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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..08a87a4 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66005 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66005) diff --git a/old/66005-0.txt b/old/66005-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index bafa681..0000000 --- a/old/66005-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3979 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Children of the Chronotron, by S.J. Byrne - -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: Children of the Chronotron - -Author: S.J. Byrne - -Release Date: August 7, 2021 [eBook #66005] - -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 CHILDREN OF THE CHRONOTRON *** - - - - - Facing destruction, Earth's last immortals - sent an emissary through time to alter history. - Thus, he appeared in 1952, searching for the-- - - CHILDREN of the CHRONOTRON - - By S. J. Byrne - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy - December 1952 - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -_When their sun began to wane, the Xlarnans at first retreated -underground to hoard the heat and life-supporting energies which their -nuclear generators could supply. But as their world grew colder, -century after century, they devised a means of creating a substitute -for the ionosphere--a protective layer of radioactive gases in the -upper reaches of the sky which could warm them by means of its slow, -controlled reaction, give them eternal light, and yet absorb its own -harder radiations._ - -_Thus--a planetary cell of life, isolated from the universe, -independent of solar heat. And the Xlarnans at last emerged from their -subterranean cities to take up life anew in a tropical Paradise that -knew neither nightfall nor seasons. They missed the starlit night -skies of old, the sunrises and sunsets, and most of all the stupendous -celestial rainbow, the Great Ring, which some of them believed to be -formed of the particles of a large satellite that had encircled their -world back in the dim Beginning._ - -_But the time arrived when they knew they were losing control of their -reaction sphere in the sky. The hard radiations increased inexorably -in spite of all the coolants they could generate and send aloft. They -had to admit that the day would come when they would be destroyed by -the very instrument that had given them an extra hundred millenniums of -life._ - -_At the end of time--the Xlarnans, pressed against a wall, the reaction -sphere, from which came hard radiations, burning them. The ethnic -urge to survive in the face of swiftly approaching death. Necessity -mothering invention. And then--_ - -_The Chronotron...._ - -_Electronic envelopes speeding faster than light. Three dimensional -nature rejecting the envelope. Only in Time can anything be in two -places--along the duration line._ - -_The Chronotron--planting new Cause in the beginning of Effect. And -there is alternate time._ - -_Large numbers of Xlarnans, through the Chronotron, back to the -beginning of the reaction sphere era, an already advanced race with -the course of another hundred thousand years to run before facing the -threat from the sky once more._ - -_The first cycle ends, and at the last extremity of alternate time -veritable super beings achieve immortality. With immortality, less -procreation. And at last, sterility._ - -_Still the deadly threat above them. The daily promise of sudden and -complete devastation. Now there are rockets at last, but certain -techniques and necessary discoveries in the fields of chemistry and -metallurgy elude them. Attempted space flights end in collisions with -meteors or death due to radiations in the outer void--but escape -velocity never achieved._ - -_Then came--THE THEORY...._ - -_Very vague and unidentifiable fossils discovered in astoundingly deep -strata. Nothing definite, but a bothersome hint of high development. -Hypothesis evolved into theory; Xlarn had known a complete geological -cycle before the Beginning, perhaps when the Great Ring around the -planet had been a moon! Granted this previous cycle, one might assume -a complete evolutionary development. If such a world had existed on -Xlarn previously then perhaps some highly intelligent race had evolved. -They might have been threatened by some cataclysm in their own time and -found a means of getting away from the planet--perhaps even to another -solar system!_ - -_Sheer desperation. Sterile immortals of Xlarn supercharging a greatly -improved Chronotron. A single emissary, shot through Time's great -darkness beyond Beginning...._ - -_A long wait at the end of time. The remaining immortals wondered at -the futility of it all. Theirs was the only life in the universe, -in all space and time. Or was it? Would their emissary actually -substantiate the theory of a world beyond Beginning?_ - - * * * * * - -"Extrapolation!" exclaimed the nuclear physicist, with an air of -strained indulgence. His keen, blue eyes also told young Henry that the -scientist was vastly amused. And he resented it. "Sonny, if you'd keep -out of unabridged dictionaries until you were of age your mind might -have a better chance of catching up to itself _and_ the world around -you!" - -Henry closed his science fiction magazine with as much of an indignant -"bang" as was possible with a well-worn pulp and turned his back on -the intruder. He tried not to listen to him as he went on arguing with -Uncle Andy. He tried to concentrate on the wisps of clouds straggling -low over the gray Atlantic Ocean ten thousand feet below. He watched -the giant nacelles of the right wing engines as the double-decked -strato-cruiser droned monotonously onward toward New York. But he could -not shut off his ears.... - -"Really, Dearden, you ought to watch that," the physicist was saying -to the kindly man who had adopted Henry. "A bright, adolescent mind -driving itself into the pit of self-delusion! Get him interested in -something more realistic than science fiction. Lord knows the world -needs some _practical_ minds these days!" - -"Just now I could quote Henry in a lot of appropriate ways," Uncle Andy -replied. "He's very serious about this business of extrapolation. He -thinks it is a new perspective, a seventh sense, as it were, that Man -ought to develop. Furthermore, as long as you're interested...." - -Good old Uncle Andy, thought Henry. A brilliant man, a leading -technological specialist, yet as old-fashioned and unassuming -as--as--Well, who _was_ like Uncle Andy nowadays? - -In his mind's eye he could see him, while he listened to his quiet -conversation. Going on forty-five and looking the part, without -pretense--graying at the temples, balding, and with a front upper -plate in his mouth that was inoffensive but also no secret. He was a -little heavy, and as out of condition, physically, as was considered to -be average. But he had a good-looking, strong, kind face, clear gray -eyes and a restful, reassuring manner. The strongest impression one -gathered, outside of the fact that his pipe tobacco was abominable, was -that he was the turtle that outran the hare. The reliable type, _sans_ -heroism, fanaticism or hysteria. A swell guy. - -But what was that nosey Doctor Edwards putting in his two cents for? I -am _none_ of his business!--Henry decided abruptly. - -"Doctor Edwards!" he interrupted, suddenly getting back into the -argument, "did it ever occur to you that orthodox scientists are _not_ -the top of the intellectual pyramid?--that they are, in fact, the -robotic servants of those who _dare_ to think _originally_?" - - * * * * * - -Dr. Edwards, also a balding man in his middle forties, but rueful of -the fact, managed a thin smile, and Henry perceived that a tender spot -had been probed. "I'll overlook a rather unbecoming lack of respect for -your elders," retorted the scientist, "but go ahead! As an 'original -thinker,' Henry, you should be sufficiently philanthropic to at least -drop us groveling orthodox scientists a crumb of pure thought from -the overwhelming Cornucopia of your banquet table." His eyes narrowed -suddenly with disciplinary sternness. "To put it plainly--" - -"You needn't paraphrase the innuendo," Henry cut him off. "And I'll -just _toss_ you a crumb!" - -"Now Henry," chided Uncle Andy, tamping more tobacco into his pipe, -"come down off your Pegasus, boy!" - -"No, let him go ahead," insisted Edwards. "This will be a good -measurement for both of us!" - -Three men in the triple seat behind Henry were poking each other. He -could hear what they were saying. - -"Get this kid!" one of them grunted. He was the slick, heavy-bearded -fellow in the powder blue suit, the one with the mean looking scowl -caused by a bright scar on one side of his mouth. But he was not being -critical. He was genuinely interested. - -"Yeah. Smart alec!" a second man muttered. - -"There's about eighty people on board," said the third. "Gotta be at -least one genius amongst 'em!" That was the big construction stiff from -the base where Uncle Andy had worked--in French Morocco. - -Henry squared his mental shoulders, stuck out his sixteen-year-old chin -and thought--This is it! - -"All right!" he said aloud, "how about a good hypothesis on novae, -arrived at by extrapolation?" - -Dr. Edwards slapped his knee in mock enthusiasm. "Just the information -the world has been waiting for!" he exclaimed. "Go ahead!" - -"I shall attempt to demonstrate that lightwaves produced by any -given nova were produced long before their appearance, regardless of -astronomical proximity to the observer, and that those waves actually -were propagated through Time, along the Fourth Coordinate," Henry -began, emphatically. - -But there was an interruption. - -"Well _really_!" exclaimed the Englishwoman, turning around to stare -back at Henry, as if the emotional and physical expenditure required -to deliver those two words were sufficient to handle the situation. -She turned abruptly to a resumption of her magazine reading, while the -plump, middle-aged governess beside her snored softly. - -Henry's rather lean face lengthened as he contemplated the back of her -persnickety-looking hat, which he thought was a ridiculous assembly of -straw, lace and painted berries. He was blushing slightly as he looked -back at Uncle Andy and Dr. Edwards, who wondered if he was going to -ignore the lady's protest. When Henry looked at the three men behind -him and noticed the all too knowing smirks on their faces, he gave up. - -"Aw, skip it!" he said, and he got up, making his way to the aisle. - -"Wait, Henry--!" Dr. Edwards started to say. - -"Let him go," interrupted Uncle Andy. Those were the last words Henry -caught as he hurried away down the aisle toward the stairway leading to -the lower deck and the observation lounge and commissary. - -It was all on account of Martia, he thought sullenly. She was the -daughter of that stuck up English woman. He didn't like people like -that, with her airs and the big pretense she put up trying to appear -to be still the great lady, with her hatboxes and her governess. Lady -Dewitt his foot! Everybody knew that such anachronisms were on their -last legs now, with war economies eating away the foundations of landed -wealth in England. If Martia weren't merely fifteen years old or so, -Henry would have accused Lady Dewitt, in his mind, of coming to New -York to catch her daughter a wealthy American husband. Actually, she -was just another English evacuee. They were coming to Canada and the -States by the tens of thousands, on the eve of war, inasmuch as World -War Three's version of the V-2 was expected to be atomic--and England -was becoming a glorified foxhole. - - * * * * * - -Martia had seemed to reflect her mother's snobbishness, in a way, but -she was strikingly pretty and had the biggest, bluest--However, it -wasn't the color of her eyes that had made Henry fall all over himself -at the airport in London. He could not define it, but it was a powerful -thing that had made him seem not to care what anyone thought. Martia, -with her smug chin, pug nose, brunette bangs and patrician attitude, -had some indefinable something about her that he _knew_ he could never -find again--in his entire life. And which was vitally important to -_him_, alone. - -So from that moment on, many of the passengers had been aware that he -was "that way" about the English girl, in spite of the Lady Dewitt's -determination to place all possible barriers in his path. She had -lost no time in investigating Uncle Andy and discovering that he was, -according to the passenger list, a mere construction engineer, and that -Henry was an adopted orphan whose genealogy had been lost in one of the -many obscurities resulting from World War II. - -Heck!--thought Henry. I don't want to _marry_ the little snob! I just -wanted to--"Oh, excuse me!" he exclaimed, bumping into someone at the -head of the staircase. - -He turned around and was surprised to discover that no one was in the -aisle. Yet he _had_ bumped into someone! - -"What for?" asked a young G.I. seated at his elbow. - -Henry looked at the friendly, round face of the soldier. He looked -at the other soldiers next to him, and at those in the seat ahead of -them. They were all looking at him strangely, but not belligerently. He -thought: They're coming home from U.N. duty. Troop rotation. Maybe soon -they'll have to go back and really use their guns. Uncle Andy said that -if by next spring, in 1960-- - -A strange ringing sound was in Henry's ears and he felt vaguely airsick. - -"I thought I bumped into somebody," he answered, lamely. And he still -looked at the soldiers. - -There were three who looked like Texans, all buddies, sitting in one -seat and playing rummy. Buddies. What buddies had _he_ ever had? -Never had there been much in common between him and his adolescent -associates, either in the war orphanage in France or after Uncle Andy -had adopted him. All kids were like--well, in a world apart. Except -that girl, Martia. He hadn't even talked to her--and yet the two of -them knew something. Something important concerning just themselves. -But what? - -"You feel all right, kid?" asked the same soldier again. - -_Kid!_ Henry was sixteen. The other was only twenty. Where did he get -off at-- - -The ringing in his ears was more insistent. He swayed, dizzily, -catching the stair rail for support. - -One of the soldiers was a negro, one of those dark ones that almost -looked blue-black. But he was the friendliest of all. He even got up to -see what he could do. - -"Man, you look like you're all mixed up," he said, smiling. "Are you -airsick, or constipated?" - -The others laughed. Henry blushed again and ran down the narrow, -circular staircase, this time actually crashing into a large man in -a dark suit who looked like the ads in Esquire concerning "Men of -Distinction." He had gray at the temples and a ruddy, confident face -with penetrating gray eyes. - -"Sorry!" exclaimed Henry, and went on. He had recognized the man. He -had been pointed out earlier as Congressman Burley, attached to some -world-touring congressional committee on something or other. Sure were -a lot of big shots on board, he reflected, as he came down onto B deck. - -There were many of them here in the observation lounge--heavily braided -officers, some of them high-ranking women in the Service; scientists, -international businessmen, newspaper correspondents, entertainers--and -foreigners. Henry was especially impressed with the Prince from India -who wore thousand dollar turbans and beautiful jewelry. And the Swedish -movie star, a beautiful blonde who was anything but dumb. Uncle Andy -had been especially interested in her, as well as that young air -hostess over there talking to the bald-headed man by the magazine rack. - - * * * * * - -Suddenly, he saw Martia Dewitt at the commissary counter. There were -also two young women with year old youngsters in their arms, buying -suckers to keep them from yowling. But he was interested only in -Martia. This time he had caught her alone. - -The girl was dressed neatly in a blue, pleated skirt, red jacket and -lacy blouse with a velvet tie and a yellow straw hat, red bobby socks -and black shoes; but there was a home-spun look about her clothes that -hinted at a struggle to maintain appearances. - -When Martia spotted him, she lowered her eyes and attempted to hurry -past, but he caught her, gently, surprised at his own boldness. "We -might as well talk about it now," he said to her quickly. "There won't -be another chance." - -She held her eyes averted, strained slightly to be released, then -relaxed. Her large, clear blue eyes found his and his head swam. - -"All right," she answered, simply. - -They could not find a seat by the observation panels, which was to be -expected, so they stood near the drinking fountain and looked at each -other's feet. - -"Then it's true," said Henry. "We have something to talk about, don't -we?" - -"Yes," she replied, glancing quickly at him and then looking down again. - -"Well--what is it?" he asked. - -"I--I don't know. I thought you--" - -Henry swayed, his ears ringing insistently. To his surprise, she -grasped his arm seeking support. Her face paled. - -This time their eyes really met. It was unnecessary for her to tell him -her ears were ringing too. He knew it. - -"I'm scared!" she exclaimed. "What is it?" - -"It--it isn't quite like ringing," he told her. "It's more like--" - -"Like very high flutes going up and down a scale." - -"Yeah--in a weird kind of way." - -The small tots in the young mothers' arms were shrieking unaccountably -now, in spite of the suckers they had been allowed to taste. - -Henry looked at them curiously. "Their ears are ringing, too," he said. - -Martia did not question how he knew this, because she was also sure the -babies were hearing the eerie ringing of the flutes. And that no one -else heard--none of the adults on board.... - -"Your name is Henry," she said, irrelevantly. - -"Yes, and yours is Martia. I feel like something is going to happen." - -"That's why I'm scared." - -She pressed against him and held on to him, shuddering in nameless -terror, as hysterical screams and shouts suddenly emanated from A -deck, above them. He held her, equally frightened, while the babies -screamed--and while the people on B deck began to shout and scurry -about in all directions. - -"What in God's name--!" a man yelled, getting up from his seat by the -windows. - -"Something's happened on A deck!" exclaimed the commissary steward. - -"What the hell! It's a fight!" shouted a grizzled construction worker. - -"Come on!" cried another, excitedly anticipating something to write -home about. - -"Stay where you are! Don't panic!" shouted a newsman, fumbling -frantically with the straps of his camera carrying case. - -No one could ascend the spiral staircase because a panic stricken mob -from A deck was descending, with the G.I. negro sliding down over -their heads. The whites of his eyes glistened in unreasoning terror. -Screams of women and the angry shouting and cursing of men filled -the staircase, while outside the muffled roar of the great engines -continued unabated. - -"_All right! All right!_" came a tense voice over the P.A. system. -"_Passengers will remain seated and refrain from panic. Do not crowd -B deck as it changes the load factors and we'll not be able to trim -if you don't stay put!_" It seemed to Henry that the announcer wanted -to say more but was interrupted by the sudden press of the emergency, -whatever it was. - - * * * * * - -Henry caught sight of a young woman wearing the uniform of a WAAC nurse -sliding down upside down under the feet of the mob, her face bloodied, -eyes rolled upward into her head. Either she had fainted or been -knocked unconscious. Or she was dead. Grown men, frothing at the mouth -and shrieking curses, struck at each other with intent to kill. It was -blind panic riding on the animal instinct to survive. - -Far from regarding the scene calmly, Henry was visited by an -instinctive desire to run through that crowd and find Uncle Andy, who -always knew the answer when the chips were down. But the quivering -girl beside him detained him, and her presence also made him fight -to control an incipient trembling of his chin. It was as though he -could smell events and the events there in the lounge had a stench of -disaster, of death, of tragic newspaper headlines. You couldn't really -smell such things, but Henry had no name for the strange sense that -gave him a vivid impression of the total human element surrounding him. - -The air hostess maintained a clear head. She ran to two high-ranking -officers, one an Army Colonel and the other a Major of the Air Force. - -"_Do_ something!" she exclaimed. - -Which was sufficient to arouse them from their momentary paralysis. -With a look at each other, a few hurried words and quick nods of -agreement, the two officers sprang into action. - -"All men on B deck!" yelled the Colonel, suddenly brandishing a -Service automatic. "Converge on the staircase and pull the passengers -out--women first where possible!" - -Henry stared curiously at the gun. He knew it did not contain -ammunition. Although this ship was a MATS charter, ammunition was not -allowed for sidearms on such flights. - -The Major and two Army non-coms were already at the staircase, working -fast. - -"Come down single file, those of you on the staircase!" yelled the -Major. "All others remain on A deck! No fighting, you! Move!" He was -also waving a gun in the air. - -When one man struck out wildly at another who was in his way, the Major -reached up and hit him over the head with his weapon--under the sudden -brilliance of the newsman's flash bulb. The man slumped, and a number -of B deck men heaved at him, pulling him through. - -Henry wondered if Uncle Andy was playing it safe, staying in his -seat. Couldn't be a fire. No smoke. Something much different, more -dangerous, he sensed. He recalled the ringing in his and Martia's -ears. Then he also remembered having bumped into someone in the aisle -upstairs--someone that he could not see.... A prickly sensation crept -down his spine. - -They had the unconscious WAAC nurse stretched out on a seat under the -observation windows. The air hostess was calling to the commissary -steward to break out the first aid supplies, and the Swedish actress -ran to get them for her. The Indian Prince had lost his turban and, -being quite bald, was trying to wrap it around his head again, while -his eyes stared in fright at the milling crowd and he cowered in the -farthest corner muttering prayers in Hindustani. - -"What the hell's happening up there?" asked the Major of one male -passenger from A deck who seemed to be more rational. Henry remembered -that this was the scar-faced man who had sat behind him and Uncle -Andy. On his hardened face was an expression of deep concern, and his -forehead glistened with sweat. - -"It's a--a man," he stammered. - -"A man! Well what the--" - -"A _monster_!" cried a woman, her hair disheveled, her dress and shoes -gone and her petticoat half ripped off. "Oh God help us!" - -"Mother!" shrieked Martia, suddenly. She broke away from Henry and ran -toward the crowd at the staircase. - - * * * * * - -Henry ran after her and caught her by the wrist. "You'll get yourself -killed trying to get up there!" he yelled at her. "Stay here!" - -"Mother!" she cried out again, sobbing hysterically and struggling -frantically to break away from him. - -"Shush, girl!" commanded the Colonel. The P.T. speaker was blaring. - -"_This is co-pilot Nelson speaking for Captain Merman_," came the same, -tense, male voice they had heard previously. "_All passengers are to -remain where they are. There is nothing wrong with the ship, except -we've got to keep trimming against that load in the lounge. I repeat, -there is nothing wrong with the ship. B deck passengers are advised -that we have been boarded, in some undetermined way, by a sort of--man. -He has made no move to harm anyone although he appears to be armed. -Captain Merman is trying to communicate with him. In the meantime -you are advised that we are under emergency conditions affecting the -rules of international travel. The Captain's orders will be followed -to the letter, by all nationalities represented on board, regardless -of rank or position. I repeat, this is an emergency. But there will -be no panic. Violators will be placed under arrest by any male member -of the crew or by any male commissioned personnel on board. All male -commissioned military personnel in the service of the government of the -United States are hereby deputized to make arrests and hold in custody -any offender. That is all. Stand by!_" - -The two small children, Henry noted, were still crying, uncontrollably. - -"Vot does he mean?" queried a bearded Russian at Henry's elbow. "Vot -iss a _sort_ of man?" It was a rhetorical question, with no answer -expected. - -But Henry said, "Well, the Captain is _trying_ to communicate with -him. That would mean he does not speak our language, perhaps none of -the languages represented on board. It would mean he is not equipped -with equivalent articulatory organs." Several adults near Henry turned -their attention upon him. The negro G.I., whose bulging eyes had been -staring alternately at the staircase and the Indian Prince, now turned, -trembling, to gaze upon this new wonder. And Henry continued. "The -co-pilot said he _appears_ to be armed. This means he carries some -apparatus on him which is unrelated to current technology. That this -creature represents an alien intelligence and is capitalizing on the -utilization of an alien science is further demonstrated by his having -made an appearance on board a transoceanic stratoliner in mid-flight. -Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that we have with us either -an extra-terrestrial or a time-traveling superman out of some future -age--or both." - -"_Proklaty!_" ejaculated the Russian. "_Ya nye ponye_--" He adjusted -a pair of heavy-lensed spectacles and stared at Henry in myopic -amazement. "I haf turned on a walkie-talking!" - -"Ye gods!" exclaimed an American businessman, a fat man with a florid, -sweating face, blue-veined jowls and pale yellow hair that strove -unsuccessfully to cover a sunburned scalp. "Here's a quiz kid! Let -_him_ talk to the monster!" - -"Poppycock!" snorted a lean, tweedy Englishman in his early forties. -"The child is a precocious egotist. This is a serious matter! It is -certainly not a time for youngsters to be heard at all--particularly -when they appear to be addicted to the utterly fantastic! -Extra-terrestrial, indeed! My poor, misguided child," he said to -Henry, "you must face reality! This is either some manifestation of a -Communist plot or--what would be worse--a perverted form of American -advertising that has come close to endangering the lives of all of us! -A rank publicity stunt! A hoax! A criminal _adulteration_ of propriety!" - -"What's immorality got to do with it?" queried the negro, fearfully. -"Ah don't care if dis kid is a Republican or a vampire. Ah's worried -about dat _In-Between_ dey got upstairs!" - -"Henry!" Martia, huddling close in the protective circle of his arm, -was whispering to him. "I think the same as you!" She was trembling. - - * * * * * - -By this time, the Colonel, the Major, the non-coms and the air hostess, -with the help of the commissary steward and the Swedish actress, had -restored some semblance of order--at gunpoint. Over two dozen cowering, -babbling, questioning passengers were lined up along both sides of the -observation lounge. The newsman was still taking flash-photos. The -staircase was deserted, because the Major stood there threatening to -shoot any unauthorized persons attempting to get down to B deck. Henry -wondered how many realized the gun was not loaded. - -The now all important P.A. system sputtered, and all faces turned -toward it in nervous anticipation. The co-pilot's voice came slowly and -quietly now, but tensely. "_Everybody remain exactly where you are. -The--stranger--is moving down the aisle._" - -Someone in the observation lounge started to cry out in alarm--one of -the women carrying a baby--but the Colonel said, "Quiet!" so vehemently -that she stopped, staring at the staircase with round glassy eyes. - -"_Attention on B deck!_" came another voice over the P.A. speaker. -"_This is Captain Merman. I believe Colonel Rogers is among you. If -so or in his absence if there is any other commissioned member of the -Service present, you will immediately move all women and children -out of harm's way and organize the men to take up a position which -will enable you to ambush the intruder! He will not identify himself -and I consider him to be dangerous. By your combined efforts you are -authorized and directed to capture him, dead or alive. This is an -official order. Passengers are reminded that disobeying an order at -this time will be mutinous and subject to arrest and imprisonment. -Stand by!_" - -This was followed by general silence. Henry and Martia listened for -sounds of activity from A deck. Had they heard screams or the sound of -mortal conflict above them they could not have been more terrified than -they were by this absence of any noise other than the muffled roar of -the engines outside. It was as though A deck were totally devoid of -human occupants and the ship were being piloted by phantoms. - -Colonel Rogers silently motioned to everybody, herding the women and -children over to one side of the lounge, next to the drinking fountain -where Henry and Martia stood. The Major and the non-coms lined up the -men. There were whispered arguments. - -"What the hell does he think he's doing?" - -"Yeah, there's more guys on A deck! Why don't they pile him?" - -Some of the men, by their facial expression and obvious emotional -condition, were considered inadequate for the task before them and were -excused. The scar-faced man, however, quietly followed instructions. -Henry wanted to go to him and ask him about Uncle Andy, but he could no -longer move against the press of the crowd. - -"_He has stopped now at the head of the staircase_," Captain Merman -announced in a low tone. "_He is looking down into the lounge._" - - * * * * * - -Men and women pressed closely against the two adolescents. Henry could -sense their accumulated tenseness. He could hear grown men panting -and he could observe the dryness of their tightly compressed lips, -the animal-like flaring of nostrils, the hunted look in their staring -eyes. He saw one woman grip her husband's hand until he winced. Martia -pressed her face against his shoulder and would not look at the -staircase. - -They waited. And Henry watched the Major. - -He was a short, stockily built man with a clear, youthful face and -brown, wavy hair. On his chest were campaign ribbons and one small -medal of some kind. Henry saw his Adam's apple move as he swallowed -nervously. His blue-grey eyes never wavered from the staircase. - -The scar-faced man stood slightly apart from the crowd, watching the -stairs with a quiet, expressionless intentness. About a dozen men -waited tensely on either side of the stairs, trying to remain out of a -direct line of sight from above. - -"_He's coming down!