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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..428fe76 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #64817 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64817) diff --git a/old/64817-0.txt b/old/64817-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8700be5..0000000 --- a/old/64817-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1204 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Lunar Station, by Harl Vincent - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Lunar Station - -Author: Harl Vincent - -Release Date: March 14, 2021 [eBook #64817] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUNAR STATION *** - - - - LUNAR STATION - - by HARL VINCENT - - _A Story of the "Other Side" of the - Moon by a master of science-fiction_ - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Comet January 41. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -Bill Bonwitt, the young chief engineer at the mercury mines that bored -into the surface of Earth's moon at the crater Tycho, knew something -was wrong. His hob-nailed boots beat a swift tattoo on the metal steps -as he quick-footed down to the radio room. - -"Crane!" he yelled to the operator. "Have you felt it?" - -His friend grinned up from the ethertype machine. There came a -quivering of the floor, then a prolonged but diminishing vibration. "I -felt it, sure. That was the transport, blasting away from Tycho, is -all. What's wrong with you--jitters?" - -"Nuts, Crane; it wasn't the ship. _We're_ moving; the moon's on a -rampage. Earth's gone cockeyed overhead. I've seen it, felt it." - -"Wha-a-at!" Crane's grin froze. He slanted his sorrel-topped head. -"Damned if I don't think you've got something there," he conceded after -a moment. "I feel it, too; sort of a swing and sway." - -The operator attacked his keyboard. Tape chattered through the -transmitter wildly. "Asking New York to check with Mount Palomar," he -explained soberly. Val Crane's freckles emerged from their camouflage -as his cheeks paled. The moon had gone haywire. - -"Come up above," urged Bonwitt. "In the dome you can see--" - -"Right," Crane approved, switching off his transmitter as the tape -snipped out, his message completed. - -The beryllium steps resounded again as two pairs of heavy Lunar boots -clattered upward. Black velvet of the heavens loomed above the blacker -braces of the crystal dome breaking the scene into an intricate -network. Earth, a huge ball overhead, was swinging across space, when -it should have been stationary. - -"Cripes!" swore Crane. "What the--" - -Luna quaked mightily and Earth slowly swung back to normal with a snap -that jarred their insides almost loose. - -Stunned, breathless, they ducked as the _Atomic I_ blazed away from -the base of Tycho's rim, her twin jets spouting trails of blazing -magnificence in a double arcing trail earthward. A dazzling sight under -ordinary circumstances, inconsequential now. - -A furious chattering of the ethertype below sent them to the room of -the radio with more echoing thumpings. - -Crane grabbed the tape, reading aloud as it fluttered through his -trembling fingers. "Mount Palomar reports Luna shifted three and one -half degrees eastward from normal by unaccountable rotation on her -axis, returning suddenly to original position. More later from here. -Keep us advised of any further developments there. Atomic, N.Y." - -"Three and a half degrees!" gasped Bonwitt. "Sixty-six surface miles in -as many seconds." - -Sounds of distress wafted up from still further down in the workings. A -metallic crash. Shouts. Bonwitt started down toward the machine shop as -Crane hunched once more over his ticker. - -A new drill press, not yet bolted down, had toppled and pinned one of -the mechanics to the floor. The man was unconscious; his fellow workers -were heaving sweatily to free him. Peterson, the new super of the -mines, looked on, bellowing, purpled. He leered at Bill Bonwitt. - -"What the hell happened?" he demanded. "Where were you?" - -Bonwitt flared up; he didn't like Peterson. "I'm off duty," he snapped. -"Besides, nothing could be done. All that happened is the moon shifted -a little on its axis and came back." - -"I'll say it shifted! A mile of Tycho's rim caved in just past our -workings. And you in the dome!" A sneer twisted the super's thin lips. -He was looking for trouble. - -Bonwitt bristled anew but curbed his wrath, shrugging it all off. - -"No damage, was there?" he inquired mildly. "No air leaks?" He moved -nonchalantly to where they were helping the victim of the accident. - -Peterson followed, watching as they pulled the man out and laid him on -a bench. Bonwitt examined the injured man swiftly. - -"No broken bones," he proclaimed tersely. "Take him to Doc Tonge. He'll -fix him up in a jif." - -The fellow, tawny of skin, a runt of unguessable age and origin, gasped -and opened his eyes. They fixed, glass-hard, on Peterson. - -"Ficora!" he shrieked. "Jombalo!" He slipped again into coma. - -Bonwitt wheeled but Peterson had gone. Queer! Andy Pauchek was the -victim's name on the payroll. A mystery to the rest in the place. No -friends; apparently no antecedents. But it was sure he had known the -new super before and held something against him. Hated him. - -Bonwitt climbed the stair to consult with Crane. - - * * * * * - -The ethertype told them little they did not know. A few Lunar crags and -spires had toppled; crater rims had crumpled. But Earth astronomers had -no explanation and were themselves mystified. New York headquarters of -Atomic Power didn't care as long as their workings weren't wrecked. So -that was that. Crane was disgusted. - -Bonwitt told him about Peterson. - -"Screwy," the ethertype man agreed. "Couple of times he's wanted to -sneak out messages in private code. 'Can't do; regulations,' says I." -Bonwitt chuckled mirthlessly. "Where'd he want to ethertype?" - -"Another odd thing; I don't know." - -"What do you mean, you don't know? No address?" - -"Just an off-wave call number. X2273--not listed." Crane yawned. - -"The crook!" exploded the young Chief. "Got to snag him." - -"I've been trying to. Thought you'd get wise soon, Bill." - -Bonwitt frowned. "No copies of his messages?" - -"Naturally not." Crane lowered his voice. "He got them through." - -Amazed, the engineer asked: "How?" - -"Gates." Gates was the relief operator at the ethertype. - -"Lord! Maybe you're right." - -"Sh-h!" Crane warned. "Gates is due any minute." - -"So what's any of this to do with Luna going haywire?" asked Bill -thoughtfully. "If I thought--" - -"Let's talk about it tomorrow," whispered Crane as footsteps neared. - -Gates came in, sleepy-eyed, sullen. He ignored them both. - -"Going to turn in," Crane winked at Bonwitt. "Sleepy. Bye." - -"Me, too," grinned the engineer. - -But he went up to the dome and mulled things over for hours. - - * * * * * - -Bonwitt couldn't connect the moon's eccentric behavior with Peterson's. -But something was up. If personal, okay; if against Atomic Power, -something else again. Looking out first over the moon's broken desolate -surface, then up at the bright orb of Earth, the engineer tried to -rationalize things. - -It couldn't be against Atomic. Mercury is something you just can't -steal. It's heavy. Atomic is the only big market for it. You can't make -big-time power on Earth without mercury, and Atomic has the monopoly. -You have to have a fleet of space ships to transport it--and a market. - -No; something bigger was involved; something simpler. - -Peterson. What was he up to? He had long been a trusted man in various -departments of Atomic. Where did Gates fit? The engineer began thinking -over his own ten years with the Company. - -Three years on Luna. Rotten. But you have to mine mercury for the -terrestrial power plants. The moon was the only place. Lucky for -Earth, in 2012, when mercury deposits petered out in Rhodesia, the -first rocket to the moon found that Luna's rays were mostly of purest -hydrargyrum. Pure metallic mercury, frozen solid in the long Lunar -night, liquid in the equally long day. - -And, fortunate for Atomic Power, World Government had granted them -exclusive rights to its mining. - -But you couldn't fit Peterson into any of this. What could he do to the -immensely influential Atomic Corporation? Or to Luna? Bill Bonwitt gave -it up and went to bed. It was just midnight (Lunar) and only fourteen -more days until sunup. Dozing off comfortably, Bonwitt wished he could -sleep that long. - - * * * * * - -The ethertype man awakened him a few hours later. "Wake up, Chief," he -husked, shaking, his teeth a-chatter. - -Blinking, Bonwitt sat up. "What the hell? What time is it?" - -He was climbing into his clothes in a mental hangover of dreams. - -"Six. It'd be daylight back home. That mechanic, Pauchek, is dead. -Knife in his throat. Peterson's gone. So's Gates." - -Now Bonwitt was thoroughly awake. "So!" he grunted, tying his last -lace. "We go hunting." - -"Right." Crane looked out at the bleak lunar landscape through -Bonwitt's dome. Earthlit, that landscape. Cold. Airless. - -Bonwitt shivered, looking over at Peterson's dome across the long -transverse passage of the workings. "Where the hell are they?" he asked. - -Crane said suddenly: "Look, Chief. See