherman possessed himself, and a large pot of vaseline with which they -anointed themselves liberally, for the continued damp was making them -feel rusty in the joints. - -They pressed on, and did not halt to consider the situation till full -day had come. - -"Where do we go from here?" asked Marta, perching herself on a -tree-bole. - -"South, I guess," offered Sherman. "They may be looking for us there, -but we got to find a city and get some things." - -"There's Albany," she suggested. - -"Yes, and Schenectady and they have a lot of electric power there we -could use. But I vote for New York. If we head in there I can pick up a -plane at one of the airports and walk right away from them." - -"Well, it's a chance," she said, "but anything is. Come on...." and as -they forced their way through the underbrush, "You know, from what I -understood of those Lassans' thoughts, they've got something hot cooking -up. I'm almost sure there are other people in the world and they're -getting ready to fight them." - -"Let 'em come," said Sherman grimly. "That light-ray won't stand the -chance of a whistle in a whirlwind when they get after them with heavy -artillery and airplane observation." - -"That's just where you're all wet," replied the dancer. "They've been -figuring on that for a long time. They got a gun from somewhere, and -they've had all their fighting machines out, shooting it at them, and -then armoring up the fighting machines to stand it. And they're -building guns of their own to shoot those light-bombs. I ought to know. -I was on the job." - -Sherman cursed himself inwardly. So that had been the result of his -exchange of information with the old Lassan who was so anxious to know -about guns. - -"How do they get away from it?" he asked. - -"Well, I don't know quite," she said. "I'm a sap about stuff like that. -All I know is what the guy that was controlling me thought about and let -me have without knowing it. But I got this much out of it--that the -outside of these fighting machines is coated with this 'substance of -life' they talk about some way, so it's a perfect mirror, and reflects -everything that hits it, even shells. The coating reflects their light -ray, too, but it has to have a lead backing for that. It's no good -without the lead. Seems like lead will stop that light-ray every time." - -"I wonder how about big guns," murmured Sherman. - -"Don't know. I didn't get anything like that in what the boss was -thinking. He seemed to imagine the gun he had was the biggest there -was." - -They toiled on. As they progressed southward the thinning forest and the -increasing walls of the cliffs drove them farther and farther toward the -river, till they were forced to take to the main road willy-nilly. Along -it they could walk faster, but there was more danger. They watched the -heavens narrowly for any sign of the four-winged birds, but the skies -seemed deserted. - -At Kingston they found a filling station, and kicking in the door, -located a couple of storage batteries that supplied them with a needed -meal. "What do you say to a car?" asked Sherman. - -"Maybe yes, maybe no," said the dancer. "It's running a chance, isn't -it? Still, we're getting nowhere awful fast this way. Let's try it." - -Finding a car in running order was a procedure of some difficulty, and -Kingston seemed a weaponless town, though Marta finally did locate one -little pearl-handled .25 calibre pop-gun. Sherman eyed it dubiously. - -"That's a good thing to kill mosquitoes with," he remarked, "but I don't -think it will be much use for anything else." - -"Boloney," she replied. "These Lassans are yellow from way back. If I -stuck this under the nose of one of them he'd throw a fit. Come on. -Let's go." - -Eventlessly, the road flowed past under their wheels--Newburgh, -Haverstraw, Nyack--one, two, three hours. Then, just south of Chester -the dancer suddenly gripped Sherman's arm. - -"What's that?" she said. "No, over there. Isn't it--?" - -But in one swift glance he had seen as clearly as she. Like a living -thing, the car swerved from the road, dived across the ditch, and losing -speed, rolled to a halt on the green lawn of a suburban bungalow. -Sherman leaped out. "Come on, for God's sake," he cried. "It's a -fighting machine. If they've seen us they'll start shooting." - -Dragging her after him, he dived around the house, through a seedy -flower-garden, down a path. As though to lend emphasis to his words -there came the familiar buzzing roar, and as Sherman dropped, pulling -the girl flat on her face after him, they saw the wall of the bungalow -cave in, and the roof tilt slowly over and drop into the burning mass -beneath. A vivid blue beam, brighter than the sunlight of the dark day, -swept across the sky, winked once or twice, and disappeared. - -Marta would have risen, but "Take it easy," said Sherman. "If they see -us they'll pop another of those tokens at us." - -He wriggled along on his stomach, picking up weeds in his body plates in -the process, and making for the shelter of an overgrown hedge that ran -behind the next bungalow. - -"Look out," called the dancer suddenly. "Here come the birds." - -She waved her hand up and back, and by screwing up his eyes Sherman -could just make out a black speck against the clouds, far north. They -rolled under the shelter of the hedge and lay still, scarcely daring to -whisper. - -The Lassan in command of the fighting machine was evidently not -satisfied that he had hit them with his hasty shot. Peering through the -stems, they made out the shimmering form of the machine, sliding slowly -past the burning house, its snout moving hither and thither -questioningly. It passed through the garden, went on down the path. The -bird swung to and fro overhead. Nearer. Evidently it had noticed the -prints their feet left in the soft ground. - -"Listen, partner," said Marta Lami, "get through and find some people, -then come and get me out of that hellhole up there. If they see me, -they'll let you alone." - -"No!" cried Sherman, but she was already running out across the field. -The snout of the machine lifted toward her as though to deliver a blast, -then rose and discharged another beam of blue light. Sherman heard one -of the birds scream in answer, saw it sweep down on soaring pinions, and -in a single motion snap the dancer up and away. The shimmering fighting -machine swung round and turned back toward the road. - -He lay still until he was sure it had gone, then, moving carefully for -fear of the terror from the skies, crawled to the next bungalow. It -yielded treasure-trove in the shape of a flashlight and a serviceable -revolver, and securing a sheet from one of the beds to wrap around him -as a loin-cloth, he set out to trudge to New York. - -After a time it occurred to him that the disaster had taken place not -because they were in a car, but because it had been driven unreasonably -fast, and without precaution. He looked for and ultimately found another -one, and keeping to the back streets and driving slowly, worked his way -toward the city again. Then another idea came to him--Newark had an -airport as well as New York and it was far nearer. He changed the -direction of his advance, swinging west to avoid the long bridges over -the Passaic River. Bridges were focal points; the birds would surely -watch them, as intelligent as they were. - -Late in the afternoon he spied one of them, far ahead and flying -southward, but took no chances. He drew his car up to the side of the -road and remained motionless for long after it had disappeared. When -evening came on, he had already reached the outskirts of the city and -could proceed without headlights. - -Newark was a dead city, the diminished purr of the motor ringing -curiously loud in the silent streets. Their complication bothered him; -he was unfamiliar with the town and his flashlight gave out long before -he reached his destination. But he kept steadily on, certain that the -airport was somewhere at the south and east of the city. Toward the -later evening a fine, cold rain began to fall, congealing to ice on the -streets and on his metallic body. - -The airport was just as he had remembered it on the first day of his -awakening--it now seemed uncountable ages in the past. The little sports -plane still stood on the platform, its torn wing dangling. The hangars -were all locked; he was an inefficient burglar and spent an hour or two -breaking one open and when he did, found nothing but a tri-motored -monster quite beyond his powers to get out, and a rocket-plane requiring -special fuel that he did not have. The next hangar yielded an autogiro -and a training machine. He had no watch, but was sure that the night was -passing fast, and not wishing to be abroad by daylight with an airplane, -decided to chance it on the autogiro. Luckily she was full of fuel, and -everything seemed tight. With some labor he removed the chocks and -managed to wheel the machine out. - -Not till he had it in the air did the thought of what direction he was -to take occur to him. Boston--New York--Philadelphia--Chicago, he -canvassed the possibilities. What was it Marta Lami had said--something -about one of the fighting machines heading south? And he remembered how -the astronomers had predicted that the comet would fall, probably, -somewhere in New York State. If there were a borderline along which -Lassans were meeting humans in any kind of conflict it was most likely -to lie southward. With this thought in mind, he turned his plane to the -south, and keeping the white line of foam along the coast beneath him as -a guide, began to let her out. - -The ceiling was low; between clouds and fitful squalls of rain flying -was difficult and the weight of Sherman's mechanical body seemed to make -the machine move loggily. It must have been all of an hour and three -quarters later that he saw beneath him the tossing whitecaps of Great -Bay, with the ribbon of Wading River running back into the distance. -Just beyond, he knew, lay Atlantic City. He was debating with himself -whether to land on the beach there or hop across to the Philadelphia -airport when, sharp and clear from somewhere ahead and below him, came -the sound of gunfire. He tried for altitude, but only ran into clouds. -Nevertheless the sound was unmistakable, and as he approached it became -clearer and more pronounced, a long intermittent beat, heavy guns and -light, mingled together, off to the right. There was fighting going on! - -Exulting in his escape from the Lassans and in the fact that he could -take their opponents information that would be of value, he swung the -autogiro toward the sounds that became clearer every minute. He was -getting right over them now, he thought; he could see red flashes along -the horizon. Down there they were locked in battle--men and Lassans, his -own people and the invaders from far-away Rigel. - -Suddenly a beam of the light-ray leaped from the ground. Sherman thought -it was directed at him; tried to loop the plane and cursed as he -remembered autogiros wouldn't loop; then saw that the light was after -all, not turned in his direction, but at some object on the ground. He -banked the plane over and swung lower. Undoubtedly a Lassan fighting -machine--and the beam was hitting things, things large and solid, for -they collapsed under the stabbing ray. A red flame rose over the wreck; -the roar of an explosion reached his ears. The battle-line! - -He soared again. He must reach the headquarters of whatever men were -down there. The information he could bring and that Marta Lami had given -him might make all the difference between the loss of the world and its -salvation "... perfect mirror--reflects everything that hits it, even -shells, but they don't know about the big ones.... The lead will reflect -their light-rays, too ... no good against lead. Their armor is made of -the same stuff...." - -In the darkness beneath him troops were moving. He could catch glimpses -of dark masses on the roads. Somewhere down there he distinctly heard -the call of one of the four-winged birds, quite near. Then with a rush, -it was suddenly upon him. He set the automatic pilot, and drew his -revolver, but the bird, unfamiliar with the machine it was attacking, -had dashed recklessly in. There was a rending screech as it came into -contact with the wings of the autogiro; Sherman got in one shot, and -then bird, man and plane tumbled toward the earth. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -The End of the Light-Ray - - -"The Lassans?" said General Grierson, in a puzzled tone, looking at the -sheet-clad apparition. "You mean these--mechanical monsters?" - -Sherman winced. "Like myself? No, sir, those are their slaves. I thought -you were familiar with them. They are elephant-men and quite different." - -[Illustration: This shows that Mr. Pratt's conception of the elephant-men -is not so far-fetched. This photo is Ganesha, a Hindu god, patron of art -and literature Ganesha symbolizes to the Hindus wisdom and knowledge.] - -"I meant those damned, long, shining objects that shoot that light-ray -of theirs. Their guns shoot it out in packages, but we can understand -that and deal with them; our artillery is just as good. But if we can't -stop those shining things there will be no army left and that means no -men left on this planet. This army is our last resource. If you know of -anything, anything, that will stop them, for God's sake tell us! All -we've found that does any good so far are the twelve-inch railroad guns -and we have only four of them. One was knocked out by their shells this -afternoon." - -"You mean their fighting-machines," Sherman replied. "Why, I'm not -absolutely certain. I only know what I picked up from them and what -Marta Lami"--he swallowed hard at the mention of her name--"the bravest -woman in the world, told me. But I think that a shell with a lead cap -would go through those fighting machines like a knife through a piece of -cheese." - -There was a tiny silence in the room at this momentous announcement. -Then an artillery officer said, dreamily, "The armor-piercing shells the -railroad guns use have lead caps." - -As though his words had released a spell there came a quick drumfire of -questions: - -"What are they armored with?" - -"What kind of a power-plant do they use?" - -"Can you stop the light-ray?" - -"What makes you think so?" - -Sherman smiled. "Just a moment. One question at a time. I'm not sure I -can answer them all, anyway. As to what makes me think so and what -they're armored with, they have a coating of steel armor, but it isn't -very thick. It's plated on the outside with a coat of lead and outside -that with the substance they call 'pure light.' I don't know what it is, -but it's the same stuff they use in the light-ray and in their shells, -and I know that lead sheeting will stop it, even when the lead is very -thin." - -General Grierson swung round in his chair. "Hartnett! write out an order -to General Hudson, Chief Quartermaster, at once. Tell him to remove -every piece of lead he can find in Atlantic City and get it melted down. -Also to set up a plant for tipping all shells with lead...." - -Ben Ruby leaned forward. "Can we get into their city, their -headquarters, or whatever they call it?" - -"My God, I hope so!" cried Sherman. "Marta Lami's in there." - -"All right, young man, you'll have your chance for that," said General -Grierson. "Now suppose you tell us as much