_" said Captain Merman. - -There was an audible drawing of breaths as they saw the alien intruder -descend the stairs. He came down to the second step from the bottom and -stood there surveying the scene before him. - -He was taller than men, by about a head. His shoulders, arms and -musculature were not human. He was almost four feet across his sloping -shoulders, with ponderous arms and six-fingered hands that reached -below his thick knees. There was a thumb, in addition to the taloned -fingers, a prehensile, calloused extension of the heel of the hand. A -second set of three, prehensile appendages writhed slowly about just -above his multi-jointed wrists. His large, almost circular chest was -split by a multiple lipped orifice that slowly opened and closed like -a sea anemone as he breathed. He wore only a meager harness and loin -cloth, the plastic-like straps supporting a heavy instrument box at -his waist and a pack of apparatus on his back. His skin was leathery, -almost brittle appearing, as though he were partially exoskeletal, -and of mottled colors ranging from dark red to purple, like a mass of -birth-marks that left no room for normal pigment. His face was small, -chinless and devoid of nose or nostrils, but he had a round mouth the -lips of which were like the beak of a blow-fish. His cranium was large, -hairless, and heavily veined. Under absurdly accentuated, hairless -brows, a single, monstrous insect's eye with a thousand gleaming facets -rotated about, examining them balefully. - -Martia could not see the alien. Henry could. She felt him shudder. - -Three women quietly passed out, but no one paid them any attention. -Colonel Rogers and the Major stood there looking back at the creature -in the same attitude of momentary shock paralysis as the others. The -non-com soldiers and male passengers constituting the ambush on either -side of the staircase were all white-faced, staring. "Scarface" stood -apart, more or less facing the intruder. - -Then--the alien spoke. The little beaks of his mouth moved, and a -rather high-pitched voice spoke, laboriously, in a language which was -gutteral, vaguely familiar, but nonetheless incomprehensible. - -No one moved, but the men tensed, as though for action. - - * * * * * - -Henry recognized the menace of this creature, but he could not -refrain from reflecting, during those brief, weirdly timeless seconds -of inactivity, that to communicate with it might be worth a thousand -Rosetta Stones. A single, intelligible conversation, and Man might -conquer the stars! But this was the Unknown. Man, in his egotism, -abhorred the Unknown as Nature abhorred a vacuum. Man had to reduce the -Unknown to the level of his own understanding. "The only good Injun is -a dead one!" This superman from out of space or time, this harbinger -of wonders yet to be discovered, this mute, alien vessel of perhaps -incalculable knowledge--was suspect, and condemned to be taken, dead or -alive. Henry was aware of no sympathetic sentiments around him. He knew -that the mass reaction was for violence. The judgment: Death! - -Suddenly, the newsman took a picture and the flash bulb caused the -alien to start and move one of his amazingly dextrous hands toward the -control box at his waist. - -The two babies screamed, and the stranger turned his cyclopean eye upon -them for the first time. He moved down to the floor and started toward -them. - -It was then that Scarface whipped out a gun and fired, point blank. -The loud report in that tensely silent place stimulated involuntary -muscular reactions and the crowd seemed to jump as one body. - -The bullet made a round, neat hole to the right of the chest orifice, -and the alien stopped. Nobody wondered why Scarface happened to be -carrying a loaded gun. They merely sensed relief when he fired the -shot. A known element had entered the picture. Man had met the Unknown -with a gun, and the gun could do harm. It was effective. - -The alien looked at Scarface briefly, then turned dials at his waist, -even as Scarface pumped three more shots into him in very rapid -succession. - -Nobody was quite sure of what happened after that. Everyone's vision -blurred. There was a tumultuous ringing in the ears, a giddiness, and a -tendency to black out. - -When their vision cleared, the alien had disappeared. And with him the -two babies.... - - * * * * * - -Henry, Uncle Andy, Dr. Edwards, Scarface, the G.I. negro and the -Swedish actress were all shoulder to shoulder in the lounge, looking -down at the world. - -Martia had been "rescued" by her mother, the Lady Dewitt, and the -governess, whose dough-like face had acquired red emotional splotches -similar to hives. - -First aid was being administered to the injured and the -hysterical--including the two mothers whose babies had been stolen. - -In spite of the overwhelming enigma below him, where the Atlantic Ocean -should have been, Henry kept remembering Martia--the look she had -given him when she had started back to A deck with her mother and the -governess. Her eyes had revealed a composite expression of sadness, -puzzlement and urgency. With them she had transmitted a message: -_Something unknown binds us together. I will see you again._ - -More important than that, it seemed to be imperative that he discover -_what_ it was that bound them together. Just the two of them. No one -else in the world. - -Why? Why? _Why!_ - -"Well, Henry," said Uncle Andy, whose pipe had gone out, "after all -that's happened, and in view of the landscape below us, I imagine you -are about ready to extrapolate." - -"He's got company!" ejaculated the negro G.I. "Ah's about ready to lose -control, myself! Dat Monster Man done burned up mah nervous system, but -dis here country we's flyin' over is gonna make me exasperate all over -if somebody don't tell me where we is at!" - -Dr. Edwards was not concerned with him, just now, Henry noted. Instead, -he studied the unknown country below them--and the peculiar sky--as -though orthodox authority were at a loss for an opinion. The Swedish -actress, known by the name of Valerie Roagland, looked at Henry, her -brilliantly blue eyes searching him curiously. - -"When will they tell us?" she asked, with just the pleasant trace of a -liquid accent. - -"I don't think the Captain or the Navigator are going to be able to -come up with much," said Uncle Andy, noting with appreciation that -Valerie Roagland's hair was naturally blond and wavy. "Unless they are -equipped with a crystal ball." - -"What I'd like to know," said Dr. Edwards, "is _how_ this happened. A -weird creature like that, suddenly appearing on board and stealing two -babies, then disappearing into thin air. And when it's all over--" He -shrugged and pointed below. - -Henry looked again at the terrain over which they were flying. The ship -was in descent, and their present altitude of some three thousand feet -gave him a close view. - - * * * * * - -Distant seas, land locked tropical harbors, islands, and the great land -mass below with its rivers and lakes and jungles and very low, pagan -looking hills. Here below them was an apparently uninhabited Eden--a -Paradise that continued endlessly. No ship, sailboat or canoe could -be discerned on any visible body of water. No city, town or village. -No highways, country roads or footpaths. There were only brilliant -flowers, on the ground and in the trees, and a few birds. - -Nothing more--except the sky. - -The sky was blue, but without a sun, although the brilliance of the day -was equivalent to that of high noon. It was as though a curtain had -been drawn across the heavens--as though they were adventuring within -a shell that encircled the world. - -"The absence of the sun," said Henry, "is one basis for conjecture. The -absence of inhabitants is another. But the last announcement they made -over the P.A. system gives us the most conclusive evidence of all." - -Dr. Edwards looked at him quickly. "That announcement merely revealed -the fact that no radio contact has been made with anyone," he said. -"What does it prove?" - -"It was not announced that the radio is not functioning properly," -replied Henry. "Given a radio that is in working order, and no -reception; given a primitive looking country such as this one below us, -with no signs of inhabitants, plus a bright blue sky without a sun--and -the answer is obvious." - -"I wish it were as obvious to me," said Valerie Roagland. "What do you -make of it, Henry? What _is_ the answer?" - -"Man, you's got more complications!" protested the negro G.I. "Come on! -It's a impossibility to scare me any futher, 'cause I got goose pimples -clear out on my fingernails! Let's have it!" - -Henry looked expressionlessly through the observation panels and -wondered, as he had wondered all his life, how he knew, _a priori_, -what it took those around him so long to figure out. - -"This is another world," he said. "If it is not another planet--" - -"Oh, Henry, for the love of God!" exclaimed Dr. Edwards. "You and your -extrapolations! How could this be another planet? What inhabitable -planet would not reveal a sun in its sky? And how could we be -transported there in the twinkling of an eye?" - -"The planet, Venus, is surrounded by clouds of some sort," said Henry. -"We have never seen its surface. Perhaps it would be Nature's way to -protect such a world from the brightness and heat of a nearer sun by -surrounding it with some sort of protective layer that only _looks_ -like a sky. But I don't think this is Venus." - -"Well, that's very nice to know," said Dr. Edwards, sarcastically. - -"What _do_ you think it is, Henry?" asked Uncle Andy, puffing again at -his pipe. - -"Earth--incalculably removed into the distant future. We have been -hurled into future Time." - -Dr. Edwards snorted, straightened up, and left the group without a word. - -"Look at the low hills," said Henry to the others. "We've been flying -over this country for several hours. Here we have a small continent, -a comparatively major land mass--but no mountains. That would be -indicative of great geologic age. Furthermore, you will note that the -islands we saw, though tropical, are not the result of coral growth. -They are the tops of low hills. At one time this was a greater land -mass, but it has since been inundated." - -The P. A. system blared. "_All passengers and crew, prepare for -landing...._" - -"Say, Henry," interposed Scarface for the first time, "how did we get -here?" - -"The--alien--took himself back to where he came from, along with the -two babies. I believe he made a mistake and transported us, too." - -Scarface raised one black brow quizzically. "Then you mean--we have -come to the place where that geek went to with the kids?" - -"Perhaps. But if we followed him accidentally through time we might -have been dropped off somewhere along the Continuum, either prior to -his own time or far beyond his era." - -Scarface looked at Valerie Roagland and Uncle Andy. They expected him -to grin in amusement, but he did not. - -"We better take seats," he said. "I think I need one, landing or no -landing." - -Valerie Roagland cornered Uncle Andy and flashed him a smile that -brought him to a staggering halt. "This is all a little beyond me," she -said. "What do _you_ think has happened?" - -He looked at her in silence a moment before answering. Then he gently -patted her shapely shoulder. "The most practical thing I can say," he -answered, "is to relax. No matter what has happened--we're here. Let's -face it and wait for developments." - -Suddenly she tucked her arm in his. He looked down at her arm, then -into her eyes. After that, they walked up to A deck together. - -Henry, following them, knew the answer. Far from being romance, it was -an expression of the present situation. They were confronted with the -Unknown. Their own world with its mores, complexities and inhibitions -was behind them. Beneath that veneer, in real people, lay a human -frankness, and a gregarious instinct. If rough waters lay ahead, -Valerie Roagland preferred to have a man like Uncle Andy around. No -strings. No innuendos. - -But what lay beneath the civilized veneers of other people on board? - -Take Scarface, for example. Why was he carrying a loaded gun? - - * * * * * - -"Well, it didn't take us long, did it?" Uncle Andy cast his line once -more into the swelling waves and squinted against the eternal light of -day. - -"What do you mean?" queried Henry. His shoes were off and he wriggled -his toes in the warm light of the sky as he sat precariously on the -edge of the great rock that jutted out from the land ten feet above the -sea. He looked at Uncle Andy's fishing rod and thought: That's all we -got out of the survival gear. Everybody just _grabbed_. - -"I mean--" Uncle Andy wound in fast. "It's only been two weeks since -our crash landing, and our little human colony has divided itself into -separate groups." The fish hook was empty--of fish, and of bait. - -Henry handed him another "bush worm"--a two-inch long greenish thing -with tentacles all over it. It squirmed but was harmless otherwise. - -"It's like a glass jar they showed us once at the orphanage," he -answered. "There were big pebbles, little pebbles, and sand. You shook -the jar awhile and pretty soon you had each size and type seeking its -own level. That's like people." - -Uncle Andy smiled around the edges of his pipe stem and cast out again, -with the fresh bait. "You always hit the nail on the head, Henry. -You're an unusual human being. I wish I knew more about your actual -parentage. They told me a story about you. You were a year old child -when they found you naked on the Normandie beach. You're probably -French, all right. But who your parents were will probably never be -known--especially now." - -"And you skip around a lot," retorted Henry. "We were talking about the -people back at the camp." He had built up a wall of inhibition against -the pain of not knowing about his parents. He resented any probing into -that isolated cyst of longing. - -"Yes, I know." The line was taut now, and Uncle Andy was fighting a -catch. "Take the English clan--that Cyril Rollins or whatever his name -is, and your Lady Dewitt and the governess and the two Crispin sisters -and that old retired sea captain, Langham. Colonization is a tradition -with them. By God, if they had a flag they'd unfurl it in the name of -the Queen! They can't quite swallow the concept of complete severance -with the world they knew. It's a sort of mental defense mechanism, I -guess. And no criticism, either. Merely a sign of their own particular -character as a people. But that's just an example of the grouping -that's going on." - -The catch came in--a two foot lizard, glaring scarlet with blue and -yellow gills and black eyes that pierced one with a deadly stare of -murderous hate. - -"Hm-m-m. That biologist, Doctor Singer, will have to see this." Uncle -Andy held it beneath his foot studying it. "This certainly is a -different type of world. Entirely different evolution. All the fauna -and flora we've seen yet are different than anything we've known. -Hundreds of millions of years--maybe much more. I'd swear we're still -on Earth. It _feels_ like Earth. But what happened to our own time? Did -the world start over again, somewhat unthinkably long ago? Where are -we? At the dawn or at the end of Creation?" - -Henry reflected that there were five mental cases back in camp--all -raving idiots. They, too, had tried to find an answer, but their -minds were not as well balanced as others. He pinned his faith on -minds like Uncle Andy, his own--and Martia's. He couldn't see Martia -yet--not alone, that is. Sooner or later, though, after the Lady Dewitt -extracted herself from her delusions-- - -"You're talking to yourself," he accused. "We were discussing the -people. One group I don't like is that Tommy Weston gang. They are -the crude pebbles in the glass jar--and they are trouble makers. The -incident about the women last night is just one indication of what's -ahead. Here we are in Paradise and some are reverting to animals -already." - -Night was only an arbitrary period of rest. In this world there was no -actual night. Daylight apparently continued forever. - -"Look!" exclaimed Uncle Andy. "Here comes Valerie and Pee Bee!" - - * * * * * - -Henry turned in time to see the Swedish actress and the negro G.I. -climbing up the rock behind them. Pee Bee, the negro, carried a -bonafide picnic basket under his arm. The basket seemed incongruous, -but Henry knew it was one of half a dozen that had been woven recently -by several women who had found an unlimited supply of rushes for the -purpose. There was a medical doctor in camp who had told everyone -they had better keep busy and be industrious if they wanted to avoid -cracking up. The baskets were one of the results of his advice. - -Pee Bee, who had been nick-named "Powder Blue," or P.B., by his fellow -servicemen, flashed them a toothy smile and helped Valerie up the -incline of the rock. - -"We figured you fishermen would be starvin' for lack of fish," he -called out, "so we done brought you all a lunch!" - -"K-rations again," put in Valerie, smiling at both of them. "They -found some more near the wreckage. But they really are the last. Good -Heavens! What is that!" She pointed at the scarlet lizard under Uncle -Andy's foot. - -"That," he answered, "is _lacerta litoralis satanus_, or the swimming -devil lizard." - -Pee Bee's eyes bugged out. "Ah got just one question. Do we eat _it_, -or does it eat _us_?" - -Everybody laughed, and Uncle Andy did not try to avoid taking in all of -Valerie with his eyes. She wore light blue slacks, beach sandals and a -white shirt, the tails of which were tied in a knot under her breasts, -making it an appropriate midriff outfit. Her voluminous blond hair -floated cleanly in the salty breeze and her face and neck were already -deeply tanned. She looked up at him and caught his eyes and their -smiles faded--slowly. - -Words between them would have been superfluous. Inevitably, their -companionship in this lost world had developed into a much closer -relationship. - -The four of them sat there on the rock, bare legs dangling over, -and ate K-rations. In the reassuring warmth and sunlight before the -comprehensible aspect of the ageless sea, they felt little need for -conversation. They were content with the awareness of _not_ being alone. - -Henry watched a printed wrapping from the K-rations float on the waves -below, and he thought it far more incongruous than the picnic basket. -K-rations--a million years removed from their source. Along these -shores were empty tin cans and bottles and old newspapers and magazines -lying among the seaweeds and flotsam. - -_Man_ had come to Paradise.... - - * * * * * - -After lunch they fell into the usual discussion. Where were they? How -had they come here? What was the alien's purpose of taking the two -babies? Was the alien here, in this world, or in some other one? What -would be the possibilities of exploring this world and what might they -discover--if anything? Were they doomed to stay here forever? - -Uncle Andy expressed the opinion that, until something better -developed, it would be the sanest course to get their little colony -organized under a recognizable form of government. Dwellings had to be -built. Sources of food had to be secured. Exploration parties must be -sent out. - -"In substance," he said, "that's what the big meeting tonight is all -about. We have to get organized and come to decisions regarding the -future." - -"Look!" said Henry. "There's Tommy Weston and some of his gang." He -pointed back toward the jungle. - -All four of them looked shoreward and discerned six bare-chested men -standing there about a hundred feet from them, just under the shade of -the flowering trees. Four of them were construction men, led by the big -man who had sat with Scarface in the seat behind Henry, Uncle Andy and -Dr. Edwards back when--things were normal. This two hundred and forty -pound package of trouble was Tommy Weston, heavy chested, big fisted, -tattooed, square jawed, bewhiskered, and with a brooding tawny-eyed -stare. His crinkly hair, on his head, chest and brawny arms, was a -dark, rusty red. And he was heavily freckled. - -He stood there talking to his men and gesticulating toward the group -on the rock. Henry recognized two of the men as the only two cooks -belonging to the camp. One was an ugly hulk of a man who in his youth -might have been more than a match for Weston. He was a garrulous, -argumentative Pole, pale-faced, perspiring, and wearing a battered, -black felt hat. The other was young, probably only twenty, but -squarely built and already notoriously hot-tempered, having been in -three fistfights since the crash landing. His hair and lashes were pure -white. Hence the obvious name, Whitey. - -"They're coming up here," said Valerie. "I wish they wouldn't. It was -so peaceful." - -"Relax, honey," Uncle Andy replied. "Maybe they only want to borrow my -fishing gear." - -"Man, de only thing dat big boy wants to borrow 'round here is -trouble!" put in Pee Bee. "Ah wish ah was back home playin' pool on -Central Avenue now!" - -Henry merely watched the men climb the rock. He saw their ugly grins -as they looked at Valerie, and he thought of the separation of the -sand and pebbles in the jar again. Uncle Andy got to his feet and held -up the devil lizard for them to see. It was a disarming neighborly -gesture, but Henry felt it was somehow pathetic. He had a distinct -feeling of being cornered. He knew Uncle Andy felt that, too, but he -didn't show it. - - * * * * * - -Camp was almost a mile distant and completely out of sight behind two -jungle covered headlands. The six men came up onto the rock and stood -there grinning at them. - -"It probably isn't even edible," said Uncle Andy, still referring to -the devil lizard. "But this sea is teeming with life." - -Tommy Weston looked down at Henry and saw his box of worms. "You ain't -doin' so hot, then," he answered. "Lemme try that pole. Gimme some of -them worms, Henry." - -Both Uncle Andy and Henry complied, while Valerie kept very much to -herself. She still sat on the edge of the rock, with her back toward -them, and looked down into the swirling water. Pee Bee was a powder -blue study in self-effacement. He kept his eyes on the water as though -he wished he were a fish. - -Weston hooked on his bait and cast far out. "We been makin' the -rounds," he said. "We're checkin' up on everybody's ideas about the -meeting tonight." - -"Well, now, that's a pretty sure sign we're all going to survive," -remarked Uncle Andy, but not as naively as he sounded. "I didn't know -anyone was actively concerned about it. I'm glad you fellows think the -meeting is that important." - -"Sure it's important!" exclaimed the big, Polish cook with the felt -hat. "Vot you t'ink ve goink around for a valk only for our healt'?" - -"Shut up, Sceranka!" said Weston, reeling in the line. "You see, we -don't like the set-up. There's too many government boys who think -naturally they got the say-so around here. They still recognize Captain -Merman as the head man. And it seems they sort of got things set up -their own way." The other five men, if they were not watching Valerie, -were watching Uncle Andy for his reactions as Weston spoke. - -The fishline came in empty. Weston baited again. - -"I can see your point," said Uncle Andy. "You favor a more democratic -method of setting up the colony, now that the emergency is over and we -are peacefully established on land. The rules governing international -flights do not apply here. Since there is no government, or any contact -with one, the people must elect one. Is that what you're getting at?" - -Weston looked at him in surprise. "Yeah! That's the idea!" he -exclaimed. "The democratic system!" - -But Uncle Andy and Henry did not like the grins on the other men's -faces. - -"Now take me, for instance!" Weston continued, casting out his line -again. "I'm up for election!" - -This time, Valerie had to turn and stare at him in astonishment. He -looked down at her as he reeled in the line and gave her a smile that -revealed gold-capped teeth. - -"What's the matter, beautiful? Wouldn't I make a good candidate? I got -a platform already. No red tape. No promises. And no taxes. Just do as -I say and we'll all get along." - -"Obviously," said Uncle Andy, "that's a brand of politics that belongs -to gangsters. What can you possibly hope to gain even if you are the -Boss of this outfit?" - - * * * * * - -The hook came in empty, so Weston threw the pole down on the rock. -He faced Uncle Andy and gave him that twany-eyed, brooding look of -his. "I got this to gain," he said. "None of us knows what's gonna -happen. Maybe our chances of gettin' back to civilization are slim. -But if things get tough I ain't going to be breakin' my back under -nobody else's whip. I don't go for this gold braid and paper baloney. -I think half the camp is made up of a helpless mess of blubber as far -as _men_ go. Of course, as far as the women go we don't mind them bein' -helpless! We'll take care of them, but first they gotta come down off -their pedestals and get some sense into 'em!" He and all his men looked -at Valerie. "We might never get back home," he said, pointedly, "and in -that case things have got to be a lot different around here. And me and -my boys have just got the guts to make the necessary changes!" - -Uncle Andy stiffened, but he held his temper. "Tommy," he said, "what -is it you want? How does this visit of yours apply to the meeting -tonight?" - -"We're going to force the issue on voting in a new leader. I'll be a -candidate. If you know what's good for you, you'll vote for _me_!" - -Uncle Andy wanted to ask him why they should vote at all as long as -Weston had decided how the voting was going to go, but instead he said, -"How about giving us time to consider it? Until tonight." - -"Sure! Just so you decide by tonight. You can't vote before then!" - -"Yeah but what about the dame?" Whitey blurted out. "You know what you -said." - -Instinctively, Valerie sprang to her feet and drew close to Uncle Andy. -Just as instinctively, he put an arm around her, protectively. - -Tommy Weston hooked his thumbs into his pants and drew close to Uncle -Andy. "Now there's another point I'd like to bring up," he said. "Just -who elected you the fair haired boy with blondie, here? You may have to -get used to some different ideas before long." - -"So it might as well be now!" put in Whitey, coming shoulder to -shoulder with Weston. - -The other four men closed in also. The big Pole with the hat was -sweating more profusely now, and his eyes grew large as he stared at -Valerie. - -"So we've come to this," said Uncle Andy, actually stalling for time. - -"Let's face it!" exclaimed Weston. "We always _been_ here!" - -"Yes," Henry broke in. "You're right! There was a thin, fake covering -called civilization, once. But now at the end of time the covering -comes off and we find nothing has changed since the Stone Age!" - -Tommy Weston sneered. "So the young genius has to put his two-bits in, -too! Well, boys, the conference is over!" He reached out for Valerie's -shirt, just as Pee Bee suddenly got to his feet in a crouching -position, ready to uncoil. - -Uncle Andy's fists were coming up when another man shouldered his way -between the construction men. Action froze on all sides as they looked -at the newcomer. He stood there in shirt, trousers and tan sport shoes. -It was Scarface, wearing a very handy looking shoulder holster. From -the holster, the butt of a black automatic protruded. - -"Any trouble up here?" he queried, nonchalantly, as though he were -asking if the fish were biting. - - * * * * * - -Tommy Weston's already tanned face darkened, as did Whitey's. The other -men backed away, slightly. In addition to having a respect for the gun, -they respected the man. None of them knew who Scarface was, actually, -but they remembered he had had the nerve to shoot it out with the alien. - -"So the little gun boy is going to take sides!" sneered Weston. - -Scarface raised his brows and spoke unsmilingly through his teeth. -"I've got news for you," he said. "As a trouble maker you're an -amateur. I'm professional, but please don't ask for a demonstration -today. Now I want all you hairy-chested little girls to climb back on -your kiddy cars and toddle home, because there's no more Mickey Mouse -today." - -"If you didn't have that goddam gun I'd swedge your sassy yap shut!" -threatened Weston, looming over him and fuming. - -Scarface's eyes flashed. "I said get the hell out of here!" - -Weston brought himself under control and tried another tack. "What's in -this for you, Scarface?" he asked. "You don't strike me as the Sunday -School type. You know what the score is around here. So why don't you -put in with us or sit out?" - -"Your business and what you do is none of _my_ business," said -Scarface, "as long as you leave my friends alone. These are my friends, -so lay off!" - -"Look out!" screamed Valerie, and Uncle Andy jerked Scarface out of the -way just in time to avoid Whitey's lunge. - -Whitey lunged again, for the gun, and as Scarface turned toward him, -Weston threw an arm around his neck that looked like the root of an -oak tree. Scarface kicked out at Whitey, making him lose his balance, -and Pee Bee bowed his back as Whitey went over him. When Pee Bee -straightened up, two things happened. His head collided solidly with -the big Pole's chin, knocking him out, and Whitey sailed beautifully -into the crashing waves below. His terrified yell was drowned by -foaming seawater. Simultaneously, Uncle Andy snatched the gun from -Scarface just as the latter broke loose by scraping his heels down -Weston's shins, almost breaking his arches, and at the same time nearly -pulling the other's ears off. - -Weston broke free of the ear grip while Uncle Andy held the other -men at bay. As Scarface turned on Weston, the latter swung at him -ponderously. Scarface ducked and gave him a swift jab into the stomach. -As Weston doubled, he received a two-fisted uppercut, and as he toppled -he was aided on his way by a double blow across the left temple. He -came down like a brick chimney and lay there in a heap. - -Pee Bee stood there rubbing his head and looking down at the prostrate -figure of the Polish cook. - -"Get Whitey!" cried one of the construction men, pointing at the ocean. -"He'll drown!" - -While Uncle Andy still held them at bay, they all looked at the man in -the water. Whitey was screaming and flailing wildly about, while the -undertow and the incoming waves alternately dragged him outward and -dashed him against the rocks. - -"What's the matter?" asked Scarface, rubbing his knuckles. "Can't he -swim?" - -"He can swim," said the same man, "but something's got him!" - -As they watched, the water darkened around Whitey. - -"It's blood!" cried Valerie. "Oh my God, the poor man!" - -"Look!" cried Henry. "Those are devil lizards! Hundreds of them!" - - * * * * * - -Like a voracious swarm of piranhas, the scarlet little monsters -converged on Whitey and tore him apart. As the blood filled the -water, other "things" were attracted. There were glimpses of finned, -serpentine backs and vast, amorphous shadows beneath the churning -waves. To those who watched, the eternal light above them seemed -deceptive. Subjectively, they were aware of the dark Unknown. The very -dark _Unknown_. - -_Where were they?