what I see? Two shadows out by -the crater wall? Moving." - -"I do--so help me! Space-suits, both of them. What--?" - -The earthlight on Luna, thirteen times that of moonlight on the earth, -showed up the men clearly. One was carrying a tripod. This he set up in -a moment, swung a tube on its tip skyward--earthward. The tube began -spouting vivid white flame in spurts. - -"Code!" shouted Crane. "Continental. But in those five-letter -combinations. They're signalling eastern Asia!" - -"Come on," husked Bonwitt. "We're going to search Peterson's hangout." -They scudded to the other dome. - - * * * * * - -Crane stood guard while Bonwitt searched with a flash. Outside, the -signalling continued interminably. The engineer found nothing. - -"They're starting back," Crane warned. - -But they weren't heading here; those space-suited figures sped in the -direction of the air-locked hangars of the small lunar ships. - -"After them!" gritted Bonwitt. "This is the pay-off." - -He and Crane whirlwinded through refinery and undersurface tubes to the -hangar. Got there just as the inner seal was opening. They crouched in -the shadow of a local ship. A space-suited figure parked the signalling -instrument and yanked off its flexglass helmet. Gates, Peterson, too, -removed his helmet. - -"Now for the other side," rasped the super, diving toward one of the -smooth-hulled local ships. "This the one?" - -"Yes. She's all set." - -"Good." Peterson climbed through the entrance port. - -Both men were inside and the port closed behind them. - -"Come on, Crane," whispered the engineer. - -They took the ship that had hidden them in its shadows. Bonwitt knew -these little skimmers. Their control was simple, their gravity -propulsion just the ticket here where the down-pull was only a sixth of -Terra's. - -"Damn!" growled Bill. "They've five minutes' start. We have to wait -till they're through the lock." - -Crane said confidently: "We'll snatch 'em." - -The other ship taxied to the airlock and was quickly inside. The inner -door swung home. The wait seemed interminable. - -Then the inner door swung back. Bonwitt juggled the magnetic remote -control. They were inside. Through. And, in a moment, on the airless -surface of Luna. Above, high over Tycho's vast wall, was the gleaming, -torpedo-shaped hull of the super's ship. Bill went hot after it, more -than ever puzzled as to what was going on. - -The other side, Peterson had said. That would mean the opposite side of -Luna--never seen from Earth. - - * * * * * - -Directly toward Luna's south pole and flying high, went Peterson's -ship. Bonwitt drove after him. At this speed they'd soon pass the -terminator and be in sunlight. - -"No sense to any of it," Crane was saying. "Nothing much different on -the other side than this side. What can they do around here?" - -"So says me," agreed Bonwitt. "Anyway--a hope--we'll learn." - -"There's the terminator ahead," chirped Crane. "Sun glasses!" - -Dark lenses were quickly donned. Tall peaks ahead burst into blazing -pinpoints, their blinding splendor deepening the shadows beyond the -on-rushing terminator to Stygian inkiness. Dazzling white crawled down -the nearing spires and suddenly the sun's corona smote them like a blow -with its glory. Abruptly they were in vivid sunlight. - -Peterson's ship still sped on before them. One hour; two; three. - -Crane chuckled: "Hell to pay if N.Y. is trying to raise Gates." - -"He's through," Bonwitt returned easily. "Fired; I'll bet." - -"Me, too. But, sa-ay! Look at that!" Crane flung up his arms against a -glare that blazed suddenly through the forward ports. - -Directly ahead was a broad flat crater that shimmered in the sun's -unobscured rays like a gigantic mirror of polished silver. - -"Mercury!" gasped Bonwitt. "A lake of mercury ten miles across. No -one's ever reported _that_." - -"I'll bet Peterson knew about it. Look, he's circling." - -It was so. The engineer flung his little ship off toward the east to -avoid detection. They speeded out of the sun's reflection from that -lake of mercury. Its unrippled surface rose rapidly off starboard and -was blotted out by the crater wall that enclosed it. - -Then the leading ship had landed. Bonwitt maneuvered to land in the -shadow of a huge boulder. Clambering into their space-suits, they -jumped the twelve feet to the powdery footing underneath. As easily as -they'd have dropped two feet in earth gravity. - -Space-suited likewise, Peterson and Gates ducked into the dark opening -of a cavern mouth. Bonwitt and Crane sneaked after them. Inside the -cave entrance was instant, utter blackness. - -"Crane, where are you?" the engineer asked softly. For reply there came -a crash as of the pinnacle of Proclus toppling on his helmet and a -swirling burst of stars such as had never graced the firmament. - -After that, Bonwitt slipped into blackness. - - * * * * * - -He awoke with splitting head and a red film before his eyes. Two -blurred figures were bending over him. He examined an egg-sized bump -on his head with languidly exploring fingers. His helmet was off. The -figures were those of Crane and Peterson. Damn! Bonwitt sat up jerkily -and the effort set his head swimming and throbbing. - -The super was grinning his sardonic grin; Crane was grimacing a -warning. "They've got us, old man," he said. "Might as well make the -best of it. Here, let me help you up." - -With his aid, the engineer rose up and stood groggily swaying. -Peterson, legs wide, bristly brows close, sneered at the big Earthman. - -"What'd you hit me with, a tractor? Or was it a meteor that fell?" -grunted Bonwitt, gingerly fingering the lump on his head. - -Peterson's sneer relaxed. "Now you're using sense," he approved. "If -you'da come up fighting it'da been just too bad for you." - -The engineer spied a curiously shaped weapon in Peterson's belt. -Entirely unfamiliar but looking mighty dangerous with its ugly flaring -snout and the cooling discs along its stubby barrel. - -"All right," said the super. "Your side-kick'll tell you more about -things here. Play ball and you're okay. We may even find jobs for the -two of you. But no monkey business." - -The man turned on his heel and disappeared through the arched door. -Bonwitt saw they were in a circular chamber lined with bluish metal. -His gray eyes questioned Crane. - -"They jumped me and tied me in a knot," the ethertype man explained. -"Gates slammed you down, the rat!" - -"How long was I out?" - -"An hour or so. And you won't believe what you see here. Can you walk -now?" - -Bonwitt took an experimental step. "Sure." - -"Come on then." Crane started for the doorway. - -"We're not locked up? Not guarded?" - -"No, but prisoners all the same. In the damndest place. Wait." - -They came out on a balcony that limned a seemingly bottomless pit -with a huge vertical shaft that dropped centrally from high above and -vanished in the depths below. - -"What in hell is it?" demanded Bonwitt. - -"You haven't seen anything yet." Crane moved to the cage of a lift. - -"Cripes! An elevator on the moon!" None of it made sense to Bill -Bonwitt. - -"We sure stumbled into something, Chief," agreed Crane. - -As they dropped sickeningly in the cage, the engineer saw that the -controls of the automatic elevator were of craftsmanship like none he -had ever seen. - - * * * * * - -Crane said: "I don't understand it, either. They didn't tell me much, -but kept me with them till Gates had landed below. I saw enough to -scare the devil out of me, though." - -"Why do you suppose they didn't knock us off like they did Andy -Pauchek?" wondered Bonwitt. - -"They want us to join up with them. At least Peterson does. Gates would -cut our throats in a minute." - -"M-mm. He's tough. Let's see; he came on the job a month before -Peterson, didn't he?" - -"Right, Chief. And they were thick as thieves from the start." - -"Don't we ever reach the bottom?" asked Bonwitt impatiently. - -"It's a long way down but we're nearly there." Crane puckered his sandy -brows. "Nobody can make cables that long," he opined. - -Bonwitt examined the controls again. "It's a gravity lift," he decided. -"Nothing like it on Earth. Suppose Peterson's found an underground -civilization here?" - -The ethertype man grinned. "I knew you'd get it. Peterson told me or -I'd never have guessed. Until I saw the damn creatures." - -"You did see them?" - -"Hundreds. They're queer--like Pauchek." - -"So-o. That explains a lot. Peterson's been here before, often. I still -don't get it about Pauchek, though." - -The lift slowed down and stopped. Crane led the way out onto a second -balcony, a gigantic sweeping curve of it. - -They were in a vast hollowed-out space. An inner world within the -moon! Damply warm and redolent of life. Its vastness stretched off into -the distance, beyond sight. Most amazing was its source of light, an -enormous green-white globe that loomed in the near distance. A cold but -luminous sun within the moon! - -"It's real," chuckled Crane, watching Bonwitt. - -Below them was a wider balcony, a ledge on which were ordered rows of -great machines with naked little brown men scurrying in their midst. - -To the right was the great grandad of all of those machines, a huge -drum-like affair with tapered helices at crazy angles and with the big -steel shaft they'd seen up above projecting