as you know about -these--things. Every bit of information we can get will be valuable.... -Oh, by the way, Hartnett. Have an order made out to the infantry to cut -the points of their bullets with their knives. That will make them -dum-dum and bring the lead out. Also another one to evacuate as much -infantry as possible. They aren't going to be a great deal of use...." - - * * * * * - -In the factory of the Atlantic City Packing Company men were toiling, -stripped to the waist, in an inferno of heat. The huge row of vats that -had once held clams, oysters and fish to grace a nation's palate, now -simmered with green-phosphorescent kettles of molten lead; the hand -trucks that once bore piles of canned goods to and fro now pushed by -blue-faced men in khaki, held long stacks of pointed shells. In at one -end of the building they came in ceaseless procession to pause before -the lead tanks where the workmen took each shell and dipped its tip -briefly in the lead, then returned it to the truck. Out the other end -they wheeled to be loaded in trucks, buses, limousines, everything that -had wheels and would move, to be rushed to the maw of the ceaselessly -crying guns. - -For the offensive was on--the advance of the Lassans had been turned to -a retreat. Along the water's edge, with its back to the sea and the -steamers ready to pick up the survivors of the defeat of the last army -of man, the last army of man had rallied; rallied and stood as the new -lead-tipped shells began to come in and the artillery spouted them at -the Lassan fighting-machines, no longer invincible, invulnerable -monsters, but hittable and smashable pieces of mechanism. - -It was Ben Ruby in a tank shining dully with the new lead plating who -led the charge against the Lassan fighting machines on the first day of -the battle, and who, with his little division of American tanks, had -encountered three of the huge Lassan monsters outside the city. For a -moment, as though dazed by the audacity of this attack, they had done -nothing at all. Then all three had turned the light-rays on him. Would -it hold? - -The deadly rays glanced off, danced to the zenith in a shower of -coruscating sparks and the gun of the American tank spoke--once, twice. -A round hole, with a radiating star-pattern running out from it, -appeared in the nose of the nearest Lassan fighting-machine, and it sank -to the earth like a tired animal, rolling over and over, helpless. The -other two turned to flee, swinging their long bodies around. Surrounded -by shell-bursts, riddled by the lead-tipped weapons they too, struggled -and sank, to rise no more. - - * * * * * - -After that there had been losses, of course. The Lassan shells -occasionally burst in the back areas and claimed a toll. But the advance -had gone on steadily for a whole day, unchecked; the Lassans were driven -back. - -And then, as suddenly as they had come, they disappeared. South African -aerial scouts, far ahead of the army, reported there was no sign of the -enemy in the whole of New Jersey. The dodos vanished from the skies, the -fighting machines from the earth. The Lassans seemed to have abandoned -the struggle and retired to their underground city to wait for the end. - -"Frankly," said Sherman, "I don't like it. Those johnnies are too smart -to give up like that. I'll bet you a thousand dollars against a lead -bullet that they've gone back there to figure out some surprise for us, -and when it comes it's going to be a beaner. Those babies may be -elephants to the eye, but there's nothing slow about their brains." - -"General Grierson doesn't think so," said Ben Ruby. "He's all ready to -hang out the flags and call it a day. He sent home two more divisions of -infantry yesterday." - -"General Grierson hasn't got the finest girl in the world locked up in -that hole under the Catskills, burning her fingers off," said Sherman -with a set face. "Say, those babies aren't licked by a million miles. -Their guns are just as good as ours and that light stuff they put in -them is worse than powder when it goes off. They just didn't have as -many guns. I'm taking even money that when they come out again, they'll -have something that will make our artillery look sick." - -They stood on a street-corner in Philadelphia, the new headquarters of -the army of the federated governments. - -"Yes, but what are we going to do about it?" asked Ben. - -"A lot. For one thing we might go up there and try to bust in, but I -don't think that would be very hot. They'll be expecting it. What we can -do though, is get General Grierson to give us one of the laboratories -here in town and some men to help us, and dope out a few little presents -on our side of the fence. I learned plenty through those thought helmets -of theirs while I was in that place, though I didn't realize I was -getting a lot of it at the time. Those helmets work both ways, you know, -and they couldn't keep me from picking up some of their stuff, -especially as they were so anxious to find out what I knew they didn't -watch themselves." - -"Nice idea," said Ben. "I know a little about chemistry and between us -we might put over something good. Let's Go." - -An hour later, they were installed in their own experimental laboratory, -just off Market Street, with enough assistants to help them with routine -work and Gloria Rutherford and Murray Lee to keep them amused. - -"All right, chief," said Ben, when they were installed. "What do we do -first?" - -"Figure out some kind of armor that will stand off whatever kind of ray -they pop up with, I guess," offered Sherman. - -"May I stick my two cents in?" said Murray Lee. "I don't think that any -kind of armor is going to do a lot of good. For one thing, you don't -know what the Lassans are going to produce. Those tanks we had were -armored against the best kind of shells, and the Lassans turned up with -the light-ray that made them look like Swiss cheese. It's your show, but -if I were fishing for something, it would be a way to sock those guys. -In this kind of war, the man that gets in the first punch is going to -beat." - -"That light-ray of theirs is pretty good," said Ben. "From what you know -about it already, you ought to be able to dope out a pretty good heat -ray." - -"No soap," said Sherman. "Too slow. They'll be all set for that, anyway. -It's right along the line they think. No, what we've got to have is -something along a new line, and I'm thinking it can't be anything like a -gun, either. They're onto that now." He closed the door to the inner -office with a bang. - -"By the way," asked Gloria, "why don't the Australians send some -airplanes up there to the Catskills and shoot up the Lassan -headquarters?" - -"Didn't you know?" asked Ben. "They tried it. They dumped about a -hundred tons of explosives all over the joint, and it might have been so -much mud for all the good it did. Then they ran a railroad gun up there -and tried to shell the door, but that wasn't any good, either. They've -got a signal station up there watching, waiting for them to come out, -and we'll just have to wait for that. Sherman"--he indicated the door -behind which the aviator had retired--"is nearly bughouse. They've got -his girl a prisoner in there." - -"Tough break," commented Gloria. "Wish I could do something for the -lady." - -They talked about minor matters for a time, Ben speaking absently and -cudgeling his brains for a line on which to work toward the new weapon. -It is not easy to sit down and plan out a new invention without anything -to start on beyond the desire to have it. - -Suddenly, the inner door was flung open. In the aperture they saw -Sherman, his face grinning, a small piece of metal in his hand. - -"I've got it, folks!" he cried. "A gravity beam!" - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -The Gravity Beam - - -"A gravity beam!" they ejaculated together in tones varying from -incredulity to simple puzzlement. "What's that?" - -"Well, it'll take quite a bit of explaining, but I'll drop out the -technical part of it.... You see, it's like this--You remember old man -Einstein, the frizzy-hair Frisian, demonstrated that magnetism and -gravity are the same thing down underneath? And that some of the -astronomers and physicists have said that both magnetism and light are -the same thing? That is, forms of vibration. Well, one of the things I -picked up from the lads in this Lassan city was that light, matter, -electricity, gravitation, magnetism and the whole works, are the same -thing in different forms. - -"They've just jumped one step beyond Einstein. Now, they've got a way of -producing, or mining, pure light, that is, pure matter in its simplest -form. When it's released from pressure it becomes material and raises -hell all over the shop. How they get the squeeze on it, I can't say. -Anyway, it isn't important." - -"Very interesting lecture--very," commented Gloria, gravely. - -"You pipe down and listen to your betters till they get through," -Sherman went on. "Children should be seen, not heard. But what I've got -here is a piece of permalloy. Under certain magnetic conditions it -defies gravity. Now if we can screen gravity that way, why can't we -concentrate it, too?" - -"Why not? Except that nobody ever did it and nobody knows how," said Ben -Ruby. - -"Well, here's the catch. We can do anything we want to with gravity if -we go about it right. What is it in chemical atoms that has weight? It's -the positive charge, isn't it? The nucleus. And it's balanced by the -negative charges, the electrons, that revolve around it. Now if we can -find a way to pull some of these negative charges loose from a certain -number of atoms of a substance, there are going to be a whole lot of -positive charges floating around without anything to bite on. And if we -can shoot them at something, it's going to have more positive charges -than it can stand. And when that happens, the something is going to get -awful heavy, and there are going to be exchanges of negative charges -among all the positive charges, and things are going to pop." - -"Yes, yes," said Ben. "But what good does all this do? Give us the real -dope on how you're going to do it." - -"Well, with what I picked up from the Lassans, I think I know. They -know all about light and mechanics, but they're rotten chemists, and -don't realize how good a thing they've got in lots of ways. Now look--if -you throw a beam of radiations from a cathode tube into finely divided -material you break up some of the atoms. Well, all we have to do is get -an extra-powerful cathode tube, break up a lot of atoms, and then -deliver the positive charges from them onto whatever we're going for. -That would be your gravity beam." - -"How are you going to get radiation powerful enough to split up enough -atoms to do you any good?" inquired Ben. - -"Easy. Use a radium cathode. The Lassans have the stuff, but never think -of using it seriously. They think it's an amusing by-product in their -pure light mines, and just play round with it. Nobody ever used it -before on earth, because it was too expensive for such foolishness, but -with so many less people around, we can get some without too much -trouble, I guess." - -"Mmm. Sounds possible," said Ben. "That is, in theory. I'd like to see -it work in practice. How are you going to throw this beam?" - -"Cinch. Down a beam of light. Light will conduct sound or radio waves -even through a vacuum and this stuff I'm sending isn't so very -different. Whatever we hit will act as an amplifier and spread the -effect through the whole body." - -"Boy, you want to be careful you don't blow up the earth," said Murray -Lee. "Well, Gloria, I guess we're indicated to go out and dig up some -radium. Let's fool them by going before they ask us. There ought to be a -supply in some of the hospitals." - -They rose and the other two plunged into an excited and highly technical -discussion. When they returned, the workmen had already constructed a -black box, not unlike an enormous camera in shape, in the center of the -floor. At its back and attached to it, stood a stand fitted with a -series of enormous clamps. Ben and Sherman were at a bench, working -blowpipes, and shaping the delicate, iridescent glass of a long tube -with a bulge at its center. - -"Here you are," said Murray Lee. "I had to row with the Surgeon-General -of the Dutch Colonial contingent to get this. He wanted to use it on -some tuberculosis experiment. But I convinced him that he wouldn't be -worrying about 't. b.' if the Lassans came out of their hole and stood -the army on its head. How goes the job?" - -"Swell," said Sherman. "Now you children run along and play. We're busy. -We won't be finished with this thing before tomorrow afternoon, if -then." - -As a matter of fact it was the next evening before Murray and Gloria -were summoned back to the laboratory. The device they had seen was now -mounted on a stand of its own, with long ropes of electrical connections -running back from it, and had been pushed back to the end of the room. -Opposite it was another stand with a two-foot square piece of sheet iron -resting on a chair in its center. The lens of the big camera was pointed -in that direction. - -"Now," said Sherman, "watch your uncle and see what happens." - - * * * * * - -He turned a switch; the tube at the back of the apparatus lit up with a -vivid violet glow and a low humming sound filled the room. - -"I decided to use powdered lead in the box," he explained. "It is the -heaviest metal there is available, and gives us the largest number of -nuclei to project." - -A second switch was thrown in and a beam of light leaped from the camera -and struck in the center of the iron sheet, producing merely a mild -white illumination. - -"Poof!" said Gloria. "That isn't such a much. I could do that with a -flashlight." - -"Right you are. I haven't let her go yet. Hold your breath now." - -He bent over, drove a plunger home. For just a second the only visible -effect was a slight intensification of the beam of light. Then there was -a report like a thunder-clap; a dazzling ball of fire appeared on the -stand; a cloud of smoke, and Murray and Gloria found themselves sitting -on the floor. The iron plate had completely vanished; so had the chair, -all but two of its legs, which, lying in the center of the stand, were -burning brightly. The acrid odor of nitrogen dioxide filled the room. - -"Golly," said Ben Ruby, seizing a fire extinguisher from the wall and -turning it on the blaze. "That's even more than we expected. Look, it -made a hole right through the wall! We'll have to keep that thing tied -up." - -"I'll say you will," said Murray, helping Gloria up. "It's as bad for -the guy that's using it as the one at the other end. But seriously, -you've got something good there. What happened to the iron plate?" - -"Disintegrated. Let's see, where does iron come in the periodic table, -Ben? Twenty-six? Then you'll probably find small quantities of all the -chemical elements from twenty-five down in that heap of ashes. Phooey, -what a rotten smell! That must be the action of the beam on the nitrogen -in the air." - -"There's a lot to be worked out in this thing, yet, though," declared -Ben, "and if you're right about the Lassans making a comeback, precious -little time in which to work it out. For one thing, we've got to get a -searchlight that will throw a narrow pencil of light for a long -distance. I don't think those elephant-men are going