_ - -One of the construction men ran away screaming. Pee Bee, carrying the -lunch basket, took Henry's arm and also started to lead the way, gently -but firmly. Uncle Andy handed the gun back to Scarface. He led Valerie -down the rock, wordlessly. And Scarface stood there looking back at the -bloodied water for a full minute. - -Then he followed the others. Weston and Sceranka, he decided, would -have to come by themselves and find their own way back to camp. - -The fishing pole lay there, abandoned.... - -The camp was similar, in effect to a military beachhead prior to -organization. There was one tent, salvaged from the survival gear -that the plane carried. This was used by the women for the purpose of -changing their clothes, as well as a sort of "safety deposit vault" -for valuable articles such as the ship's log, medicinal supplies -and various instruments--plus short wave sending and receiving gear, -now quite useless owing to a lack of power source and an absence of -activity on the wave bands. - -Beyond the tent lay confusion. Small huts constructed of branches and -giant leaves, or square areas enclosed by sheets or towels, suspended -on crude frameworks rigged together with poles. Here and there a more -presentable structure of branches indicated the work of construction -men. Between these were scattered both small and large heaps of luggage -and personal belongings--suitcases, pullmans, hatboxes, overnight bags, -small trunks, packing cases--even an aluminum cage in which reposed -a bewildered Pekingese dog. A very lonely dog. The only dog in the -universe. - -Inevitably, there were clotheslines displaying underwear, shirts, -socks, silk stockings, bras--and a man's pair of black silk monogrammed -pajamas. These latter belonged to the Englishman, Sir Cyril Rollins. -And there was a hammock strung between two straight-boled trees without -leaves which bore a weird fruit that looked like pomegranates. The -hammock was shared by the three soldiers from Texas. Just now the -hammock was empty except for a ukelele and a million year old copy of -Life Magazine. - -Farther up the endless beach was the plane, lying crumpled on its -belly, with wings drooping dejectedly into the sand and water. One of -the landing gears had burst up through a nacelle. The great, swift, -mechanical bird of another age was a useless thing--and a painful -reminder of what once was their own familiar world. - -Altogether there were in camp sixty males and twenty-four females, -representing three races and eight nationalities. A cross section of -the human race. Seemingly, all there was left of it. - - * * * * * - -When Henry returned with the others to camp, Martia was the first to -greet him. She had suddenly lost the last vestige of her patrician -affectations, because she ran to him abruptly. Or rather, their -thoughts seemed to meet between them even before they drew together. He -squeezed her hand warmly as she drew him to one side, excitedly. - -"Mother is lost!" she exclaimed. Her eyes were slightly reddened from -crying. - -"Lost! How do you know?" - -"She and Sir Rollins and that Mr. Langham and the Crispin sisters and -those two mothers who lost their babies went exploring for spring -water. They've been gone all day and nobody can find them! Henry, I'm -so worried! Can you speak to your Uncle and ask him to organize a real -search party. There's no night here. We can start right away!" - -"But the meeting--" - -"Please!" she insisted. - -"What I mean is, no search party can be organized during the big -meeting, and that's about ready to get under way--after everybody eats -supper." They could see the fires along the beach where men and women -were cooking. Either they were cooking small game caught in traps or -certain species of edible crustacea, or a potato-like fruit that was -abundant in this region. The food from the plane was long gone. "Why -doesn't your governess do something about it? What does she think?" - -"Emily? She made a few soldier boys go with her to search--those three -Texas boys--and I think three of those WAACs went along. But they've -disappeared, too!" - -"All right," said Henry. "Let's go see Uncle Andy." - -They found him, with Valerie Roagland and the air hostess, Peggy -Hollenbeck, engaged in a group discussion that included Captain Merman, -several high-ranking U.S. Army officers and the five congressmen led -by Burley. Also, there were a few businessmen and scientists present, -including Dr. Edwards. Most of them stood around a charcoal fire -boiling small chunks of meat on long wires and drinking "Beachcomber's -Tea," made from the leaves of a giant vine that someone had discovered. -A chemist and a doctor had collaborated on its analysis and found it to -be healthful. - -"We still represent the United States," Congressman Burley was saying, -"and Colonel Rogers here says that the servicemen are on our side. -Also, we can count on the English to be with us, if necessary, and the -three Norwegians. I don't think Weston has a chance of making trouble. -Now here is a list compiled today showing the number of men--" - - * * * * * - -Congressman Burley stopped talking and followed the gaze of all the -others. He saw Henry and Martia standing by the fireside, holding hands -and looking very impatient. - -"All right!" he said. "You kids will have to clear out. We're having a -conference." - -"That," said Henry, "is somewhat obvious. But I--" - -"Now look here! Don't you get sassy!" Burley glared at Henry -impatiently, but Uncle Andy walked over to the boy and put an arm -around his shoulders. He placed his other arm around Martia. - -"Just a minute!" he interrupted. "I'm afraid you don't know Henry. He -would never have intruded if he did not have something important to -say." - -"Always pampering the kid," commented Dr. Edwards to Captain Merman. -"Thinks he's a genius and he's only a pest!" - -"Your English allies have gotten themselves lost," said Henry. "Lady -Dewitt, Sir Rollins, the Crispin sisters, Langham, Emily Duncan, -several other women and three servicemen." - -"Please!" Martia cried. "It's always daylight here. Can't a search -party be sent right away?" - -Some of the men looked at Captain Merman. He was a tall, lean man in -his late thirties, still wearing the pants and shirts of his uniform, -as well as the cap. His paleness and the redness of his eyelids, -thought Henry, were probably due to a hyperthyroid condition. - -"My orders," said Merman, "were that no explorations would be conducted -without proper authorization. They went on their own, principally -because of Lady Dewitt's refusal to use the river water and because our -distilled water can't be rationed in her favor. I don't see why--" - -"You are engaged here in an emergency conference," said Henry, "to -determine what can be done about Tommy Weston's gang. If you're -worried, why don't you stall for time by organizing the whole camp into -a search party--including Weston's men? The physical action and the -adventure of it will be tantamount to a psychological weapon against -anarchy." - -Martia beamed at Henry in pride and gratitude, but most of the men -guffawed. - -"Ye gods!" exclaimed one of the other congressmen. "That sounded like -it was going to be a filibuster! Talk about lobbying! This kid is -Capitol material!" - -"But it isn't getting us anywhere," said Burley. - -"Just a minute," said a small, dark-complexioned man wearing a black -shirt, white slacks and dark glasses. "I've heard, second-handedly, -some interesting ideas from this boy." Henry had learned that this was -Dr. Jules Bauml, a noted astro-physicist attached to the Mount Palomar -Observatory. "He thinks we have been transported through time and that -it is futile to try contacting our own civilization unless we avail -ourselves of a time machine. Of course that is a pessimistic view, but -owing to observations of my own I should like to hear his reasons for -arriving at such a conclusion." - -"Oh hell!" ejaculated one of the businessmen present. "We're probably -down in the Caribbean somewhere!" - -"No, by God!" said another one. "That wouldn't explain the permanent -daylight and no sun!" - -"A freak of Nature," insisted the first one. "You've heard of the Land -of the Midnight Sun. What's so different about this?" - -"Everything!" said Henry. - -They all looked at him, startled, including Uncle Andy. - - * * * * * - -Henry addressed Dr. Bauml. "As an astronomer you will understand the -nature and importance of the ionosphere," he said, amidst raised -eyebrows all around. "It is that layer of the atmosphere which protects -us from the dangerous short radiations from the sun. These quanta, -striking atoms of oxygen, create ionized oxygen and ozone, forming -the ionosphere. Such atoms are necessarily in such rapid motion that -they would be lost in space were it not for the magnitude of Earth's -gravitation. That is why Earth bears--or _bore_--a high form of -intelligent life whereas Mars must continue to lose its ionized oxygen -into space and could therefore not support a high form of life." - -"Yes, yes!" exclaimed Bauml, impressed. "But what has that to do with -the present?" - -"Venus does not have an ionosphere," continued Henry. "Otherwise it -would have shown up in spectrographs. Its atmosphere is caused largely -by violent volcanic action. Volcanoes, incredibly heated storms and no -ionosphere, spells no oxygen and no life. Therefore, conclusion number -one: We are still on Earth." - -Several congressmen snorted. "Who said we weren't?" - -"Go on!" encouraged Bauml, while Dr. Edwards began to listen in some -surprise. "I agree so far! This is Earth, but where do we go from here?" - -"Let us disregard, for the moment," said Henry, "that there is no -night. Just concentrate on the fact that we can't see the sun at -_any_ time, clouds or no clouds. Ergo, the ionosphere has changed its -composition. It would take millions of years to do that, just as it -took billions of years to build it up in the first place. I submit -that the sun has cooled and the ionosphere is much thicker than it -was before, thus acquiring different characteristics of refraction -which reflect light back to Earth. It is almost like a mirror. Just -as it once reflected radio waves back, it now shuts out the shorter -wavelengths, including light, itself. I submit further, that if the sun -were still bright we should notice a difference in relative brightness -between day and night. Inasmuch as there is no difference, I say that -the sun is now grown dim and feeble, and that we have traveled perhaps -a billion years into the future." - -"Hey!" cried out another civilian. "I thought there were only five -psychos in camp! One billion years! What the--" - -"Yes," put in Dr. Edwards, with an impatient scowl, "this business of -extrapolating is next to nothing, as it leads nowhere. By the boy's own -argument I could give the rebuttal that if a billion years have passed -then Venus may have had time to finally develop an ionosphere and thus -be able to support the higher forms of life. Behold! I submit that we -are on Venus!" This was followed by sympathetic laughter all around. - -"Wait now," insisted Dr. Bauml. "Give the boy a chance! Henry, you -_have_ let me down into mere hypothesis, but we might as well have all -of it. Let me ask you a question. If the sun has cooled, why are we -surrounded by all this evidence of lush, tropical life? We should be -freezing!" - -Henry replied immediately. "Either the ionosphere has developed a -sustained reaction that provides us with heat and the regular, life -sustaining quanta, while absorbing the hard radiations, or--" He -paused, groping suddenly for words. - -"Or what!" demanded Dr. Edwards. - -"Or _someone_ has set up nuclear heating plants all over the planet, -or their equivalents. Wait!" He held up his hand as Dr. Edwards joined -half the others in derisive laughter. "Go back to that alien creature -who stole the babies. Just before he disappeared, precipitating us into -our present environment, he spoke to us in a gutteral language that -was vaguely familiar. You were present, Doctor Bauml, when he spoke. I -understand you recognized that language. What was it?" - - * * * * * - -Dr. Edwards sobered. He and Merman and Burley and the others stared at -the diminutive astronomer. The latter looked embarrassed. - -"I--am German, as you know," he said. "As such I was naturally familiar -with Middle High German, owing to my educational background. That is -what this alien spoke. I only caught a few words, which were to the -effect that no harm would come to any of us if we did something or -other." - -"Why didn't you tell us this before?" queried Merman. "If that freak -spoke German--" - -"Wait!" interrupted Henry. "Middle High German is a dead language. -It came into use in the dark ages before the Renaissance and it died -out with Martin Luther in the Sixteenth Century of our own era. The -fact that this alien spoke that language indicates that he is a time -traveler. He has been in our era before and I'll tell you where, when -and why!" - -"_That_ is a tall order," put in Dr. Edwards. - -Uncle Andy turned to Valerie Roagland and the air hostess. "This is the -tallest extrapolating I've ever heard from Henry." - -By this time, many other people were gathering around to listen, -including servicemen and a number of Tommy Weston's men. - -"All right!" said Merman. "Let's have it! Where, when and why?" - -"The place?" said Henry. "Westphalia, Germany. The time? Twelve -eighty-four A.D. The reason? To kidnap children. Oh, I forgot to -mention the town...." - -"Hamelin!" exclaimed Dr. Bauml, astounded. "You mean--" - -"Yes," said Henry. "The Pied Piper of Hamelin--no legend. An actual -fact!" - -"What is this?" asked one of Weston's construction stiffs. "A booby -hatch? Let's get on with the meeting. Weston'll be here any minute!" - -"Wait!" said Henry again. "Analyze it for yourselves. What does _pied_ -mean?" - -"Mottled color," someone offered. - -"Exactly!" Henry exclaimed. "But it was no clown suit worn in a -fairytale. Our alien's skin was definitely mottled. And he was a piper, -too!" - -"What do you mean?" asked Dr. Edwards. - -"I heard it, Martia heard it, and the two children who were kidnapped -heard it. I believe only younger ears can hear it owing to a greater -sensitivity of the hair cells in the spiral cochlea. The sound, of -course, has nothing to do with flutes. It was a phenomenon produced by -his equipment." - -"Hold on, screwball!" said another one of Weston's gang. "I know all -about that Pied Piper yarn. What about the rats in Hamelin? How did he -get rid of those?" - -"Legends," said Henry, "are twisted from the truth because people who -inherit such stories must always reduce the Unknown to the level of -their own understanding, just as the people of our own time insisted -that the flying saucers were everything from beer bottle tops to -weather balloons. People in following generations could not accept -the original story, so it degenerated gradually into a nice little -bedtime story. But the fact remains, this Pied Piper is a time traveler -who needs children for some purpose of his own. He represents a very -advanced science. It is possible that he is here, somewhere, and _if_ -he is, we might have a chance of getting him to send us all back to -where we came from!" - -Suddenly, the Indian Prince broke into their midst. His turban was -slightly awry, his eyes were large with anxiety, and he was sweating. -"Please!" he exclaimed, in a thick accent, wringing his fat hands in -supplication before Henry. "You are an older soul! You have a vision -beyond us all! I believe only you can save us! If you can bring me back -to my own world I will pay you anything! I am rich! My fortune is yours -if you will do it!" - -This led to general confusion, but it also led to something else. One -of Weston's men separated himself from the crowd and went to find -his leader. Weston and Sceranka were back in camp, eating supper and -licking their wounds. But they were gratified by one salient fact. -Scarface was conspicuous by his absence. There would be no interference -from him tonight.... - - * * * * * - -When the meeting took place, Weston and Sceranka came to it alone. The -rest of the gang, numbering about thirteen, were nowhere in sight. -Merman and Burley told him about the missing people and suggested a -postponement. - -"To hell with that!" he told them. His mouth, though bruised by -Scarface's fists, grinned at them in a way that was not at all -reassuring, and his tawny eyes met theirs with a new confidence born -of secret knowledge. "We can send a search party later. Right now we're -concerned with--" - -"In other words," Burley broke in, unsmilingly, "you insist on having -the meeting?" About fifteen officers and servicemen silently closed in -around the periphery of the group, but this did not appear to bother -Weston, although Sceranka kept looking at them nervously. - -"Yes," Weston answered. "Let's have the meeting!" - -"Then you are out of order!" snapped Burley. "We will follow those -rules of order which are befitting to a deliberative assembly. Captain -Merman is our Chairman. We have an agenda for discussion, which will -be introduced in proper sequence. Anyone wishing to speak will first -recognize the Chair." - -"Oh can it!" fumed Weston. "That's why I'm here--to tell you we're -going to cut all the red tape and get down to facts--" - -At a sign from Merman, two M.P.s stepped forward and tapped Weston on -the shoulder. Each carried a club. They smiled through their teeth. - -"We are the Sergeants at Arms," said the largest of the two, who was at -least within twenty pounds of Weston's brawny mass. "Do you want to be -nice or be made to stand in a corner?" - -Weston appeared to swell like a toad. When his eyes met Sceranka's, -over the M.P.'s shoulder, he nodded almost imperceptibly. Whereupon -Sceranka threw his hat into the air. - -Within three seconds, six G.I.s on the outside of the circle yelled in -pain and fell to the ground. Protruding from their backs were crude -but sturdy arrows. Standing on the beach sand just outside the jungle -were twelve bowmen, all from Weston's gang. Two were Spaniards. One -was a Filipino law student who had flunked out of Oxford. One was a -pale, continental type, a non-descript foreigner traveling on a French -passport whom Merman had suspected of being a Communist spy. The rest -were American construction stiffs--not the ordinary kind who signed -up on a year's contract to save up and come home again, but the camp -drifters who had roamed the world since adolescence, men actually -without a country, uneducated, but capable of running heavy equipment -for American tax dollars. It was strictly a "cost-plus" crew, thought -Burley. - -Women screamed. Men cursed. And there were cries of "Murderers!" -"Assassins!" - -Weston and Sceranka ran to a position in front of their men, who handed -them the only two axes in camp. - -"All right!" Weston shouted. "I thought this party would turn out this -way. From now on, _I'll_ run this show! You're going to shut your traps -and listen to _me_!" - - * * * * * - -The remaining officers and servicemen, plus many of the older male -civilian members of the camp, were gathering swiftly into a sullen -crowd, facing Weston's bowmen. - -"When we charge 'em," whispered one officer, "throw sand in their eyes -and let 'em have it!" - -"Just a minute," said Uncle Andy to all the members of his own group. -"All this happened because we failed to recognize the man's ignorance. -Let him talk! Talk is cheaper than human lives. Let's hear what he has -to say!" - -"Well, Dearden," shouted Weston, "You're getting smart!--even if you -are insulting. But I'll take care of you later!" - -"All right!" agreed Burley. "Let him jabber!" - -"Spill it, Weston!" shouted Merman. "We've got plenty of time around -here. All our lives!" - -"No we ain't!" Weston answered. "We ain't got no time at all. We think -there's a way of gettin' back to where we came from! Hey, Mohammed!" he -yelled at the Indian Prince. "You willing to come on my side and pay -off like you said if I get you back home?" - -The Indian Prince, though frightened, separated himself from the crowd. -He stood there, hesitantly, looking first at Weston, then back at -Henry. "I will go with anyone," he said, "even assassins, if they lead -me home! And I will pay! But young Henry here--he's the one who--" - -"Sure!" grinned Weston. "Henry's the boy with the answers! You didn't -think we were going to leave _him_ out, did you? He's going to help -us find that big, bad bogeyman who stole the babies. And then when we -find him we're going to sort of talk him into sending us back--that is, -those who are on my side!" - -"What's the matter with you, Weston!" shouted Burley. "We all have the -same goal. If you had taken time to listen--" - -"Pipe down! We been listening to you government guys all our lives and -never got nowhere. We don't want this party to turn into another Korean -truce talk. We want action!" - - * * * * * - -In that moment, Weston saw action, but of a totally unimagined kind. - -Very suddenly, the world about them changed. Geologically, it was the -same. The same, eternal daylight sky was above them. Before them lay -the same, mysterious ocean with its plethora of unknown life forms. The -low hills, the jungles, the flowers, the colorful birds--almost all the -same. - - * * * * * - -But the jungle had been cleared away for several miles, and in its -place stood a modern city with tall, well-designed buildings, electric -power facilities, and motorized traffic. On the sea lay a fleet of -gray battleships and cruisers. In the sky were at least a hundred jet -aircraft, of strangely futuristic design, black and delta-shaped. The -latter were attacking the warships with bombs and rocket fire, and -their ears were assailed by the staccato reports of guns answering from -the ships--and from the land. - -The city defenses were aimed also at the strange, black aircraft. -Ack-ack was all over the sky. Bombs and planes screamed through the -air, and the ground shook with the shock of explosions. - -The castaways, including Weston's gang, stood on a great pier before -the sprawling city--a pier which lay half demolished around them, -smouldering from several recent hits. Nearby, out in the water, lay -a commuter vessel, semi-capsized, its crew and uniformed personnel -leaping overboard and attempting to swim back to shore. - -Armed troops were all around the castaways, rushing to set up new -defenses on the pier, to repair loading derricks and put out fires with -portable equipment. - -"Hey!" shouted one of the castaways. "It's just like back home!" - -"Civilization!" shouted another. "That screwy Garden of Eden was all a -bad dream! We're back--thank God!" - -Henry reasoned it was not the scene of battle they were welcoming. It -was rather the transition from an unknown situation to a comprehensible -one that they hailed with such relief. - -"What is it?" queried Martia, close beside him. "What's happening? -Where are we?" - -"We're _not_ back home," he said. "Still in the future--but an -alternate one. Keep your eyes open and we'll know very soon." - -This was a pointed remark, inasmuch as an officered detail of troops -had turned its amazed attention on the heterogeneous group. Weston's -gang, especially, looked like a bunch of anachronisms with their crude -bows and arrows and their stupidly gaping mouths. - -"Look!" cried Doctor Bauml, pointing over the heads of the approaching -soldiers. "On that distant hill!" - -When everybody looked, they saw, unmistakably, a towering space ship, -its slender nose pointing skyward. Men swarmed over it like ants, -removing scaffolding. Some of the attacking planes were concentrating -on this point and were being met with the most determined counter-fire -observable in any part of the city. - -"That rocket ship," said Uncle Andy, "seems to be the main issue of the -battle." - -"Andy!" exclaimed Valerie Roagland. "Are all of us insane?" - -"I say there!" cried the officer in charge of the detail surrounding -them. His accent was unmistakably British. "Who are you and whence came -you?" - -"That would be a better question if _we_ asked it," replied Burley. -"What the devil _is_ this!" He waved his hand in an all-inclusive -gesture. - -The officer's eyes narrowed. "Why do you evade the question?" he almost -growled. "You are certainly not of New Bretania. Therefore, you are -Texanian spies! You are under arrest!" - -"Good Lord!" exclaimed Henry, turning pale. "Oh no!" - -"What, Henry? What is it?" insisted Martia. Uncle Andy, Valerie, Miss -Hollenbeck and Pee Bee crowded close, listening to the two and watching -their captors at the same time. - - * * * * * - -Burley drew himself up and addressed the officer. "I am an official -representative of the government of the United States of America," he -said. "I demand--" - -"My dear sir," flamed the officer. "You are not in a position to make -demands. You will follow me promptly and obey orders under penalty of -death! Can you not understand that we are under martial law here?" - -"Git on wi' ye!" said one soldier nearby, prodding Weston and Sceranka -with a double-barreled, automatic rifle. "Or ye'll git a puck in the -lug!" - -"Let's go, everybody," said Colonel Rogers. "Inasmuch as this is a -military situation I'll take charge of our group and be the spokesman. -When we're presented to the authorities for questioning we'll have -time enough to tell our story." - -"And who would believe it?" asked Dr. Edwards, pessimistically. - -"Who would believe _this_!" retorted Colonel Rogers. - -They all marched along with their captors, including Weston and -company, simply because there was no alternative. - -In a subterranean staff headquarters somewhere in the center of the -city, they faced an impatient Major in the service of Her Majesty, -Helena III, Empress of New Bretania. - -"What is all this!" he complained, over an unprocessed pile of urgent -communiques, even as two visiphones on his desk glowed red call signals -simultaneously. "Who are you? I can't be bothered at a time like this--" - -"We don't wish to bother you," interrupted Colonel Rogers. He could -appreciate the indescribable urgency of war and knew it would be best -not to antagonize the officer with too much verbage. "Our presence -here is not of our choosing and it would take too long to explain, -although we are perfectly wiling to do so at your convenience. Suffice -it to say, we are neither New Bretanians nor Texanians. So I suggest -you place us in protective custody for the time being, and if you need -volunteers for some of the manual work in the city you may call upon us -to help." - -The Major ignored the visiphones and glared at Colonel Rogers. "I -said--who are you?" - -"I am Colonel Rogers, attached to the Infantry of the United States -Army, and these are--" - -"United States!" exclaimed the Major. "That's a myth! What in the devil -are you trying to say?" - -Henry shook his head sadly, but with a grim expression of conviction on -his aquiline face. - -Martia's eyes were wide as she drew closer to him. "Henry!" she -whispered. "I think I _know_!" Tears came to her eyes, and she said, -"Mother! I'll never see her again." - -For answer, Henry pressed her hand, wordlessly, and continued looking -at the Major. - -"Please!" said Dr. Bauml, pressing forward. "What is this battle all -about? What is that space ship for?" - - * * * * * - -The Major sprang to his feet, motioning to the guard detail that had -brought them in. "These strangers are some type of Fifth Column!" he -exclaimed. "They are obviously attempting to camouflage their true -identities and their purpose under a blanket of innocence! But no one -could be _that_ innocent of the facts!" He leaned forward, addressing -Dr. Bauml. "My dear sir, in case you have been reposing under a rock -somewhere, I'll bring you up to date! Earth is dying! The ionosphere is -shifting toward critical mass. Our race--the human race--is becoming -sterile under the hardening radiations. It is imperative that we -transport some of our kind to another world--Venus, to be specific! Or -hadn't you heard that Hardesty and Williams discovered an atmosphere -there under the upper dust strata? The Texanians could not build an ark -such as ours--so they want it!" His dark eyes blazed angrily. "_You_ -want it! You are Texanians and you want our ship, but you're not going -to get it! Take them away! They are spies!" - -"Irons, sir?" asked the officer in charge of the detail. - -"Irons be damned! Execute them! This is war!" - -They stood in a bleak prison yard, sixty-nine passengers of MATS flight -702, London to New York. But where they were just now did not matter. -A ganged battery of machine guns faced them, with one operator seated -apathetically at a bank of controls. - -"_Ready--!_" cried the officer in charge. - -Some of the women screamed, while others prayed. Uncle Andy had an arm -around Valerie Roagland, as well as Henry and Martia. Sceranka was -swearing in Polish. Pee Bee was hiding behind as many people as he -could find, shivering. - -"_Aim--!_" - -Henry thought: This is all impossible! I can't let it happen! But who -am I to-- - -Something began to happen inside his head. It felt like he had had -a cold and his ears were clearing up. But it was purely a mental -sensation. Suddenly, he saw everything with a new clarity. And in the -same instant he began to utilize that new faculty. - -But before the word, "Fire!" could be given, a new change occurred with -the abruptness of an explosion.... - - * * * * * - -They were back again at the old campsite on that timeless shore, with -the jungle all around them. The city was gone, as were the warships and -the planes and the soldiers--and the space ship. There stood Weston and -Sceranka as before, in front of their calloused bowmen. - -And Weston was saying, "We want action!" - -Both Henry and Martia looked at their companions in growing amazement, -_because the others acted exactly as if there had been no interlude -whatsoever_! Yet Henry and Martia, when they looked into each other's -eyes, knew that _they_ remembered! - -"Wait!" cried Henry. Everyone looked at him, including Weston and his -gang. "Something has happened! Doesn't anybody remember?" - -"Remember _what_!" exclaimed Weston, impatiently. - -"The city! All those warships and planes!" - -They all looked at him, blankly, and he and Martia returned their -stares, anxiously. - -"The Major who called us Texanian spies! The space ship! The firing -squad--I mean, those machine guns!" - -Again, the blank, uncomprehending looks. - -"The kid's cracking up!" said Weston. "Let's get on with this! Now I'm -running things and I'll tell you what we're going to do!" - -Just then Martia and Henry grasped each other's hands, their eyes wide -with consternation. - -"Henry, do you--" - -"Yes!" he hissed, cautioning her to silence. "I hear it!" - -_The ringing was in their heads._ - -"Henry," said Uncle Andy, "what in the world were you saying about a -city?