from its vertical upper -bearing and vanishing through the bore in the rock overhead. - -"Lord!" gasped Bonwitt. "A motor! What can it drive?" - -"You'll soon learn," said an oily voice at his shoulder. - -The engineer wheeled to stare into Peterson's close-set, glittering -eyes. Gates, saturnine, contemptuous, was with him. - - * * * * * - -"You go to Don Peel right away," the super told Bonwitt. "Crane goes -with Gates. To see our ethertype." - -"But--" Crane started to object. - -"You'll go with Gates." Peterson fingered his strange weapon. - -The two ethertype operators disappeared into a passage mouth. - -"Who's Don Peel?" asked Bonwitt. - -"The king--Gosak, they call him--a simpleton whom I've taught a little -English. He's in the palm of my hand, though I handle him with gloves. -I want you to play up to him." - -"Suppose I don't. Suppose I warn him?" - -"You won't." Peterson carelessly sighted his curious weapon on a -rock ledge in the passageway. The thing bucked to a screaming hiss -that belched from its snout. No more than that, but the rock spurted -incandescence and puffed out of existence. "No, you won't shoot your -mouth off, Bonwitt." - -"What's the idea?" growled the engineer. "What're you up to?" - -"All in good time, my boy. Here we are; remember what I said." - -They entered a small, softly lighted room. Two wizened, breech-clouted -men bowed to the super and he jabbered unintelligible words. An inner -door opened and the two Earthmen went through. - -"Bonji, Don Peel. Bonji, Gosak," the super mouthed, spreading his pudgy -hands and salaaming before a turbaned brown man squatted in the center -of a waist-high circular table that surrounded him. - -"Bonji," this one replied gravely. "This new helper?" - -"Yes, Don, this is Bonwitt. Crane's with Gates." - -The little brown man looked out keenly from under overhanging brows, -eyes gleaming like a cobra's. "You sure we can trust?" - -Peterson nodded with assurance. - -Don Peel bared momentarily a mouthful of yellow fangs between lips that -writhed hideously. Bonwitt's stomach went sick. - -"Good; you fix." The Gosak dismissed them with a scrawny hand. - - * * * * * - -"Had to do that," the erstwhile super explained in the outer passage, -"to keep him happy. Or his men'd be taking pot shots at you." - -"That would be nice. They probably will anyway." - -"No, no. Everything's hunky-dory now, so long as you co-operate. We go -to my hangout now and I'll give you the dope." - -So cocksure was the man that Bonwitt's ire rose dangerously. He -controlled himself with an effort. He'd have to find out what was what, -pretend compliance with any plan, and--wait. - -Peterson's hangout, as he had termed it, was a drafting room and -office combined. The desk and drawing table were of curious Lunar -construction. There were a few chairs and a filing cabinet. Maps and -drawings on the walls. Maps of Earth and Luna; drawings of queer -machines and structures. One was a cross-section of the moon as Bonwitt -was beginning to know it existed. The core, the inner sun, was not -central, he saw. - -"Look, Bill." Peterson poked a thick finger at this drawing. "Here's -where we are; four hundred miles under the crater called Nemesis." - -"Four hundred--" Bonwitt gaped, seeing the vertical shaft on the -drawing, piercing its way upward through tunnel and many bearings to -the surface, "--impossible!" - -"So I thought in the beginning. But much is possible here. That shaft, -for instance. The Selenites have its weight almost completely nullified -with anti-gravity forces. They know something, the devils." - -"But the sun, or whatever it is, isn't pictured central. In fact, it -seems to contact one side of the moon's central cavity." - -"Naturally. That's why the same face of Luna is always towards Earth; -it's on the heavy side, of course. Here, sit down, Bill." - -Peterson indicated a chair, which Bonwitt took. "And," continued the -ex-super, "that sun, as you call it and as it properly is, can be -shifted from normal position. That's what was done last night; that's -why Luna shifted on her axis. A test. I knew, of course, but pretended -ignorance back on the other side. Now you're in it, I can tell you. - -"The brown men are native to the moon but not to our solar system. -Their ancestors inhabited the body's surface when it had an atmosphere -and was warm in the light of a distant sun. They burrowed when they -learned their planet was to be hurled into space by a cataclysm which -was to break up its solar system. And when, in the distant past, their -world was captured by ours as a satellite, they had to remain beneath -the surface. They burrowed deeper, found this inner realm, this world -within a world. The inner sun then was still quite hot; it yet holds -nearly enough heat for their comfort and sustenance. - -"Through countless ages, this race has been dissatisfied. They wanted -to live outside as did their forbears, but could only go to the surface -in space-suits. They began planning a migration to Earth. The huge -motor, the shaft, the crater, are the results. The means." - -"To migrate?" Bonwitt was incredulous. - -"Yes." - -"Peaceful, or warlike, this migration?" - -"They plan peace if possible, war if necessary." - -"And you--where do you fit in? Are you one of these guys who wants to -save our world?" - -"Stop it; stop it--until you know. You see, the mercury-filled crater -above is to become a great mirror for reflecting sunlight earthward. -Along the resultant light beam the Selenites plan to travel in cars -which are propelled in concentrated photon streams--" - -"_Wait_ a minute," the engineer interrupted. "The crater faces away -from Earth." - -Peterson grinned anew. "Now it does, yes. But the moon will be turned -around until it faces Earth." - -"Turned a-_round_!" - -"Just that. That's the why of last night's test. The sun inside here is -to be shifted by projected forces until the center of gravity of the -moon's total mass is at the proper focus. Then the shell turns over -until the crater Gates called Nemesis is in the right position. By -now the motor spins the mercury until centrifugal force reverses the -natural convexity and the ten mile vat of mercury becomes a big concave -mirror. - -"The reflected light beam can be narrowed down to any desired size by -changing the concavity--altering the motor speed. Just by shifting -Luna's inner sun." - -"Why," gasped Bonwitt, "if all the sun's heat over a ten mile diameter -mirror were focussed on a spot say one mile in diameter on our Earth, -one hundred times normal sun energy would be concentrated in this area. -Anything would be instantly consumed." - -"You've hit the nail on the head," said Peterson. "_One_ nail. That's -Gates's nail, which I intend to pull out. But the Lunarians plan only -to make a plane mirror of the mercury crater, which would not overheat -anything on Earth but only provide a lane through which their photon -cars can pass. They believe they can effect a peaceful colonization." - -"What do you mean, Gates's nail?" Bonwitt's lips set grimly. - -"World conquest! Worse--revenge. He intends to blast all big cities to -ruin, then resume the dictatorship that was once his father's." - -"His father's?" Memory came to the young engineer of history. -Establishment of the World Government in 1975. Exiling a man who had -set himself up as World Dictator. Yes, his name had been Gates. He -had died in Siberia. And _this_ Gates was the son--explaining the -signalling to Earth. A party of adherents waited there for a millennium -or something. "But _you_ helped with his signals," Bonwitt accused. - -"I did," grinned the older man, "to keep this screwball's gang together -where I can blast _them_ out of existence as soon as I get Gates. Gates -discovered inner Luna and, the fool, told me about it. Played right -into my hands." - -Bonwitt shuddered. Here was a double-crosser of the first water. "How -do you plan to upset the beans and where do you profit yourself?" he -asked. - -"I'll kill off the Selenites--there's only a million or so--with a -supersonic generator Gates developed. Their brains are susceptible to a -certain vibration rate; they'll die like flies. And Gates won't be here -to interfere. There'll be no more Selenites; _I'll_ dictate to Earth. -I'll blast some forests and a couple of villages to show them I can do -it. Perfect, isn't it?" - -The engineer stared. Peterson was a madman, a wholesale killer at -heart--worse. "What would be your terms?" Bonwitt asked steadily. - -"Not harsh. I don't want to be a dictator nor to destroy cities. I -hate politics and war both. But I'll control Earth just the same--with -wealth and power. I'll demand personal title to the moon and to -Atomic's two space ships. To the larger ship for distant planet -exploration now under construction as well. Also a billion dollars in -gold delivered to me here on Luna. With these advantages, I can do -anything I want to. Care to join me or not?" - -Mad, totally mad, this scheme of Peterson's. But just mad enough to -come near succeeding unless he were stopped. The world would, in panic, -concede anything if ever he should get as far as turning over the moon -and burning forests and villages. For that matter, his madness might -then flare up to the point of wreaking wholesale destruction as Gates -proposed and intended. Bonwitt would have to play for time. - -"Sure, I'll join up," he lied. "Who wouldn't?" - - * * * * * - -Peterson smiled paternally. "Right; who wouldn't? And once I get -control, see how many more will join up. Beats working for Atomic, -doesn't it?" - -Bonwitt nodded dully. Fantastic as the thing was, the engineer -recognized the danger to Crane and himself. The world could take -care of itself. But the Selenites? Here were Gates and Peterson both -plotting their destruction. For all Bonwitt knew, Gates might be -planning the same thing against Peterson. If either won out it would be -bad for a certain engineer and an ethertype man. Maybe-- - -"I'd like to see your ethertype myself," he told Peterson. "It's the -one you used to communicate with Peel from the workings, isn't it?" - -"Huh? How'd you know that?" The super tensed suspiciously, then -relaxed. "Oh, Crane guessed, I suppose. Sure, you can see it. Follow -me." - -When they reached the ethertype room, it was to see Gates, wild of eye -and disheveled of clothing, standing over Crane with one of the odd -pistols in his hand. Crane's head was missing--blasted away. With a -screech of pure animal fury, Bonwitt dived at the killer. Off guard, -the big ethertype man went down and his pistol clattered into a corner. -But he was up in a flash and the engineer was in for a battle. - -He ducked too late and took a right to his temple that set him spinning -and seeing stars. A left cross spun him back and, by enraging him, -cleared his head. He clinched to get breath, then flung the big radio -man off and drove him against the table. Gates staggered and hung -on under a rain of body blows, rallied to come back with a left and -a right that both jolted Bonwitt's jaw. Then he was tearing at the -engineer's eyes with clawed fingers, bearing him to the floor. - -So it was to be that kind of fighting! Bonwitt heaved up and got a full -Nelson on his wriggling foe that nearly snapped his spine. He downed -Gates, panting, cursing between his teeth. He could see Crane's poor -headless body sprawled there. The sight robbed him of all knowledge of -what he was doing and he did not return to normal until the voice of -Peterson halted him. Only then did he realize that he had been banging -Gates's head against the metal floor with all the force of a pounding -sledge. - -"He's dead," gloated Peterson. "Save your strength." - -Bonwitt saw that it was true. His antagonist's skull was a thing -squashed, unrecognizable. Sick at the stomach, he reeled to his feet. - -Peterson stood regarding him with a cryptic smile, a pistol in either -hand, his own and Gates's. "Good work," he approved. "Saved me trouble. -But we'll have to get rid of the bodies. Have to tell Peel I've sent -the two to the workings temporarily." - -He eyed the panting engineer sharply and was apparently satisfied, for -he thrust the two pistols in his belt. But he wasn't taking any chances -with the powerful and alert Bonwitt; he'd been quick to snatch that -second pistol out of reach during the fight. - - * * * * * - -The succeeding days were nightmares of uncertainty to Bonwitt. Under -Peterson's eye constantly, no way of getting the upper hand over the -man occurred to him. And, could he have done that, he'd still have the -Selenites to account to. Besides, even if he could remove Peterson and -get himself away, there was little time left in which to do it. It was -self-preservation now. - -The big geared down motor was already starting to churn the mercury in -the crater above into rotation. Its starting torque must be terrific -to get that huge mass of metal in motion. Even to think of so enormous -a disc, liquid or solid, in rotation was staggering; the speed must -be not in revolutions per minute but a fraction of one turn in that -terrestrial measure of time. For, even at one revolution per minute, -the peripheral speed of the mass would be 31.416 miles a minute. Not -only an impossible figure but far in excess of that needed. - -Time fled on wings. Bonwitt did his best to locate the supersonic wave -generator. If he could find this and warn Peel he might circumvent -Peterson and perhaps earn from the brown men a gratitude that would -pave the way for Earth's acceptance of them as colonists. - -The more he contacted them the more he liked the little brown folk and -the more he sympathized with their wish to get to the good green Earth. -Essentially harmless, they were most admirable in their manner of -living and considerate in their relations one to the other. - -Undoubtedly, New York had long since known of the absence of four -important men from the Lunar workings. By now, quite likely, they had -sent over one of the transports to learn what was wrong. But nothing -could be done from there; they didn't even know of inner Luna. - -Bonwitt's nerves drew tautly near the breaking point. Peterson was -waiting until the last minute to loose his supersonic vibrations on the -unsuspecting brown folk. He'd have to wait till the moon had turned -over and the beam of reflected sunlight was directed earthward. For the -huge machines necessary to these important preliminaries needed many -men in their operation. After that, these men could be dispensed with. -One man could operate the final controls; one could blast out an entire -city if he wished; one could operate the ethertype and make terms. Two -were better; perhaps that was why Bonwitt was still alive. - -All too quickly came the day. Huge machines hummed and groaned. The -great gelid sun began to roll slowly over the inner surface of the -satellite. The outer shell of the moon started rotating. Luna was -turning over. The great mirror of liquid metal above was revolving at -precisely the speed to produce a plane surface, astronomically plane. - -Peel was at the final control with Peterson beside him, watching the -viewing plate. Bonwitt was there, too. Peel's customary two guards.... -The engineer hadn't had time to find the supersonic wave generator. -How could Peterson get away to activate it? Bill's eyes dropped -accidentally to the man's feet, one of which was edging toward the base -of the control pedestal. A hidden button was there; this wholesale -murder was to be accomplished by remote control! - -On the vision plate, Earth swung into view. The hitherto unseen side -of the moon was facing it. What a furore must be upsetting both -amateur and professional astronomers at home! Only a thin crescent was -Earth now, with a vast dim area lighted only by moonlight from here. - -Soon there'd be a brilliant circle up there, a circle ten miles in -diameter, sharp against the near-blackness. And, if Peterson won, it -would close in gradually until there would be a searing, blazing speck -consuming everything within its one mile circle. Not if Bonwitt could -stop it. The super's foot, he saw, was nearing the secret button. - -The sense of swaying motion ceased; the moon once more was still, -ominously so. Earth rushed forward in the viewplate as the -magnification of the radio telescope was multiplied. Peel depressed -a lever and, in slightly more than a second of time, there flashed -a circle of sunlight that enclosed nighttime New York City and its -environs. What a panic this must be starting! Peterson's foot moved -suddenly. In the same instant, Bonwitt flung himself upon him, slamming -him to the floor. - -[Illustration: _Peterson's foot slipped suddenly. In the same instant -Bonwitt flung forward, slamming him to the floor._] - -"Peel! Peel!" he yelped, fighting to keep the maniac's hands from his -pistols. "He'll kill you all. Believe me, Peel!" - -Then, amazingly, there was the screaming hiss of a lunar weapon. -Peterson's head exploded almost in his face with brilliant -pyrotechnics. Peel had killed the man and was standing there grinning -in a most friendly manner, pistol holstered, waiting for the engineer -to rise. - -"Thanks, good friend," Peel was saying. "We knew he traitor but not -find machine. Pauchek learn some but not know all. _You_ fix." - -That explained the incident of the unfortunate machinist. Bonwitt could -only goggle at the Gosak of inner Luna as he rose to face him. - -"You fix," repeated the little brown ruler. "You keep my people safe. -Now we ready to talk your people. We go help they. They help we. Not?" - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUNAR STATION *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Lunar Station</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Harl Vincent</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: March 14, 2021 [eBook #64817]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUNAR STATION ***</div> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>LUNAR STATION</h1> - -<h2>by HARL VINCENT</h2> - -<p><i>A Story of the "Other Side" of the<br /> -Moon by a master of science-fiction</i></p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Comet January 41.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Bill Bonwitt, the young chief engineer at the mercury mines that bored -into the surface of Earth's moon at the crater Tycho, knew something -was wrong. His hob-nailed boots beat a swift tattoo on the metal steps -as he quick-footed down to the radio room.</p> - -<p>"Crane!" he yelled to the operator. "Have you felt it?"