to let us poke this -thing under their noses. And for another we've got to dope out something -to keep it in and some way to furnish current for it...." - -"Can't you work it from a tank?" asked Murray, "and rig up a friction -accumulator to work from the tracks?" - -"I can, but I don't like the idea," Sherman replied. "From the way those -Lassans took to our airplanes, I could make a guess that when they come, -they're going to come in some kind of flying machine. The dodos are no -good in modern war. We'd never catch any kind of an airplane with a -tank." - -"How about an airplane for yourselves?" - -"Too unsteady and too frail. I want something that will take a few pokes -and not fold up." - -"Say, you guys have less ingenuity for a couple of inventors than anyone -I ever heard of," Gloria put in. "Why don't you get one of these -Australian rocket-planes and fix it up. It's big enough to hold all your -foolishness, and if this thing is half as powerful as it looks, you -ought to be able to harness it some way for a power-plant. Then you can -plaster your rocket all over with armor. I think--" - -Sherman interrupted her by bringing his fist down on the table with a -bang that made the glasses rattle. - -"You've got it! By the nine gods of Clusium! With the punch this thing -gives us used as a rocket, we'd have power enough to fly to the moon if -we wanted to. Why a rocket airplane at all? Why not a pure rocket? Let's -go." - -It was another week before workmen, even toiling with all the -machine-shop facilities of Philadelphia at their disposal, and working -day and night, could turn out the machine to Sherman's design, and it -was two more before the apparatus was installed. The trial trip was set -for the early morning when there would be least chance of atmospheric -disturbance. - -The _Monitor_ (she had been named for the famous fighting craft with -which the American navy ushered in a new age in the history of war) now -stood near the center of the flying field at the Philadelphia airport--a -long, projectile-like vessel with gleaming metal sides, set with heavy -windows, ten feet in diameter and nearly twice as long. At her stern a -funnel-like opening led to the interior. This was the exhaust for the -power-plant. At her bow the sharp nose was blunted off and its tip was -occupied by the lens of a high-powered parabolic searchlight, slightly -recessed, and with the discharge tubes for the atomic nuclei arranged -around its edge so they would be thrown directly into the light-beam as -soon as generated. - -As the four approached her she had been placed on the ramp from which -she was to start, slanting slightly upward, with a buffer of timber and -earth behind it, to take up the enormous recoil her power plant was -expected to develop. - -"How do you get in?" asked Gloria, walking around the _Monitor_ and -discovering no sign of a door. - -"Oh, that's a trick I borrowed from our friends the Lassans," explained -Sherman. "Look here." He led her to a place half way along one side, -where two almost imperceptible holes marred the shining brightness of -the new vessel's sides. "Stick your fingers in." - - * * * * * - -She did as directed, pressed, and a wide door in the side of the -projectile swung open. "Bright thought. No handles to break off." - -They stepped in, bending their heads to avoid the low ceiling. - -"She isn't as roomy or comfortable or as heavily armored as the one I -mean to build later," explained Sherman, "but this is only an -experimental craft, built in a hurry, so I had to take what I could -get.... Now here, Murray you sit here. Your job is going to be to mind -the gravity beam that furnishes us our power. Every time you get the -signal from me, you throw this power switch. That will turn on all three -switches at the stern, and shoot the gravity beam out for the -exhaust.... You see, we can't expect to keep up a steady stream of -explosions with this kind of a machine. We wouldn't be able to control -it. We'll travel in a series of short hops through the air, soaring -between hops, like a glider." - -"How are you going to do any soaring without wings?" asked Murray. - -"We have wings. They fold into the body at the back. I've made them -automatic. When the power switch is thrown the wings fold in; after the -explosion they come out automatically unless we disconnect them. If we -want to really go fast, we'll disconnect them and go through the air -like a projectile." - -"Oh, I see. Will the windows stand the gaff?" - -"I hope to tell you they will. I had them made of fused quartz, with an -outer plating of leaded glass, just in case the Lassans try to get fresh -with that light-ray of theirs. - -"Now, Gloria, you sit here. You're the best shot in the crowd, and it's -going to be your job to run that searchlight in the prow. As soon as you -pick up anything with it, Ben will throw his switch, and whatever is at -the end of it will get a dose of pure protons. We'll have to do a good -deal of our aiming by turning the ship itself. I made the searchlight as -flexible as I could, but I couldn't get a great deal of turn to it on -account of the necessity of getting the nuclei into the light beam." - -"By the way," asked Murray. "Won't this pure light armor of the Lassans -knock your beam for a row of ashcans?" - -"I should say not! If they use it, we've got 'em. That stuff has weight -and the minute this beam of ours hits it, it will intensify the effect, -and no matter how much pressure they have on it, it will blow up all -over the place.... All set? Let's go. Throw in your switch, Murray." - -Murray did as directed. There was a humming sound and the tiny beam of -light leaped across the rear end of the ship and out the exhaust. Across -it fell a thin powder of iron filings--the material that was to be -decomposed to furnish the power. - -Bang! With a roar, the _Monitor_ leaped forward, throwing all of them -back into their heavily padded seats, then dipped and soared as the -wings came into play. The passengers glanced through the windows. -Beneath them the outskirts of Philadelphia were already speeding by. - -"Say," said Ben, "this is some bus. We must be making five hundred miles -an hour." - -"Sure," said Sherman. "We could do over seven hundred as a pure -projectile, but we can't use that much speed and keep our maneuvering -power." - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -The Coming of the Green Globes - - -"Where to, folks?" asked Sherman, during one of their periods of -soaring, as they floated high above the hilly country to the west of the -Delaware River. - -"Oh, most anywhere," said Ben. "I would like to see you try out this -new-fangled gun of yours on something, though." - -"What shall we try it on? A house?" - -"No, that's too easy. We saw what it could do to things like that in the -laboratory. Find a nice rock." - -"O. K. Here goes. Don't give her the gun for a minute, Murray." - -With wings extended, the _Monitor_ spiralled down toward the crest of -the mountain. A projecting cliff stood just beneath them, sharply -outlined in the rays of the morning sun. - -"Now this is going to be difficult," warned Sherman. "Throw that -connecting bar, Ben. It holds the power switch and the beam switch -together so they're both turned on at once. Otherwise the recoil we'd -get on this end of the beam would tumble us over backward. Hold it, -while I set the controls. We've got to take a jump as soon as we fire, -or we'll pop right into the mess we make.... Ready? All right, Gloria, -go ahead with your searchlight." - -The beam of the searchlight shot out, pale in the daylight, wavered a -second, then outlined the crest of the cliff. - -"Shoot!" cried Sherman. - -There was a terrific report; a shock; the _Monitor_ leaped, quivering in -every part, and as they spiralled down to see what damage they had done, -they beheld no cliff at all, but a rounded cup at the tip of the -mountain in which a mass of molten rock boiled and simmered. - -"Fair enough," said Ben. "I guess that will do for the Lassans, all -right. Home, James?" - -"Right," answered Sherman. "We've found out all we want to know this -trip." - -The homeward journey was accomplished even more swiftly than the trip -northward as Sherman gained in experience at the controls of the -machine. As it glided slowly to earth at the airport a little group of -officers was waiting to meet them. - -"What in thunder have you been doing?" one of them greeted the -Americans. "Your static, or whatever it was you let loose, burned out -all the tubes in half the army radio sets in New Jersey." - -"By the nine gods of Clusium!" said Sherman. "I never thought of that. -We're reducing matter pretty much to its lowest terms, and it's all a -good deal alike on that scale--vibrations that may be electricity, -magnetism, light or matter. Of course, when we let go that shot there -was enough radiation to be picked up on Mars. I'll have to figure out a -way to get around that. Those Lassans are no bums as electricians and -after we've been at them once or twice, they'll be able to pick up our -radiation whenever we're coming and duck us." - -"There's another thing," said Ben. "I thought the _Monitor_ vibrated a -good deal when you let that shot go." - -"It did. We'll have to get more rigidity or we'll be shaking ourselves -to pieces every time we shoot. But this, as I said, is an experimental -ship. What we've got to do now is turn in and build a real one, with -heavy armor and a lot of new tricks." - -"How are you going to know what kind of armor to put on her?" - -"That's easy. Steel will keep out any kind of material projectiles -they're likely to have, if it's thick enough. It won't keep out the -light-ray, but we'll put on a thin lead plating to take care of that, -just in case, though I don't think they're likely to try it after the -one failure. - -"Then inside the steel armor, we'll put a vacuum chamber. That will stop -anything but light and maybe cosmic radiation, and I don't think they're -up to that, although we'll get a little of the effect through the struts -that support the outer wall of the chamber. What I would like though, is -a couple of these Lassan thought-helmets. Not that you people are slow -on the uptake, but we'd be a lot faster if we had them, and we're going -to need all the speed we can get." - -They were crossing the flying field as they spoke, making for -headquarters, where Sherman presently laid out the design for the second -_Monitor_, embodying the improvements he had mentioned. The engineer who -looked it over smiled doubtfully. - -"I don't think we can give this to you in less than three or four -weeks," he said. "It will take a lot of time to cast that armor you -want and to build the vacuum chamber. I assume your own workmen are -going to make the internal fixtures." - -"Correct from the word go," Sherman told him. "But you better have it -before three or four weeks are up. Ben, what do you say we run over to -the lab and see if we can dig up something new." - - * * * * * - -It was two days later when they stood at headquarters on the flying -field again. The _Monitor_ had made three more trips, on one of them, -flying over the Lassan city without seeing anything more important than -the Australian signal station perched on a nearby hill. Meanwhile the -army of the federated governments had pushed out its tentacles, -searching the barren waste that had been the most fruitful country in -the world. East, west, south and north the report was the same; no sign -of the Lassans or any other living thing. - -"I could wish," said Gloria, "that those lads would stick their noses -out. I'd like to try the _Monitor_ on them." - -"You'll get all you want of that," said Ben a trifle grimly. "I'm glad -they're giving us this much of a break. It lets us get things organized. -Sherman is monkeying with a light-power motor now. If he catches it, our -troubles will be over." - -"Wait a minute," called an officer at a desk, as a telegraph key -began tapping. "This looks like something." He translated the dots -and dashes for them. "Lassan--city--door--opening.... It's from the -signal station on that mountain right over it.... Big--ball--coming -out--will--will--what's this? The message seems to end." He depressed -the key vigorously and then waited. It remained silent. - -"Oh, boy," said Sherman, "there she goes! They got that signal station, -I'll bet a dollar to a ton of Lassan radiation." - -The officer was hammering the key again. "We're sending out airplane -scouts now," he said. "Too bad about the signal station, but that's -war!" - -"Come on, gang," said Ben. "Let's get out to the flying field. Looks -like we're going to be in demand." - -In a car borrowed from the headquarters staff they raced out to the -field where the _Monitor_ stood, ready on its ramp for any emergency. -Just as they arrived an airplane became visible, approaching from the -north. It circled the field almost as though the pilot were afraid to -land, then dipped and came to a slow and hesitating stop. The onlookers -noticed that its guy wires were sagging, its wheels uneven; it looked -like a wreck of a machine which had not been flown for ten years, after -it had lain in some hangar where it received no attention at all. - -As they ran across the field toward it, the pilot climbed slowly out. -They noticed that his face was pale and horror-struck, his limbs -shaking. - -"All gone," he cried to the oncoming group. - -"What? Who? What's the matter?" - -"Everything. Guns. Tanks. Airplanes. The big ball's got 'em. Almost -got--" and he collapsed in Ben's arms in a dead faint. - -"Here," said Ben, handing the unconscious aviator to one of the -Australian officers. "Come on. There's something doing up there. Big -balls, eh? Well, we'll make footballs of 'em. That chap looks as though -he'd been through a milling machine, though. The Lassans certainly must -have something good." - -With a shattering crash as Murray Lee gave her all the acceleration she -would take, the _Monitor_ left the ramp, soared once or twice to gain -altitude, and headed north amid a chorus of explosions. In less than ten -minutes the thickly-settled districts of northern New Jersey were -flowing past beneath them. - -"Wish we had some radio in this bus," remarked Ben Ruby. "We could keep -in touch with what's going on." - -"It would be convenient," said Sherman, "but you can't have everything. -The Lassans aren't going to wait for us to work out all our problems.... -Look--what's that over there?" - -At nearly the same level as themselves and directly over the city of -Newark a huge globular object, not unlike an enormous green cantaloupe, -appeared to float in the air. From its under side the thin blue beam of -some kind of ray reached to the ground. From the face turned diagonally -away from them a paler, wider beam, yellowish in color, reached down -toward the buildings of the city. And where it fell on them, they -collapsed into shattering ruin; roof piled on walls, chimneys tumbled to -the ground. There was no flame, no smoke, no sound--just that sinister -monster moving slowly along, demolishing the city of Newark almost as -though it were by an effort of thought. - -"Hold tight, everybody," cried Sherman. "Going up." - -The _Monitor_ slanted skyward. Through the heavy quartz of her windows -they could see a battery of field guns, cleverly concealed behind some -trees in the outskirts of the city, open fire. At the first