--and about this--er--space ship?" - -Henry grasped his uncle's arm and signalled to Valerie, and Peggy -Hollenbeck. "Follow me quickly!" he said. - -The two young women looked at Uncle Andy and he studied Henry and -Martia gravely. Then he turned to them and nodded. They all followed. -Henry and Martia both put their fingers to their lips, admonishing them -to silence. - -They were about fifty feet away from the group when Weston yelled at -them. "Hey! Where you think you're going?" - -Henry grabbed Martia's arm and told her to scream and flail about, -which she did instantly. - -"The girl's out of her head!" answered Uncle Andy, catching on. -"Psycho! We'll be back in a minute!" - -"Well--hurry it up!" - -When they gained a clump of verdure that cut off their view of the -others, Henry motioned them into the woods. They all ran in to hide, -only to be overtaken by Pee Bee. - -"What done happened to dat girl?" he asked, panting. - -"Nothing," said Henry. - -"Then why are we here?" asked Peggy, the air hostess. - -Henry looked at them squarely. "It's that alien," he said. "He is close -by." - -"The alien!" exclaimed Valerie. "How do you know?" - -Pee Bee went bug-eyed again. "You mean dat Missing Link is back? Man, -where's mah feet!" - -"Stay here!" said Henry. "I believe he is searching for the main group. -We can go back through the jungle and watch from hiding." - -"Oh no!" exclaimed Pee Bee. "Dis am de point of no return! Ah just lost -mah reversin' equipment and can only head straight for the no'th pole!" - -But they all went back and looked. - - * * * * * - -Just as they arrived at their hidden point of observation, a bedlam of -sound smote their ears. Screams, yells, swearing--the sound of running -feet. - -"Wait a minute!" they heard Weston shouting. "Hold on, all of you! I'll -handle this!" - -The sound of running stopped. The bedlam subsided. - -They saw Weston making gestures at his bowmen to take up a new -position. With tense motions and sober faces, the men obeyed, fixing -arrows to their bowstrings while the rest of the camp watched them--and -something else that stood just on the edge of the jungle. - -There, towering a head above the tallest man, was the alien, staring -at all of them with his one, baleful eye. Across his chest, near the -breathing orifice in the middle, he wore several patches of something -that looked like plasters, or bandages, where Scarface had shot him. He -looked weak. His shoulders slumped, and his arms dragged almost to the -ground. - -"What's the matter, Merman?" yelled Weston. - -Merman had been one of the first to run. Now he stood at a considerable -distance from the group, looking back. - -"You were willing to have a small bunch of guys tackle this freak in -the lounge on board the plane," Weston shouted. "But now when you're -face to face with him you run! Don't go yellow, Merman! I said I was -taking charge, and I _am_!" - -Weston looked at the crowd of castaways and grinned, contemptuously. -"This was our 'common goal,' wasn't it? Now I've got it my way! If it -was up to you guys, you'd all put on your best ties and sit down to -have a conference. Not me! I say--_get_ him!" - -Whereupon, he led his men toward the alien, axe in hand. - -"No, wait!" cried Dr. Bauml. "Don't harm him or we'll never know!" - -When the alien saw Weston and his gang approach, he did nothing. He -only stood there and watched them come. He still wore the same pack -of apparatus on his back and the controls at his waist. The tendrils -around his double wrists flicked nervously. And many there were who -wondered what had become of Scarface--the man with the gun. - -Weston stopped in front of the alien, about five feet from him, which -was approximately just beyond the other's reach. - -"Now talk, damn you!" he said. "You got us into this and you're going -to get us out of it!" - -But the alien gave no answer. Nor did his single, multi-faceted eye -move from its fixed focus upon the man who addressed him. It glared in -its concentration, indefinably. - -Weston turned to his men. "He's dead beat," he said. "Those bullet -wounds made him weak. We gotta capture him, but don't mess him up too -much. We'll just get him down and tie him up. Somebody get some rope!" - -Confidently, Weston dropped his axe temporarily and hitched up his -trousers. As he did so, his arms and chest bulged and glistened -massively in the eternal light of the sky. Sceranka hulked ponderously -behind him, his ham-like paws ready for action. Five more of Weston's -best huskies closed the semi-circle before the alien. - - * * * * * - -Henry could feel the pulse in his arteries, and he saw a pink spider -making a web in front of him, in the timeless, geometrical design that -all such spiders made. Beside him, he could feel Martia's tenseness. -Down by the beach, the waves rolled peacefully across the sands, -sighing with the eternal voice of the sea. The jungle smelled of damp -rot and sickly sweet flowers. And he sweated. - -Weston, grinning somewhat tensely now, slowly lifted up his axe again, -with the blunt end toward the alien. He took one swift step forward, -but that was all. The alien emitted a blood-curdling, monstrous roar -and waded into the gang, just as Weston reversed his axe and struck him -a blow in the neck. It was an interrupted blow, because the alien's -great arms flew up and sent Weston sailing unconscious through the -air. He then grabbed Sceranka, oblivious to three arrows in his side -and four men climbing onto him, striking, punching and tearing at him. -Sceranka's rib case popped audibly as he was instantly crushed and -mangled. Then the alien turned and tore one man's arm off and sent -another of his attackers flying after Weston, headless. The others -turned and ran. - -But they did not get far. - -He paralyzed them with some invisible force controlling it from his -waist. Others did not need this treatment, because they had fainted. - -Then he released them from the paralysis sufficiently for them to walk, -but not to run. He motioned to all of them, making it quite plain that -they were his prisoners and were to follow him into the jungle. - -Without a murmur, they obeyed like somnambulists. The alien leaned -over the ones who had fainted and did something else with the controls -at his waist. These also revived, in a state of trance, and obeyed -his silent commands. In single file they went--Merman, Nelson, the -navigator, the commissary steward, Congressman Burley, Dr. Bauml, Dr. -Edwards, Dr. Singer, Colonel Rogers, the women, the servicemen--all of -them blindly following a trail into the Unknown. - -Henry and Martia turned to look at their companions. There were Uncle -Andy and Valerie and Peggy. But Pee Bee had gone. His trail of sudden -departure was marked cleanly through the otherwise impenetrable -underbrush on their right. Sizeable branches looked as though they had -been shorn clean. - -Silently, these five watched their friends and enemies depart--all of -those who had not been killed--and excepting Weston, who seemed also to -be dead. He lay face down in the sand, arms pointing toward the jungle, -feet awash in the surf. He had been thrown thirty feet. - -Henry felt Martia shudder. - - * * * * * - -It was decided that to trek aimlessly through the jungle unaware of -what they were looking for would be futile. Instead, they chose to -follow the well delineated trail of the captives in order to determine -where the alien was taking them. - -Uncle Andy and Henry provided the two women with bows and arrows which -had fallen from the hands of some of the alien's attackers. - -"Do you know how to use them?" he asked. - -"Yes," said Valerie Roagland, "but I hope it will not be necessary." -The arrow heads were tipped with sharpened pieces of aluminum rod taken -from the plane. In fact, some of the arrows were made entirely of -aluminum rod. - -"We don't know what may be in that jungle," said Uncle Andy, picking up -Weston's axe for himself. He carefully examined the blade of the axe. -There were traces of very dark blood on it. "Our Pied Piper was wounded -in the neck by Weston's blow. I wonder if he'll survive. After all, -bullet wounds, arrow wounds--and a chomp in the neck with an axe!" - -"Good Heavens!" exclaimed Peggy Hollenbeck. "That ought to spell -curtains even for Superman!" - -"But--" Martia started to express herself, then her eyes widened in -alarm as the full implication of her thought struck her. "He is the -only one who knows what this is all about!" she exclaimed. "He's the -conductor, the engineer and the crew! He knows how we got here and how -to get us back to where we came from--if that is possible. If he dies -now--!" - -They all looked at each other in shocked silence, except for Henry. He -merely experimented with one of the bows. - -"She's right," he said. "Whether friend or enemy, we've got to make -sure that creature does not die until we learn what we need to know. -But I'll tell you one thing that may be encouraging...." - -Peggy Hollenbeck's chin began to tremble and her eyes misted suddenly. -"Henry, if you can say _anything_ encouraging about this whole -business, for the love of God let's have it before I crack up!" Valerie -put her arms around her and the other burst into a fit of crying, which -was a delayed reaction from what she had witnessed fifteen minutes -before. - -Martia might have joined her, but the secret knowledge she shared with -Henry helped to sustain her. - -"Somewhere in that jungle," said Henry, "is a time machine...." - -He calculated that the shock of that statement would bring Peggy out -of her semi-hysteria, and it did. She looked at him over Valerie's -shoulder, her tearful eyes suddenly wide with surprise and wonderment. -Valerie and Uncle Andy both turned slowly to stare incredulously at the -two adolescents, both of whom appeared to share the same conviction. - -And Uncle Andy thought: _What incredible thing is it these two children -share in common?_ - -But he asked, "What makes you think so?" - - * * * * * - -It was then that both Henry and Martia launched themselves into a -detailed and vivid account of that strange interlude in time which -they, alone, remembered. The other three listened, with both mixed -emotions and mixed opinions relative to the youngsters' sanity. - -"The reason we're giving you such a wealth of details," Henry -concluded, "is because therein lies the proof that there is a time -machine in the jungle." - -Uncle Andy shook his head, bewildered. "I'm afraid I'm hopelessly -lost," he said. "I can't see where it fits in. And if it happened, why -wouldn't the rest of us remember it? You say we were there, too." - -Henry cast a covert glance at Martia, and only she could understand -what that look meant. Impulsively, she grasped his hand and held on to -it. - -"Let's skip your lack of memory for a minute," Henry answered. -"Instead, try to remember the fact that certain people were missing in -this camp before the meeting took place." - -"That's right!" said Valerie. "The English people--" She looked at -Martia. "Your mother, Lady Dewitt! She went away and got lost!" - -"And Sir Rollins!" put in Peggy. - -"Now it comes back," said Uncle Andy. "They had gone out to look for -springwater and had not returned." - -"To make a long story short," said Henry, "there were two separate -groups. First, the English group, consisting of Lady Dewitt, Cyril -Rollins, the Crispin sisters, the two mothers who lost their babies, -and Mr. Langham. The second group consisted of Mania's governess, -Emily, three WAACs, and the three Texas GIs. - -"Now as I see it, here's what happened. The first group found the time -machine and entered it, possibly without knowing what they were doing. -They were transported back in time perhaps several thousands of years. -Stranded there and with no other recourse but to survive, they set up -their own type of colony, and their descendants established the Empire -of New Bretania." - -Peggy looked at Valerie, and both found a common conviction in their -eyes. They were sadly understanding and patient as they looked back at -Henry and Martia. Uncle Andy only refilled his pipe with the last of -his tobacco and watched Henry intently. - -"Now wait a minute!" put in Martia. "Henry's not as crazy as you think! -Let him continue!" - -"We're listening," replied Uncle Andy. - -"Having benefitted by some knowledge of modern technology on the part -of their original ancestors, this race soon attained a degree of -civilization equivalent to our own, though with fewer numbers. Their -science enabled them to detect the unbalanced nature of the ionosphere, -so they knew they had to get off the planet in order to survive. By -some means unknown to us, they were able to make observations through -the ionosphere and detect livable conditions on Venus, after all. In -other words, after a billion years beyond our time, Venus must have had -sufficient time to build up an atmosphere containing a life-sustaining -percentage of oxygen. This discovery spurred the building of their -space ark, which was to take a representative number of their kind to -the new world. - -"Now in the meantime let's go back to the second group that was -lost--Emily, the WAACs and the Texans. They, too, went through the time -machine and built up a civilization contemporaneous with that of New -Bretania. Hence the origin of the country, Texania. These latter people -were trying to get the ark of space from the New Bretanians. - -"Don't you see how it all fits in? When those two groups went through -the time machine, we found ourselves in an alternate time, a world -changed by their effects on two or three thousand years of the -immediate past." - -"Then how did everything get back to where it was originally?" asked -Uncle Andy. "What got rid of that alternate time so abruptly?" - -"The alien," Henry replied. "I think we arrived here, in the first -place, by accident and without his knowledge. As a time-traveler, he -was no doubt gone from this world for long stretches of time. Perhaps a -gap of several thousands of years means nothing to him. But somewhere -along that alternate time he returned. He probably proceeded at once to -trace down the sources of New Bretania and Texania. This could have led -him not only back to Lady Dewitt and the Texans but forward, again, to -this present time, to the moment when they were about to go into the -time machine in the first place. Taking them prisoner thus prevented -that alternate time from occurring. So it was all a lost interlude -and Weston went right on talking at the meeting as though nothing had -happened. Yet all the while the alien was now aware of our presence, -and so he came to take us into custody." - -"That is the most astounding tale I have ever listened to," said Uncle -Andy. "Now tell me, Henry, why is it that only you and Martia remember -that alternate time experience and we do not?" - -Again--that strange, knowing look between Henry and Martia. - -"Look!" cried Peggy, pointing toward the beach. - -When they all turned and looked they saw the same, eternal sea as -before, its lazy surf glistening in the forever light of the sky. But -there was one, subtle difference. Weston lay there no longer. The -whole beach was a scene of desolation--deceivingly peaceful, ominously -deserted. - -"Cone on!" said Uncle Andy, with sudden sternness. "We can talk about -all this later. Just now we'd better try to keep one step ahead of -Weston." - -They took _all_ of the available weapons with them.... - - * * * * * - -The trail of the captives led them gradually upward toward the summit -of the low range of hills. They soon discovered that the nature of the -jungle near the seashore was much less spectacular than the aspect -of it inland. It began to appear as though Nature had dumped all her -experiments into one bottle and mixed them together. - -They passed through "groves" of trees that were mostly roots, all -intertwined like some giant vine. Their bark was like shaggy hair -and their fine, web-like branches sprouted foliage that looked like -feathers. Among these feathered branches crawled brilliant orange and -red land crabs, some of them as much as two feet in diameter. - -In a swampier region just at the base of the hills they observed flat, -leathery looking discs oozing along over the swamp mud, some of them -reaching three feet in diameter. They could not imagine what they were -until they saw one of them uncover a six foot, scaly worm. The latter -fought ferociously, but the leathery disc wrapped itself around its -body and the worm's mouth very much like that of a snapping turtle, was -incapable of penetrating that leathery hide. - -"Those are gigantic leeches," observed Uncle Andy. - -And so they went on, following the trail upward, beyond the swamp. They -discovered carnivorous plants, huge insects, gigantic birds, but always -any mammalian species they saw was small and in the minority. - -Finally, they came to an abrupt halt, because the trail ended. There -were no more footprints, no more tell-tale marks such as trampled weeds -and underbrush or broken branches. No matter where they searched, they -could not find a further continuation of the trail. It ended in the -center of a meadow, half way up in the jungle clad hills. - -"You don't suppose they could have been taken away in some kind of an -airship, do you?" asked Uncle Andy. - -"No," said Henry. "There are no marks here showing that any such vessel -has been sitting here. Moreover, if the alien had come in an aircraft, -why would he land it here and walk so far?" - -"_Hey! Get yo'selves off'n dat place!_" - -When they all looked, startled, behind them, they saw Pee Bee standing -on the edge of the meadow. - -"Pee Bee!" exclaimed Valerie, relieved to see something that was both -familiar and harmless in this place. "How did you get here?" - -"Get off'n dat place you're standin' on!" shouted Pee Bee. "It goes -down into de ground where all dose other folks's went!" His eyes were -wide with superstitious terror. "Man, ah had mah suspicions dat Missin' -Link was de debbil, an' ah don't need no further convincin'! He's _it_! -He done took dem folks t'_his_ place! Dat's where dey are!" he yelled, -hysterically. "Dey's done gone to de hot place! Get off'n dat ground!" - -"Poor Pee Bee!" said Peggy. "Now he's going crazy on us!" - - * * * * * - -Pee Bee ran back and forth at one edge of the meadow, helplessly -wringing his hands but not daring to approach his friends. - -"Look at this," said Martia. "It's a cairn!" - -They had not noticed it before, because it was small and half concealed -by weeds. - -"Who could have put that there?" asked Peggy. - -"Perhaps one of our captured friends," said Uncle Andy, squatting down -to examine it. - -"_Get off'n dat ground!_" shouted Pee Bee, at the top of his voice. - -Uncle Andy removed the top rock from the cairn and uncovered a metal -pipe with a screw cap on it. "Oh, oh!" he said. "Booby trap!" - -"Unscrew it!" Henry urged him. - -"Do you think you'd better?" asked Valerie. - -"What else can we do?" put in Martia. "We can't just sit down here and -form a colony of our own!" - -Uncle Andy looked at the two women and their faces colored. "You asked -for it!" he said, abruptly, and unscrewed the cap. - -Beneath the cap were two tiny light bulbs embedded in a small panel, in -addition to a red button. One of the lights glowed red. - -"Well! Civilization at last! Shall I press the button?" - -"I think Pee Bee may be right," said Henry. "They probably all went -down under the ground and this is the control operating the hidden -opening." - -Uncle Andy looked up at him. "But if we go rushing in we're liable to -end up captives too...." - -In that moment, however, the decision was made for them. They -discovered that the cairn marked the exact center of an area that was -about fifty feet in diameter. This area suddenly sank downward. - -"Run!" shouted Uncle Andy, springing to his feet. - -But it was too late. - - * * * * * - -The walls of the pit into which they descended were twenty feet -high before they could reach the edge of the circular area. As -they continued their descent, the walls grew higher--fifty feet, -seventy-five, a hundred.... - - * * * * * - -Pee Bee threw himself on the trampled jangle grass and beat at his head -in blind frustration. - -"Ah told 'em!" he cried out. "Ah done told 'em t'stay off'n dat debbil -ground! Now dey done gone 'n left me all alone--'n where am I?" - -He sat up, abruptly, more bug-eyed than ever before. He listened. - -The still, hot air brought him only the sound--and the smell--of the -pristine jungle surrounding him. A giant bird with a black back and -brilliant yellow belly soared over-head and squawked at him hostilely. -Somewhere down the hill something small and warm-blooded squealed in -terror. He heard a tremendous threshing about in the underbrush and -remembered the vines that made a net for their prey--then clutched it -inescapably and mashed it into pulp before devouring it. The eternal -sky that never turned dark and cool, that sky up there that beat its -itchy heat down on him and was making a rash creep up on his skin--it -wasn't God's blue sky. - -But it was _his_ sky--Pee Bee's! All Pee Bee's world now. - -He sprang to his feet and screamed, "Dey can't leave me alone in dis -place!" - -But when he looked at the big, round, gaping hole in the center of the -meadow he had to admit the reality of the situation. He _was_ alone! - -So he threw himself down on the musty smelling grass again and sobbed -uncontrollably. How had he gotten himself into this? By being in the -Army in the first place. He didn't make the wars and all the trouble in -the world, but they dragged him off to Europe to hold a bayonet in the -people's faces--at a boundary line. He didn't make those boundaries! -God made the world, but he didn't make no boundary lines. Man made the -boundaries. Man made shoes for me to shine. - -Shine, _shine_? - -_All God's chillun got shoes...._ - -"Pee Bee!" - -Was that somebody calling him? Sure! Hank Thomas, standing there by his -newspaper stand at 12th and Central. The traffic light was red. _Was_ -red. _Was_ red. - -When? A _billion_ years ago! That's what Henry said. - -"Pee Bee!" - -That was _Henry_ calling! - -Pee Bee sat up again and looked out onto the meadow. The hole was gone, -all filled in. In the middle of it stood Henry, alone, beckoning to him. - -"Come on, Pee Bee! It's all right!" - -Pee Bee jumped to his feet and started to run. Then he stopped, -abruptly. - -"Oh no!" he said. "Ah done heard about _my_-rages before! Sometimes -it's a lake in de middle of de desert or one of dem oh-wayseses, but -you ain't gonna fool Pee Bee! Ah's stayin' right here an' if Gabriel's -still got wind left after all dis time t'blow dat beat-up ol' horn o' -his he's gonna have t'play a solo fo' jist little ol' me--'cause I -ain't leavin' dis spot! No debbil's gonna git me. No animulated bush -is gonna git me! An' no _my_-rage is gonna git me! Ah's jist gonna sit -here an' wait fo' me, only kind of pick-up dat pays off--when Gabriel -blows dat horn!" - -Henry approached him and took him by the arm. "It's all right, Pee Bee. -It's me in the flesh. Now come on! There's no time to lose." - -As the circular slab of meadowland lowered itself once more into the -ground, Pee Bee remained on his knees, clutching Henry to him for -dear life. At the bottom of the pit he fell into Uncle Andy's and -Valerie's arms, sobbing. They patted him and consumed several minutes -in reassuring him. - -All the while, the others shared one thought in common that they felt -it would be inopportune to express to Pee Bee. The place they had -reached appeared to be empty. Yet someone had operated controls to let -them in--those button controls right there in the passageway. - -The question was: _Who?_ - - * * * * * - -They were in a subterranean city, or palace, or laboratory. It was -difficult to determine the purpose of everything they saw. Light -apparently without a source followed them automatically wherever they -went. The walls, ceiling and floor seemed to be made of a translucent -substance that was as soft as rubber yet tougher than steel. Now -Henry's billion year theory made more sense to the others. In all -that time some high form of civilization had to evolve. And this was -indisputable evidence that it had. - -But why was it hidden so cleverly under the ground? This fact allowed -them to presuppose the existence of an enemy. What, in the outer world, -could oppose the race that had built this? - -Or more logical still--what, in outer space? - -"Perhaps," said Uncle Andy, "it's the ionosphere. This is another -answer to the danger of hard radiations." - -"But not for long," said Henry. "When the critical moment comes -there'll be no more atmosphere. What will they do without air?" - -"The place is empty," observed Peggy. "Where did the others go?" - -That was the principal question. - -Twenty minutes later, they stood in a circular room which was roughly -forty feet in diameter. In one wall was a mirror, ten feet high. It -shimmered like molten silver. They had been in the room twice already. - -"What do we do now?" asked Valerie. "Go back to some of those control -rooms and start pulling levers?" - -"Wait!" exclaimed Martia. "Listen!" - -In another moment they could hear the sound of their own breathing. -Then--unmistakably--they heard slow, hesitant footsteps. - -Valerie and Peggy paled, remembering only too vividly the one-eyed -towering creature that had thrown Weston thirty feet through the air. -Henry appropriated Valerie's bow and arrow. Uncle Andy, his jaws -clamped on a pipe that had long since burned out, took a firm grip on -his axe. Pee Bee stood rooted to the floor, unable to do anything but -stare in the direction of the curving passageway from which the sounds -of the footsteps emanated. - -"Weston tried violence against him," whispered Martia to Henry. "Maybe -if we--" - -"Shh!" From Uncle Andy. He raised his axe and braced himself. - -The automatic, progressive light of this place advanced into view -and blended with their own light aura as the owner of the footsteps -approached. - -Once more, Henry's mind began to awaken into that strange condition of -ultimate clarity, as it had in alternate time, in New Bretania, before -the machine guns. - -"Hold up!" he said, lowering his bow. - -"Yes!" exclaimed Martia. "It's a friend!" - -At that moment, Scarface stepped into view, gun in hand. And Peggy -almost swooned with relief. - -Pee Bee wiped his forearm across his moist brow and said, "Man! Dat's -de finest lookin' _my_-rage ah seen today!" - -Uncle Andy could not refrain from studying the two adolescents again -in amazement. They had definitely known beforehand that Scarface would -appear instead of the alien. - -"I've been doing some checking," said Scarface, without smiling, and -without preamble. "There's only one place they could have gone." - -"Did you let us in here?" asked Uncle Andy, irrelevantly. - -"Yes. There's some kind of viewer that shows who's upstairs. When I saw -you out there I pressed the entrance button. But I've been busy since. -I think I know the next step." - -"Where have you been all this time?" asked Henry. - -Scarface glanced at Martia, then at the shimmering mirror behind her. -"Trying to trace down missing persons," he answered. "I was topside in -the jungle when One Eye brought in his prisoners. So I came down here -to pick up the trail, and it ends in front of that mirror." - - * * * * * - -As all of them turned to look at the shimmering mirror, Scarface -advanced toward it to show them something that had, until now, escaped -their notice. He mounted two steps of a raised dais on which the mirror -stood. Then he halted before it and pointed at its base. - -"Look at that!" he said. - -Protruding from the strange substance of the mirror was a small branch. -He kicked it outward with his foot, and more of the branch emerged into -view. - -"One of the bunch that was captured dropped that as he went through. -Look!" He shoved his hand into the mirror up to his elbow, then pulled -it out again. "No pain at all," he said. - -"A teletransporter!" exclaimed Henry. - -Scarface looked at him quizzically. "I knew _you'd_ have a name for -it," he said. "But come again?" - -"A teletransporter. I get more of the picture now," said Henry. -"Underground stations like this may be scattered all over the planet. -Transportation between them is accomplished instantaneously by this -means. Perhaps, with the proper setting of controls, one could walk -around the world, through various stations, in a few minutes!" - -"Whoa!" said Uncle Andy. "When did you ever see a teletransporter?" - -"I didn't, but their possibility may be extrapolated from a set of -known facts in our own era of time. One premise is that energy may -be propagated at the speed of light through the ether, in various -pulsation patterns that can be used for the reintegration of sound -or light in receivers. Another premise is that matter is energy. -Therefore, it lies within the realm of possibility to reduce matter to -its basic energy components, broadcast the energy in a representative -pattern sequence--perhaps on multiple wavebands--and reintegrate the -same form of matter at the other end. On the other hand, new principles -may have been discovered after our own time, such as the manipulation -or use of hyper-space or ether warp of some kind. But I'm sure this is -a bonafide teletransporter. We have only to step through it, the way it -is adjusted now, and be where our friends are. Since Scarface is armed, -I think we need not fear being surprised by the alien." - -Scarface raised his brows and looked at the others. "It's simple when -you know how," he said, wryly. "But there's an easier way of analyzing -this contraption. I'll walk through it. If I don't come back, you can -decide for yourselves if you want to follow or take up camping in that -jungle outside for the rest of your lives. Here goes!" - -"Wait!" cried Uncle Andy. - -But Scarface walked into the mirror and disappeared. - -They waited. Five minutes. Ten minutes. And Scarface did not return. -Finally, Pee Bee offered a solution. - -"Ah sees it like this," he said, breaking an oppressive silence. "Ah -feels safe when ah's on de right side of dat gun. Now if we goes -through dat mirror an' finds Scahface, we's better off than we is here. -If we goes into dat mirror an' gets snuffed into nothin'--then dat -means Scahface an' all de rest is probably big, flattened out blobs of -nothin', too. So we might as well join 'em instead of hangin' around -here. Ah's sick of it, an' ah's ready!" Before they could stop him, he -hurled himself into the mirror and disappeared. - -The remaining castaways looked at each other in silence for almost -thirty seconds. - -Then Uncle Andy said, "I think we'd better try it." - -Valerie grasped his hand and Martia's. "Let's all go through together," -she suggested, quietly. - -They drew close to each other, held hands, and formed a straight -line of five as they walked through the mirror together--just as the -corridor behind them filled with light again and a pair of bloodshot -eyes noted their departure.... - - * * * * * - -This was definitely a tremendous, subterranean city, or the beginning -of one. But its only inhabitants, other than the alien, seemed to -be the survivors of MATS flight 702. They were still in a state of -hypnosis, standing there on the pillared mezzanine that overlooked the -vast room below and beyond them. Other mezzanines were visible on the -far side of that tremendous chamber, and beneath them a dozen or so -tunnel entrances indicated that there was much to be seen further on. - -Among the people who stood out there on the mezzanine were Pee Bee -and Scarface, also in a trance, as well as the Texas GIs, the missing -WAACs, Martia's governess, Emily, the two mothers, Mr. Langham, Sir -Rollins--and Lady Dewitt. - -Martia might have cried out and run to her mother were it not for the -fact that the alien, himself, confronted them. - -They stood in an alcove that was half filled with banks of controls and -instruments. The alien stood before these controls and glared at them -purposefully as they came through the teletransmitter. His neck was -dark with dried blood, and the three arrows still protruded from his -side. His stooping posture gave more evidence than before that he was -growing weaker. - -As they came through and caught sight of him and the others, one of his -hands moved on the control panel, then paused. - -_Don't do that!_--came a sharp command into his mind. - -He straightened up suddenly, his single eye brightening in shocked -surprise as he looked first at Henry, then at Martia. - -Valerie, Peggy and Uncle Andy watched the alien, white-faced, -uncomprehendingly, as he slowly turned to face them squarely, his -eye fairly glittering with inner lights of its own. Then--without -warning--he uttered a few unintelligible words, groaned, and fell on -his face. - -"Quick!" said Uncle Andy. "The gun!" He ran, himself, to pluck it out -of Scarface's nerveless fingers. - -"But what happened!" exclaimed Valerie. "Is he dead?" She and Peggy did -not follow Henry and Martia as they went over to look at the alien. - -"Henry," whispered Martia. "What _are_ we? I know what you did!" - -Henry paused to look at her. "Martia, Lady Dewitt is not really your -mother--_is_ she?" - -Martia colored. - -"You know there are no secrets between us," he insisted. - -"No," she answered. "I am an orphan, like you." - -"An orphan equipped with photographic memory and extra-sensory -perception," he said, rapidly. "Also, other things, like extended -perception in time. You have lately come to sense that your mind was -'fixed,' long ago, to keep you from using your full powers and to -prevent you from knowing who or _what_ you were, but these recent -experiences have started an awakening process--" - -"Yes!" she agreed. "Henry, what--" - -His eyes bored into hers, his nostrils flaring in his tense excitement. -"Shall I tell you where you were really born?" He turned his head and -looked down. "Wait! He's beginning to stir! _He_ can give us the final -answer!" - -As the alien stirred, one of the tendrils on his wrist twirled a -control on the panel at his waist. Martia swayed, but Henry stood his -ground, blocking that telepathic signal and showing Martia how to do it -at the same time. But Valerie and Peggy and Uncle Andy dropped to the -floor, unconscious. - -The alien rose slowly to his feet, and Henry turned, instinctively, to -get the gun that Uncle Andy had dropped. Then he and Martia, as well as -the alien, stiffened in surprise as Scarface smilingly picked up the -gun and leveled it. - -"Everything is going to be all right," he said, confidently. "I think -I have all the answers now. It was not the impossible coincidence I -imagined it to be, his coming upon all three of us on board that plane. -I think that he--" - -"Look out!" screamed Martia. - -Out of the mirror had come an unexpected figure, hurling itself upon -Scarface's back. Scarface went down and the gun was torn from his -fingers, even as the alien reached for his controls on the instrument -panel behind him. - -"No you don't!" yelled Tommy Weston. - -He stood there, his clothes half torn off, supporting himself on one -good leg and painfully trying not to bring pressure to bear on the -other, which appeared to be sprained. - -"I'm _still_ running the show!" he yelled, hysterically. - -_Quick!