</p> - -<p>His friend grinned up from the ethertype machine. There came a -quivering of the floor, then a prolonged but diminishing vibration. "I -felt it, sure. That was the transport, blasting away from Tycho, is -all. What's wrong with you—jitters?"</p> - -<p>"Nuts, Crane; it wasn't the ship. <i>We're</i> moving; the moon's on a -rampage. Earth's gone cockeyed overhead. I've seen it, felt it."</p> - -<p>"Wha-a-at!" Crane's grin froze. He slanted his sorrel-topped head. -"Damned if I don't think you've got something there," he conceded after -a moment. "I feel it, too; sort of a swing and sway."</p> - -<p>The operator attacked his keyboard. Tape chattered through the -transmitter wildly. "Asking New York to check with Mount Palomar," he -explained soberly. Val Crane's freckles emerged from their camouflage -as his cheeks paled. The moon had gone haywire.</p> - -<p>"Come up above," urged Bonwitt. "In the dome you can see—"</p> - -<p>"Right," Crane approved, switching off his transmitter as the tape -snipped out, his message completed.</p> - -<p>The beryllium steps resounded again as two pairs of heavy Lunar boots -clattered upward. Black velvet of the heavens loomed above the blacker -braces of the crystal dome breaking the scene into an intricate -network. Earth, a huge ball overhead, was swinging across space, when -it should have been stationary.</p> - -<p>"Cripes!" swore Crane. "What the—"</p> - -<p>Luna quaked mightily and Earth slowly swung back to normal with a snap -that jarred their insides almost loose.</p> - -<p>Stunned, breathless, they ducked as the <i>Atomic I</i> blazed away from -the base of Tycho's rim, her twin jets spouting trails of blazing -magnificence in a double arcing trail earthward. A dazzling sight under -ordinary circumstances, inconsequential now.</p> - -<p>A furious chattering of the ethertype below sent them to the room of -the radio with more echoing thumpings.</p> - -<p>Crane grabbed the tape, reading aloud as it fluttered through his -trembling fingers. "Mount Palomar reports Luna shifted three and one -half degrees eastward from normal by unaccountable rotation on her -axis, returning suddenly to original position. More later from here. -Keep us advised of any further developments there. Atomic, N.Y."</p> - -<p>"Three and a half degrees!" gasped Bonwitt. "Sixty-six surface miles in -as many seconds."</p> - -<p>Sounds of distress wafted up from still further down in the workings. A -metallic crash. Shouts. Bonwitt started down toward the machine shop as -Crane hunched once more over his ticker.</p> - -<p>A new drill press, not yet bolted down, had toppled and pinned one of -the mechanics to the floor. The man was unconscious; his fellow workers -were heaving sweatily to free him. Peterson, the new super of the -mines, looked on, bellowing, purpled. He leered at Bill Bonwitt.</p> - -<p>"What the hell happened?" he demanded. "Where were you?"</p> - -<p>Bonwitt flared up; he didn't like Peterson. "I'm off duty," he snapped. -"Besides, nothing could be done. All that happened is the moon shifted -a little on its axis and came back."</p> - -<p>"I'll say it shifted! A mile of Tycho's rim caved in just past our -workings. And you in the dome!" A sneer twisted the super's thin lips. -He was looking for trouble.</p> - -<p>Bonwitt bristled anew but curbed his wrath, shrugging it all off.</p> - -<p>"No damage, was there?" he inquired mildly. "No air leaks?" He moved -nonchalantly to where they were helping the victim of the accident.</p> - -<p>Peterson followed, watching as they pulled the man out and laid him on -a bench. Bonwitt examined the injured man swiftly.</p> - -<p>"No broken bones," he proclaimed tersely. "Take him to Doc Tonge. He'll -fix him up in a jif."</p> - -<p>The fellow, tawny of skin, a runt of unguessable age and origin, gasped -and opened his eyes. They fixed, glass-hard, on Peterson.</p> - -<p>"Ficora!" he shrieked. "Jombalo!" He slipped again into coma.</p> - -<p>Bonwitt wheeled but Peterson had gone. Queer! Andy Pauchek was the -victim's name on the payroll. A mystery to the rest in the place. No -friends; apparently no antecedents. But it was sure he had known the -new super before and held something against him. Hated him.</p> - -<p>Bonwitt climbed the stair to consult with Crane.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The ethertype told them little they did not know. A few Lunar crags and -spires had toppled; crater rims had crumpled. But Earth astronomers had -no explanation and were themselves mystified. New York headquarters of -Atomic Power didn't care as long as their workings weren't wrecked. So -that was that. Crane was disgusted.</p> - -<p>Bonwitt told him about Peterson.</p> - -<p>"Screwy," the ethertype man agreed. "Couple of times he's wanted to -sneak out messages in private code. 'Can't do; regulations,' says I." -Bonwitt chuckled mirthlessly. "Where'd he want to ethertype?"</p> - -<p>"Another odd thing; I don't know."</p> - -<p>"What do you mean, you don't know? No address?"</p> - -<p>"Just an off-wave call number. X2273—not listed." Crane yawned.</p> - -<p>"The crook!" exploded the young Chief. "Got to snag him."</p> - -<p>"I've been trying to. Thought you'd get wise soon, Bill."</p> - -<p>Bonwitt frowned. "No copies of his messages?"</p> - -<p>"Naturally not." Crane lowered his voice. "He got them through."</p> - -<p>Amazed, the engineer asked: "How?"</p> - -<p>"Gates." Gates was the relief operator at the ethertype.</p> - -<p>"Lord! Maybe you're right."</p> - -<p>"Sh-h!" Crane warned. "Gates is due any minute."</p> - -<p>"So what's any of this to do with Luna going haywire?" asked Bill -thoughtfully. "If I thought—"</p> - -<p>"Let's talk about it tomorrow," whispered Crane as footsteps neared.</p> - -<p>Gates came in, sleepy-eyed, sullen. He ignored them both.</p> - -<p>"Going to turn in," Crane winked at Bonwitt. "Sleepy. Bye."</p> - -<p>"Me, too," grinned the engineer.</p> - -<p>But he went up to the dome and mulled things over for hours.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Bonwitt couldn't connect the moon's eccentric behavior with Peterson's. -But something was up. If personal, okay; if against Atomic Power, -something else again. Looking out first over the moon's broken desolate -surface, then up at the bright orb of Earth, the engineer tried to -rationalize things.</p> - -<p>It couldn't be against Atomic. Mercury is something you just can't -steal. It's heavy. Atomic is the only big market for it. You can't make -big-time power on Earth without mercury, and Atomic has the monopoly. -You have to have a fleet of space ships to transport it—and a market.</p> - -<p>No; something bigger was involved; something simpler.</p> - -<p>Peterson. What was he up to? He had long been a trusted man in various -departments of Atomic. Where did Gates fit? The engineer began thinking -over his own ten years with the Company.</p> - -<p>Three years on Luna. Rotten. But you have to mine mercury for the -terrestrial power plants. The moon was the only place. Lucky for -Earth, in 2012, when mercury deposits petered out in Rhodesia, the -first rocket to the moon found that Luna's rays were mostly of purest -hydrargyrum. Pure metallic mercury, frozen solid in the long Lunar -night, liquid in the equally long day.</p> - -<p>And, fortunate for Atomic Power, World Government had granted them -exclusive rights to its mining.</p> - -<p>But you couldn't fit Peterson into any of this. What could he do to the -immensely influential Atomic Corporation? Or to Luna? Bill Bonwitt gave -it up and went to bed. It was just midnight (Lunar) and only fourteen -more days until sunup. Dozing off comfortably, Bonwitt wished he could -sleep that long.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The ethertype man awakened him a few hours later. "Wake up, Chief," he -husked, shaking, his teeth a-chatter.</p> - -<p>Blinking, Bonwitt sat up. "What the hell? What time is it?"</p> - -<p>He was climbing into his clothes in a mental hangover of dreams.</p> - -<p>"Six. It'd be daylight back home. That mechanic, Pauchek, is dead. -Knife in his throat. Peterson's gone. So's Gates."</p> - -<p>Now Bonwitt was thoroughly awake. "So!" he grunted, tying his last -lace. "We go hunting."</p> - -<p>"Right." Crane looked out at the bleak lunar landscape through -Bonwitt's dome. Earthlit, that landscape. Cold. Airless.</p> - -<p>Bonwitt shivered, looking over at Peterson's dome across the long -transverse passage of the workings. "Where the hell are they?" he asked.</p> - -<p>Crane said suddenly: "Look, Chief. See what I see? Two shadows out by -the crater wall? Moving."</p> - -<p>"I do—so help me! Space-suits, both of them. What—?"</p> - -<p>The earthlight on Luna, thirteen times that of moonlight on the earth, -showed up the men clearly. One was carrying a tripod. This he set up in -a moment, swung a tube on its tip skyward—earthward. The tube began -spouting vivid white flame in spurts.</p> - -<p>"Code!" shouted Crane. "Continental. But in those five-letter -combinations. They're signalling eastern Asia!"</p> - -<p>"Come on," husked Bonwitt. "We're going to search Peterson's hangout." -They scudded to the other dome.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Crane stood guard while Bonwitt searched with a flash. Outside, the -signalling continued interminably. The engineer found nothing.