bursts the -monster globe swung slowly round, the pale yellow ray cutting a swath of -destruction as it moved. The shells of the second burst struck all -around and on it. "Oh, good shooting," said Gloria, but even as she -spoke the yellow ray bore down like a fate and the guns became silent. - -"What have they got?" she shouted between the bursts of the _Monitor's_ -rocket motor. - -"Don't know," replied Sherman, "but it's good. Ready? Here goes. Cut -off, Murray." - -From an altitude of 15,000 feet the _Monitor_ swept down in a long -curve. As she dived Gloria swung the searchlight beam toward the green -globe. - -"Go!" shouted Sherman, and Ben threw the switch. There was a terrific -explosion, the _Monitor_ pitched wildly, then, under control swung round -and began to climb again. Through the thinning cloud of yellow smoke, -they could see a long black scar across the globe's top, with lines -running out from it, like the wrinkles on an old, old face. - -"Damn!" said Sherman. "Only nicked him. They must have something good -in the line of armor on that thing. Look how it stood up. Watch it, -everybody, we're going to go again, Gloria!" - -Again the searchlight beam swung out and down, sought the green monster. -But this time the Lassan globe acted more quickly. The yellow ray -lifted, probed for them, caught them in its beam. Instantly, the -occupants of the _Monitor_ felt a racking pain in every joint; the -camera-boxes of the gravity-beam trembled in their racks, the windows, -set in solid steel though they were, shook in their frames, the whole -body of the rocket-ship seemed about to fall apart. - - * * * * * - -Desperately Sherman strove with the controls; dived, dodged, then -finally, with a raised hand to warn the rest, side-slipped and tumbled -toward the earth, pulling out in a swinging curve with all power on--a -curve that carried them a good ten miles away before the yellow ray -could find them. - -"Boy!" said Murray Lee, feeling of himself. "I feel as though every -joint in my body were loose. What was that, anyway?" - -"Infra-sound," replied Sherman. "You can't hear it, but it gets you just -the same. Like a violinist and a glass. He can break it if he hits the -right note. I told you those babies would get something hot. They must -have found a way to turn that pure light of theirs into pure sound and -vibrate it on every note of the scale all at once, beside a lot the -scale never heard of. Well, now we know." - -"And so do they," said Ben. "That bozo isn't going to hang around and -take another chance on getting mashed with our gravity beam. Even if we -did only tip him, I'll bet we hurt him plenty." - -"All I've got to say," replied Sherman, "is that I'm glad we're made of -metal instead of flesh and blood. If that infra-sound ray had hit us -before, we'd be mashed potatoes in that field down there. No wonder the -signal station went out so quick." - -"Do we go back and take another whack at them?" asked Murray Lee. - -"I don't like to do it with this ship," Sherman replied. "If we had the -_Monitor II_ it would be easy. With that extra vacuum chamber around -her, she'll take quite a lot of that infra-sound racket. Vacuum doesn't -conduct sound you know, though we'd get some of it through the struts. -But this one--. Still I suppose we'll have to show them we mean -business." - -The _Monitor_ turned, pointed her lean prow back toward Newark, and bore -down. In their flight from the infra-sound ray the Americans had dived -behind a fluffy mass of low-hanging cloud; now they emerged from it, -they could see the huge green ball, far up the river, retreating at its -best speed. - -"Aha," Sherman said. "He doesn't like gravity beams on the coco. Well, -come on, giddyap horsey. Give her the gun, Murray." - -Under the tremendous urge of the gravity-beam explosions at her tail, -the _Monitor_ shot skyward, leaving a trail of orange puffs in her wake -as the beam decomposed the air where it struck it. Sherman lifted her -behind the clouds, held the course for a moment, called "Ready, Gloria?" -and then dropped. - -Like a swooping hawk, the _Monitor_ plunged from her hiding place. -Sherman had guessed aright. The green ball was not five miles ahead of -them, swinging over the summits of the Catskills to reach its home. As -they plunged down the yellow ray came on, stabbed quickly, once, twice, -thrice--caught them for a brief second of agonizing vibration, then lost -them again as Sherman twisted the _Monitor_ round. Then Gloria's beam -struck the huge globule fair and square, Ben Ruby threw the switch, and -a terrific burst of orange flame swallowed the whole center of the -Lassan monster. - -Prepared though they were for the shock, the force of the explosion -threw the ship out of control. It gyrated frantically, spinning up, down -and sidewise, as Sherman worked the stick. The Catskills reared up at -them; shot past in a whirl of greenery; then with a splash they struck -the surface of the Hudson. - -Fortunately, the _Monitor's_ wings were extended, and took up most of -the shock at the cost of being shattered against her sides. Through the -beam-hole at the stern the water began to flow into the interior of the -ship. "Give her the gun!" called Sherman frantically, working his -useless controls. There was a report, a shock, a vivid cloud of steam, -and dripping and coughing like a child that has swallowed water in -haste, the _Monitor_ rose from the stream, her broken wings trailing -behind her. - -"I don't know--whether--I can fly--this crate or not," said Sherman, -trying to make what was left of the controls work. "Shoot, Murray--if we -put on enough power--we won't have to soar." There was a renewed roar of -explosions from the _Monitor_. Desperately, swinging in a wide curve -that carried her miles out of her way, she turned her nose southwards. - -"Make Philly," cried Sherman cryptically, above the sound of the -explosions that were driving their craft through the air at over six -hundred miles an hour. Almost as he said it, they saw the airport -beneath them. The _Monitor_ swerved erratically; the explosions ceased; -she dived, plunged and slithered to a racking stop across the foreshore -of the seaplane port, ending up with a crash against a float, and -pitched all four occupants from their seats onto the floor. - -"Well, that's one for you and one for me," said Sherman as he surveyed -the wreckage ruefully. "We used up that green ball all right, but the -old _Monitor_ will never pop another one. Did anyone notice whether -there were any pieces left, by the way?" - -"I did," said Gloria. "As we came up out of the water I could see a few -hunks lying around on the hill." - -"Mmm," remarked Sherman, "they must be built pretty solid. Wish I knew -what was in them; that's one thing I never did get through that -thought-helmet. Probably something they just figured out. You gave her -all the power we had, didn't you?" - -"There's something else I'd like to know," said Ben. "And that's whether -they had time to warn the rest of the Lassans what they were up against. -If they did, we stand a chance. The way I have these guys figured is -that they're good, but they have a yellow streak, or maybe they're just -lazy, and they don't like to fight unless they're sure of winning. If -I'm right we'll have time to get _Monitor II_ into commission and before -they come out again, we'll be ready for them. If I'm wrong we might as -well find a nice hole somewhere and pull it in after us." - -"Yes, and on the other hand, if they did have time to warn them, they'll -sit down and dope out some new trick. Though I have a hunch they won't -find an answer to that gravity-beam so easily. There isn't any that I -know of." - -"Well, anyway," said Murray Lee, "nothing to do till tomorrow. What are -you two rummies up to now?" - -"Run up and push them along on _Monitor II_ if we can," replied Ben. "I -think I'll round up the rest of the mechanical Americans and put you all -to work on it. We can work day and night and get it done a lot -quicker." - -"Me," said Sherman, "I'm going to figure out some way to install radio -on that new bus or bust a button. That's one thing we ought not to do -without. If we'd known the position of that green lemon before we saw -it, we could have dived out of the clouds on it and made it the first -shot before we got all racked up with that yellow ray." - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -Reinforcements - - -The little group separated, going about their several tasks. From -whatever cause, Ben proved to be right about the Lassan green spheres. -After that one brief incursion, in which they had wrecked the greater -part of Newark and most of the artillery the Australians had established -to bear on the door of the Lassan city, they seemed to have returned to -their underground home, realizing that the earth-men still had weapons -the equal of anything the creatures of Rigel could produce. - -For a whole week there was no sign of them. Meanwhile, the federated -army dug itself in and prepared for the attack that was now believed -certain. The success of the first _Monitor_ had been great enough, it -was decided to warrant the construction of more than one of the second -edition. General Grierson wished to turn the whole resource of the -Allied armies to building an enormous number, but under Ben's persuasion -he consented to concentrate on only five. - -For, as Ben pointed out to the general, the training of flesh and blood -men for these craft would be labor lost. - -"They couldn't stand the acceleration that will be necessary, for one -thing. With _Monitor II_ we expect to be able to work up swiftly to over -a thousand miles an hour, and the most acceleration a flesh and blood -man can stand won't give us that speed quickly enough. Of course, we -could make 'em so they worked up speed slowly, but then they wouldn't be -able to cut down fast enough to maneuver. And for another thing this -infra-sound ray the Lassans project would kill a flesh-and-blood man the -first time it hit him. What we need for this kind of war, is supermen in -the physical sense. I don't want to make any such snooty statement as -that Americans are better than other people, but we happen to be the -only ones who have undergone this mechanical operation and we're the -only people in the world who can stand the gaff. You'll just have to let -us make out the best we can. In fact, it might be better for you to -re-embark the army and leave us to fight it out all alone. The more -women we have here, the more we'll have to protect." - -The general had been forced to agree to the first part of this -statement, but he gallantly refused to abandon the Americans, though he -did send away men, troops and guns which had become useless in this new -brand of warfare. But he insisted on retaining a force to run the -factories that supplied the Americans with their materials and on -personally remaining with it. - -Even as it stood, there were only fourteen of the mechanical Americans -remaining--enough to man three of the Monitors. - -But one day, as _Monitor II_, shining with newness, stood on her ramp -having the searchlights installed, Herbert Sherman came dashing across -the flying field, waving a sheet of paper. - -"I've got it," he cried, "I've got it! I knew I got something from those -Lassans about electricity that I hadn't known before, and now I know -what it is. Look!" - -"Radio?" queried Ben. - -"No, read it," said Sherman. "Radio's out. But this is a thousand times -better." - -He extended the sheet to Ben, who examined the maze of figures gravely -for a moment. - -"Now suppose you interpret," he said. "I can't read Chinese." - -"Sap. This is the formula for the electrical device I was talking -about." - -"Yeh. Well, go on, spill it." - -"Well, I suppose I'll have to explain so even your limited intelligence -will grasp the point.... In our black box, we've been breaking up the -atoms of lead into positive and negative charges. We've been using the -positive, and then just turning the negative loose. This thing will make -use of both, and give us a swell new weapon all at once. - -"Look--the negative charges will do for our gravity beam just as well as -the positive. They will create an excess of negative electrons instead -of an excess of positive protons in the object we hit, and cause atomic -disintegration. It's a gravity process just the same, but a different -one. Now that gives us something else to do with the positives. - -"You know what a Leyden jar is? One of those things you charge with -electricity, then you touch the tip, and bang, you get a shock. Well, -this arrangement will make a super-Leyden jar of the _Monitor_. Every -time she fires the gravity-beam, the positive charges will be put into -her hull, and she'll soon be able to load up with a charge that will -knock your eye out when it's let loose." - -"How's that? I know the outside of the _Monitor_ is covered with lead -and so is the outside of a Leyden jar, but what's the connection?" - -"Well, it's this way. When you load up a Leyden jar the charge is not -located in the plating, but in the glass. Now the _Monitor_ has a lot of -steel, which will take up the charge just as well as glass. As soon as -she fires the gravity-beam, these filaments will load her up with the -left-over positives till she grunts. See?" - -"And since the earth is building up a lot of negative potential all the -time, all you have to do is get your bird between you and the earth and -then let go at him?" - -"That's the idea. It'll make an enormous spark-gap, and whatever is -between us and the earth will get the spark. Sock them with a flash of -artificial lightning. We'll use the light-beam as a conductor just as -with the gravity-beam." - -"Sounds good, but I want to see the wheels go round. How much of a -potential do you think you can build up in the _Monitor_?" - -"Well, let's see. We've got two thicknesses of nine-inch steel ... volts -to a cubic inch ... by cubic inches.... Holy smoke, look how this -figures out--over eleven million volts! That's theory, of course. -There'll be some leakage in practice and we won't have time to build up -that much negative potential every time we shoot, but if we only do half -that well, we'll have a pretty thorough-going charge of lightning ... -Peterson, come over here. I want you to make some changes on this -barge." - - * * * * * - -_Monitor II_ stood on the ramp that had once held her elder sister, her -outer coating of lead glimmering dully in the morning sun. Here and -there, along her shining sides, were placed the windows through which -her crew would watch the progress of the battle. Her prow was occupied -by the same type of searchlight the earlier _Monitor_ had borne. But -this time the searchlight was surrounded by a hedge of shining silver -points--the discharge mechanism for the lightning flash. At the stern, -instead of the opening running right through into the ship, was a tight -bulkhead, with the connections for the gravity-beam rocket-mechanism -leading through it. As Sherman had pointed out, "If this lightning is -going to do us any good, we've got to get above our opponent, and those -Lassans have built machines that made interplanetary voyages. We've got -to make this boat air-tight so that we can go right after them as far as -Rigel if necessary." - -It had been decided, in view of the other monitors that were building, -to make the trial trip of the