_--came a thought from Scarface to the two adolescents. _Through -the teleporter!_ - -As they literally threw themselves into the silvery mirror in back of -them, they heard Weston firing shot after shot into the alien.... - - * * * * * - -Back in the subterranean chamber where they had come upon their first -teleporter, Scarface reached behind the mirror and adjusted something, -whereupon the sheet of silvery substance took on a bluish sheen. - -"You see, I knew all along what this was," he said. "But if I had told -you that it would probably lead you right into Mlargn's hands you would -not have dared follow. You needed one more shock to bring you out, and -I waited there for you, waiting for my final proof." He smiled. "In his -weakened condition, it was too _much_ of a shock to Mlargn. I didn't -quite expect him to pass out like that--the poor beast! Well, anyway, -Weston has taken care of him, and this adjustment will keep him from -following us." - -"Wait, please!" interrupted Henry. "You're assuming too much knowledge -on our part. We--" - -"Just one more detail," said Scarface, as he made a last adjustment -behind the mirror. By now it was a shimmering pink. "Follow me," he -directed. And without further explanation he stepped _back_ through the -teleporter. - -Under ordinary circumstances, Henry and Martia would have reacted -emotionally to this new development, and fear would have restrained -them. But this was a very special circumstance because they had had an -awakening. A calm logic told them that Scarface would not have directed -them to follow him if it would do them any harm. One of the premises -of that logic was that they had "read" at least his attitude. He was -definitely an ally--and the ultimate answer to their mutual enigma. - -So they followed him. - -They found themselves in a great, domed citadel which covered the -entire top of a small island. Some miles away was a long stretch of -jungle-covered land and low hills easily recognizable as the country -where they had first camped. They could even make out the silvery -glitter of the wrecked plane. - -They remembered having seen this island from the shore, but it had -looked like a flat-topped, barren rock protruding from the sea. Then it -came to them that the citadel on top was invisible from the land. - -Scarface sat at the console of a tremendous instrument panel. On his -head was an elaborate headpiece equipped with silvery anodes that -clamped against his skull. His eyes were closed. His fingers made -delicate adjustments on the console while strange, almost ultra-sonic -tones emanated from a battery of glowing tubes on the wall. - -Martia and Henry sensed that they were not to disturb him. So they -walked around inside the dome and looked at the sea, and the old, old -land. Their minds were awakening to new perspectives and powers, and -slowly they caught glimpses of a billion year pattern of destiny that -dazzled their thoughts. So they barred these perspectives, holding them -breathlessly at the threshold of soaring consciousness--waiting for -experienced guidance. - -At length, Scarface finished his task and came over to them. "While I -am waiting for results," he said, "I will tell you what you want to -know...." - - * * * * * - -He told them that somewhere in the era of time in which they had been -raised, a cataclysm had occurred which had destroyed all life on Earth. -Oceans had come over the land and the whole, slow, geo-biological -process of regeneration had begun once more. Evolution through hundreds -of millions of years had at last arrived at a dominant, intelligent -species of which Mlargn, the "alien," was the last survivor. - -He told them the story of Xlarn, of the cooling of the sun, of -the reaction sphere, and of the Chronotron. And he described the -developments which finally led to Mlargn's time journey in search of -life before the Beginning. - -"Actually, Mlargn made two trips into Earth time. On his first trip -he must have arrived somewhere in an earlier century than the one you -knew--" - -"The thirteenth century," interrupted Henry. - -Scarface looked at him in wonderment. So both Henry and Martia told him -the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. - -For almost a minute, the other was silent. Then he said, "So that's -where the ancestors of Galactic Civilization came from...." - -"Galactic Civilization!" Martia exclaimed. - -Scarface grinned at them. "Yes," he said. "We call it that, because we -have inhabited at least a dozen solar systems and are still growing. -Let me continue the story...." - -Mlargn had chosen a group of children because he knew they could be -trained and conditioned easier. When he returned through the Chronotron -to his own time, the Xlarnan immortals considered the human captives -to be unimaginable, short-lived, soft-skinned bipeds, but amazingly -advanced mammalia from the evolutionary viewpoint. And they could -think, in a primitive fashion. Moreover, they proved to be incredibly -fertile. - -Only slightly encouraged, the Xlarnans threw them into a Chronotron -cycle of five hundred thousand years. The resultant race and alternate -time proved to be something for which they were totally unprepared. -Since the continuum between Cause and Effect was a simultaneous -structure in time, there it was, complete from beginning to end--a -superman civilization that encompassed great stretches of the -galaxy. An alien brand of intelligence. Virile resourcefulness and -aggressiveness, far outstripping the sterile civilization of Xlarn. - -Astounded and frightened, the Xlarnans sought to trace the beginnings -of this alternate time, through the Chronotron, and throttle the -totally unexpected development at its source. However, this was -foreseen by the civilization which had sprung from the Chronotron--and -there was war. The Xlarnans were eliminated, except for one, who swore -vengeance. - -This unsuspected immortal was he who had brought back the ancestors of -the star men from beyond Beginning, from the world where the moon was -young. This was Mlargn, himself. - - * * * * * - -Although the star men had abandoned the dying solar system of their -origin, it was inevitable that a few of their number should be left -behind--castaways who finally organized themselves, built a citadel of -their own, and sought to build a small star ship in which to escape the -threat of the reaction sphere. But the specialized science that had -developed the hyper-space drive eluded them and they struggled in vain, -while Mlargn besieged them, jealously endeavoring to discover what they -were accomplishing. He applied his warfare so vigorously that one day -only Kimnar was left, with two youngsters. In fact, they were babes. - -In desperation, Kimnar gained access to the Chronotron. Hoping to -create another alternate time, he hurled himself and the two children -into further depths of time than he intended. - -And Mlargn followed him. Aware of his own immortality and equipped -with controls that could reverse his course in time because they were -interlocked with the Chronotron, he was determined to spend centuries, -if necessary, to find those two advanced children and use them to his -own advantage.... - - * * * * * - -Henry shook his head to clear it. "Just a moment," he said. "I might -extrapolate from all this that you are Kimnar." - -"I am," smiled Scarface. "I arrived with you two in the human era, in -Earth's calendar year nineteen hundred forty-four A.D., on June 6th, -to be exact. The country was France. The place--Caen...." - -There was a stunned moment of silence. Then Martia's eyes widened. "But -that was--!" - -"Yes," said Kimnar, smiling grimly. "The Allied invasion of Normandie. -I landed right in the middle of D-Day." - -"What happened?" asked Henry. "I mean--to you?" - -"I was injured by shrapnel. That's how I acquired the scar on my face. -I woke up later in a hospital and have been looking for you two ever -since." - -"Kimnar," said Henry, "are Martia and I sister and brother?" - -Martia's mind leaped out to find the answer in Kimnar's thoughts before -he could speak. "No!" she cried, happily. "We're not!" Henry suddenly -found her in his arms. - -"She's right," Kimnar confirmed. - -"You two were survivors of Mlargn's attack in those days when Jirahn -was alive--but you were not of the same family." - -"Who was Jirahn?" - -Kimnar waved a hand toward the great instrument panel. "It was he who -invented that hyper-space transceiver. Or rather, he re-invented it, -remembering much of the science of our kin, the star men. Just before -Mlargn's powerful attack, in which he utilized a deadly radiation -that killed everybody in the citadel, I believe Jirahn succeeded in -contacting the star men. But I could not be certain, as I had been -away from the citadel when the attack came. Upon my return, I found -my friends dead, and Jirahn sat slumped over those controls with the -head gear attached to him. Certain lights were signalling to me from -the board, but I could not decipher them. Moreover, I feared that -Mlargn would find the right teleporter frequency to tie his system in -with ours, and that he might surprise me at any time. So I removed the -bodies, dumping them into the sea, and prepared, generally, to 'abandon -ship.' Just as I was about to leave, I found you two halfway down the -cliffs on a covered terrace that your parents had been in the habit -of using. They had left you there for your naps. It was then that I -conceived the idea of finding the Chronotron and trying to create a new -alternate time based on your descendants." - -"But Kimnar," persisted Henry. "What about that transceiver? You worked -it when we first arrived here, and I remember you mentioned something -about 'waiting for results.'" - -Kimnar shrugged. "I tried the thing, and to the best of my knowledge I -was transmitting through hyper-space at full power. So far, there has -been no response. I have the receiver wide open." - -"Do you mean--it is conceivable that some of the star people might -return for us?" - -Kimnar smiled in a puzzling sort of way. "I tossed them the bait," he -said. "I think they'll consider the risk worth while--if they received -my message." - -"What risk is there now? I'm quite sure Weston finished Mlargn off." - - * * * * * - -Kimnar raised his eyes heavenward. "Remember? The reaction sphere could -go any time. Fortunately, most of the harder radiations are expending -themselves convexly, into outer space, and what is shooting towards us -still has many miles to travel. But it's getting very unhealthy around -here. When the sphere blows, it will take the Great Ring with it--the -ring that used to be the moon." - -Simultaneously, Henry and Martia thought of something else. The other -passengers, their original companions. What of them--and Weston, with -his gun? - -"We can't leave them here to die," said Henry. "What about the -Chronotron? Can't we send them all back?" - -Kimnar shook his head. "The Chronotron is not that accurate at such -long range. Only a few people at a time can go through, and they -might land anywhere, from Earth's prehistoric ages to Xlarn's eras of -development ante-dating the generation of an oxygen content atmosphere. -Moreover, Mlargn changed the location of the Chronotron. I have not -been able to find it. That was what I originally went back to look for -when I left you on the beach after that fight with Weston." - -"Wait a minute!" cried Martia. "But my moth--I mean, Lady Dewitt and -those others found it!" - -Kimnar looked at both of them wonderingly. Briefly, they told him about -the alternate time episode involving New Bretania and Texania, which -Mlargn successfully nipped in the bud. - -"I must have been underground somewhere at the time," said Kimnar, -"traveling through various teleporters. Otherwise, had I been on the -surface, I have enough temporal perspective, myself, to have been able -to remember that alternate time experience." He frowned. "If Weston -ever finds the Chronotron--" - -"Well, why not?" asked Martia. "You couldn't blame them for going -back--or trying to!" - -"I see what he means," said Henry. "If any of them should go back -to the approximate time from which we started and do anything to -circumvent that moon experiment--" - -"_What_ moon experiment?" asked Martia. - -"I forgot to tell you, I guess. Kimnar knew because he read it in -Uncle Andy's mind. Uncle Andy as Andrew Dearden, is one of the world's -greatest rocket specialists. He was just returning from Africa on that -plane after having supervised all preparations for firing a rocket at -the moon." - -"That _is_ amazing," said Martia, "but--oh!" She read the rest in -Henry's mind. The rocket carried the world's first D-C bomb, which -letters represented the word, "de-cohesion." In detonation, the bomb -was supposed to liberate the cohesive forces of the proton. They were -going to observe its effects on the moon. - -"I believe," said Henry, "that it produced a sustained reaction in -stable matter, and the moon blew to fragments, thus creating the Great -Ring. The thermal effects plus orbital perturbations of the Earth -destroyed all life on the planet. And I deduce that the free oxygen and -hydrogen in our atmosphere made some kind of critical mixture and went -_foom_! The result was H_{2}O, oceans of it. And so time began again, -biologically speaking, anyway." - -"If Andrew Dearden or any of his kind get back there and manage to -abolish the 'D-C' bomb," said Kimnar, "then Xlarn will never have -been, and neither you nor I nor Galactic Civilization, with its myriad -worlds and metropoli and billions of star people and all their science -and culture, shall have ever evolved. And there you have a difficult -question. Is it better for us to relinquish our existence for the sake -of a civilization that might have continued, or to preserve a greater -one that actually exists _now_?" - - * * * * * - -Before they could bring much concentration to bear upon this weighty -problem, a new situation diverted their attention. Inasmuch as the -three of them were standing by the transparent wall of the citadel and -facing shoreward, they could not help seeing the small industrial city -that suddenly sprang into being there. Again, up on the hill, was a -great black rocket, its nose pointing toward the threatening sky. - -But this was not New Bretania. Nor was it Texania. Nor was there the -slightest evidence of any type of conflict or preparations for defense, -except in the design of the rocket, itself. - -"That's a different alternate!" said Henry, instantly. "The city is -different--more heavily industrialized. See the steel mills? It's even -futuristic. Those insulator towers and antenna, for some kind of power -transmission--" - -"And that rocket is different--more efficient looking," observed -Martia. "It seems to carry armament. You can see the firing cupolas." - -"You're both very calm about it," said Kimnar. "Somebody has found the -Chronotron. Come on!" - -A moment after they had stepped through the teleporter, leaving the -island citadel deserted, the hyper-space receiver began to react to -signals. Lights flickered rapidly for several minutes. Then a human -voice boomed into the empty dome. It spoke in a strange language, -rapidly, urgently. But there was no operator there to reply.... - -When Kimnar, Henry and Martia stepped through the teleporter, they -arrived in the circular room they had first visited in the subterranean -world of Xlarn. - -"There's somebody down here," said Henry. - -"They're in that room with the vision screens," added Martia. - -Kimnar frowned. "You're right, and I sense that one of them is Weston. -Let's have a closer look!" - -But already, it seemed, detectors had discovered their presence. In -three seconds they heard running footsteps and they saw the tell-tale -progression of light advancing toward them along the curved passageway. - -Two men came into view, to be followed by a man on crutches who -shouldered his way in between them. - -"Weston!" exclaimed Martia. - -"Dr. Edwards!" Henry cried out. Edwards was the man with the gun--the -same gun that Kimnar had used against Mlargn. - -The other member of the trio was the Indian Prince, his precious turban -now much disheveled and awry. - -"Aha!" cried Weston, grinning and leaning on his crutches with a -derisive air. "So the wanderers have returned!" - - * * * * * - -The Indian Prince ran forward and kneeled before Henry, wringing his -hands in supplication. In his fat, brown face and his wide, brown eyes -was registered an expression of terror and desperation. - -"Henry!" he exclaimed. "Only you can give me the answer--it is all so -mixed up that I cannot understand. Only you can tell me if it's true!" - -"If _what_ is true?" asked Kimnar. - -"Shut up, Mohammed!" yelled Weston. "Edwards knows what he's doing! -Tell them, Edwards!--before you plug 'em!" - -Since Edwards held the gun, he took time to explain. In his eyes was a -wild sort of triumph. - -"I don't know where you three have been," he said, "but in your -absence a great deal has happened. Since young Henry, here, has always -exhibited his great intelligence so willingly, perhaps he would -corroborate my own deductions--by doing some fast extrapolating!" He -said this last word through his teeth. There was a smile on his lips, -but not in his dark and wearied eyes. - -As he went on rapidly with his story, his three listeners were scanning -his mind for the rest of it, putting the whole picture together even -before he had finished. - -When Weston killed Mlargn, he managed to manipulate controls that -finally released all the others from their mental paralysis. He made -Lady Dewitt and the Texans show him the location of the Chronotron, and -under directions from the various scientists at his command a series -of experiments was conducted. Various power settings were utilized, -and test groups volunteered or were assigned to be sent back through -time. Some, they knew, might arrive in a place where conditions would -not be suitable for life. Others might perish in a world populated -by carnivorous monsters, or they might freeze, or drown in shoreless -oceans. But most of them seemed willing to risk it. - -It was Uncle Andy's group that produced the alternate time that the -three had witnessed from the citadel. This group had consisted of Andy, -Dr. Bauml, Dr. Singer, Valerie Roagland, Peggy Hollenbeck, and several -other men and women. Pee Bee, it developed, had been in the first -"group," which had consisted only of himself--as he had apparently -been in a suicidal mood and was desirous of giving the dice a roll for -double or nothing. - -Andy's group, it appeared, had only been thrown back about a thousand -years, because the "civilization" they founded was small and still -dedicated to the same goals which had been in the minds of the basic -group when they entered the Chronotron. These descendants remembered -their ancestors and carried some of their theories to the point of -physical application. - - * * * * * - -In the meantime, only Weston, Edwards and the Prince remained below. -The alternate time civilization, which referred to itself as "Little -America," had appropriated the Xlarnan underworld facilities for -itself, and the three observers had found it necessary to conceal -themselves. To their dismay, the "Little Americans" had destroyed the -Chronotron in order to make certain that none of their group would ever -be tempted to snuff them out with a superimposed alternate. - -Far from abandoning the idea of returning to the world and time of -their ancestors' origin they had concentrated on time-travel theories -of their own, with the intention of evolving a more accurate method so -that they could be sure of where they were going. - -"You said something to me and your Uncle Andy on board the plane before -all this happened," Edwards remarked to Henry. "Something about novae -and super fast light rays being thrown along the Fourth Coordinate. -That must have started them on the road to their present discoveries -and development, because there's a ship out there now that only uses -rockets for take-off and navigational purposes. Once out in deep space -it is supposed to operate on Cosmic energy, or so we have heard. It -will go out faster than light. The idea is that when that happens it -will be rotated out of three dimensional space and be forced to expend -its extra velocity along the Fourth Coordinate, emerging in another -time when it again slows down to the speed of light. But this isn't -all. These scientists have worked out some new kind of mathematics -and seem convinced they have been able to determine the direction and -the rates of acceleration and deceleration necessary to deliver them -into any given era of time, past or future. And their flight equation -calls for the time we came from. Of course, they'll not hit it in the -first attempt, but all subsequent time-jumps will be like vernier -adjustments, focussing them down into the twentieth century--even that -specific part of it they're aiming for." - -"You can't let them do it!" exclaimed Kimnar. Weston, Edwards and the -Prince stared at him in mild astonishment. - -"I don't know what your objections may be, Scarface," said Edwards, -"but as a matter of fact we _don't_ intend to let them get away with -it!" - -Weston grinned sadistically, his gold-capped teeth glistening. "You -see--_we_ are going instead! Of course we'll cop their pilot, and he'll -do what we tell him. And here's another little point. I'm not so sharp -with the science, so Edwards will tell you that, too. Tell them about -Africa, Doc!" - - * * * * * - -The three listeners tensed. They saw it coming. The "Little Americans" -were well aware of Andy's connection with the D-C bomb. Andy, too, had -been able to deduce, largely from the lack of ocean tides in this world -of Xlarn, that it could have been the bomb that had brought the world -of Xlarn into being by the destruction of the moon. The most sacred -admonishment to his descendants in alternate time had been to find -a way of getting back to the twentieth century and prevent the bomb -from being launched. That single act would enable the original Earth -civilization to continue, and Xlarn would cease to exist. - -"It's all a nice, neat package," said Weston, "because don't forget I -worked that French Morocco project, too, and I know how to sabotage -that damned rocket! Then to make the whole story turn out real pretty -with a happy ending, we have Mohammed here to pay off like he said, for -getting him back home!" - -The Prince still looked at Henry, his turban almost down over his eyes. -"You have heard!" he cried out. "Tell me, Henry! Can it be done?" - -"There's just one little technicality," said Henry. "How do you propose -to capture that Cosmic drive rocket outside?" - -Weston grinned again, and Dr. Edwards explained. "Our friends upstairs -never suspected our existence. They probably assumed we got lost -somewhere in the Chronotron. Having had no one to defend themselves -against, they have produced no weapons of any description, with the -exception of those they have installed on the rocket, for use when they -get back to the twentieth century, if necessary, to force the issue -concerning the D-C bomb. So they are quite vulnerable to a surprise -attack. This gun should do the trick easily enough. It is fully loaded." - -"What of their superior numbers?" asked Kimnar. But he read the answer -before it was voiced. - -"The poor devils were quite aware of the reaction sphere," Edwards -answered. "There isn't much time left, you know. They chose their -pilgrims, and the rest--" - -Martia paled. "All dead!" she exclaimed. - -Edwards shrugged. "Euthanasia. Tragic, perhaps, but very convenient. -We only have six men to contend with." - -"I don't want to appear too forward about all this," said Kimnar, -slipping back into the sarcastic dialect of Scarface, "but we'd like to -ride in that star buggy, ourselves. Maybe you can use another hand in -your surprise attack?" - -Henry and Martia looked at him quizzically, then their brows furrowed -in deeper puzzlement as they read the weighty thing that was in his -mind. - -"To hell with you," yelled Weston. "I owe you something for that lousy -deal you gave me on the rock. On second thought, maybe a bullet would -be too easy. Maybe you should wait and see the sky blow up. You and the -kids wouldn't want to miss all the pretty fireworks, now would you?" - -The Prince sprang into action. Swiftly, he took up a position in front -of Henry, Martia and Kimnar. Trembling, and with arms outspread, -he cried out, "If you leave them, you can leave me, too! Shoot -me--anything! But Henry and his friends are sacred! They go, or I stay!" - -Dr. Edwards grimaced, looked at his gun, then at Weston. The latter -glowered at the Prince, menacingly. - -Finally, he muttered an oath that made Martia's face turn crimson. And -he added, "What's the difference! We'll take you as excess baggage, but -on condition you'll follow orders. Edwards here is going to be awful -nervous on that trigger, so don't try anything." - - * * * * * - -The surface world was very warm and the sky was sickeningly bright. -Vegetation drooped, dried up, dead or dying, and the plant stench of -rot was in the degenerating air. In the mind of every sweating human -left on Xlarn was one thought: - -_It can happen any second now...._ - -Driven by the deadly threat of the sky, Weston and Edwards did not -waste time on strategy. They approached the rocket base directly, out -in the open, in the glaring light. The pilot and one other man was -inside. Four others met them, in mild astonishment, but there was very -little time for conversation. - -When Weston let them know his intention, and when they looked at Dr. -Edwards' gun, they smiled, resignedly. - -"What is life or death to us now?" said the spokesman, a somewhat older -man than the others. "The main consideration is our common purpose. -You, too, want to stop the _bomb_. And if Doctor Edwards here is, as -you say, a prominent authority known to that time, his influence would -be greater than ours. As long as you intend to take Kennedy, the pilot, -our efforts and sacrifices shall not have been in vain. Go--before it -is too late!" - -Once at the ladder Weston threw the crutches away and practically -pulled himself up to the airlock with his powerful arms. Edwards -followed close behind with his gun, and then came Martia, Henry and -Kimnar, who gave the Prince a helping hand as he climbed. - -The four on the ground watched silently for five minutes. - -Then they saw their colleague, Mark Thixton, climb down out of the -rocket. That left Kennedy alone--with those others. - -Thixton walked over to his waiting friends. "Seven of them," he said. -"The two youngsters will have to share an acceleration sling together." -After a long moment he added, "Pray God they make it in time!" - -The others said nothing. They only hoped Kennedy would take off fast -enough to get through that raving pile in the sky. The radiation -insulation was excellent in that ship, but they still wondered if -escape would be possible. - -_It can happen any second now...._ - - * * * * * - -When Martia pulled out of the blackness that she had fallen into during -acceleration, she began to cry. Henry could read the thought in her -mind. Those brave, kind men back there--left to die. - -Then came a disturbing thought from Kimnar who lay in the sling above -them: _You realize that we are through the reaction sphere. If they -succeed in their purpose, you and I cease to exist. But what really -matters is Galactic Civilization! That, too, will evaporate and be -non-existent!_ - -Henry and Martia were too weak to think back at him. But they thought -to themselves. Earth, as they had known it, with its teeming billions -of people and its cities and sciences and cultures. - -_And its wars and nationalisms and ideologies and greed and -corruption!_--interposed Kimnar's thought, vehemently. - -But its beaches under the blue skies and a real, normal sun, with the -children bathing and laughing, and its theatres and arts, its churches -and universities and--Paris! Think of Paris! If they could stop the -bomb, all that would continue to be-- - -_I can show you six thousand cities greater than Paris! And if you -consider Earth, then think of solar systems--dozens of worlds greater -than Earth--more advanced, benevolent, civilized, where men cannot lie -and cheat because they know each other's hearts and minds! Weigh all -that against one world!_ - -_No_--thought Henry, at last. _Consider Earth's own future expansion, -if saved from cataclysm. Think of its own possibilities of reaching for -the stars and also establishing a Galactic Civilization!_ - -Kimnar did not respond. - - * * * * * - -Suddenly, Kennedy came out of his straps and yelled. He was looking out -the great vision port, from which the radiation shielding had been -removed. Everybody sat up and stared into outer space. - -In the lower part of their field vision was the Great Ring that had -once been the moon, and below it was the glowing reaction sphere that -covered Xlarn. It looked like an incandescent Saturn, with the mighty -star-walls of Infinity rising behind it. But even this tremendous -spectacle was insignificant in its effect when compared with ten other -prominent objects out there. - -"Space ships!" shouted Weston. "Where the hell--" - -Ten great spheres, with rods at top and bottom and thick rings around -their "equators," as though they were space-flying gyroscopes. They -were converging slowly upon the rocket. - -"Shall I tell you what they are?" asked Kimnar enthusiastically. "They -are in the hands of Fate!" - -"If you know what they are, don't get corny, Scarface!" roared Weston, -climbing out of his sling and grabbing the gun from Edwards. "Spill it!" - -Calmly but swiftly, Kimnar told the story, and he explained the issue -that hung in the balance--Earth's alternate future against this already -existing Galactic Civilization. - -"Here and now," he concluded, "Fate can decide. Perhaps it is not in -our own hands, after all." - -Dr. Edwards stared at him aghast, the whole explanation of Henry's and -Martia's precociousness striking him at last. Then he looked again at -the approaching spheres. - -"Do they know what we represent?" he asked. - -"Yes," smiled Kimnar. "I communicated the message to them some time -ago. I thought I was lying to them then, or doing some wishful -thinking, merely to make them come for us--but now it's no longer a -lie. You _can_ stop that moon bomb and strike a new alternate across a -billion years of space and time! But if you do, I and my friends and a -Galactic Civilization will cease to exist!" - - * * * * * - -All this time, the pilot, Kennedy, had been like a man coming out of -anesthesia. He was a tall, gaunt young fellow with heavy, forward -jutting brows and far seeing eyes. His long chin was way out as he -watched everything and listened, with his wiry right hand lying inertly -beside the simple bank of the ship's main controls. - -"Kennedy!" yelled Weston. "What kind of guns are in those blisters?" - -The pilot stared at him. "They fire one pound projectiles--nuclear -bombs." - -"_That_ is for me! Come on, Edwards! To your station!" Before anyone -could stop him, he was swinging lightly away, from support to support, -under the gravity free condition of free fall. - -"Better strap in tight!" called Kennedy, coming to life at last. "If -I'm going to maneuver out here, you're going to feel some Gs!" - -"Let's go!" they heard Weston reply, from his blister. And Edwards was -already on his way to the other position. - -Grimly, the pilot shifted into emergency flight position and strapped -himself in, while Kimnar and Henry and Martia watched him. They heard -the Indian Prince stuttering through his prayers again. - -"Kennedy," said Kimnar, half rising in his sling. "Don't do it!" - -"You better stay strapped," replied the other. Even as he spoke, a -great weight pressed upon them and the firmament outside began to -revolve, sweeping Xlarn and the star ships momentarily out of sight. - -"Kennedy!" persisted Kimnar, doggedly, in spite of the mounting -pressure "Think this over! One world--Earth--cannot be worth twelve -civilized solar systems! Let me contact those star men for you! You -could continue to live--" - -Everybody came close to blacking out as the rocket swept down over -the row of globular ships and shook with recoil from Weston's and -Edward's firing. A horrifying scene of exploding spheres swept by -the observation panels, and Martia screamed in her mixed despair. -Kimnar sweated profusely. Henry tensed his mind, preparing to paralyze -Kennedy. It was an irresistible impulse, not quite tied to logic. - -_No!