</p> - -<p>"They're starting back," Crane warned.</p> - -<p>But they weren't heading here; those space-suited figures sped in the -direction of the air-locked hangars of the small lunar ships.</p> - -<p>"After them!" gritted Bonwitt. "This is the pay-off."</p> - -<p>He and Crane whirlwinded through refinery and undersurface tubes to the -hangar. Got there just as the inner seal was opening. They crouched in -the shadow of a local ship. A space-suited figure parked the signalling -instrument and yanked off its flexglass helmet. Gates, Peterson, too, -removed his helmet.</p> - -<p>"Now for the other side," rasped the super, diving toward one of the -smooth-hulled local ships. "This the one?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. She's all set."</p> - -<p>"Good." Peterson climbed through the entrance port.</p> - -<p>Both men were inside and the port closed behind them.</p> - -<p>"Come on, Crane," whispered the engineer.</p> - -<p>They took the ship that had hidden them in its shadows. Bonwitt knew -these little skimmers. Their control was simple, their gravity -propulsion just the ticket here where the down-pull was only a sixth of -Terra's.</p> - -<p>"Damn!" growled Bill. "They've five minutes' start. We have to wait -till they're through the lock."</p> - -<p>Crane said confidently: "We'll snatch 'em."</p> - -<p>The other ship taxied to the airlock and was quickly inside. The inner -door swung home. The wait seemed interminable.</p> - -<p>Then the inner door swung back. Bonwitt juggled the magnetic remote -control. They were inside. Through. And, in a moment, on the airless -surface of Luna. Above, high over Tycho's vast wall, was the gleaming, -torpedo-shaped hull of the super's ship. Bill went hot after it, more -than ever puzzled as to what was going on.</p> - -<p>The other side, Peterson had said. That would mean the opposite side of -Luna—never seen from Earth.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Directly toward Luna's south pole and flying high, went Peterson's -ship. Bonwitt drove after him. At this speed they'd soon pass the -terminator and be in sunlight.</p> - -<p>"No sense to any of it," Crane was saying. "Nothing much different on -the other side than this side. What can they do around here?"</p> - -<p>"So says me," agreed Bonwitt. "Anyway—a hope—we'll learn."</p> - -<p>"There's the terminator ahead," chirped Crane. "Sun glasses!"</p> - -<p>Dark lenses were quickly donned. Tall peaks ahead burst into blazing -pinpoints, their blinding splendor deepening the shadows beyond the -on-rushing terminator to Stygian inkiness. Dazzling white crawled down -the nearing spires and suddenly the sun's corona smote them like a blow -with its glory. Abruptly they were in vivid sunlight.</p> - -<p>Peterson's ship still sped on before them. One hour; two; three.</p> - -<p>Crane chuckled: "Hell to pay if N.Y. is trying to raise Gates."</p> - -<p>"He's through," Bonwitt returned easily. "Fired; I'll bet."</p> - -<p>"Me, too. But, sa-ay! Look at that!" Crane flung up his arms against a -glare that blazed suddenly through the forward ports.</p> - -<p>Directly ahead was a broad flat crater that shimmered in the sun's -unobscured rays like a gigantic mirror of polished silver.</p> - -<p>"Mercury!" gasped Bonwitt. "A lake of mercury ten miles across. No -one's ever reported <i>that</i>."</p> - -<p>"I'll bet Peterson knew about it. Look, he's circling."</p> - -<p>It was so. The engineer flung his little ship off toward the east to -avoid detection. They speeded out of the sun's reflection from that -lake of mercury. Its unrippled surface rose rapidly off starboard and -was blotted out by the crater wall that enclosed it.</p> - -<p>Then the leading ship had landed. Bonwitt maneuvered to land in the -shadow of a huge boulder. Clambering into their space-suits, they -jumped the twelve feet to the powdery footing underneath. As easily as -they'd have dropped two feet in earth gravity.</p> - -<p>Space-suited likewise, Peterson and Gates ducked into the dark opening -of a cavern mouth. Bonwitt and Crane sneaked after them. Inside the -cave entrance was instant, utter blackness.</p> - -<p>"Crane, where are you?" the engineer asked softly. For reply there came -a crash as of the pinnacle of Proclus toppling on his helmet and a -swirling burst of stars such as had never graced the firmament.</p> - -<p>After that, Bonwitt slipped into blackness.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He awoke with splitting head and a red film before his eyes. Two -blurred figures were bending over him. He examined an egg-sized bump -on his head with languidly exploring fingers. His helmet was off. The -figures were those of Crane and Peterson. Damn! Bonwitt sat up jerkily -and the effort set his head swimming and throbbing.</p> - -<p>The super was grinning his sardonic grin; Crane was grimacing a -warning. "They've got us, old man," he said. "Might as well make the -best of it. Here, let me help you up."</p> - -<p>With his aid, the engineer rose up and stood groggily swaying. -Peterson, legs wide, bristly brows close, sneered at the big Earthman.</p> - -<p>"What'd you hit me with, a tractor? Or was it a meteor that fell?" -grunted Bonwitt, gingerly fingering the lump on his head.</p> - -<p>Peterson's sneer relaxed. "Now you're using sense," he approved. "If -you'da come up fighting it'da been just too bad for you."</p> - -<p>The engineer spied a curiously shaped weapon in Peterson's belt. -Entirely unfamiliar but looking mighty dangerous with its ugly flaring -snout and the cooling discs along its stubby barrel.</p> - -<p>"All right," said the super. "Your side-kick'll tell you more about -things here. Play ball and you're okay. We may even find jobs for the -two of you. But no monkey business."</p> - -<p>The man turned on his heel and disappeared through the arched door. -Bonwitt saw they were in a circular chamber lined with bluish metal. -His gray eyes questioned Crane.</p> - -<p>"They jumped me and tied me in a knot," the ethertype man explained. -"Gates slammed you down, the rat!"</p> - -<p>"How long was I out?"</p> - -<p>"An hour or so. And you won't believe what you see here. Can you walk -now?"</p> - -<p>Bonwitt took an experimental step. "Sure."</p> - -<p>"Come on then." Crane started for the doorway.</p> - -<p>"We're not locked up? Not guarded?"</p> - -<p>"No, but prisoners all the same. In the damndest place. Wait."</p> - -<p>They came out on a balcony that limned a seemingly bottomless pit -with a huge vertical shaft that dropped centrally from high above and -vanished in the depths below.</p> - -<p>"What in hell is it?" demanded Bonwitt.</p> - -<p>"You haven't seen anything yet." Crane moved to the cage of a lift.</p> - -<p>"Cripes! An elevator on the moon!" None of it made sense to Bill -Bonwitt.</p> - -<p>"We sure stumbled into something, Chief," agreed Crane.</p> - -<p>As they dropped sickeningly in the cage, the engineer saw that the -controls of the automatic elevator were of craftsmanship like none he -had ever seen.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Crane said: "I don't understand it, either. They didn't tell me much, -but kept me with them till Gates had landed below. I saw enough to -scare the devil out of me, though."</p> - -<p>"Why do you suppose they didn't knock us off like they did Andy -Pauchek?" wondered Bonwitt.</p> - -<p>"They want us to join up with them. At least Peterson does. Gates would -cut our throats in a minute."</p> - -<p>"M-mm. He's tough. Let's see; he came on the job a month before -Peterson, didn't he?"</p> - -<p>"Right, Chief. And they were thick as thieves from the start."</p> - -<p>"Don't we ever reach the bottom?" asked Bonwitt impatiently.</p> - -<p>"It's a long way down but we're nearly there." Crane puckered his sandy -brows. "Nobody can make cables that long," he opined.</p> - -<p>Bonwitt examined the controls again. "It's a gravity lift," he decided. -"Nothing like it on Earth. Suppose Peterson's found an underground -civilization here?"</p> - -<p>The ethertype man grinned. "I knew you'd get it. Peterson told me or -I'd never have guessed. Until I saw the damn creatures."</p> - -<p>"You did see them?"</p> - -<p>"Hundreds. They're queer—like Pauchek."</p> - -<p>"So-o. That explains a lot. Peterson's been here before, often. I still -don't get it about Pauchek, though."</p> - -<p>The lift slowed down and stopped. Crane led the way out onto a second -balcony, a gigantic sweeping curve of it.</p> - -<p>They were in a vast hollowed-out space. An inner world within the -moon! Damply warm and redolent of life. Its vastness stretched off into -the distance, beyond sight. Most amazing was its source of light, an -enormous green-white globe that loomed in the near distance. A cold but -luminous sun within the moon!</p> - -<p>"It's real," chuckled Crane, watching Bonwitt.</p> - -<p>Below them was a wider balcony, a ledge on which were ordered rows of -great machines with naked little brown men scurrying in their midst.</p> - -<p>To the right was the great grandad of all of those machines, a huge -drum-like affair with tapered helices at crazy angles and with the big -steel shaft they'd seen up above projecting from its vertical upper -bearing and vanishing through the bore in the rock overhead.