second rocket-cruiser also a training -voyage, with Beeville and Yoshio replacing Murray Lee and Gloria in her -crew. They climbed in; the spectators stood back, and with a thunderous -rush of explosions and a cloud of yellow gas, the second _Monitor_ -plunged into the blue. - -"Where shall we go?" asked Sherman, as the ship swooped over the plains -of New Jersey. - -"How much speed is she making?" asked Ben Ruby. - -"I don't know exactly. We didn't have time to invent and install a -reliable speed gauge. But--" he glanced at the map before him, then down -through the windows at the surrounding country. "I should say not far -short of eight hundred an hour. That improved box sure steps up the -speed. I'm not giving her all she'll stand, even yet." - -"If you've got that much speed, why don't you visit Chicago?" asked -Beeville. "The Australians have only pushed out as far as Ohio and there -may be some people there." - -"Bright thought," remarked Sherman, swinging the prow of the vessel -westward. "No telling what we'll find, but it's worth a look, anyway." - -For some time there was silence in the cabin as the rocket-ship, with -alternate roar and swoop, pushed along. Yoshio was the first to speak: - -"Ah, gentlemen," he remarked, "I observe beneath window trace of city of -beer, formerly Cincinnati." - -"Sure enough," said Ben, peering down. "There doesn't seem to be much -beer there now, though." - -The white city of the Ohio vanished beneath them, silent and deserted, -no sign of motion in its dead streets. - -"You know," said Sherman, "sometimes when I see these cities and think -of all the Lassans have wrecked, it gives me an ache. I think I'd do -almost anything to knock them out. What right did they have to come to -this country or this earth, anyway? We were letting them alone." - -"Same right wolf obtains when hungry," said Yoshio. "Wolf is larger than -rabbit--end of rabbit." - -"Correct," agreed Beeville. "They were the strongest. It's a case of hit -or be hit in this universe. Our only out is to give them better than -they give us." - -"Oh, I don't know," said Ben Ruby, "it may be a good thing for the old -world at that. You never heard of all the governments of the world -cooperating before as they are now did you? There are still people alive -you know. Civilization hasn't been killed off by a long shot. And the -lousy blue coloring that affected all the people who didn't get -metallized isn't going to be permanent. The babies that are being born -there now are normal, I hear. In a few generations the earth will be -back to where it was, except for us. I don't know of any way to reverse -this metal evolution." - -"Neither do I," said Beeville, "unless we can get another dose of the -'substance of life' as the Lassans call it, and we won't get that -unless they decide to leave the earth in a hurry." - -"Look," said Sherman, "there's Chicago now. But what's that? No, there, -along the lake front." - -Following the direction of his pointing finger they saw something moving -vaguely along Lake Shore Boulevard; something that might be a car--or a -man! - -"Let's go down and see," offered Ben. - -"O. K. chief, but we've got to pick a good landing place for this tub. I -don't want to get her marooned in Chicago." - - * * * * * - -The explosions were cut off, the wings extended, and Sherman spiralled -carefully downward to the spot where they had seen the moving object. -With the nicety of a magician, he brought the ship to a gliding stop -along the park grass, and followed by the rest, Ben Ruby leaped out. The -edge of the drive was a few yards away. As they emerged from the ship no -one was visible, but as they walked across the grass, a figure, metallic -like themselves, and with a gun in one hand, stepped from behind a tree. - -"Stand back!" it warned suspiciously. "Who are you and what do you -want?" - -"Conversation with sweet-looking gentleman," said Yoshio politely, with -a bow. - -"Why, we're members of the American air force," said Ben, "cooperating -with the federated armies against the Lassans, and we were on an -exploring expedition to see if we could find any more Americans." - -"Oh," said the figure, with evident relief. "All right, then. Come on -out, boys." - -From behind other trees in the little park, a group of metallic figures, -all armed, rose into sight. - -"My name's Ben Ruby," said Ben, extending his hand, "at present General -commanding what there is of the American army." - -"Mine's Salsinger. I suppose you could call me Mayor of Chicago since -those birds got Lindstrom. So you're fighting the Lassans, eh? Good. -We'd like to take a few pokes at them ourselves, but that light-ray they -have is too much for us. All we can do is pot the birds." - -"Oh," said Ben, "we've got that beat and a lot of other stuff, too. How -many of you are there?" - -"Eight, including Jones, who isn't here now. Where are you from, anyway? -St. Louis?" - -"No, New York. Is anybody alive in St. Louis or the other western -cities?" - -"There was. We had one man here from St. Paul, and Gresham was from St. -Louis. The birds got him and carried him off to the joint the Lassans -have in the Black Hills, but he got away." - -"Have they a headquarters in the Black Hills, too? They have one in the -Catskills. That's where we've been fighting them." - -The explanations went on. It appeared that Chicago, St. Louis and other -western cities had been overwhelmed as had New York--the same rush of -light from the great comet, the same unconsciousness on every side, the -same awakening and final gathering together of the few individuals who -had been fortunate enough to attract the attentions of the Lassans' -birds and so be sent to their cities for transformation into robots. - -Since that time the birds had raided Chicago and the other western -cities unceasingly, and had reduced the original company of some -thirty-odd to the eight individuals whom Ben had encountered. Before the -birds had attacked them, however, they had managed to get a telegraph -wire in operation and learn that people were alive at Los -Angeles--whether mechanized or not they were uncertain, but they thought -not. - -Once, several weeks before, a Lassan fighting-machine had passed through -the city, wrecked a few buildings with the light-ray, and disappeared -westward as rapidly as it had come. - -With some difficulty and a good deal of crowding the eight Chicagoans -were gotten into the _Monitor II_ for the return journey. They were a -most welcome reinforcement and would furnish enough Americans to man all -five of the extra rocket-cruisers. - -"I hope," remarked Sherman, a couple of days later, "that those Lassans -don't come out quite yet, now. We've got the ships to meet them now, but -the personnel isn't as well trained as I should like. Salsinger nearly -smashed up one of the ships yesterday making his landing and one of the -wings on another cracked up this morning when Roberts tried to turn too -short. These rocket-ships are so fast you need a whole state to handle -them in." - -"And I," replied Ben Ruby, "hope they come out damn soon. As you say, -we've got the ships now, but they're not so slow themselves, and with -the building methods they have, they can turn out ships faster than we -can." - -"All the same, I'd like a few days more," Sherman countered. "In this -brand of war it isn't how much you've got, but what you've got that -counts. Look at all the Australians--half a million men, and the only -good they are is to work in factories." - -"Can't blame them for not being made of metal like us," said Ben. -"They're doing their best and we wouldn't be here but for them. Grierson -is having the shops build us another ten rocket-cruisers, on the chance -that we pick up some reinforcements somewhere in the west." - -"Good," said Sherman, "and I have another idea. I think we ought to keep -at least one monitor on patrol over the Lassan city all the time. -They're apt to get out and sneak one over on us. She can stay high up, -near the edge of the atmosphere. Of course, she can't radio, but she can -fire a couple of shots if she sights them coming out, and we can make a -static detector that will register the disturbance. Then we can catch -them as fast as they come out, when they'll be easiest to attack." - -"How about the other Lassan city out in the Black Hills?" asked Ben. - -"Would be bad strategy to try to handle them both at once, wouldn't it," -said Sherman, "Still, if you think so ..." - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -The Great Conflict - - -It was _Monitor VII_, manned by the Chicagoans, which had the honor of -sighting the enemy. Just as the twilight of a bright May day was closing -down over the radio men at the Philadelphia airport, the static detector -marked an unusual disturbance, then two quick shocks, which must have -come from the patrol's bow beam. In quick succession, the other five, -standing ready on their starting ramps, took in their crews, and roared -up and away in a torrent of explosions at a thousand miles an hour. - -Soaring to fifty thousand feet above the earth, the squadron of -rocket-ships made its way north, _Monitor II_ in the lead. - -"Well, here we go," called Gloria, gaily, from her seat behind the -searchlight. "Hope they don't give us the run-around this time." - -"They won't have the chance," said Ben. "That is, provided those -Chicago boys have sense enough to remember their instructions and let -them alone till we all get there. With six of these ships we ought to be -able to rough 'em up a little bit." - -At a speed of over a thousand miles an hour, thanks to the thinness of -the atmosphere through which they were traveling, it was only a few -minutes' hop from Philadelphia to the Catskill city of the elephant-men. -Ben had hardly finished speaking before Sherman called from the control -seat, "There they are!" - -Far beneath, half revealed, half-hidden by the few tiny clouds of fleece -that hung at the lower altitudes, they could see the naked scar in the -hills that marked the Lassan headquarters. Around it floated half a -dozen of the huge green balls they had encountered on the last occasion. -As they swept by, another one, looking like a grape at the immense -distance, trundled slowly out from the enormous door, swung to and fro -for a second or two and then swam up to join those already in the sky. -_Monitor VII_ was to the north and above them--as she perceived the -American fleet she swept down to join the formation, falling into her -prearranged place. - -"Do we go now?" asked Sherman. - -"Not yet," said Ben. "Give them all a chance to get out. The more the -merrier. I'd like to finish the job this time. We can't get in that -door, and if we did the rocket-ships would be no use to us in those -passages, and they're the best we've got. Besides they're playing snooty -too, and aren't paying a bit of attention to us. I hope they intend to -fight it out to a finish this time." - -They turned north, giving the Lassans time to assemble their fleet. -"What's the arrangement?" asked Gloria. "Do we all go for them at once?" - -"No. We dive in first and the rest follow behind, pulling up before they -get in range. If anything happens to us, they'll rescue us--if they can. -You see we don't know what they've got any more than they know what -we've got, and I thought it would be a good idea to try the first attack -with only one ship. In a pinch the rest can get away--if the Lassans -haven't developed a lot of speed on those green eggs of theirs." - -"How many now?" asked Sherman, from the controls, as the squadron swung -back southward and the scarred mountain swam over the horizon again. - -"Two--five--nine--eleven--oh, I can't count them all," said Gloria, -"they keep changing formation so. There's a lot of them and they're -coming up toward us, but slowly. They haven't got that blue beam at the -base any more, either--you know the one that globe we got after was -riding on." - -As they approached it was indeed evident that the green globes were -rising slowly through the twilight in some kind of loose formation. It -was too complex for the American observers to follow in the brief -glimpses they were vouchsafed as they swept past at hurricane speed. -There seemed to be dozens of the Lassan globes; as though they expected -to overwhelm opposition by mere force of numbers. Nearer and nearer came -the rocket-ships, nearer and nearer loomed the sinister Lassan globes, -betraying no signs of life, silent and ominous. - -"Go?" called Sherman from his seat at the controls. - -"Go!" said Ben. - -The _Monitor II_ dived; and as she dived, Gloria Rutherford switched on -the deadly beam of the searchlight which would carry the gravity-beam -against their enemies. For a moment it sought the green globes; then -caught one fairly. Ben Ruby threw the switch; and down the light beam -leaped the terrible stream of the broken atoms like a wave of death. -Leaped--and failed! - - * * * * * - -For as it struck the green globe, instead of the rending explosion and -the succeeding collapse, there came only a bright handful of stars, a -coruscating display of white fire that dashed itself around the Lassan -ship like foam on some coast-rock. It reeled backward, driven from its -position under the tremendous shock of the sundered atoms, but it -remained intact. - -"Well, I'm a son-of-a-gun!" declared Sherman, as he put the _Monitor_ -into a spiral climb at nine hundred miles an hour to avoid any -counter-attack. "If they haven't found a gravity screen! I didn't think -it was possible. Goes to show you you never can tell, especially with -Lassans. Look out folks, here comes the gaff, I'm going to loop!" - -For as he spoke the formation of green globes had opened out--swiftly by -ordinary standards, though slowly in comparison with the frantic speed -of the American rocket-vessel. From half a dozen of them the racking -yellow ray of infra-sound leaped forth to seek the audacious ship that -had attacked them single-handed. All round her they stabbed the -atmosphere, striking the few clouds and driving them apart in a fine -spray of rain, but missing the _Monitor_ as she twisted and heaved at -frantic speed. - -Twenty miles away and high in the air they pulled up to recover -themselves. - -"And _that_," Sherman went on with his interrupted observation, -"explains why they aren't using those blue beams for support any more. -Of course a gravity screen that would work against our beam would work -against the gravity of the earth just as well. They must have some way -of varying its effect, though. They aren't rising very fast and haven't -got much speed." - -"Probably the Lassans can't stand the acceleration," suggested Murray. - -"Probably you're right. They can't have less than one Lassan in each -globe.... Of course, they might control them by radio, with the -thought-helmets and have the crews all robots, but that wouldn't be a -Lassan way of doing things. And I doubt if they'd think radio safe, -anyhow, even if they know about it, of which I'm not sure. We're -shedding any amount of static around, and would play merry hell with -most any radio. Wish I knew how they worked that gravity screen, though. -I'll bet a boat-load of Monitors against a thought-helmet that it's -magnetic." - -"Wish we had some way to signal the rest of the fleet," said Ben, as -they swung into their position at the head of the formation again. "I -don't want them pushing in there