_--came Kimnar's thought to him. _I have decided against that kind -of coercion. There's something bigger out here than we. Call it Fate, -if you will. And that power alone will have to decide! We can only -propose!_ - - * * * * * - -It was in that moment that Fate cut the cord. An eye-searing light -filled the cabin, and Kennedy shrieked--"The reaction sphere!" - -The planet once known as Earth burst into a minor nova, blasting its -Great Ring into spiraling shreds and tatters of celestial tinsel. In -the face of that swiftly advancing flame, the star ships that had -survived the rocket's first onslaught flicked safely into hyper-space, -and Kennedy _tried_ to stand enough Gs of acceleration to keep ahead of -it. He barely made it. - -But Weston and Edwards did not. At first they were blinded, utterly, by -the blast, unprotected as they were in the blisters. Then, as a very -small fraction of that searing wave licked out at the rocket, the hull -resisted but the blisters fused and exploded. An airlock sealed the gun -compartments off from the rocket's cabin, but the remains of the two -gunners drifted into the turbulent ether. - -There was one other decisive effect of the holocaust. Certain delicate -apparatus connected with the collection and storing of Cosmic energy -was also fused and made useless, before it had hardly begun to store up -for the intended work ahead. - -"That does it!" panted Kennedy. "We're licked!" - -"No we're not," said Kimnar, nodding toward the observation panel. -His tear-flooded eyes were struggling out of the momentarily induced -blindness and he saw that the rocket had turned so that the glare of -the explosion was not visible. - -Instead, there was the towering, eternal firmament, and in it had -suddenly materialized one of the star man spheres, glistening brightly -in the light that their eyes were now being spared. Kennedy watched it -helplessly as it approached. - -Henry and Martia became aware of minds probing them gingerly and -communing with Kimnar--minds of the star men, who had not struck back -immediately because they had been hoping to rescue some of their own -kind and take them home.... - - * * * * * - -_While a bewildered but grateful man named Kennedy and a wide-eyed -Indian Prince followed Kimnar, Henry and Martia into a scintillating -civilization in far off space and time, a secret rocket experiment was -being concluded in French Morocco. In the nose of the rocket was a D-C -bomb, which was to be detonated on the surface of the moon._ - -_No one who had entered the Chronotron, at Weston's insistence, had -succeeded in reaching the twentieth century and altering the future by -a hair. But Pee Bee had shot far behind the line, landing somewhere -in the 8th century B.C. No change in original Cause can ever fail to -precipitate an equal degree of change in final Effect. Yet the world -that existed between the 8th century B.C. and the twentieth century -A.D. was not greatly shaken by having a few lines of print changed here -and there in various histories, reference books and encyclopedias. It -seemed that there never had been such a word as billiards. There was an -ancient game known as pool (Egypt.--puul), the origin of which was not -England, but in the glorious imperial days of Ethiopia, when Egypt was -one of its provinces and a famous emperor referred to later by Roman -historians as Pibeus, invented it to amuse his harem of two hundred -wives...._ - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHILDREN OF THE CHRONOTRON *** - -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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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Byrne</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. 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> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Children of the Chronotron</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: S.J. Byrne</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: August 7, 2021 [eBook #66005]</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 CHILDREN OF THE CHRONOTRON ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter x-ebookmaker-drop"> - <img src="images/illusc.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<p>Facing destruction, Earth's last immortals<br /> -sent an emissary through time to alter history.<br /> -Thus, he appeared in 1952, searching for the—</p> - -<h1>CHILDREN of the CHRONOTRON</h1> - -<h2>By S. J. Byrne</h2> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br /> -December 1952<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><i>When their sun began to wane, the Xlarnans at first retreated -underground to hoard the heat and life-supporting energies which their -nuclear generators could supply. But as their world grew colder, -century after century, they devised a means of creating a substitute -for the ionosphere—a protective layer of radioactive gases in the -upper reaches of the sky which could warm them by means of its slow, -controlled reaction, give them eternal light, and yet absorb its own -harder radiations.</i></p> - -<p><i>Thus—a planetary cell of life, isolated from the universe, -independent of solar heat. And the Xlarnans at last emerged from their -subterranean cities to take up life anew in a tropical Paradise that -knew neither nightfall nor seasons. They missed the starlit night -skies of old, the sunrises and sunsets, and most of all the stupendous -celestial rainbow, the Great Ring, which some of them believed to be -formed of the particles of a large satellite that had encircled their -world back in the dim Beginning.</i></p> - -<p><i>But the time arrived when they knew they were losing control of their -reaction sphere in the sky. The hard radiations increased inexorably -in spite of all the coolants they could generate and send aloft. They -had to admit that the day would come when they would be destroyed by -the very instrument that had given them an extra hundred millenniums of -life.</i></p> - -<p><i>At the end of time—the Xlarnans, pressed against a wall, the reaction -sphere, from which came hard radiations, burning them. The ethnic -urge to survive in the face of swiftly approaching death. Necessity -mothering invention. And then—</i></p> - -<p><i>The Chronotron....</i></p> - -<p><i>Electronic envelopes speeding faster than light. Three dimensional -nature rejecting the envelope. Only in Time can anything be in two -places—along the duration line.</i></p> - -<p><i>The Chronotron—planting new Cause in the beginning of Effect. And -there is alternate time.</i></p> - -<p><i>Large numbers of Xlarnans, through the Chronotron, back to the -beginning of the reaction sphere era, an already advanced race with -the course of another hundred thousand years to run before facing the -threat from the sky once more.</i></p> - -<p><i>The first cycle ends, and at the last extremity of alternate time -veritable super beings achieve immortality. With immortality, less -procreation. And at last, sterility.</i></p> - -<p><i>Still the deadly threat above them. The daily promise of sudden and -complete devastation. Now there are rockets at last, but certain -techniques and necessary discoveries in the fields of chemistry and -metallurgy elude them. Attempted space flights end in collisions with -meteors or death due to radiations in the outer void—but escape -velocity never achieved.</i></p> - -<p><i>Then came—THE THEORY....</i></p> - -<p><i>Very vague and unidentifiable fossils discovered in astoundingly deep -strata. Nothing definite, but a bothersome hint of high development. -Hypothesis evolved into theory; Xlarn had known a complete geological -cycle before the Beginning, perhaps when the Great Ring around the -planet had been a moon! Granted this previous cycle, one might assume -a complete evolutionary development. If such a world had existed on -Xlarn previously then perhaps some highly intelligent race had evolved. -They might have been threatened by some cataclysm in their own time and -found a means of getting away from the planet—perhaps even to another -solar system!</i></p> - -<p><i>Sheer desperation. Sterile immortals of Xlarn supercharging a greatly -improved Chronotron. A single emissary, shot through Time's great -darkness beyond Beginning....</i></p> - -<p><i>A long wait at the end of time. The remaining immortals wondered at -the futility of it all. Theirs was the only life in the universe, -in all space and time. Or was it? Would their emissary actually -substantiate the theory of a world beyond Beginning?</i></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Extrapolation!" exclaimed the nuclear physicist, with an air of -strained indulgence. His keen, blue eyes also told young Henry that the -scientist was vastly amused. And he resented it. "Sonny, if you'd keep -out of unabridged dictionaries until you were of age your mind might -have a better chance of catching up to itself <i>and</i> the world around -you!"</p> - -<p>Henry closed his science fiction magazine with as much of an indignant -"bang" as was possible with a well-worn pulp and turned his back on -the intruder. He tried not to listen to him as he went on arguing with -Uncle Andy. He tried to concentrate on the wisps of clouds straggling -low over the gray Atlantic Ocean ten thousand feet below. He watched -the giant nacelles of the right wing engines as the double-decked -strato-cruiser droned monotonously onward toward New York. But he could -not shut off his ears....</p> - -<p>"Really, Dearden, you ought to watch that," the physicist was saying -to the kindly man who had adopted Henry. "A bright, adolescent mind -driving itself into the pit of self-delusion! Get him interested in -something more realistic than science fiction. Lord knows the world -needs some <i>practical</i> minds these days!"</p> - -<p>"Just now I could quote Henry in a lot of appropriate ways," Uncle Andy -replied. "He's very serious about this business of extrapolation. He -thinks it is a new perspective, a seventh sense, as it were, that Man -ought to develop. Furthermore, as long as you're interested...."</p> - -<p>Good old Uncle Andy, thought Henry. A brilliant man, a leading -technological specialist, yet as old-fashioned and unassuming -as—as—Well, who <i>was</i> like Uncle Andy nowadays?</p> - -<p>In his mind's eye he could see him, while he listened to his quiet -conversation. Going on forty-five and looking the part, without -pretense—graying at the temples, balding, and with a front upper -plate in his mouth that was inoffensive but also no secret. He was a -little heavy, and as out of condition, physically, as was considered to -be average. But he had a good-looking, strong, kind face, clear gray -eyes and a restful, reassuring manner. The strongest impression one -gathered, outside of the fact that his pipe tobacco was abominable, was -that he was the turtle that outran the hare. The reliable type, <i>sans</i> -heroism, fanaticism or hysteria. A swell guy.</p> - -<p>But what was that nosey Doctor Edwards putting in his two cents for? I -am <i>none</i> of his business!—Henry decided abruptly.</p> - -<p>"Doctor Edwards!" he interrupted, suddenly getting back into the -argument, "did it ever occur to you that orthodox scientists are <i>not</i> -the top of the intellectual pyramid?—that they are, in fact, the -robotic servants of those who <i>dare</i> to think <i>originally</i>?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Dr. Edwards, also a balding man in his middle forties, but rueful of -the fact, managed a thin smile, and Henry perceived that a tender spot -had been probed. "I'll overlook a rather unbecoming lack of respect for -your elders," retorted the scientist, "but go ahead! As an 'original -thinker,' Henry, you should be sufficiently philanthropic to at least -drop us groveling orthodox scientists a crumb of pure thought from -the overwhelming Cornucopia of your banquet table." His eyes narrowed -suddenly with disciplinary sternness. "To put it plainly—"</p> - -<p>"You needn't paraphrase the innuendo," Henry cut him off. "And I'll -just <i>toss</i> you a crumb!"</p> - -<p>"Now Henry," chided Uncle Andy, tamping more tobacco into his pipe, -"come down off your Pegasus, boy!"</p> - -<p>"No, let him go ahead," insisted Edwards. "This will be a good -measurement for both of us!"</p> - -<p>Three men in the triple seat behind Henry were poking each other. He -could hear what they were saying.</p> - -<p>"Get this kid!" one of them grunted. He was the slick, heavy-bearded -fellow in the powder blue suit, the one with the mean looking scowl -caused by a bright scar on one side of his mouth. But he was not being -critical. He was genuinely interested.</p> - -<p>"Yeah. Smart alec!" a second man muttered.</p> - -<p>"There's about eighty people on board," said the third. "Gotta be at -least one genius amongst 'em!" That was the big construction stiff from -the base where Uncle Andy had worked—in French Morocco.</p> - -<p>Henry squared his mental shoulders, stuck out his sixteen-year-old chin -and thought—This is it!</p> - -<p>"All right!" he said aloud, "how about a good hypothesis on novae, -arrived at by extrapolation?"</p> - -<p>Dr. Edwards slapped his knee in mock enthusiasm. "Just the information -the world has been waiting for!" he exclaimed. "Go ahead!"</p> - -<p>"I shall attempt to demonstrate that lightwaves produced by any -given nova were produced long before their appearance, regardless of -astronomical proximity to the observer, and that those waves actually -were propagated through Time, along the Fourth Coordinate," Henry -began, emphatically.</p> - -<p>But there was an interruption.</p> - -<p>"Well <i>really</i>!" exclaimed the Englishwoman, turning around to stare -back at Henry, as if the emotional and physical expenditure required -to deliver those two words were sufficient to handle the situation. -She turned abruptly to a resumption of her magazine reading, while the -plump, middle-aged governess beside her snored softly.</p> - -<p>Henry's rather lean face lengthened as he contemplated the back of her -persnickety-looking hat, which he thought was a ridiculous assembly of -straw, lace and painted berries. He was blushing slightly as he looked -back at Uncle Andy and Dr. Edwards, who wondered if he was going to -ignore the lady's protest. When Henry looked at the three men behind -him and noticed the all too knowing smirks on their faces, he gave up.</p> - -<p>"Aw, skip it!" he said, and he got up, making his way to the aisle.</p> - -<p>"Wait, Henry—!" Dr. Edwards started to say.</p> - -<p>"Let him go," interrupted Uncle Andy. Those were the last words Henry -caught as he hurried away down the aisle toward the stairway leading to -the lower deck and the observation lounge and commissary.</p> - -<p>It was all on account of Martia, he thought sullenly. She was the -daughter of that stuck up English woman. He didn't like people like -that, with her airs and the big pretense she put up trying to appear -to be still the great lady, with her hatboxes and her governess. Lady -Dewitt his foot! Everybody knew that such anachronisms were on their -last legs now, with war economies eating away the foundations of landed -wealth in England. If Martia weren't merely fifteen years old or so, -Henry would have accused Lady Dewitt, in his mind, of coming to New -York to catch her daughter a wealthy American husband. Actually, she -was just another English evacuee. They were coming to Canada and the -States by the tens of thousands, on the eve of war, inasmuch as World -War Three's version of the V-2 was expected to be atomic—and England -was becoming a glorified foxhole.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Martia had seemed to reflect her mother's snobbishness, in a way, but -she was strikingly pretty and had the biggest, bluest—However, it -wasn't the color of her eyes that had made Henry fall all over himself -at the airport in London. He could not define it, but it was a powerful -thing that had made him seem not to care what anyone thought. Martia, -with her smug chin, pug nose, brunette bangs and patrician attitude, -had some indefinable something about her that he <i>knew</i> he could never -find again—in his entire life. And which was vitally important to -<i>him</i>, alone.</p> - -<p>So from that moment on, many of the passengers had been aware that he -was "that way" about the English girl, in spite of the Lady Dewitt's -determination to place all possible barriers in his path. She had -lost no time in investigating Uncle Andy and discovering that he was, -according to the passenger list, a mere construction engineer, and that -Henry was an adopted orphan whose genealogy had been lost in one of the -many obscurities resulting from World War II.</p> - -<p>Heck!—thought Henry. I don't want to <i>marry</i> the little snob! I just -wanted to—"Oh, excuse me!" he exclaimed, bumping into someone at the -head of the staircase.</p> - -<p>He turned around and was surprised to discover that no one was in the -aisle. Yet he <i>had</i> bumped into someone!</p> - -<p>"What for?" asked a young G.I. seated at his elbow.</p> - -<p>Henry looked at the friendly, round face of the soldier. He looked -at the other soldiers next to him, and at those in the seat ahead of -them. They were all looking at him strangely, but not belligerently. He -thought: They're coming home from U.N. duty. Troop rotation. Maybe soon -they'll have to go back and really use their guns. Uncle Andy said that -if by next spring, in 1960—</p> - -<p>A strange ringing sound was in Henry's ears and he felt vaguely airsick.</p> - -<p>"I thought I bumped into somebody," he answered, lamely. And he still -looked at the soldiers.</p> - -<p>There were three who looked like Texans, all buddies, sitting in one -seat and playing rummy. Buddies. What buddies had <i>he</i> ever had? -Never had there been much in common between him and his adolescent -associates, either in the war orphanage in France or after Uncle Andy -had adopted him. All kids were like—well, in a world apart. Except -that girl, Martia. He hadn't even talked to her—and yet the two of -them knew something. Something important concerning just themselves. -But what?</p> - -<p>"You feel all right, kid?" asked the same soldier again.</p> - -<p><i>Kid!</i> Henry was sixteen. The other was only twenty. Where did he get -off at—</p> - -<p>The ringing in his ears was more insistent. He swayed, dizzily, -catching the stair rail for support.</p> - -<p>One of the soldiers was a negro, one of those dark ones that almost -looked blue-black. But he was the friendliest of all. He even got up to -see what he could do.</p> - -<p>"Man, you look like you're all mixed up," he said, smiling. "Are you -airsick, or constipated?"</p> - -<p>The others laughed. Henry blushed again and ran down the narrow, -circular staircase, this time actually crashing into a large man in -a dark suit who looked like the ads in Esquire concerning "Men of -Distinction." He had gray at the temples and a ruddy, confident face -with penetrating gray eyes.</p> - -<p>"Sorry!" exclaimed Henry, and went on. He had recognized the man. He -had been pointed out earlier as Congressman Burley, attached to some -world-touring congressional committee on something or other. Sure were -a lot of big shots on board, he reflected, as he came down onto B deck.</p> - -<p>There were many of them here in the observation lounge—heavily braided -officers, some of them high-ranking women in the Service; scientists, -international businessmen, newspaper correspondents, entertainers—and -foreigners. Henry was especially impressed with the Prince from India -who wore thousand dollar turbans and beautiful jewelry. And the Swedish -movie star, a beautiful blonde who was anything but dumb. Uncle Andy -had been especially interested in her, as well as that young air -hostess over there talking to the bald-headed man by the magazine rack.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Suddenly, he saw Martia Dewitt at the commissary counter. There were -also two young women with year old youngsters in their arms, buying -suckers to keep them from yowling. But he was interested only in -Martia. This time he had caught her alone.</p> - -<p>The girl was dressed neatly in a blue, pleated skirt, red jacket and -lacy blouse with a velvet tie and a yellow straw hat, red bobby socks -and black shoes; but there was a home-spun look about her clothes that -hinted at a struggle to maintain appearances.</p> - -<p>When Martia spotted him, she lowered her eyes and attempted to hurry -past, but he caught her, gently, surprised at his own boldness. "We -might as well talk about it now," he said to her quickly. "There won't -be another chance."</p> - -<p>She held her eyes averted, strained slightly to be released, then -relaxed. Her large, clear blue eyes found his and his head swam.</p> - -<p>"All right," she answered, simply.</p> - -<p>They could not find a seat by the observation panels, which was to be -expected, so they stood near the drinking fountain and looked at each -other's feet.</p> - -<p>"Then it's true," said Henry. "We have something to talk about, don't -we?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," she replied, glancing quickly at him and then looking down again.</p> - -<p>"Well—what is it?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"I—I don't know. I thought you—"</p> - -<p>Henry swayed, his ears ringing insistently. To his surprise, she -grasped his arm seeking support. Her face paled.</p> - -<p>This time their eyes really met. It was unnecessary for her to tell him -her ears were ringing too. He knew it.</p> - -<p>"I'm scared!" she exclaimed. "What is it?"</p> - -<p>"It—it isn't quite like ringing," he told her. "It's more like—"</p> - -<p>"Like very high flutes going up and down a scale."</p> - -<p>"Yeah—in a weird kind of way."</p> - -<p>The small tots in the young mothers' arms were shrieking unaccountably -now, in spite of the suckers they had been allowed to taste.</p> - -<p>Henry looked at them curiously. "Their ears are ringing, too," he said.</p> - -<p>Martia did not question how he knew this, because she was also sure the -babies were hearing the eerie ringing of the flutes. And that no one -else heard—none of the adults on board....</p> - -<p>"Your name is Henry," she said, irrelevantly.</p> - -<p>"Yes, and yours is Martia. I feel like something is going to happen."</p> - -<p>"That's why I'm scared."</p> - -<p>She pressed against him and held on to him, shuddering in nameless -terror, as hysterical screams and shouts suddenly emanated from A -deck, above them. He held her, equally frightened, while the babies -screamed—and while the people on B deck began to shout and scurry -about in all directions.</p> - -<p>"What in God's name—!" a man yelled, getting up from his seat by the -windows.</p> - -<p>"Something's happened on A deck!" exclaimed the commissary steward.</p> - -<p>"What the hell! It's a fight!" shouted a grizzled construction worker.</p> - -<p>"Come on!" cried another, excitedly anticipating something to write -home about.</p> - -<p>"Stay where you are! Don't panic!" shouted a newsman, fumbling -frantically with the straps of his camera carrying case.</p> - -<p>No one could ascend the spiral staircase because a panic stricken mob -from A deck was descending, with the G.I. negro sliding down over -their heads. The whites of his eyes glistened in unreasoning terror. -Screams of women and the angry shouting and cursing of men filled -the staircase, while outside the muffled roar of the great engines -continued unabated.</p> - -<p>"<i>All right! All right!</i>" came a tense voice over the P.A. system. -"<i>Passengers will remain seated and refrain from panic. Do not crowd -B deck as it changes the load factors and we'll not be able to trim -if you don't stay put!</i>" It seemed to Henry that the announcer wanted -to say more but was interrupted by the sudden press of the emergency, -whatever it was.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Henry caught sight of a young woman wearing the uniform of a WAAC nurse -sliding down upside down under the feet of the mob, her face bloodied, -eyes rolled upward into her head. Either she had fainted or been -knocked unconscious. Or she was dead. Grown men, frothing at the mouth -and shrieking curses, struck at each other with intent to kill. It was -blind panic riding on the animal instinct to survive.</p> - -<p>Far from regarding the scene calmly, Henry was visited by an -instinctive desire to run through that crowd and find Uncle Andy, who -always knew the answer when the chips were down. But the quivering -girl beside him detained him, and her presence also made him fight -to control an incipient trembling of his chin. It was as though he -could smell events and the events there in the lounge had a stench of -disaster, of death, of tragic newspaper headlines. You couldn't really -smell such things, but Henry had no name for the strange sense that -gave him a vivid impression of the total human element surrounding him.</p> - -<p>The air hostess maintained a clear head. She ran to two high-ranking -officers, one an Army Colonel and the other a Major of the Air Force.</p> - -<p>"<i>Do</i> something!" she exclaimed.</p> - -<p>Which was sufficient to arouse them from their momentary paralysis. -With a look at each other, a few hurried words and quick nods of -agreement, the two officers sprang into action.</p> - -<p>"All men on B deck!" yelled the Colonel, suddenly brandishing a -Service automatic. "Converge on the staircase and pull the passengers -out—women first where possible!"</p> - -<p>Henry stared curiously at the gun. He knew it did not contain -ammunition. Although this ship was a MATS charter, ammunition was not -allowed for sidearms on such flights.</p> - -<p>The Major and two Army non-coms were already at the staircase, working -fast.</p> - -<p>"Come down single file, those of you on the staircase!" yelled the -Major. "All others remain on A deck! No fighting, you! Move!" He was -also waving a gun in the air.</p> - -<p>When one man struck out wildly at another who was in his way, the Major -reached up and hit him over the head with his weapon—under the sudden -brilliance of the newsman's flash bulb. The man slumped, and a number -of B deck men heaved at him, pulling him through.</p> - -<p>Henry wondered if Uncle Andy was playing it safe, staying in his -seat. Couldn't be a fire. No smoke. Something much different, more -dangerous, he sensed. He recalled the ringing in his and Martia's -ears. Then he also remembered having bumped into someone in the aisle -upstairs—someone that he could not see.... A prickly sensation crept -down his spine.</p> - -<p>They had the unconscious WAAC nurse stretched out on a seat under the -observation windows. The air hostess was calling to the commissary -steward to break out the first aid supplies, and the Swedish actress -ran to get them for her. The Indian Prince had lost his turban and, -being quite bald, was trying to wrap it around his head again, while -his eyes stared in fright at the milling crowd and he cowered in the -farthest corner muttering prayers in Hindustani.</p> - -<p>"What the hell's happening up there?" asked the Major of one male -passenger from A deck who seemed to be more rational. Henry remembered -that this was the scar-faced man who had sat behind him and Uncle -Andy. On his hardened face was an expression of deep concern, and his -forehead glistened with sweat.</p> - -<p>"It's a—a man," he stammered.</p> - -<p>"A man! Well what the—"</p> - -<p>"A <i>monster</i>!" cried a woman, her hair disheveled, her dress and shoes -gone and her petticoat half ripped off. "Oh God help us!"</p> - -<p>"Mother!" shrieked Martia, suddenly. She broke away from Henry and ran -toward the crowd at the staircase.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Henry ran after her and caught her by the wrist. "You'll get yourself -killed trying to get up there!" he yelled at her. "Stay here!"</p> - -<p>"Mother!" she cried out again, sobbing hysterically and struggling -frantically to break away from him.</p> - -<p>"Shush, girl!" commanded the Colonel. The P.T. speaker was blaring.</p> - -<p>"<i>This is co-pilot Nelson speaking for Captain Merman</i>," came the same, -tense, male voice they had heard previously. "<i>All passengers are to -remain where they are. There is nothing wrong with the ship, except -we've got to keep trimming against that load in the lounge. I repeat, -there is nothing wrong with the ship. B deck passengers are advised -that we have been boarded, in some undetermined way, by a sort of—man. -He has made no move to harm anyone although he appears to be armed. -Captain Merman is trying to communicate with him. In the meantime -you are advised that we are under emergency conditions affecting the -rules of international travel. The Captain's orders will be followed -to the letter, by all nationalities represented on board, regardless -of rank or position. I repeat, this is an emergency. But there will -be no panic. Violators will be placed under arrest by any male member -of the crew or by any male commissioned personnel on board. All male -commissioned military personnel in the service of the government of the -United States are hereby deputized to make arrests and hold in custody -any offender. That is all. Stand by!</i>"</p> - -<p>The two small children, Henry noted, were still crying, uncontrollably.</p> - -<p>"Vot does he mean?" queried a bearded Russian at Henry's elbow. "Vot -iss a <i>sort</i> of man?" It was a rhetorical question, with no answer -expected.</p> - -<p>But Henry said, "Well, the Captain is <i>trying</i> to communicate with -him. That would mean he does not speak our language, perhaps none of -the languages represented on board. It would mean he is not equipped -with equivalent articulatory organs." Several adults near Henry turned -their attention upon him. The negro G.I., whose bulging eyes had been -staring alternately at the staircase and the Indian Prince, now turned, -trembling, to gaze upon this new wonder. And Henry continued. "The -co-pilot said he <i>appears</i> to be armed. This means he carries some -apparatus on him which is unrelated to current technology. That this -creature represents an alien intelligence and is capitalizing on the -utilization of an alien science is further demonstrated by his having -made an appearance on board a transoceanic stratoliner in mid-flight. -Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that we have with us either -an extra-terrestrial or a time-traveling superman out of some future -age—or both."</p> - -<p>"<i>Proklaty!</i>" ejaculated the Russian. "<i>Ya nye ponye</i>—" He adjusted -a pair of heavy-lensed spectacles and stared at Henry in myopic -amazement. "I haf turned on a walkie-talking!"</p> - -<p>"Ye gods!" exclaimed an American businessman, a fat man with a florid, -sweating face, blue-veined jowls and pale yellow hair that strove -unsuccessfully to cover a sunburned scalp. "Here's a quiz kid! Let -<i>him</i> talk to the monster!"