</p> - -<p>"Lord!" gasped Bonwitt. "A motor! What can it drive?"</p> - -<p>"You'll soon learn," said an oily voice at his shoulder.</p> - -<p>The engineer wheeled to stare into Peterson's close-set, glittering -eyes. Gates, saturnine, contemptuous, was with him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"You go to Don Peel right away," the super told Bonwitt. "Crane goes -with Gates. To see our ethertype."</p> - -<p>"But—" Crane started to object.</p> - -<p>"You'll go with Gates." Peterson fingered his strange weapon.</p> - -<p>The two ethertype operators disappeared into a passage mouth.</p> - -<p>"Who's Don Peel?" asked Bonwitt.</p> - -<p>"The king—Gosak, they call him—a simpleton whom I've taught a little -English. He's in the palm of my hand, though I handle him with gloves. -I want you to play up to him."</p> - -<p>"Suppose I don't. Suppose I warn him?"</p> - -<p>"You won't." Peterson carelessly sighted his curious weapon on a -rock ledge in the passageway. The thing bucked to a screaming hiss -that belched from its snout. No more than that, but the rock spurted -incandescence and puffed out of existence. "No, you won't shoot your -mouth off, Bonwitt."</p> - -<p>"What's the idea?" growled the engineer. "What're you up to?"</p> - -<p>"All in good time, my boy. Here we are; remember what I said."</p> - -<p>They entered a small, softly lighted room. Two wizened, breech-clouted -men bowed to the super and he jabbered unintelligible words. An inner -door opened and the two Earthmen went through.</p> - -<p>"Bonji, Don Peel. Bonji, Gosak," the super mouthed, spreading his pudgy -hands and salaaming before a turbaned brown man squatted in the center -of a waist-high circular table that surrounded him.</p> - -<p>"Bonji," this one replied gravely. "This new helper?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Don, this is Bonwitt. Crane's with Gates."</p> - -<p>The little brown man looked out keenly from under overhanging brows, -eyes gleaming like a cobra's. "You sure we can trust?"</p> - -<p>Peterson nodded with assurance.</p> - -<p>Don Peel bared momentarily a mouthful of yellow fangs between lips that -writhed hideously. Bonwitt's stomach went sick.</p> - -<p>"Good; you fix." The Gosak dismissed them with a scrawny hand.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Had to do that," the erstwhile super explained in the outer passage, -"to keep him happy. Or his men'd be taking pot shots at you."</p> - -<p>"That would be nice. They probably will anyway."</p> - -<p>"No, no. Everything's hunky-dory now, so long as you co-operate. We go -to my hangout now and I'll give you the dope."</p> - -<p>So cocksure was the man that Bonwitt's ire rose dangerously. He -controlled himself with an effort. He'd have to find out what was what, -pretend compliance with any plan, and—wait.</p> - -<p>Peterson's hangout, as he had termed it, was a drafting room and -office combined. The desk and drawing table were of curious Lunar -construction. There were a few chairs and a filing cabinet. Maps and -drawings on the walls. Maps of Earth and Luna; drawings of queer -machines and structures. One was a cross-section of the moon as Bonwitt -was beginning to know it existed. The core, the inner sun, was not -central, he saw.</p> - -<p>"Look, Bill." Peterson poked a thick finger at this drawing. "Here's -where we are; four hundred miles under the crater called Nemesis."</p> - -<p>"Four hundred—" Bonwitt gaped, seeing the vertical shaft on the -drawing, piercing its way upward through tunnel and many bearings to -the surface, "—impossible!"</p> - -<p>"So I thought in the beginning. But much is possible here. That shaft, -for instance. The Selenites have its weight almost completely nullified -with anti-gravity forces. They know something, the devils."</p> - -<p>"But the sun, or whatever it is, isn't pictured central. In fact, it -seems to contact one side of the moon's central cavity."</p> - -<p>"Naturally. That's why the same face of Luna is always towards Earth; -it's on the heavy side, of course. Here, sit down, Bill."</p> - -<p>Peterson indicated a chair, which Bonwitt took. "And," continued the -ex-super, "that sun, as you call it and as it properly is, can be -shifted from normal position. That's what was done last night; that's -why Luna shifted on her axis. A test. I knew, of course, but pretended -ignorance back on the other side. Now you're in it, I can tell you.</p> - -<p>"The brown men are native to the moon but not to our solar system. -Their ancestors inhabited the body's surface when it had an atmosphere -and was warm in the light of a distant sun. They burrowed when they -learned their planet was to be hurled into space by a cataclysm which -was to break up its solar system. And when, in the distant past, their -world was captured by ours as a satellite, they had to remain beneath -the surface. They burrowed deeper, found this inner realm, this world -within a world. The inner sun then was still quite hot; it yet holds -nearly enough heat for their comfort and sustenance.</p> - -<p>"Through countless ages, this race has been dissatisfied. They wanted -to live outside as did their forbears, but could only go to the surface -in space-suits. They began planning a migration to Earth. The huge -motor, the shaft, the crater, are the results. The means."</p> - -<p>"To migrate?" Bonwitt was incredulous.</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Peaceful, or warlike, this migration?"</p> - -<p>"They plan peace if possible, war if necessary."</p> - -<p>"And you—where do you fit in? Are you one of these guys who wants to -save our world?"</p> - -<p>"Stop it; stop it—until you know. You see, the mercury-filled crater -above is to become a great mirror for reflecting sunlight earthward. -Along the resultant light beam the Selenites plan to travel in cars -which are propelled in concentrated photon streams—"</p> - -<p>"<i>Wait</i> a minute," the engineer interrupted. "The crater faces away -from Earth."</p> - -<p>Peterson grinned anew. "Now it does, yes. But the moon will be turned -around until it faces Earth."</p> - -<p>"Turned a-<i>round</i>!"</p> - -<p>"Just that. That's the why of last night's test. The sun inside here is -to be shifted by projected forces until the center of gravity of the -moon's total mass is at the proper focus. Then the shell turns over -until the crater Gates called Nemesis is in the right position. By -now the motor spins the mercury until centrifugal force reverses the -natural convexity and the ten mile vat of mercury becomes a big concave -mirror.</p> - -<p>"The reflected light beam can be narrowed down to any desired size by -changing the concavity—altering the motor speed. Just by shifting -Luna's inner sun."</p> - -<p>"Why," gasped Bonwitt, "if all the sun's heat over a ten mile diameter -mirror were focussed on a spot say one mile in diameter on our Earth, -one hundred times normal sun energy would be concentrated in this area. -Anything would be instantly consumed."</p> - -<p>"You've hit the nail on the head," said Peterson. "<i>One</i> nail. That's -Gates's nail, which I intend to pull out. But the Lunarians plan only -to make a plane mirror of the mercury crater, which would not overheat -anything on Earth but only provide a lane through which their photon -cars can pass. They believe they can effect a peaceful colonization."</p> - -<p>"What do you mean, Gates's nail?" Bonwitt's lips set grimly.</p> - -<p>"World conquest! Worse—revenge. He intends to blast all big cities to -ruin, then resume the dictatorship that was once his father's."</p> - -<p>"His father's?" Memory came to the young engineer of history. -Establishment of the World Government in 1975. Exiling a man who had -set himself up as World Dictator. Yes, his name had been Gates. He -had died in Siberia. And <i>this</i> Gates was the son—explaining the -signalling to Earth. A party of adherents waited there for a millennium -or something. "But <i>you</i> helped with his signals," Bonwitt accused.</p> - -<p>"I did," grinned the older man, "to keep this screwball's gang together -where I can blast <i>them</i> out of existence as soon as I get Gates. Gates -discovered inner Luna and, the fool, told me about it. Played right -into my hands."</p> - -<p>Bonwitt shuddered. Here was a double-crosser of the first water. "How -do you plan to upset the beans and where do you profit yourself?" he -asked.</p> - -<p>"I'll kill off the Selenites—there's only a million or so—with a -supersonic generator Gates developed. Their brains are susceptible to a -certain vibration rate; they'll die like flies. And Gates won't be here -to interfere. There'll be no more Selenites; <i>I'll</i> dictate to Earth. -I'll blast some forests and a couple of villages to show them I can do -it. Perfect, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>The engineer stared. Peterson was a madman, a wholesale killer at -heart—worse. "What would be your terms?" Bonwitt asked steadily.</p> - -<p>"Not harsh. I don't want to be a dictator nor to destroy cities. I -hate politics and war both. But I'll control Earth just the same—with -wealth and power. I'll demand personal title to the moon and to -Atomic's two space ships. To the larger ship for distant planet -exploration now under construction as well. Also a billion dollars in -gold delivered to me here on Luna. With these advantages, I can do -anything I want to. Care to join me or not?"