with the gravity-beam if it isn't going -to do any good." - -Murray laughed. "They'll find it out soon enough. I think we've got -plenty speed to beat those infra-sound rays, too. If that's as strong as -they come, we've got 'em licked." - -"Don't crow yet, boy friend," said Gloria. "You don't know what those -babies have up their sleeves--excuse me, their trunks." - -As the American fleet formed for a mass attack, the Lassan globes had -been rising, and now they were a bare five thousand feet below the -rocket-cruisers, swinging along at a height of 25,000 feet above the -earth in the last rays of the setting sun. As the green globes rose they -took their places in a formation like an enormous crescent, the ends of -which were extended as each new globe came up to join it. - -"Looks like they want to get us in the middle and pop us from all -directions at once," observed Sherman. "Well, here goes. Pick the end of -the line; that's our best chance. How's your potential, Gloria?" - -"O. K., chief," she answered. "Lightning this time?" - -He nodded. The rockets of the _Monitor II_ roared; its prow dipped -forward, and at an incredible speed it swept down on the line of Lassan -warships, followed by the rest of the American fleet. But it was no -surprise this time. As the monitors plunged in, from every green globe -that could bring them to bear, the long yellow rays shot forth. Right -through them the _Monitor II_ plunged; the grate of it, even through -their double coating of armor and the vacuum chambers, set their teeth -on edge; then the rocket-ship was pointing directly down at one of the -Lassans and Gloria snapped the key that released the artificial -lightning. - -A jagged beam of flame, intenser than the hottest furnace, leaped -through the air, struck the green globe, and sought the earth in a -thousand tiny rivulets of light. For just a second the globe seemed -unharmed; then slowly, and almost majestically, it began to dissolve in -mid-air, spouting flames at every pore. Fully ten miles down and beyond, -the _Monitor_ turned again, and not till then did the sound of the -explosion reach them, a terrific, rending thunder-clap. - -"See that?" cried Sherman. "That formation of theirs isn't so dumb. -They've got it all ranged out; none of our ships can get at them without -coming through at least one of those yellow rays, and if we stay in them -too long--blooie!" - -They peered through the windows at the formation. Off at one side, they -could make out the forms of two more rocket-ships, outlined against the -sky, while behind and above them pursued by the searching yellow beams, -came the rest. As they turned, they saw the gravity-beam shoot from one -of the American ships, crumple uselessly against a green globe. Then -they plunged in, again, firing the gravity beam earthward to work up the -potential for another lightning discharge. - - * * * * * - -The hills below rocked and roared to the repeated shock. Trees fell in -crashing ruin as lightning-bolt or infra-sound shivered them to bits; -great cars of burned earth and molten rock marked the spots where the -gravity-beam struck the ground. All round was a maze of yellow rays, -lightning flashes, and green globes that reeled, rose, fell, sometimes -blowing up, sometimes giving ground, but always fighting back sternly -and vigorously and always rising through the clear spring evening. - -Murray Lee, at the rear of the ship, was the only one to see an American -rocket-ship, caught and held for a few fatal moments by two yellow rays, -slowly divest itself of its outer armor, then of its inner, and go -whirling to the earth, dissolved into its ultimate fragments by those -irresistible pennons of sound. - -Gloria Rutherford at the prow was the only one to see another caught -bow-on in a yellow ray, reply by firing its gravity-beam right down the -ray and into the green globe through the port from which the ray had -issued. The ray went out--a spreading spot of flame appeared at the port -and the great green globe crumpled into a little ball of flame before -her eyes. But such events as these were the merest flashes in the -close-locked combat. For the most part they had time to do nothing but -handle the controls, throw switches to and fro, shoot forth gravity-beam -and lightning-flash in endless alternation at the Lassan ships of which -there always appeared to be one more right before them as Sherman -twisted and turned the _Monitor_ with a skill that was almost uncanny. - -Suddenly he pulled out; the four looked round. They were miles high; -below half hidden in the dusk, were the red and brown roofs of a city. -Far away on the horizon the battle still roared; a rolling cloud of -smoke now, shot with the vivid fires of the American lightning flashes. -The wings of their ship were spread; they were soaring gently earthward -without the application of the rocket power. - -"Had to get away for a minute," Sherman explained. "We were heating up -from the speed. My God, but we're high up; at least 45,000 feet!" - -"Yes, and getting higher," Ben pointed out. "Those green globes must be -headed for the moon." - -"Do you know, I wouldn't be a bit surprised but what you're right," -replied Sherman, "I'll bet an oil-ball against the whole Lassan city -that they think we can't navigate space and they're trying to get above -us and then hang around and pop us when we have to land. Well, come on -gang, let's get back." - -He shot the wings in again, worked the controls, and they headed back -toward the conflict. - -It was less of a turmoil now, more of an ordered swing, charge, pass and -charge again against the diminishing number of the Lassan globes. Of the -American rocket-ships Gloria could now count but two beside their own. -One she had seen break up; whether the others, badly damaged, had hauled -out for repairs, or whether, riven by the deadly yellow ray, they had -gone crashing to the earth, there was no way of knowing. But the Lassans -were not escaping unharmed; there were hardly a third as many as at the -beginning and even as they approached another one disappeared in the -vivid flash of the rocket's lightnings. Still the rest rose steadily on, -going straight up as though they indeed hoped to escape their tormentors -by rising to the moon. - -They dived in: Gloria pressed the lightning key and another Lassan globe -blew up; then they were climbing again. Beneath them the night had come. -The earth was a dark mass, far down, and from that enormous distance -looked slightly dished out at the edges. But though the earth was dark, -at that ultimate height of the atmosphere the sun had not yet set. Still -the strange fight went on, higher and higher. The roar of the exhaust -explosions died away behind them and Murray looked questioningly at -Sherman. - -"Out this far, there isn't much air," he said. "Takes air to conduct -sound. Wonder what they're up to, anyway. All right, Gloria." - -He dived at another Lassan and she pressed the lightning ray; but this -time there was no flash, no flaming Lassan ship falling in ruins to the -ground. - -"Who'd have thought it!" said Sherman, as he swung the _Monitor_ round -after the charge. "Of course--we're up so high that we've made a spark -gap that even lightning won't jump. But I don't get their idea; those -sound rays won't be any good out here, either." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -Into the Depths - - -The _Monitor_ turned again, speeding back toward the remaining Lassan -ships; with a startling shock of surprise, Gloria noticed that there -were only two. Down below them one of the last three American -rocket-cruisers had spread her wings and was gliding gently toward the -earth. Like the _Monitor's_, her crew had evidently found the lightning -flash worthless at the enormous altitude and was abandoning the battle -till conditions became more favorable. The other rocket remained -faithful; turned as they turned and charged up with them toward the last -of the Lassans. - -It was a weird scene. They had climbed so far that the earth was now -perceptibly round beneath them; a vague line marked the westward -progress of the sunset and beyond it the sun, an immense yellow ball, -set with a crown of vividly red flames, hung in the inky-black heavens. -On the opposite side, the stars, more brilliant and greater in number -than any ever before viewed by the eye of man, made the sky a carpet of -light across which the green globes moved like shadows, their undersides -illumined by the sun. - -As the _Monitor_ approached, the nearest globe seemed to be turning on -its axis. Suddenly, out of the side that faced them, came the quick, -stabbing beam of the light-ray, like the flicker of a sword. It struck -the _Monitor_ full on the prow. There was a burning rain of sparks past -the windows; the rocket-ship leaped and quivered, and those within felt, -rather than saw, something give. Then, with a tremendous explosion, all -the more horrible because utterly without sound, the great globe that -had thrown the ray, burst into fragments. - -And at the same moment the _Monitor_ began to fall. Down, down, down -went the rocket-cruiser with the round ball of the earth rising to meet -them at a speed incredible. The sun went out; they were swallowed in a -purple twilight as they plunged. The earth changed from a ball to a -dish, from a dish to a plane, from a plane to a dark mass without form, -and in the mass vague lights and glimmerings of water came out, and -still their course was unchecked, still Sherman fought frantically with -the useless controls. - -Desperately Murray pressed the firing keys of the stern-rockets; -unchecked she drove on, almost straight down, plunging to certain -destruction. The earth loomed nearer, nearer, the end seemed -inevitable--. - -Then Gloria saved them. In some moment of inspiration, she threw on the -searchlight; and the automatic connection fired the gravity-beam. There -was a shattering report; the course of the _Monitor_ was halted, and -bruised and broken, she tumbled over and over to the ground, safe but -ruined. - -"Suffering Lassans!" said Ben Ruby, as they picked themselves out of the -wreckage, "but that was a jar. What hit us, anyway?" - -Sherman pointed to Gloria, breathlessly. "Give the little girl a hand," -he ejaculated. "She sure pulled us out of the fire that time." - -"I'll say she did," said Murray, "but what happened, anyway? I thought -that light-ray of theirs wouldn't work on these ships." - -"It won't--in air," said Sherman ruefully, surveying the wreck of the -_Monitor_. "But the air blankets down the effect a lot. Out there we got -the whole dose. Even then it shouldn't have hurt us so seriously, but I -expect a lot of our lead sheathing got jarred loose when we went through -those yellow rays and when they let that light-ray go, she leaked all -over the place. Wonder what made that Lassan ship blow up like that, -though? I thought she sure had us." - -"Oh," said Ben, "I think maybe I did that. When the light-ray came on it -occurred to me that the gravity-beam might go down their beam of light -just as fast as it would down ours, and they must have a port-hole or -something through their gravity-screen or they couldn't let the ray out. -So I just let them have it." - -"Boy, you sure saved the lives of four of Uncle Sam's flying men that -time. About one second more of that stuff and we'd have cracked up right -there. Look at the front of our bus. The outer plating is all caved in -and the inner is starting to go." - -"She is pretty well used up isn't she? What gets me though, is that -there's one more of those things loose." - -"Look!" cried Gloria suddenly, pointing upward. - -Far in the zenith above them they saw a point of light; a point that -grew and spread and became definite as a great star; then it became a -shooting star, plunging earthward, and so great was its speed that even -as they watched they could make out a green fragment, flame-wrapped in -its midst. - -"The last one!" said Sherman. "Thank God for that. Wonder how they got -her?" - -"Wonder what we do next," remarked Murray, practically. - -They looked about them. They were on a hillside in a little clearing in -a high, narrow valley. On every side were woods, dark and impenetrable. -Just below they could hear the purl of a brook, and the trees about them -were bare with the dark bareness of spring, a few fugitive buds being -the only announcement that the season of growing was at hand. No -landmarks, no roads were visible, and the sky was darkening fast. - -"The question," said Gloria, "is not where do we go, but where are we -going from." - -"It might be most anywhere," remarked Murray. "Adirondacks, Catskills, -or even Laurentians. I don't think we got far enough west for it to be -the Blue Ridge or the Appalachians, but there's no way of telling." - -"Well," Gloria offered, "I've been in a lot of mountains in my day, but -I never saw any where following a stream didn't take you somewhere -sooner or later. I vote we trail along with that brook there and see -what happens." - -"Bright thought," commented Ben. "Let's see what we can dig out of the -wreck by way of weapons." - -"What for? There aren't any animals, and they couldn't hurt you if there -were. If we meet any of the Lassans any weapon you got out of that mess -wouldn't be much use. Wish we had a flashlight though." - -Treading carefully, but with a good deal of noise and confusion, they -began to crash their way through the underbrush along the bank of the -stream. At the foot of the valley it dived over a diminutive waterfall -and then tumbled into another similar brook. Along the combined streams -ran a road--a dirt road originally, now long untraveled, muddy and bad, -but still a road. - -An hour's walking brought them around the foot of another mountain and -into a valley where the road divided before a projecting buttress of -rock. A teetering sign-post stood at the fork. With some trouble, and -after getting himself immersed to the knees in the ditch, Murray managed -to reach it and straining his eyes in the starlight, made out what it -said. "THIS WAY TO HAMILTON'S CHICKEN DINNERS. 