</p> - -<p>"Poppycock!" snorted a lean, tweedy Englishman in his early forties. -"The child is a precocious egotist. This is a serious matter! It is -certainly not a time for youngsters to be heard at all—particularly -when they appear to be addicted to the utterly fantastic! -Extra-terrestrial, indeed! My poor, misguided child," he said to -Henry, "you must face reality! This is either some manifestation of a -Communist plot or—what would be worse—a perverted form of American -advertising that has come close to endangering the lives of all of us! -A rank publicity stunt! A hoax! A criminal <i>adulteration</i> of propriety!"</p> - -<p>"What's immorality got to do with it?" queried the negro, fearfully. -"Ah don't care if dis kid is a Republican or a vampire. Ah's worried -about dat <i>In-Between</i> dey got upstairs!"</p> - -<p>"Henry!" Martia, huddling close in the protective circle of his arm, -was whispering to him. "I think the same as you!" She was trembling.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>By this time, the Colonel, the Major, the non-coms and the air hostess, -with the help of the commissary steward and the Swedish actress, had -restored some semblance of order—at gunpoint. Over two dozen cowering, -babbling, questioning passengers were lined up along both sides of the -observation lounge. The newsman was still taking flash-photos. The -staircase was deserted, because the Major stood there threatening to -shoot any unauthorized persons attempting to get down to B deck. Henry -wondered how many realized the gun was not loaded.</p> - -<p>The now all important P.A. system sputtered, and all faces turned -toward it in nervous anticipation. The co-pilot's voice came slowly and -quietly now, but tensely. "<i>Everybody remain exactly where you are. -The—stranger—is moving down the aisle.</i>"</p> - -<p>Someone in the observation lounge started to cry out in alarm—one of -the women carrying a baby—but the Colonel said, "Quiet!" so vehemently -that she stopped, staring at the staircase with round glassy eyes.</p> - -<p>"<i>Attention on B deck!</i>" came another voice over the P.A. speaker. -"<i>This is Captain Merman. I believe Colonel Rogers is among you. If -so or in his absence if there is any other commissioned member of the -Service present, you will immediately move all women and children -out of harm's way and organize the men to take up a position which -will enable you to ambush the intruder! He will not identify himself -and I consider him to be dangerous. By your combined efforts you are -authorized and directed to capture him, dead or alive. This is an -official order. Passengers are reminded that disobeying an order at -this time will be mutinous and subject to arrest and imprisonment. -Stand by!</i>"</p> - -<p>This was followed by general silence. Henry and Martia listened for -sounds of activity from A deck. Had they heard screams or the sound of -mortal conflict above them they could not have been more terrified than -they were by this absence of any noise other than the muffled roar of -the engines outside. It was as though A deck were totally devoid of -human occupants and the ship were being piloted by phantoms.</p> - -<p>Colonel Rogers silently motioned to everybody, herding the women and -children over to one side of the lounge, next to the drinking fountain -where Henry and Martia stood. The Major and the non-coms lined up the -men. There were whispered arguments.</p> - -<p>"What the hell does he think he's doing?"</p> - -<p>"Yeah, there's more guys on A deck! Why don't they pile him?"</p> - -<p>Some of the men, by their facial expression and obvious emotional -condition, were considered inadequate for the task before them and were -excused. The scar-faced man, however, quietly followed instructions. -Henry wanted to go to him and ask him about Uncle Andy, but he could no -longer move against the press of the crowd.</p> - -<p>"<i>He has stopped now at the head of the staircase</i>," Captain Merman -announced in a low tone. "<i>He is looking down into the lounge.</i>"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Men and women pressed closely against the two adolescents. Henry could -sense their accumulated tenseness. He could hear grown men panting -and he could observe the dryness of their tightly compressed lips, -the animal-like flaring of nostrils, the hunted look in their staring -eyes. He saw one woman grip her husband's hand until he winced. Martia -pressed her face against his shoulder and would not look at the -staircase.</p> - -<p>They waited. And Henry watched the Major.</p> - -<p>He was a short, stockily built man with a clear, youthful face and -brown, wavy hair. On his chest were campaign ribbons and one small -medal of some kind. Henry saw his Adam's apple move as he swallowed -nervously. His blue-grey eyes never wavered from the staircase.</p> - -<p>The scar-faced man stood slightly apart from the crowd, watching the -stairs with a quiet, expressionless intentness. About a dozen men -waited tensely on either side of the stairs, trying to remain out of a -direct line of sight from above.</p> - -<p>"<i>He's coming down!</i>" said Captain Merman.</p> - -<p>There was an audible drawing of breaths as they saw the alien intruder -descend the stairs. He came down to the second step from the bottom and -stood there surveying the scene before him.</p> - -<p>He was taller than men, by about a head. His shoulders, arms and -musculature were not human. He was almost four feet across his sloping -shoulders, with ponderous arms and six-fingered hands that reached -below his thick knees. There was a thumb, in addition to the taloned -fingers, a prehensile, calloused extension of the heel of the hand. A -second set of three, prehensile appendages writhed slowly about just -above his multi-jointed wrists. His large, almost circular chest was -split by a multiple lipped orifice that slowly opened and closed like -a sea anemone as he breathed. He wore only a meager harness and loin -cloth, the plastic-like straps supporting a heavy instrument box at -his waist and a pack of apparatus on his back. His skin was leathery, -almost brittle appearing, as though he were partially exoskeletal, -and of mottled colors ranging from dark red to purple, like a mass of -birth-marks that left no room for normal pigment. His face was small, -chinless and devoid of nose or nostrils, but he had a round mouth the -lips of which were like the beak of a blow-fish. His cranium was large, -hairless, and heavily veined. Under absurdly accentuated, hairless -brows, a single, monstrous insect's eye with a thousand gleaming facets -rotated about, examining them balefully.</p> - -<p>Martia could not see the alien. Henry could. She felt him shudder.</p> - -<p>Three women quietly passed out, but no one paid them any attention. -Colonel Rogers and the Major stood there looking back at the creature -in the same attitude of momentary shock paralysis as the others. The -non-com soldiers and male passengers constituting the ambush on either -side of the staircase were all white-faced, staring. "Scarface" stood -apart, more or less facing the intruder.</p> - -<p>Then—the alien spoke. The little beaks of his mouth moved, and a -rather high-pitched voice spoke, laboriously, in a language which was -gutteral, vaguely familiar, but nonetheless incomprehensible.</p> - -<p>No one moved, but the men tensed, as though for action.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Henry recognized the menace of this creature, but he could not -refrain from reflecting, during those brief, weirdly timeless seconds -of inactivity, that to communicate with it might be worth a thousand -Rosetta Stones. A single, intelligible conversation, and Man might -conquer the stars! But this was the Unknown. Man, in his egotism, -abhorred the Unknown as Nature abhorred a vacuum. Man had to reduce the -Unknown to the level of his own understanding. "The only good Injun is -a dead one!" This superman from out of space or time, this harbinger -of wonders yet to be discovered, this mute, alien vessel of perhaps -incalculable knowledge—was suspect, and condemned to be taken, dead or -alive. Henry was aware of no sympathetic sentiments around him. He knew -that the mass reaction was for violence. The judgment: Death!</p> - -<p>Suddenly, the newsman took a picture and the flash bulb caused the -alien to start and move one of his amazingly dextrous hands toward the -control box at his waist.</p> - -<p>The two babies screamed, and the stranger turned his cyclopean eye upon -them for the first time. He moved down to the floor and started toward -them.</p> - -<p>It was then that Scarface whipped out a gun and fired, point blank. -The loud report in that tensely silent place stimulated involuntary -muscular reactions and the crowd seemed to jump as one body.</p> - -<p>The bullet made a round, neat hole to the right of the chest orifice, -and the alien stopped. Nobody wondered why Scarface happened to be -carrying a loaded gun. They merely sensed relief when he fired the -shot. A known element had entered the picture. Man had met the Unknown -with a gun, and the gun could do harm. It was effective.</p> - -<p>The alien looked at Scarface briefly, then turned dials at his waist, -even as Scarface pumped three more shots into him in very rapid -succession.</p> - -<p>Nobody was quite sure of what happened after that. Everyone's vision -blurred. There was a tumultuous ringing in the ears, a giddiness, and a -tendency to black out.</p> - -<p>When their vision cleared, the alien had disappeared. And with him the -two babies....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Henry, Uncle Andy, Dr. Edwards, Scarface, the G.I. negro and the -Swedish actress were all shoulder to shoulder in the lounge, looking -down at the world.</p> - -<p>Martia had been "rescued" by her mother, the Lady Dewitt, and the -governess, whose dough-like face had acquired red emotional splotches -similar to hives.</p> - -<p>First aid was being administered to the injured and the -hysterical—including the two mothers whose babies had been stolen.</p> - -<p>In spite of the overwhelming enigma below him, where the Atlantic Ocean -should have been, Henry kept remembering Martia—the look she had -given him when she had started back to A deck with her mother and the -governess. Her eyes had revealed a composite expression of sadness, -puzzlement and urgency. With them she had transmitted a message: -<i>Something unknown binds us together. I will see you again.</i></p> - -<p>More important than that, it seemed to be imperative that he discover -<i>what</i> it was that bound them together. Just the two of them. No one -else in the world.</p> - -<p>Why? Why? <i>Why!</i></p> - -<p>"Well, Henry," said Uncle Andy, whose pipe had gone out, "after all -that's happened, and in view of the landscape below us, I imagine you -are about ready to extrapolate."</p> - -<p>"He's got company!" ejaculated the negro G.I. "Ah's about ready to lose -control, myself! Dat Monster Man done burned up mah nervous system, but -dis here country we's flyin' over is gonna make me exasperate all over -if somebody don't tell me where we is at!"</p> - -<p>Dr. Edwards was not concerned with him, just now, Henry noted. Instead, -he studied the unknown country below them—and the peculiar sky—as -though orthodox authority were at a loss for an opinion. The Swedish -actress, known by the name of Valerie Roagland, looked at Henry, her -brilliantly blue eyes searching him curiously.</p> - -<p>"When will they tell us?" she asked, with just the pleasant trace of a -liquid accent.</p> - -<p>"I don't think the Captain or the Navigator are going to be able to -come up with much," said Uncle Andy, noting with appreciation that -Valerie Roagland's hair was naturally blond and wavy. "Unless they are -equipped with a crystal ball."</p> - -<p>"What I'd like to know," said Dr. Edwards, "is <i>how</i> this happened. A -weird creature like that, suddenly appearing on board and stealing two -babies, then disappearing into thin air. And when it's all over—" He -shrugged and pointed below.</p> - -<p>Henry looked again at the terrain over which they were flying. The ship -was in descent, and their present altitude of some three thousand feet -gave him a close view.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Distant seas, land locked tropical harbors, islands, and the great land -mass below with its rivers and lakes and jungles and very low, pagan -looking hills. Here below them was an apparently uninhabited Eden—a -Paradise that continued endlessly. No ship, sailboat or canoe could -be discerned on any visible body of water. No city, town or village. -No highways, country roads or footpaths. There were only brilliant -flowers, on the ground and in the trees, and a few birds.</p> - -<p>Nothing more—except the sky.</p> - -<p>The sky was blue, but without a sun, although the brilliance of the day -was equivalent to that of high noon. It was as though a curtain had -been drawn across the heavens—as though they were adventuring within -a shell that encircled the world.</p> - -<p>"The absence of the sun," said Henry, "is one basis for conjecture. The -absence of inhabitants is another. But the last announcement they made -over the P.A. system gives us the most conclusive evidence of all."</p> - -<p>Dr. Edwards looked at him quickly. "That announcement merely revealed -the fact that no radio contact has been made with anyone," he said. -"What does it prove?"</p> - -<p>"It was not announced that the radio is not functioning properly," -replied Henry. "Given a radio that is in working order, and no -reception; given a primitive looking country such as this one below us, -with no signs of inhabitants, plus a bright blue sky without a sun—and -the answer is obvious."</p> - -<p>"I wish it were as obvious to me," said Valerie Roagland. "What do you -make of it, Henry? What <i>is</i> the answer?"</p> - -<p>"Man, you's got more complications!" protested the negro G.I. "Come on! -It's a impossibility to scare me any futher, 'cause I got goose pimples -clear out on my fingernails! Let's have it!"</p> - -<p>Henry looked expressionlessly through the observation panels and -wondered, as he had wondered all his life, how he knew, <i>a priori</i>, -what it took those around him so long to figure out.</p> - -<p>"This is another world," he said. "If it is not another planet—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Henry, for the love of God!" exclaimed Dr. Edwards. "You and your -extrapolations! How could this be another planet? What inhabitable -planet would not reveal a sun in its sky? And how could we be -transported there in the twinkling of an eye?"</p> - -<p>"The planet, Venus, is surrounded by clouds of some sort," said Henry. -"We have never seen its surface. Perhaps it would be Nature's way to -protect such a world from the brightness and heat of a nearer sun by -surrounding it with some sort of protective layer that only <i>looks</i> -like a sky. But I don't think this is Venus."</p> - -<p>"Well, that's very nice to know," said Dr. Edwards, sarcastically.</p> - -<p>"What <i>do</i> you think it is, Henry?" asked Uncle Andy, puffing again at -his pipe.</p> - -<p>"Earth—incalculably removed into the distant future. We have been -hurled into future Time."</p> - -<p>Dr. Edwards snorted, straightened up, and left the group without a word.</p> - -<p>"Look at the low hills," said Henry to the others. "We've been flying -over this country for several hours. Here we have a small continent, -a comparatively major land mass—but no mountains. That would be -indicative of great geologic age. Furthermore, you will note that the -islands we saw, though tropical, are not the result of coral growth. -They are the tops of low hills. At one time this was a greater land -mass, but it has since been inundated."</p> - -<p>The P. A. system blared. "<i>All passengers and crew, prepare for -landing....</i>"</p> - -<p>"Say, Henry," interposed Scarface for the first time, "how did we get -here?"</p> - -<p>"The—alien—took himself back to where he came from, along with the -two babies. I believe he made a mistake and transported us, too."</p> - -<p>Scarface raised one black brow quizzically. "Then you mean—we have -come to the place where that geek went to with the kids?"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps. But if we followed him accidentally through time we might -have been dropped off somewhere along the Continuum, either prior to -his own time or far beyond his era."</p> - -<p>Scarface looked at Valerie Roagland and Uncle Andy. They expected him -to grin in amusement, but he did not.</p> - -<p>"We better take seats," he said. "I think I need one, landing or no -landing."</p> - -<p>Valerie Roagland cornered Uncle Andy and flashed him a smile that -brought him to a staggering halt. "This is all a little beyond me," she -said. "What do <i>you</i> think has happened?"</p> - -<p>He looked at her in silence a moment before answering. Then he gently -patted her shapely shoulder. "The most practical thing I can say," he -answered, "is to relax. No matter what has happened—we're here. Let's -face it and wait for developments."</p> - -<p>Suddenly she tucked her arm in his. He looked down at her arm, then -into her eyes. After that, they walked up to A deck together.</p> - -<p>Henry, following them, knew the answer. Far from being romance, it was -an expression of the present situation. They were confronted with the -Unknown. Their own world with its mores, complexities and inhibitions -was behind them. Beneath that veneer, in real people, lay a human -frankness, and a gregarious instinct. If rough waters lay ahead, -Valerie Roagland preferred to have a man like Uncle Andy around. No -strings. No innuendos.</p> - -<p>But what lay beneath the civilized veneers of other people on board?</p> - -<p>Take Scarface, for example. Why was he carrying a loaded gun?</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Well, it didn't take us long, did it?" Uncle Andy cast his line once -more into the swelling waves and squinted against the eternal light of -day.</p> - -<p>"What do you mean?" queried Henry. His shoes were off and he wriggled -his toes in the warm light of the sky as he sat precariously on the -edge of the great rock that jutted out from the land ten feet above the -sea. He looked at Uncle Andy's fishing rod and thought: That's all we -got out of the survival gear. Everybody just <i>grabbed</i>.</p> - -<p>"I mean—" Uncle Andy wound in fast. "It's only been two weeks since -our crash landing, and our little human colony has divided itself into -separate groups." The fish hook was empty—of fish, and of bait.</p> - -<p>Henry handed him another "bush worm"—a two-inch long greenish thing -with tentacles all over it. It squirmed but was harmless otherwise.</p> - -<p>"It's like a glass jar they showed us once at the orphanage," he -answered. "There were big pebbles, little pebbles, and sand. You shook -the jar awhile and pretty soon you had each size and type seeking its -own level. That's like people."</p> - -<p>Uncle Andy smiled around the edges of his pipe stem and cast out again, -with the fresh bait. "You always hit the nail on the head, Henry. -You're an unusual human being. I wish I knew more about your actual -parentage. They told me a story about you. You were a year old child -when they found you naked on the Normandie beach. You're probably -French, all right. But who your parents were will probably never be -known—especially now."</p> - -<p>"And you skip around a lot," retorted Henry. "We were talking about the -people back at the camp." He had built up a wall of inhibition against -the pain of not knowing about his parents. He resented any probing into -that isolated cyst of longing.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I know." The line was taut now, and Uncle Andy was fighting a -catch. "Take the English clan—that Cyril Rollins or whatever his name -is, and your Lady Dewitt and the governess and the two Crispin sisters -and that old retired sea captain, Langham. Colonization is a tradition -with them. By God, if they had a flag they'd unfurl it in the name of -the Queen! They can't quite swallow the concept of complete severance -with the world they knew. It's a sort of mental defense mechanism, I -guess. And no criticism, either. Merely a sign of their own particular -character as a people. But that's just an example of the grouping -that's going on."</p> - -<p>The catch came in—a two foot lizard, glaring scarlet with blue and -yellow gills and black eyes that pierced one with a deadly stare of -murderous hate.</p> - -<p>"Hm-m-m. That biologist, Doctor Singer, will have to see this." Uncle -Andy held it beneath his foot studying it. "This certainly is a -different type of world. Entirely different evolution. All the fauna -and flora we've seen yet are different than anything we've known. -Hundreds of millions of years—maybe much more. I'd swear we're still -on Earth. It <i>feels</i> like Earth. But what happened to our own time? Did -the world start over again, somewhat unthinkably long ago? Where are -we? At the dawn or at the end of Creation?"</p> - -<p>Henry reflected that there were five mental cases back in camp—all -raving idiots. They, too, had tried to find an answer, but their -minds were not as well balanced as others. He pinned his faith on -minds like Uncle Andy, his own—and Martia's. He couldn't see Martia -yet—not alone, that is. Sooner or later, though, after the Lady Dewitt -extracted herself from her delusions—</p> - -<p>"You're talking to yourself," he accused. "We were discussing the -people. One group I don't like is that Tommy Weston gang. They are -the crude pebbles in the glass jar—and they are trouble makers. The -incident about the women last night is just one indication of what's -ahead. Here we are in Paradise and some are reverting to animals -already."</p> - -<p>Night was only an arbitrary period of rest. In this world there was no -actual night. Daylight apparently continued forever.</p> - -<p>"Look!" exclaimed Uncle Andy. "Here comes Valerie and Pee Bee!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Henry turned in time to see the Swedish actress and the negro G.I. -climbing up the rock behind them. Pee Bee, the negro, carried a -bonafide picnic basket under his arm. The basket seemed incongruous, -but Henry knew it was one of half a dozen that had been woven recently -by several women who had found an unlimited supply of rushes for the -purpose. There was a medical doctor in camp who had told everyone -they had better keep busy and be industrious if they wanted to avoid -cracking up. The baskets were one of the results of his advice.</p> - -<p>Pee Bee, who had been nick-named "Powder Blue," or P.B., by his fellow -servicemen, flashed them a toothy smile and helped Valerie up the -incline of the rock.</p> - -<p>"We figured you fishermen would be starvin' for lack of fish," he -called out, "so we done brought you all a lunch!"</p> - -<p>"K-rations again," put in Valerie, smiling at both of them. "They -found some more near the wreckage. But they really are the last. Good -Heavens! What is that!" She pointed at the scarlet lizard under Uncle -Andy's foot.</p> - -<p>"That," he answered, "is <i>lacerta litoralis satanus</i>, or the swimming -devil lizard."</p> - -<p>Pee Bee's eyes bugged out. "Ah got just one question. Do we eat <i>it</i>, -or does it eat <i>us</i>?"</p> - -<p>Everybody laughed, and Uncle Andy did not try to avoid taking in all of -Valerie with his eyes. She wore light blue slacks, beach sandals and a -white shirt, the tails of which were tied in a knot under her breasts, -making it an appropriate midriff outfit. Her voluminous blond hair -floated cleanly in the salty breeze and her face and neck were already -deeply tanned. She looked up at him and caught his eyes and their -smiles faded—slowly.</p> - -<p>Words between them would have been superfluous. Inevitably, their -companionship in this lost world had developed into a much closer -relationship.</p> - -<p>The four of them sat there on the rock, bare legs dangling over, -and ate K-rations. In the reassuring warmth and sunlight before the -comprehensible aspect of the ageless sea, they felt little need for -conversation. They were content with the awareness of <i>not</i> being alone.</p> - -<p>Henry watched a printed wrapping from the K-rations float on the waves -below, and he thought it far more incongruous than the picnic basket. -K-rations—a million years removed from their source. Along these -shores were empty tin cans and bottles and old newspapers and magazines -lying among the seaweeds and flotsam.</p> - -<p><i>Man</i> had come to Paradise....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>After lunch they fell into the usual discussion. Where were they? How -had they come here? What was the alien's purpose of taking the two -babies? Was the alien here, in this world, or in some other one? What -would be the possibilities of exploring this world and what might they -discover—if anything? Were they doomed to stay here forever?</p> - -<p>Uncle Andy expressed the opinion that, until something better -developed, it would be the sanest course to get their little colony -organized under a recognizable form of government. Dwellings had to be -built. Sources of food had to be secured. Exploration parties must be -sent out.</p> - -<p>"In substance," he said, "that's what the big meeting tonight is all -about. We have to get organized and come to decisions regarding the -future."</p> - -<p>"Look!" said Henry. "There's Tommy Weston and some of his gang." He -pointed back toward the jungle.</p> - -<p>All four of them looked shoreward and discerned six bare-chested men -standing there about a hundred feet from them, just under the shade of -the flowering trees. Four of them were construction men, led by the big -man who had sat with Scarface in the seat behind Henry, Uncle Andy and -Dr. Edwards back when—things were normal. This two hundred and forty -pound package of trouble was Tommy Weston, heavy chested, big fisted, -tattooed, square jawed, bewhiskered, and with a brooding tawny-eyed -stare. His crinkly hair, on his head, chest and brawny arms, was a -dark, rusty red. And he was heavily freckled.</p> - -<p>He stood there talking to his men and gesticulating toward the group -on the rock. Henry recognized two of the men as the only two cooks -belonging to the camp. One was an ugly hulk of a man who in his youth -might have been more than a match for Weston. He was a garrulous, -argumentative Pole, pale-faced, perspiring, and wearing a battered, -black felt hat. The other was young, probably only twenty, but -squarely built and already notoriously hot-tempered, having been in -three fistfights since the crash landing. His hair and lashes were pure -white. Hence the obvious name, Whitey.</p> - -<p>"They're coming up here," said Valerie. "I wish they wouldn't. It was -so peaceful."</p> - -<p>"Relax, honey," Uncle Andy replied. "Maybe they only want to borrow my -fishing gear."</p> - -<p>"Man, de only thing dat big boy wants to borrow 'round here is -trouble!" put in Pee Bee. "Ah wish ah was back home playin' pool on -Central Avenue now!"</p> - -<p>Henry merely watched the men climb the rock. He saw their ugly grins -as they looked at Valerie, and he thought of the separation of the -sand and pebbles in the jar again. Uncle Andy got to his feet and held -up the devil lizard for them to see. It was a disarming neighborly -gesture, but Henry felt it was somehow pathetic. He had a distinct -feeling of being cornered. He knew Uncle Andy felt that, too, but he -didn't show it.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Camp was almost a mile distant and completely out of sight behind two -jungle covered headlands. The six men came up onto the rock and stood -there grinning at them.</p> - -<p>"It probably isn't even edible," said Uncle Andy, still referring to -the devil lizard. "But this sea is teeming with life."</p> - -<p>Tommy Weston looked down at Henry and saw his box of worms. "You ain't -doin' so hot, then," he answered. "Lemme try that pole. Gimme some of -them worms, Henry."</p> - -<p>Both Uncle Andy and Henry complied, while Valerie kept very much to -herself. She still sat on the edge of the rock, with her back toward -them, and looked down into the swirling water. Pee Bee was a powder -blue study in self-effacement. He kept his eyes on the water as though -he wished he were a fish.</p> - -<p>Weston hooked on his bait and cast far out. "We been makin' the -rounds," he said. "We're checkin' up on everybody's ideas about the -meeting tonight."</p> - -<p>"Well, now, that's a pretty sure sign we're all going to survive," -remarked Uncle Andy, but not as naively as he sounded. "I didn't know -anyone was actively concerned about it. I'm glad you fellows think the -meeting is that important."</p> - -<p>"Sure it's important!" exclaimed the big, Polish cook with the felt -hat. "Vot you t'ink ve goink around for a valk only for our healt'?"</p> - -<p>"Shut up, Sceranka!" said Weston, reeling in the line. "You see, we -don't like the set-up. There's too many government boys who think -naturally they got the say-so around here. They still recognize Captain -Merman as the head man. And it seems they sort of got things set up -their own way." The other five men, if they were not watching Valerie, -were watching Uncle Andy for his reactions as Weston spoke.</p> - -<p>The fishline came in empty. Weston baited again.</p> - -<p>"I can see your point," said Uncle Andy. "You favor a more democratic -method of setting up the colony, now that the emergency is over and we -are peacefully established on land. The rules governing international -flights do not apply here. Since there is no government, or any contact -with one, the people must elect one. Is that what you're getting at?"</p> - -<p>Weston looked at him in surprise. "Yeah! That's the idea!" he -exclaimed. "The democratic system!"</p> - -<p>But Uncle Andy and Henry did not like the grins on the other men's -faces.</p> - -<p>"Now take me, for instance!" Weston continued, casting out his line -again. "I'm up for election!"</p> - -<p>This time, Valerie had to turn and stare at him in astonishment. He -looked down at her as he reeled in the line and gave her a smile that -revealed gold-capped teeth.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter, beautiful? Wouldn't I make a good candidate? I got -a platform already. No red tape. No promises. And no taxes. Just do as -I say and we'll all get along."</p> - -<p>"Obviously," said Uncle Andy, "that's a brand of politics that belongs -to gangsters. What can you possibly hope to gain even if you are the -Boss of this outfit?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The hook came in empty, so Weston threw the pole down on the rock. -He faced Uncle Andy and gave him that twany-eyed, brooding look of -his. "I got this to gain," he said. "None of us knows what's gonna -happen. Maybe our chances of gettin' back to civilization are slim. -But if things get tough I ain't going to be breakin' my back under -nobody else's whip. I don't go for this gold braid and paper baloney. -I think half the camp is made up of a helpless mess of blubber as far -as <i>men</i> go. Of course, as far as the women go we don't mind them bein' -helpless! We'll take care of them, but first they gotta come down off -their pedestals and get some sense into 'em!" He and all his men looked -at Valerie. "We might never get back home," he said, pointedly, "and in -that case things have got to be a lot different around here. And me and -my boys have just got the guts to make the necessary changes!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Andy stiffened, but he held his temper. "Tommy," he said, "what -is it you want? How does this visit of yours apply to the meeting -tonight?"</p> - -<p>"We're going to force the issue on voting in a new leader. I'll be a -candidate. If you know what's good for you, you'll vote for <i>me</i>!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Andy wanted to ask him why they should vote at all as long as -Weston had decided how the voting was going to go, but instead he said, -"How about giving us time to consider it? Until tonight."</p> - -<p>"Sure! Just so you decide by tonight. You can't vote before then!"