</p> - -<p>Mad, totally mad, this scheme of Peterson's. But just mad enough to -come near succeeding unless he were stopped. The world would, in panic, -concede anything if ever he should get as far as turning over the moon -and burning forests and villages. For that matter, his madness might -then flare up to the point of wreaking wholesale destruction as Gates -proposed and intended. Bonwitt would have to play for time.</p> - -<p>"Sure, I'll join up," he lied. "Who wouldn't?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Peterson smiled paternally. "Right; who wouldn't? And once I get -control, see how many more will join up. Beats working for Atomic, -doesn't it?"</p> - -<p>Bonwitt nodded dully. Fantastic as the thing was, the engineer -recognized the danger to Crane and himself. The world could take -care of itself. But the Selenites? Here were Gates and Peterson both -plotting their destruction. For all Bonwitt knew, Gates might be -planning the same thing against Peterson. If either won out it would be -bad for a certain engineer and an ethertype man. Maybe—</p> - -<p>"I'd like to see your ethertype myself," he told Peterson. "It's the -one you used to communicate with Peel from the workings, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>"Huh? How'd you know that?" The super tensed suspiciously, then -relaxed. "Oh, Crane guessed, I suppose. Sure, you can see it. Follow -me."</p> - -<p>When they reached the ethertype room, it was to see Gates, wild of eye -and disheveled of clothing, standing over Crane with one of the odd -pistols in his hand. Crane's head was missing—blasted away. With a -screech of pure animal fury, Bonwitt dived at the killer. Off guard, -the big ethertype man went down and his pistol clattered into a corner. -But he was up in a flash and the engineer was in for a battle.</p> - -<p>He ducked too late and took a right to his temple that set him spinning -and seeing stars. A left cross spun him back and, by enraging him, -cleared his head. He clinched to get breath, then flung the big radio -man off and drove him against the table. Gates staggered and hung -on under a rain of body blows, rallied to come back with a left and -a right that both jolted Bonwitt's jaw. Then he was tearing at the -engineer's eyes with clawed fingers, bearing him to the floor.</p> - -<p>So it was to be that kind of fighting! Bonwitt heaved up and got a full -Nelson on his wriggling foe that nearly snapped his spine. He downed -Gates, panting, cursing between his teeth. He could see Crane's poor -headless body sprawled there. The sight robbed him of all knowledge of -what he was doing and he did not return to normal until the voice of -Peterson halted him. Only then did he realize that he had been banging -Gates's head against the metal floor with all the force of a pounding -sledge.</p> - -<p>"He's dead," gloated Peterson. "Save your strength."</p> - -<p>Bonwitt saw that it was true. His antagonist's skull was a thing -squashed, unrecognizable. Sick at the stomach, he reeled to his feet.</p> - -<p>Peterson stood regarding him with a cryptic smile, a pistol in either -hand, his own and Gates's. "Good work," he approved. "Saved me trouble. -But we'll have to get rid of the bodies. Have to tell Peel I've sent -the two to the workings temporarily."</p> - -<p>He eyed the panting engineer sharply and was apparently satisfied, for -he thrust the two pistols in his belt. But he wasn't taking any chances -with the powerful and alert Bonwitt; he'd been quick to snatch that -second pistol out of reach during the fight.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The succeeding days were nightmares of uncertainty to Bonwitt. Under -Peterson's eye constantly, no way of getting the upper hand over the -man occurred to him. And, could he have done that, he'd still have the -Selenites to account to. Besides, even if he could remove Peterson and -get himself away, there was little time left in which to do it. It was -self-preservation now.</p> - -<p>The big geared down motor was already starting to churn the mercury in -the crater above into rotation. Its starting torque must be terrific -to get that huge mass of metal in motion. Even to think of so enormous -a disc, liquid or solid, in rotation was staggering; the speed must -be not in revolutions per minute but a fraction of one turn in that -terrestrial measure of time. For, even at one revolution per minute, -the peripheral speed of the mass would be 31.416 miles a minute. Not -only an impossible figure but far in excess of that needed.</p> - -<p>Time fled on wings. Bonwitt did his best to locate the supersonic wave -generator. If he could find this and warn Peel he might circumvent -Peterson and perhaps earn from the brown men a gratitude that would -pave the way for Earth's acceptance of them as colonists.</p> - -<p>The more he contacted them the more he liked the little brown folk and -the more he sympathized with their wish to get to the good green Earth. -Essentially harmless, they were most admirable in their manner of -living and considerate in their relations one to the other.</p> - -<p>Undoubtedly, New York had long since known of the absence of four -important men from the Lunar workings. By now, quite likely, they had -sent over one of the transports to learn what was wrong. But nothing -could be done from there; they didn't even know of inner Luna.</p> - -<p>Bonwitt's nerves drew tautly near the breaking point. Peterson was -waiting until the last minute to loose his supersonic vibrations on the -unsuspecting brown folk. He'd have to wait till the moon had turned -over and the beam of reflected sunlight was directed earthward. For the -huge machines necessary to these important preliminaries needed many -men in their operation. After that, these men could be dispensed with. -One man could operate the final controls; one could blast out an entire -city if he wished; one could operate the ethertype and make terms. Two -were better; perhaps that was why Bonwitt was still alive.</p> - -<p>All too quickly came the day. Huge machines hummed and groaned. The -great gelid sun began to roll slowly over the inner surface of the -satellite. The outer shell of the moon started rotating. Luna was -turning over. The great mirror of liquid metal above was revolving at -precisely the speed to produce a plane surface, astronomically plane.</p> - -<p>Peel was at the final control with Peterson beside him, watching the -viewing plate. Bonwitt was there, too. Peel's customary two guards.... -The engineer hadn't had time to find the supersonic wave generator. -How could Peterson get away to activate it? Bill's eyes dropped -accidentally to the man's feet, one of which was edging toward the base -of the control pedestal. A hidden button was there; this wholesale -murder was to be accomplished by remote control!</p> - -<p>On the vision plate, Earth swung into view. The hitherto unseen side -of the moon was facing it. What a furore must be upsetting both -amateur and professional astronomers at home! Only a thin crescent was -Earth now, with a vast dim area lighted only by moonlight from here.</p> - -<p>Soon there'd be a brilliant circle up there, a circle ten miles in -diameter, sharp against the near-blackness. And, if Peterson won, it -would close in gradually until there would be a searing, blazing speck -consuming everything within its one mile circle. Not if Bonwitt could -stop it. The super's foot, he saw, was nearing the secret button.</p> - -<p>The sense of swaying motion ceased; the moon once more was still, -ominously so. Earth rushed forward in the viewplate as the -magnification of the radio telescope was multiplied. Peel depressed -a lever and, in slightly more than a second of time, there flashed -a circle of sunlight that enclosed nighttime New York City and its -environs. What a panic this must be starting! Peterson's foot moved -suddenly. In the same instant, Bonwitt flung himself upon him, slamming -him to the floor.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>Peterson's foot slipped suddenly. In the same instant Bonwitt flung forward, slamming him to the floor.</i></p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>"Peel! Peel!" he yelped, fighting to keep the maniac's hands from his -pistols. "He'll kill you all. Believe me, Peel!"</p> - -<p>Then, amazingly, there was the screaming hiss of a lunar weapon. -Peterson's head exploded almost in his face with brilliant -pyrotechnics. Peel had killed the man and was standing there grinning -in a most friendly manner, pistol holstered, waiting for the engineer -to rise.</p> - -<p>"Thanks, good friend," Peel was saying. "We knew he traitor but not -find machine. Pauchek learn some but not know all. <i>You</i> fix."</p> - -<p>That explained the incident of the unfortunate machinist. Bonwitt could -only goggle at the Gosak of inner Luna as he rose to face him.</p> - -<p>"You fix," repeated the little brown ruler. "You keep my people safe. -Now we ready to talk your people. We go help they. They help we. Not?"</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUNAR STATION ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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