1 MILE" it read. With a -snort of disgust he hurled the deceitful guidepost into the ditch and -joined the others. - -"Toss a coin," someone suggested. No coins. A knife was flipped up -instead. It fell heads and in accordance with its decision they took the -road to the right. It led them along beside the stream for a while, then -parted company with it and began to climb, and they soon found -themselves at the crest of the hill. The night had become darker and -darker, clouding over. But for the road they would have been completely -lost. Finally, after skirting the hillcrest for a distance, the road -dipped abruptly, and as it did so, they passed out of the forest into a -region cleared but not cultivated, with numerous close-cut stumps coming -right to the roadside. - -"But for the fact that it's a long ways away," remarked Sherman, "I -would say that this was the district around the Lassan headquarters." - -"What makes you think it's a long ways away?" asked Gloria. "Do you know -where we are? Neither do I." - -"By the nine gods of Clusium, I believe that's it, at that!" said -Sherman suddenly as the road turned past a place where a long scar of -earth ran up the hillside, torn and blackened. "Look--that looks exactly -like the result of one of our gravity-beam shots! And there--isn't that -the door?" - -They were on the hillside now, directly above the place he had -indicated. From above and in the darkness it appeared as a cliff, -breaking down rapidly to the valley, but Sherman led them to one side, -straight down the hill and in another moment they were at its base. The -great door through which the green balls had poured out that evening -stood before them, a mighty arch reaching up into the dimness--and it -was open. - -"Looks like the boys haven't come home to supper yet," said Gloria in an -awed whisper, contemplating the gigantic arch and the dark passage into -which it led. - -"Yes, and a lot of them aren't coming, either," replied Murray in a -similar tone. "But what do we do--make a break for it or poke in and see -if anybody's home?" - -"Listen, you three," said Sherman. "You run along and build some more -monitors and go get whatever comes out of here. Me, I'm going to have a -whirl at this door. The swellest girl in the world is in there, or was, -and I'm going to find her." - -"Nothing doing, old scout," said Ben. "If you go in we go too--except -Gloria." - -"What's the matter with me?" she demanded. "I'm made of the same kind of -machinery you are, aren't I? And I'm good enough to run your foolish -fighting-machine. Don't be a goop." And she stepped forward. - -The blue-domed hall that gave directly on the outer air had disappeared -since Sherman and Marta Lami had raced out of it on that night that now -seemed so long ago. In its place was an enormous tunnel, lined -apparently with some metal, for its sides were smooth and shimmering. -The portion they entered was lightless, but it curved as it ran down, -and around the curve they could see the faint reflection of a light -somewhere farther along the passage. Their feet echoed oddly in the -enormous silence of the place. There seemed nothing alive or dead -within. - -"Boy," whispered Murray to Gloria, "if one of those green globes comes -back now it will squash us flatter than a false prosperity bankroll. -This is the craziest thing we ever did." - -"Right," she said, "but what the hell? I just came for the ride. Look, -what's that?" - -Before them, around the bend of the passage, they could see another door -from which the light which glittered along the tunnel was streaming. In -the opening stood a man, or what seemed to be a man, facing, -fortunately, inwards. - -After a moment's cautious peering, Sherman pronounced him one of the -ape-man slaves. He wore a thought-helmet, and had some kind of a weapon -in his hand. The four held a cautiously whispered conference. - -"Listen," said Sherman, "we've got to jump that baby before he does -anything. I think he's got one of those small light-guns. Didn't know -they trusted them to the slaves, but I suppose so many of the Lassans -got shot up that they had to do it. Now, who's got a knife?" - -A search of pockets revealed that Murray Lee had the only one in the -company. - -"Never mind," said Sherman, "one is enough. Now we three will sneak up -on him. The main thing is not to let him see us; if he makes a move, -jump him quick. Remember there's a Lassan at the other end of the line, -and the Lassan is getting everything he thinks. He doesn't think very -fast, but don't take chances. If he sees us, you hop in, Murray, and cut -the wire that leads out of his helmet and short-circuit it. They may -have it fixed so that it won't short-circuit by now but I don't think -so. If he doesn't see us before we jump him, clap your hands over his -eyes, Ben, and I'll try to get the helmet off him and pass out some -information to the Lassan at the other end that will keep him quiet. But -the main thing is to get that gun first. Everybody understand?" - -Three heads nodded in unison. - -"All right. Come on." - -They crept up the passage together avoiding touching hands lest the ring -of the metal should warn the sentry. As they approached they could see -the room he looked out on was one of the familiar blue-domed halls; the -passage ended sharply some six feet above its floor ("Taking no chances -on more escapes" thought Sherman) and that the hall was of enormous -size. There were machines in one corner of the floor. In another stood -one of the green globes, half finished, with spidery trellises of red -metal outlining what would be the surface of the sphere. Around it -helmeted mechanical men came and went busily. The rest of the hall, for -all its vast extent, was completely empty. At the far end was a row of -doors; high on the far side an opening that looked like a door but had -no obvious purpose. - -This much they saw; then the sentry stirred as though to turn, and with -a quick patter of feet, they were upon him. Before he had time to turn -around Ben Ruby launched himself in a perfect football tackle for his -legs, bringing the ape-man down with a crash. As he fell, Sherman -snatched at the helmet, and Gloria the light-gun, which had dropped from -his fingers, while Murray pinioned the struggling creature's arms. In a -moment Sherman found the finger-holes in the helmet, pressed, and it -came loose in his hands while the ape-man ceased to struggle. - -"Let him up now, folks," said Sherman, "give him a swift kick and point -him toward the door. He won't come back." And he rapidly adjusted the -thought-helmet to his own head. - -The Lassan at the other end was evidently disturbed. He had received the -sound of the crash from the ape-man's brain and was asking querulously -what it meant. - -"What has happened?" the thought demanded insistently. "What is it that -struck you? Have the fighting machines returned? Show a picture of what -you see. Are the slaves escaping?" - -"Everything's all right," Sherman sent back. "Something broke loose down -below and I stumbled trying to look at it." He closed his eyes, forming -a mental picture of the hall, with everything in order, then one of the -passage, and reached up and detached the helmet, motioning to Murray for -the knife. An instant's sawing and the device short-circuited with a -fizzing of blue sparks. - -"That will give that one a headache for a while," he remarked. "We'll -have to hurry, though. When he comes to he'll investigate and then -there'll be trouble." - -"What's that?" asked Gloria, pointing across the hall at the aperture -high up in the wall. A gleaming beak had been thrust out and the bright, -intelligent eye of one of the dodo-birds was regarding them malevolently -from the opening. - -"Shoot, quick!" said Sherman, "For God's sake! They're telepathic. -They'll have every Lassan in the place after us." - -Gloria fumbled a second with the gun, located the finger hole, sent a -spurt of light flying across the room. It missed the head, but found its -mark somewhere in the body of the bird, for there was a squawk and the -head disappeared. Sherman vaulted down the six-foot drop, landing with a -bang. "Come on," he cried, "short-circuit every wire you can find; tear -them loose if you can't cut them any other way--and make for the middle -door at the back." - -They ran across the hall toward the work benches. It seemed enormous; -like a race in a dream, in which one seems to make no progress whatever. -But the workers did not appear to notice them. Driven by the thoughts of -the controlling Lassans, they were incapable of attending to anything -else unless it was forced on their attention. - -As they approached the benches, however, one flat-faced ape-man almost -ran into them. His face took on an expression of puzzled inquiry and at -the same moment a figure whose carriage plainly showed it human stepped -down toward them from the half-completed green globe. Gloria paused, -leveled her light-gun at the ape-man, and his face vanished in a spray -of fire. The human advanced slowly as though struggling against some -force that was too strong for him. Sherman reached him first, wrenched -the helmet from his head and dropping it on the floor stamped on it till -the fine mechanism was irretrievably ruined. The mechanical human fell -to his knees. - -"Who are you?" he asked, "God?" - -"We're all right," said Murray, and Sherman, "which way to the living -cages? Do you know Marta Lami?" - -The man shook his head like one recovering from a dream. "I do' know," -he said, "they had the helmets on me for twenty periods. I do' know -nothing. We came through that door. In the little automobiles." - -He indicated a door behind some of the machines. - -Speed was urgent, but Sherman paused to instruct them briefly. "There'll -be another sentry at the door. Pop him first, Gloria. Murray, take your -knife, and Ben, get anything you can and cut all the wires on those -birds around here. There are some more wires leading out of the -machines. Be sure to get them, too. You might let loose something -important. We'll try to get you another gun." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -The Ending of It All - - -Impassively, oblivious of the invasion about them, the workers kept on -at their machines like ants when their nest is broken open. Sherman and -Gloria dodged around one of them, avoiding the direct line of sight of -the robot who worked at it and walked rapidly toward the door giving on -the car-tracks. The man on duty had no weapon, but paid them no -attention, being occupied in watching a car just sliding in to the -station. "It's a shame" began Gloria, but "Shoot!" insisted Sherman and -the light-ray struck him in the back of the neck fusing head and neck to -a single mass. As he sank to the floor he turned partly over. - -"Good heavens, it's Stevens!" said Gloria, "the man who organized the -rebellion against Ben Ruby in New York and brought the dodos down on -us." - -"Never mind. Hurry," her companion urged in a fever of activity. The -doors of the car were opening and half a dozen mechanical men stepped -out, mostly with the foolish visages and shambling steps of the ape-men, -but two whose upright walk proclaimed them human. - -"Listen, everybody," called Sherman, quickly. "We're from outside. We're -trying to bust up this place. Get back in the car, quick, and come help -us." Suiting the action to the word, he leaped for the first -compartment, reached it just as it was closing and wedged himself -inside. - -The car had a considerable run to make. In the dimly-lighted -compartment, Sherman was conscious of turns, right, left, right again, -and of a steady descent. He wondered vaguely whether he had taken the -right method; whether the cage rooms lay near one another or were widely -separated. At all events the diversion in the hall of the green globes -would hold the attention of the Lassans for some time, and the -short-circuiting of so many lines would hamper their methods of dealing -with the emergency.... - -The car came to a stop. Sherman heard a door or two open, but his own -did not budge, and he had no needle to stir it. He must wait, hoping -that Gloria had not been isolated from him. She had the ray-gun at all -events, and would not be helpless. Then the door opened again. - -He was released into a cage that seemed already occupied, and one look -told him that his companion was an ape-man. - -"Gloria!" he called. - -"Right here," came the cheerful answer from two cages down. "This is a -swell thing you got me into. How do we get out of here?" - -"Have you got a pin or needle of any kind?" he asked. - -"Why--yes. Turn your back." She did something mysterious among her -feminine garments and held up an open safety-pin for him to see across -the intervening cage. - -"Stick your arm through the bars and see if you can toss it down the -track. If I don't get it, you'll have to blast your way out with the -light-gun, but I don't like to do that. Don't know how many shots it -holds and we need them all." - -She swung with that underarm motion which is the nearest any woman can -achieve to a throw. The pin struck the gleaming car-rail, skidded, -turned and came to rest before Sherman's cage. He reached for it, but -the ape-man in the cage, who had been watching with interested eyes, was -quicker. Fending Sherman off with one huge paw, he reached one of his -feet through the bars for the object and held it up before his eyes -admiringly. - -Sherman grabbed, but this only fixed the ape-man in his evident opinion -that the object he held was of value. He gripped it all the tighter, -turned an amiable face toward Sherman and gibbered. Losing patience at -this unfortunate contretemps when time was so precious, the aviator -lifted an iron foot and kicked him, vigorously and with purpose, in the -place where kicks do the most good. The ape-man pitched forward, -dropping the fascinating pin, then rose and came toward Sherman, his -expression clearly indicating his intention of tearing the American limb -from limb. The cage was narrow: the ape-man the bigger of the two. -Sherman thought hard and fast. The oil-ball! - -He leaped for the lectern, snatched it open, seized the ape-man's -oil-ball and held it aloft as though to throw it out into the corridor. -With a wail of anguish the simian clutched at the precious object. -Sherman squeezed it enough to let a little stream run forth, holding it -just out of his reach, and as he stabbed for it again, tossed it back -into a corner of the cell. The ape-man leaped upon it covetously, and -Sherman bent over the bars, fumbling in his nervous haste to unlock -them. - -Luckily the safety-pin fitted. With a subdued click the bars swung -inward and he was out in the corridor. Another moment and Gloria was -free also. - -"Any more people in here?" Sherman called. Three voices answered and he -hurried from cage to cage, setting them free as the warning blue lights -that prohibited shouting began to flicker around the roof. - -"Come on," he called, "we must get out of here, quick!" - -They hesitated a moment between the two doors, chose that at the upper -end. As they raced through it, they heard a panel clash somewhere. The -Lassans were investigating. - -They were in one of the passages through which the cars ran, with -alternate bars of light and dark across it marking the termination of -side-passages. "Look!" said Gloria. Into the cage-room they had just -quitted a car was coming, its featureless front gliding noiselessly -along the track. "In here," said Sherman, pulling the others after him -down the nearest lighted passage. - -Followed by the other four Sherman followed it steadily along to the -right, where it ended at a door. - -"What now?" said someone. - -"In," decided Gloria. "Likely to be a cage-room as not." - -Sherman searched for the inevitable finger-holes, found them and -pressed. The door swung back on-- - -A Lassan reclining at ease on one of the curious twisted benches beside -which stood a tall jar of the same yellow-flecked green material they -had seen the others devouring. The room was blue-domed but very small, -and its walls were covered with soft green hangings in pendulous drops. -A thought-helmet was on the elephant-man's head; its other end was worn -by one of the mechanical people whose back was to the door as they -entered, and who appeared to be working some kind of machine that -punched little holes of varying shape in a strip of bright metal. - -As the five Americans pressed into the room, the Lassan rose, reached -for his ray-gun, but Gloria pushed the one she held into his face and he -relaxed with a little squeal of terror, while Sherman reached into his -pouch and secured the weapon. - -As he did so the Lassan reached up and snapped loose the thought-helmet; -the metal figure turned round and gazed at them. - -"Marta!" - -"The boy friend!" - - * * * * * - -The Lassan was very old. His skin was almost white and seamed with sets -of diminutive wrinkles, and as he regarded the two mechanical people, -locked in each other's embrace an expression of puzzlement and distaste -came over his features, giving place to one of cool and lofty dignity as -he perceived that Gloria did not mean to kill him on the spot. Lifting -his trunk, he motioned imperiously toward the thought-helmet which Marta -had cast aside, then set the other end of it on his own head. - -To the invading Americans, crowded into the little room, it seemed for a -moment as though they had somehow burst into a temple. Sherman's face -became grave, and following the Lassan's direction, he picked up the -helmet and fitted it on his head. The thought that came through it gave -a feeling of dignity and power such as he had never experienced before; -almost as though it were some god talking. - -"By what right," it demanded, "do you invade the room of scientific -composition? Why are you not in your cages? You know you will receive -the punishment of the yellow lights in the greater degree for this -unauthorized invasion. Save yourself further punishment now by retiring -quietly. You can take my life, it is true, but I am old and my life is -of no value. Think not that I am the only Lassan in the universe." - -"Sorry," Sherman gave him back, "but this is a rebellion. You are not -familiar with the history of this planet, or you would know that -Americans can't be anybody's slaves. Let us go in peace and we will let -you return to your own planet." - -"Let us go!" came the Lassan's answer. "Your obstinate presumption -surprises me. Do you think that the Lassans of Rigel, the highest race -in the universe will let go where they have once grasped?" - -"You will or we'll jolly well make you," replied the American. "Do you -think your silly green globes are going to do you any good? The last -one fell beside us tonight." - -Sherman could sense the sudden wave of panic in the Lassan's thought at -this unexpected answer. He had evidently assumed that they were from the -underground labor battalions and were not familiar with events outside. -But he rallied nobly. - -"And do you imagine, foolish creature of a lower race, that the green -globes are our last resource? Even now I have perfected a device that -will wipe your miserable people from the planet. But if it did not, -rather would we Lassans perish in the flames of a ruined world than -abandon a task once undertaken; we who can mold the plastic flesh to -enduring metal and produce machines that have brains; we who can control -the great substance that underlies all life and matter." - -"Well, here's one task you're going to abandon," Sherman thought back. -"We, who can call lightning from the skies, are going to give you a -terrible sock on the--trunk, if you don't. If you doubt it try and find -how many Lassans live after today's battle. Go on back where you came -from. You're not wanted in this world." - -"You know, or should know, the law of evolution," replied the Lassan. -"The weaker and less intelligent must ever give way before the stronger. -By the divine right of--" his flow of thought stopped suddenly, changed -to a wild tumult of panic. Sherman looked up. Round the rim of the blue -dome, where it stood above the hangings, a string of lights was winking -oddly, in a strange, uneven rhythm. "God of the Lassans, deliver us!" -the thought that reached his own was saying. "The tanks are broken--the -light is loose!" Then suddenly his mind was closed and when it opened -again it had taken on a new calmness and dignity and a certain god-like -strength. - -"I do not know how or where," it told Sherman, "but an accident has -happened. Perhaps an accident produced by your strange and active race. -The connections have broken; the tanks of the substance of life in the -bowels of this mountain have broken and the whole is set free. It is -hard to see the labor of centuries thus destroyed; to see you, creatures -of a lower race, inherit a world so divinely adapted to the rule of -intelligence. - -"For in this accident the whole of our race must perish if you have told -the truth about the destruction of our green globes. We called in all -the Lassans from your world for the work of the destruction of your -armies. Yes, you told the truth. Your mind is open, I can see it. We are -lost.... There is no hope remaining; it means destruction or the metal -metamorphosis for every living Lassan, and there will be none to endow -them with the life in metal we have given you. - -"Perhaps it was our own fault. Your curious race, for all its defects, -has certain qualities of intelligence, and above all that strange -quality of activity and what you call courage. If we could have summoned -up the same activity; if we had possessed the same courage to attack -against odds, this would not have happened. It is our failure that we -have depended too much on naked intellect; learned to do too many things -through the hands of our servants. Had Lassans been at the controls of -our fighting ships, instead of the automatons we used, you would never -have conquered them so easily. - -"Be that as it may. We have lost and you have won. I can show myself -more generous than you would have been, and thus can gain a victory over -you. If you would escape, follow the car-track straight on to where it -forks; then take the left-hand turning. If you would be restored to -your former and imperfect and repulsive form (though I cannot conceive -why you should, being permanently fixed in beautiful and immortal -metal), do not run away, but await the coming of the substance of life -in the outer hall or passage, being careful not to approach it too -closely or to touch it, so that you may receive the emanation only. It -is this emanation, surrounding our space ship that produced your present -form, which we changed to machinery by our surgery; and it so acts on -the metal of which you are composed that it will reverse the case. As -for me I am old and tired; already the walls of this place tremble to -the coming of my doom. Leave me, before I regret what I have told you." - - * * * * * - -He reached his trunk up and disconnected the thought-helmet, and -standing up, with a certain high dignity, pointed to the door. - -Relieved of the helmet Sherman could hear a confused roaring like that -on the day when Marta Lami and he had short-circuited the mining -machine. "Come on," he called to the rest, dropping the helmet. "Hell's -let loose. We've got to hurry." - -Outside the roaring was perceptibly louder and seemed to be approaching. -As they leaped down to the track a faint glow was borne to them redly -along the rail. The ape-men in the cage-room they had escaped from were -howling and beating the bars of their cages, with no blue lights to -forbid them. - -The track was slippery--Marta Lami and the three they had released from -the cage room, unshod. Sherman gripped her by the hand. "Hurry, oh, -hurry," he panted, pulling her along. - -They passed another passage, down which a door stood open. The soft -light that normally illuminated the place was flickering wildly, they -caught a glimpse of three or four Lassans within, stirring wildly, -rushing from place to place, trying this connection and that. The dull -sound behind them increased; the track grew steeper. - -"What about the rest?" gasped Gloria, running by his side. - -"Don't know," he answered. "They did something. The whole place is -coming down." - -As they rounded a corner the track forked before them. Remembering the -Lassan's parting instructions, Sherman led them to the left, passed -another passage mouth, and they found themselves in a small blue-domed -hall, empty save for a single car that stood on the track. There was -just room to squeeze past it where the passage began again at the other -end. And as they made it the roaring sound changed to a series of -explosions, sharp and clear. The ground trembled, seemed to tilt; the -car slid backward into the passage they had just vacated. - -Ten feet, twenty-five feet more--and they were on the platform leading -to the hall of the green globes. Sherman swung himself up, offered a -hand to Marta. In a moment the others were beside them and they were -darting for the door. The ground was trembling again, shock after shock. -Something fell with a crash as they raced across the platform and into -the hall. - -Within, all was confused darkness and a babble of sound. A dodo screamed -somewhere. An ape-man ran past them, gibbering, mad with fright, and -dived to the track. Sherman ran across the hall, followed by Marta and -the three he had released. Gloria halted. - -[Illustration: Behind them something fell with a crash; ape-men ran -gibbering with fright.] - -"Murray!" she cried, "Murray!" and then lifted the light-gun and sent a -pencil of fire screeching to the roof. There was an answering shock as -something tumbled from the ceiling. - -"Murray!" she called again, at the top of her voice. Behind them, -through the platform something fell with a crash and a long red flame -licked through the door, throwing tall shadows and weird lights across -the bedlam within. - -"Here!" came a voice, and Gloria turned to see Murray and Ben running -toward her. - -"Come on," she said, "hurry. The works is busted." - -They made the doorway just as Sherman was pulling Marta up the six-foot -step. Ben and Murray lifted Gloria in their arms, tossed her up. The red -flame in the background had given place to a white one, and a boiling -white mass of something was sending a long tongue creeping across the -floor. - -Willing arms snatched at those of Ben and Murray, pulling them upward to -safety. They turned to run down the tunnel. - -"No!" cried Sherman. "Stick! It's all right. The old bloke told me so." - -There was another explosion and a great white cloud rolled toward them -above the liquid tide. Then they lapsed into unconsciousness. - - * * * * * - -Murray Lee yawned and sat up. - -The others lay around him in curious piled attitudes as though they had -dropped off to sleep in the midst of something. He noted, with a shock -of surprise, that Ben Ruby's face, turned in his direction, was not -metal, but good, honest flesh and blood. He gazed at his own hands. -Flesh and blood likewise. He looked around. - -The hall of the blue dome had vanished. A tangled mass of rock, cemented -in some grey material, was before them, obscure in the darkness. At the -other end was the passage, its ceiling fallen here and there, its sides -caved in. But a stream of light showed that an opening still led to the -outside. - -He bent over and shook Gloria. She came to with a start, looked about -her, and said with an air of surprise, "Oh, have I been asleep? Why, -what's happened to you Murray? You need a shave." Then felt of her own -face and found it smooth again. - -"For Heaven's sake!" she ejaculated. - -The sound brought the rest bolt upright. Sherman looked round at the -others, then at the passage, and smiled with satisfaction. - -"That old Lassan," he remarked, "told me the metal evolution would -reverse if we got the emanation without letting the stuff touch us. -Well, he was a sport." - -"Yes, but--" said Marta Lami, standing up and feeling of herself. "Look -what they did to us. My toes are flexible and my figure bulges in such -queer places. I'll never be able to dance again. Oh, well, I suppose it -doesn't matter--I'll be marrying the boy friend anyway." She took -Sherman's hand and he blushed with embarrassment. - -"Good idea," said Murray Lee and looked hard at Gloria. - -She nodded and turned her head. - -"Ho hum," said Ben Ruby. "The dictator of New York seems to be _de -trop_. How does one get out of here?" - - -THE END - - * * * * * - -[Transcriber's Note: Hyphen variations left as printed.] - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Onslaught from Rigel, by Fletcher Pratt - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ONSLAUGHT FROM RIGEL *** - -***** This file should be named 41049-8.txt or 41049-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/0/4/41049/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan 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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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: The Onslaught from Rigel - -Author: Fletcher Pratt - -Release Date: October 14, 2012 [EBook #41049] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ONSLAUGHT FROM RIGEL *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41049 ***</div> <div class="figcenter"> <img src="images/cover.jpg" alt=""/> @@ -423,7 +387,7 @@ uncomfortably responsible.</p> in the park and look at. Come along. We've got a lot of stairs to go down ... we're too noisy; need a good bath in non-rusting oil."</p> -<p>They reached the street level after an æon of stairs, Ben leading the +<p>They reached the street level after an æon of stairs, Ben leading the way to the corner drug store. All about them was a complete silence; fleecy white clouds sailed across the little ribbon of blue visible at the top of the canyon of the New York city street.</p> @@ -988,7 +952,7 @@ that morning. O'Hara brought in a metallic scrubwoman from one of the downtown buildings, the tines that represented her teeth showing stains of rust where she had incautiously drunk water; Stevens turned up with a slow-voiced young man who proved to be Georgios Pappagourdas, the -attaché of the Greek consulate whose name had been in the papers in +attaché of the Greek consulate whose name had been in the papers in connection with a sensational divorce case; and Mrs. Roberts came in with two men, one of them J. Sterling Vanderschoof, president of the steamship lines which bore his name.</p> @@ -1409,7 +1373,7 @@ They've got the Greek."</p> girl here can."</p> <p>The "little girl" lifted her head. She had recovered. "What did we come -to this joint for, anyhow?" she asked. "To hang crêpe on the +to this joint for, anyhow?" she asked. "To hang crêpe on the chandeliers?"</p> <p>The words had the effect of an electric shock.</p> @@ -2292,7 +2256,7 @@ February fifteenth by American time. Even in our country, which is around on the other side of the earth, it caused a good deal of damage. The gases it set free put everybody to sleep and caused a lot of wreckage. Our scientists say the gases of the comet in some unexplained -way altered the iron in the hæmoglobin of our blood to cobalt. It seems +way altered the iron in the hæmoglobin of our blood to cobalt. It seems to work just as well, but that's why we're all blue. I don't quite understand it myself, but you know how these medical Johnnies are. Now what happened to you people?"</p> @@ -8045,381 +8009,6 @@ trop</i>. How does one get out of here?"</p> <p>[Transcriber's Note: Hyphen variations left as printed.]</p> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Onslaught from Rigel, by Fletcher Pratt - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ONSLAUGHT FROM RIGEL *** - -***** This file should be named 41049-h.htm or 41049-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/0/4/41049/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan 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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