</p> - -<p>"Yeah but what about the dame?" Whitey blurted out. "You know what you -said."</p> - -<p>Instinctively, Valerie sprang to her feet and drew close to Uncle Andy. -Just as instinctively, he put an arm around her, protectively.</p> - -<p>Tommy Weston hooked his thumbs into his pants and drew close to Uncle -Andy. "Now there's another point I'd like to bring up," he said. "Just -who elected you the fair haired boy with blondie, here? You may have to -get used to some different ideas before long."</p> - -<p>"So it might as well be now!" put in Whitey, coming shoulder to -shoulder with Weston.</p> - -<p>The other four men closed in also. The big Pole with the hat was -sweating more profusely now, and his eyes grew large as he stared at -Valerie.</p> - -<p>"So we've come to this," said Uncle Andy, actually stalling for time.</p> - -<p>"Let's face it!" exclaimed Weston. "We always <i>been</i> here!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," Henry broke in. "You're right! There was a thin, fake covering -called civilization, once. But now at the end of time the covering -comes off and we find nothing has changed since the Stone Age!"</p> - -<p>Tommy Weston sneered. "So the young genius has to put his two-bits in, -too! Well, boys, the conference is over!" He reached out for Valerie's -shirt, just as Pee Bee suddenly got to his feet in a crouching -position, ready to uncoil.</p> - -<p>Uncle Andy's fists were coming up when another man shouldered his way -between the construction men. Action froze on all sides as they looked -at the newcomer. He stood there in shirt, trousers and tan sport shoes. -It was Scarface, wearing a very handy looking shoulder holster. From -the holster, the butt of a black automatic protruded.</p> - -<p>"Any trouble up here?" he queried, nonchalantly, as though he were -asking if the fish were biting.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Tommy Weston's already tanned face darkened, as did Whitey's. The other -men backed away, slightly. In addition to having a respect for the gun, -they respected the man. None of them knew who Scarface was, actually, -but they remembered he had had the nerve to shoot it out with the alien.</p> - -<p>"So the little gun boy is going to take sides!" sneered Weston.</p> - -<p>Scarface raised his brows and spoke unsmilingly through his teeth. -"I've got news for you," he said. "As a trouble maker you're an -amateur. I'm professional, but please don't ask for a demonstration -today. Now I want all you hairy-chested little girls to climb back on -your kiddy cars and toddle home, because there's no more Mickey Mouse -today."</p> - -<p>"If you didn't have that goddam gun I'd swedge your sassy yap shut!" -threatened Weston, looming over him and fuming.</p> - -<p>Scarface's eyes flashed. "I said get the hell out of here!"</p> - -<p>Weston brought himself under control and tried another tack. "What's in -this for you, Scarface?" he asked. "You don't strike me as the Sunday -School type. You know what the score is around here. So why don't you -put in with us or sit out?"</p> - -<p>"Your business and what you do is none of <i>my</i> business," said -Scarface, "as long as you leave my friends alone. These are my friends, -so lay off!"</p> - -<p>"Look out!" screamed Valerie, and Uncle Andy jerked Scarface out of the -way just in time to avoid Whitey's lunge.</p> - -<p>Whitey lunged again, for the gun, and as Scarface turned toward him, -Weston threw an arm around his neck that looked like the root of an -oak tree. Scarface kicked out at Whitey, making him lose his balance, -and Pee Bee bowed his back as Whitey went over him. When Pee Bee -straightened up, two things happened. His head collided solidly with -the big Pole's chin, knocking him out, and Whitey sailed beautifully -into the crashing waves below. His terrified yell was drowned by -foaming seawater. Simultaneously, Uncle Andy snatched the gun from -Scarface just as the latter broke loose by scraping his heels down -Weston's shins, almost breaking his arches, and at the same time nearly -pulling the other's ears off.</p> - -<p>Weston broke free of the ear grip while Uncle Andy held the other -men at bay. As Scarface turned on Weston, the latter swung at him -ponderously. Scarface ducked and gave him a swift jab into the stomach. -As Weston doubled, he received a two-fisted uppercut, and as he toppled -he was aided on his way by a double blow across the left temple. He -came down like a brick chimney and lay there in a heap.</p> - -<p>Pee Bee stood there rubbing his head and looking down at the prostrate -figure of the Polish cook.</p> - -<p>"Get Whitey!" cried one of the construction men, pointing at the ocean. -"He'll drown!"</p> - -<p>While Uncle Andy still held them at bay, they all looked at the man in -the water. Whitey was screaming and flailing wildly about, while the -undertow and the incoming waves alternately dragged him outward and -dashed him against the rocks.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter?" asked Scarface, rubbing his knuckles. "Can't he -swim?"</p> - -<p>"He can swim," said the same man, "but something's got him!"</p> - -<p>As they watched, the water darkened around Whitey.</p> - -<p>"It's blood!" cried Valerie. "Oh my God, the poor man!"</p> - -<p>"Look!" cried Henry. "Those are devil lizards! Hundreds of them!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Like a voracious swarm of piranhas, the scarlet little monsters -converged on Whitey and tore him apart. As the blood filled the -water, other "things" were attracted. There were glimpses of finned, -serpentine backs and vast, amorphous shadows beneath the churning -waves. To those who watched, the eternal light above them seemed -deceptive. Subjectively, they were aware of the dark Unknown. The very -dark <i>Unknown</i>.</p> - -<p><i>Where were they?</i></p> - -<p>One of the construction men ran away screaming. Pee Bee, carrying the -lunch basket, took Henry's arm and also started to lead the way, gently -but firmly. Uncle Andy handed the gun back to Scarface. He led Valerie -down the rock, wordlessly. And Scarface stood there looking back at the -bloodied water for a full minute.</p> - -<p>Then he followed the others. Weston and Sceranka, he decided, would -have to come by themselves and find their own way back to camp.</p> - -<p>The fishing pole lay there, abandoned....</p> - -<p>The camp was similar, in effect to a military beachhead prior to -organization. There was one tent, salvaged from the survival gear -that the plane carried. This was used by the women for the purpose of -changing their clothes, as well as a sort of "safety deposit vault" -for valuable articles such as the ship's log, medicinal supplies -and various instruments—plus short wave sending and receiving gear, -now quite useless owing to a lack of power source and an absence of -activity on the wave bands.</p> - -<p>Beyond the tent lay confusion. Small huts constructed of branches and -giant leaves, or square areas enclosed by sheets or towels, suspended -on crude frameworks rigged together with poles. Here and there a more -presentable structure of branches indicated the work of construction -men. Between these were scattered both small and large heaps of luggage -and personal belongings—suitcases, pullmans, hatboxes, overnight bags, -small trunks, packing cases—even an aluminum cage in which reposed -a bewildered Pekingese dog. A very lonely dog. The only dog in the -universe.</p> - -<p>Inevitably, there were clotheslines displaying underwear, shirts, -socks, silk stockings, bras—and a man's pair of black silk monogrammed -pajamas. These latter belonged to the Englishman, Sir Cyril Rollins. -And there was a hammock strung between two straight-boled trees without -leaves which bore a weird fruit that looked like pomegranates. The -hammock was shared by the three soldiers from Texas. Just now the -hammock was empty except for a ukelele and a million year old copy of -Life Magazine.</p> - -<p>Farther up the endless beach was the plane, lying crumpled on its -belly, with wings drooping dejectedly into the sand and water. One of -the landing gears had burst up through a nacelle. The great, swift, -mechanical bird of another age was a useless thing—and a painful -reminder of what once was their own familiar world.</p> - -<p>Altogether there were in camp sixty males and twenty-four females, -representing three races and eight nationalities. A cross section of -the human race. Seemingly, all there was left of it.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When Henry returned with the others to camp, Martia was the first to -greet him. She had suddenly lost the last vestige of her patrician -affectations, because she ran to him abruptly. Or rather, their -thoughts seemed to meet between them even before they drew together. He -squeezed her hand warmly as she drew him to one side, excitedly.</p> - -<p>"Mother is lost!" she exclaimed. Her eyes were slightly reddened from -crying.</p> - -<p>"Lost! How do you know?"</p> - -<p>"She and Sir Rollins and that Mr. Langham and the Crispin sisters and -those two mothers who lost their babies went exploring for spring -water. They've been gone all day and nobody can find them! Henry, I'm -so worried! Can you speak to your Uncle and ask him to organize a real -search party. There's no night here. We can start right away!"</p> - -<p>"But the meeting—"</p> - -<p>"Please!" she insisted.</p> - -<p>"What I mean is, no search party can be organized during the big -meeting, and that's about ready to get under way—after everybody eats -supper." They could see the fires along the beach where men and women -were cooking. Either they were cooking small game caught in traps or -certain species of edible crustacea, or a potato-like fruit that was -abundant in this region. The food from the plane was long gone. "Why -doesn't your governess do something about it? What does she think?"</p> - -<p>"Emily? She made a few soldier boys go with her to search—those three -Texas boys—and I think three of those WAACs went along. But they've -disappeared, too!"</p> - -<p>"All right," said Henry. "Let's go see Uncle Andy."</p> - -<p>They found him, with Valerie Roagland and the air hostess, Peggy -Hollenbeck, engaged in a group discussion that included Captain Merman, -several high-ranking U.S. Army officers and the five congressmen led -by Burley. Also, there were a few businessmen and scientists present, -including Dr. Edwards. Most of them stood around a charcoal fire -boiling small chunks of meat on long wires and drinking "Beachcomber's -Tea," made from the leaves of a giant vine that someone had discovered. -A chemist and a doctor had collaborated on its analysis and found it to -be healthful.</p> - -<p>"We still represent the United States," Congressman Burley was saying, -"and Colonel Rogers here says that the servicemen are on our side. -Also, we can count on the English to be with us, if necessary, and the -three Norwegians. I don't think Weston has a chance of making trouble. -Now here is a list compiled today showing the number of men—"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Congressman Burley stopped talking and followed the gaze of all the -others. He saw Henry and Martia standing by the fireside, holding hands -and looking very impatient.</p> - -<p>"All right!" he said. "You kids will have to clear out. We're having a -conference."</p> - -<p>"That," said Henry, "is somewhat obvious. But I—"</p> - -<p>"Now look here! Don't you get sassy!" Burley glared at Henry -impatiently, but Uncle Andy walked over to the boy and put an arm -around his shoulders. He placed his other arm around Martia.</p> - -<p>"Just a minute!" he interrupted. "I'm afraid you don't know Henry. He -would never have intruded if he did not have something important to -say."</p> - -<p>"Always pampering the kid," commented Dr. Edwards to Captain Merman. -"Thinks he's a genius and he's only a pest!"</p> - -<p>"Your English allies have gotten themselves lost," said Henry. "Lady -Dewitt, Sir Rollins, the Crispin sisters, Langham, Emily Duncan, -several other women and three servicemen."</p> - -<p>"Please!" Martia cried. "It's always daylight here. Can't a search -party be sent right away?"</p> - -<p>Some of the men looked at Captain Merman. He was a tall, lean man in -his late thirties, still wearing the pants and shirts of his uniform, -as well as the cap. His paleness and the redness of his eyelids, -thought Henry, were probably due to a hyperthyroid condition.</p> - -<p>"My orders," said Merman, "were that no explorations would be conducted -without proper authorization. They went on their own, principally -because of Lady Dewitt's refusal to use the river water and because our -distilled water can't be rationed in her favor. I don't see why—"</p> - -<p>"You are engaged here in an emergency conference," said Henry, "to -determine what can be done about Tommy Weston's gang. If you're -worried, why don't you stall for time by organizing the whole camp into -a search party—including Weston's men? The physical action and the -adventure of it will be tantamount to a psychological weapon against -anarchy."</p> - -<p>Martia beamed at Henry in pride and gratitude, but most of the men -guffawed.</p> - -<p>"Ye gods!" exclaimed one of the other congressmen. "That sounded like -it was going to be a filibuster! Talk about lobbying! This kid is -Capitol material!"</p> - -<p>"But it isn't getting us anywhere," said Burley.</p> - -<p>"Just a minute," said a small, dark-complexioned man wearing a black -shirt, white slacks and dark glasses. "I've heard, second-handedly, -some interesting ideas from this boy." Henry had learned that this was -Dr. Jules Bauml, a noted astro-physicist attached to the Mount Palomar -Observatory. "He thinks we have been transported through time and that -it is futile to try contacting our own civilization unless we avail -ourselves of a time machine. Of course that is a pessimistic view, but -owing to observations of my own I should like to hear his reasons for -arriving at such a conclusion."</p> - -<p>"Oh hell!" ejaculated one of the businessmen present. "We're probably -down in the Caribbean somewhere!"</p> - -<p>"No, by God!" said another one. "That wouldn't explain the permanent -daylight and no sun!"</p> - -<p>"A freak of Nature," insisted the first one. "You've heard of the Land -of the Midnight Sun. What's so different about this?"</p> - -<p>"Everything!" said Henry.</p> - -<p>They all looked at him, startled, including Uncle Andy.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Henry addressed Dr. Bauml. "As an astronomer you will understand the -nature and importance of the ionosphere," he said, amidst raised -eyebrows all around. "It is that layer of the atmosphere which protects -us from the dangerous short radiations from the sun. These quanta, -striking atoms of oxygen, create ionized oxygen and ozone, forming -the ionosphere. Such atoms are necessarily in such rapid motion that -they would be lost in space were it not for the magnitude of Earth's -gravitation. That is why Earth bears—or <i>bore</i>—a high form of -intelligent life whereas Mars must continue to lose its ionized oxygen -into space and could therefore not support a high form of life."</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes!" exclaimed Bauml, impressed. "But what has that to do with -the present?"</p> - -<p>"Venus does not have an ionosphere," continued Henry. "Otherwise it -would have shown up in spectrographs. Its atmosphere is caused largely -by violent volcanic action. Volcanoes, incredibly heated storms and no -ionosphere, spells no oxygen and no life. Therefore, conclusion number -one: We are still on Earth."</p> - -<p>Several congressmen snorted. "Who said we weren't?"</p> - -<p>"Go on!" encouraged Bauml, while Dr. Edwards began to listen in some -surprise. "I agree so far! This is Earth, but where do we go from here?"</p> - -<p>"Let us disregard, for the moment," said Henry, "that there is no -night. Just concentrate on the fact that we can't see the sun at -<i>any</i> time, clouds or no clouds. Ergo, the ionosphere has changed its -composition. It would take millions of years to do that, just as it -took billions of years to build it up in the first place. I submit -that the sun has cooled and the ionosphere is much thicker than it -was before, thus acquiring different characteristics of refraction -which reflect light back to Earth. It is almost like a mirror. Just -as it once reflected radio waves back, it now shuts out the shorter -wavelengths, including light, itself. I submit further, that if the sun -were still bright we should notice a difference in relative brightness -between day and night. Inasmuch as there is no difference, I say that -the sun is now grown dim and feeble, and that we have traveled perhaps -a billion years into the future."</p> - -<p>"Hey!" cried out another civilian. "I thought there were only five -psychos in camp! One billion years! What the—"</p> - -<p>"Yes," put in Dr. Edwards, with an impatient scowl, "this business of -extrapolating is next to nothing, as it leads nowhere. By the boy's own -argument I could give the rebuttal that if a billion years have passed -then Venus may have had time to finally develop an ionosphere and thus -be able to support the higher forms of life. Behold! I submit that we -are on Venus!" This was followed by sympathetic laughter all around.</p> - -<p>"Wait now," insisted Dr. Bauml. "Give the boy a chance! Henry, you -<i>have</i> let me down into mere hypothesis, but we might as well have all -of it. Let me ask you a question. If the sun has cooled, why are we -surrounded by all this evidence of lush, tropical life? We should be -freezing!"</p> - -<p>Henry replied immediately. "Either the ionosphere has developed a -sustained reaction that provides us with heat and the regular, life -sustaining quanta, while absorbing the hard radiations, or—" He -paused, groping suddenly for words.</p> - -<p>"Or what!" demanded Dr. Edwards.</p> - -<p>"Or <i>someone</i> has set up nuclear heating plants all over the planet, -or their equivalents. Wait!" He held up his hand as Dr. Edwards joined -half the others in derisive laughter. "Go back to that alien creature -who stole the babies. Just before he disappeared, precipitating us into -our present environment, he spoke to us in a gutteral language that -was vaguely familiar. You were present, Doctor Bauml, when he spoke. I -understand you recognized that language. What was it?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Dr. Edwards sobered. He and Merman and Burley and the others stared at -the diminutive astronomer. The latter looked embarrassed.</p> - -<p>"I—am German, as you know," he said. "As such I was naturally familiar -with Middle High German, owing to my educational background. That is -what this alien spoke. I only caught a few words, which were to the -effect that no harm would come to any of us if we did something or -other."</p> - -<p>"Why didn't you tell us this before?" queried Merman. "If that freak -spoke German—"</p> - -<p>"Wait!" interrupted Henry. "Middle High German is a dead language. -It came into use in the dark ages before the Renaissance and it died -out with Martin Luther in the Sixteenth Century of our own era. The -fact that this alien spoke that language indicates that he is a time -traveler. He has been in our era before and I'll tell you where, when -and why!"</p> - -<p>"<i>That</i> is a tall order," put in Dr. Edwards.</p> - -<p>Uncle Andy turned to Valerie Roagland and the air hostess. "This is the -tallest extrapolating I've ever heard from Henry."</p> - -<p>By this time, many other people were gathering around to listen, -including servicemen and a number of Tommy Weston's men.</p> - -<p>"All right!" said Merman. "Let's have it! Where, when and why?"</p> - -<p>"The place?" said Henry. "Westphalia, Germany. The time? Twelve -eighty-four A.D. The reason? To kidnap children. Oh, I forgot to -mention the town...."</p> - -<p>"Hamelin!" exclaimed Dr. Bauml, astounded. "You mean—"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Henry. "The Pied Piper of Hamelin—no legend. An actual -fact!"</p> - -<p>"What is this?" asked one of Weston's construction stiffs. "A booby -hatch? Let's get on with the meeting. Weston'll be here any minute!"</p> - -<p>"Wait!" said Henry again. "Analyze it for yourselves. What does <i>pied</i> -mean?"</p> - -<p>"Mottled color," someone offered.</p> - -<p>"Exactly!" Henry exclaimed. "But it was no clown suit worn in a -fairytale. Our alien's skin was definitely mottled. And he was a piper, -too!"</p> - -<p>"What do you mean?" asked Dr. Edwards.</p> - -<p>"I heard it, Martia heard it, and the two children who were kidnapped -heard it. I believe only younger ears can hear it owing to a greater -sensitivity of the hair cells in the spiral cochlea. The sound, of -course, has nothing to do with flutes. It was a phenomenon produced by -his equipment."</p> - -<p>"Hold on, screwball!" said another one of Weston's gang. "I know all -about that Pied Piper yarn. What about the rats in Hamelin? How did he -get rid of those?"</p> - -<p>"Legends," said Henry, "are twisted from the truth because people who -inherit such stories must always reduce the Unknown to the level of -their own understanding, just as the people of our own time insisted -that the flying saucers were everything from beer bottle tops to -weather balloons. People in following generations could not accept -the original story, so it degenerated gradually into a nice little -bedtime story. But the fact remains, this Pied Piper is a time traveler -who needs children for some purpose of his own. He represents a very -advanced science. It is possible that he is here, somewhere, and <i>if</i> -he is, we might have a chance of getting him to send us all back to -where we came from!"</p> - -<p>Suddenly, the Indian Prince broke into their midst. His turban was -slightly awry, his eyes were large with anxiety, and he was sweating. -"Please!" he exclaimed, in a thick accent, wringing his fat hands in -supplication before Henry. "You are an older soul! You have a vision -beyond us all! I believe only you can save us! If you can bring me back -to my own world I will pay you anything! I am rich! My fortune is yours -if you will do it!"</p> - -<p>This led to general confusion, but it also led to something else. One -of Weston's men separated himself from the crowd and went to find -his leader. Weston and Sceranka were back in camp, eating supper and -licking their wounds. But they were gratified by one salient fact. -Scarface was conspicuous by his absence. There would be no interference -from him tonight....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When the meeting took place, Weston and Sceranka came to it alone. The -rest of the gang, numbering about thirteen, were nowhere in sight. -Merman and Burley told him about the missing people and suggested a -postponement.</p> - -<p>"To hell with that!" he told them. His mouth, though bruised by -Scarface's fists, grinned at them in a way that was not at all -reassuring, and his tawny eyes met theirs with a new confidence born -of secret knowledge. "We can send a search party later. Right now we're -concerned with—"</p> - -<p>"In other words," Burley broke in, unsmilingly, "you insist on having -the meeting?" About fifteen officers and servicemen silently closed in -around the periphery of the group, but this did not appear to bother -Weston, although Sceranka kept looking at them nervously.</p> - -<p>"Yes," Weston answered. "Let's have the meeting!"</p> - -<p>"Then you are out of order!" snapped Burley. "We will follow those -rules of order which are befitting to a deliberative assembly. Captain -Merman is our Chairman. We have an agenda for discussion, which will -be introduced in proper sequence. Anyone wishing to speak will first -recognize the Chair."</p> - -<p>"Oh can it!" fumed Weston. "That's why I'm here—to tell you we're -going to cut all the red tape and get down to facts—"</p> - -<p>At a sign from Merman, two M.P.s stepped forward and tapped Weston on -the shoulder. Each carried a club. They smiled through their teeth.</p> - -<p>"We are the Sergeants at Arms," said the largest of the two, who was at -least within twenty pounds of Weston's brawny mass. "Do you want to be -nice or be made to stand in a corner?"</p> - -<p>Weston appeared to swell like a toad. When his eyes met Sceranka's, -over the M.P.'s shoulder, he nodded almost imperceptibly. Whereupon -Sceranka threw his hat into the air.</p> - -<p>Within three seconds, six G.I.s on the outside of the circle yelled in -pain and fell to the ground. Protruding from their backs were crude -but sturdy arrows. Standing on the beach sand just outside the jungle -were twelve bowmen, all from Weston's gang. Two were Spaniards. One -was a Filipino law student who had flunked out of Oxford. One was a -pale, continental type, a non-descript foreigner traveling on a French -passport whom Merman had suspected of being a Communist spy. The rest -were American construction stiffs—not the ordinary kind who signed -up on a year's contract to save up and come home again, but the camp -drifters who had roamed the world since adolescence, men actually -without a country, uneducated, but capable of running heavy equipment -for American tax dollars. It was strictly a "cost-plus" crew, thought -Burley.</p> - -<p>Women screamed. Men cursed. And there were cries of "Murderers!" -"Assassins!"</p> - -<p>Weston and Sceranka ran to a position in front of their men, who handed -them the only two axes in camp.</p> - -<p>"All right!" Weston shouted. "I thought this party would turn out this -way. From now on, <i>I'll</i> run this show! You're going to shut your traps -and listen to <i>me</i>!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The remaining officers and servicemen, plus many of the older male -civilian members of the camp, were gathering swiftly into a sullen -crowd, facing Weston's bowmen.</p> - -<p>"When we charge 'em," whispered one officer, "throw sand in their eyes -and let 'em have it!"</p> - -<p>"Just a minute," said Uncle Andy to all the members of his own group. -"All this happened because we failed to recognize the man's ignorance. -Let him talk! Talk is cheaper than human lives. Let's hear what he has -to say!"</p> - -<p>"Well, Dearden," shouted Weston, "You're getting smart!—even if you -are insulting. But I'll take care of you later!"</p> - -<p>"All right!" agreed Burley. "Let him jabber!"</p> - -<p>"Spill it, Weston!" shouted Merman. "We've got plenty of time around -here. All our lives!"</p> - -<p>"No we ain't!" Weston answered. "We ain't got no time at all. We think -there's a way of gettin' back to where we came from! Hey, Mohammed!" he -yelled at the Indian Prince. "You willing to come on my side and pay -off like you said if I get you back home?"</p> - -<p>The Indian Prince, though frightened, separated himself from the crowd. -He stood there, hesitantly, looking first at Weston, then back at -Henry. "I will go with anyone," he said, "even assassins, if they lead -me home! And I will pay! But young Henry here—he's the one who—"</p> - -<p>"Sure!" grinned Weston. "Henry's the boy with the answers! You didn't -think we were going to leave <i>him</i> out, did you? He's going to help -us find that big, bad bogeyman who stole the babies. And then when we -find him we're going to sort of talk him into sending us back—that is, -those who are on my side!"</p> - -<p>"What's the matter with you, Weston!" shouted Burley. "We all have the -same goal. If you had taken time to listen—"</p> - -<p>"Pipe down! We been listening to you government guys all our lives and -never got nowhere. We don't want this party to turn into another Korean -truce talk. We want action!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>In that moment, Weston saw action, but of a totally unimagined kind.</p> - -<p>Very suddenly, the world about them changed. Geologically, it was the -same. The same, eternal daylight sky was above them. Before them lay -the same, mysterious ocean with its plethora of unknown life forms. The -low hills, the jungles, the flowers, the colorful birds—almost all the -same.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>But the jungle had been cleared away for several miles, and in its -place stood a modern city with tall, well-designed buildings, electric -power facilities, and motorized traffic. On the sea lay a fleet of -gray battleships and cruisers. In the sky were at least a hundred jet -aircraft, of strangely futuristic design, black and delta-shaped. The -latter were attacking the warships with bombs and rocket fire, and -their ears were assailed by the staccato reports of guns answering from -the ships—and from the land.</p> - -<p>The city defenses were aimed also at the strange, black aircraft. -Ack-ack was all over the sky. Bombs and planes screamed through the -air, and the ground shook with the shock of explosions.</p> - -<p>The castaways, including Weston's gang, stood on a great pier before -the sprawling city—a pier which lay half demolished around them, -smouldering from several recent hits. Nearby, out in the water, lay -a commuter vessel, semi-capsized, its crew and uniformed personnel -leaping overboard and attempting to swim back to shore.</p> - -<p>Armed troops were all around the castaways, rushing to set up new -defenses on the pier, to repair loading derricks and put out fires with -portable equipment.</p> - -<p>"Hey!" shouted one of the castaways. "It's just like back home!"</p> - -<p>"Civilization!" shouted another. "That screwy Garden of Eden was all a -bad dream! We're back—thank God!"</p> - -<p>Henry reasoned it was not the scene of battle they were welcoming. It -was rather the transition from an unknown situation to a comprehensible -one that they hailed with such relief.</p> - -<p>"What is it?" queried Martia, close beside him. "What's happening? -Where are we?"</p> - -<p>"We're <i>not</i> back home," he said. "Still in the future—but an -alternate one. Keep your eyes open and we'll know very soon."</p> - -<p>This was a pointed remark, inasmuch as an officered detail of troops -had turned its amazed attention on the heterogeneous group. Weston's -gang, especially, looked like a bunch of anachronisms with their crude -bows and arrows and their stupidly gaping mouths.</p> - -<p>"Look!" cried Doctor Bauml, pointing over the heads of the approaching -soldiers. "On that distant hill!"</p> - -<p>When everybody looked, they saw, unmistakably, a towering space ship, -its slender nose pointing skyward. Men swarmed over it like ants, -removing scaffolding. Some of the attacking planes were concentrating -on this point and were being met with the most determined counter-fire -observable in any part of the city.</p> - -<p>"That rocket ship," said Uncle Andy, "seems to be the main issue of the -battle."</p> - -<p>"Andy!" exclaimed Valerie Roagland. "Are all of us insane?"</p> - -<p>"I say there!" cried the officer in charge of the detail surrounding -them. His accent was unmistakably British. "Who are you and whence came -you?"</p> - -<p>"That would be a better question if <i>we</i> asked it," replied Burley. -"What the devil <i>is</i> this!" He waved his hand in an all-inclusive -gesture.</p> - -<p>The officer's eyes narrowed. "Why do you evade the question?" he almost -growled. "You are certainly not of New Bretania. Therefore, you are -Texanian spies! You are under arrest!"</p> - -<p>"Good Lord!" exclaimed Henry, turning pale. "Oh no!"</p> - -<p>"What, Henry? What is it?" insisted Martia. Uncle Andy, Valerie, Miss -Hollenbeck and Pee Bee crowded close, listening to the two and watching -their captors at the same time.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Burley drew himself up and addressed the officer. "I am an official -representative of the government of the United States of America," he -said. "I demand—"</p> - -<p>"My dear sir," flamed the officer. "You are not in a position to make -demands. You will follow me promptly and obey orders under penalty of -death! Can you not understand that we are under martial law here?"</p> - -<p>"Git on wi' ye!" said one soldier nearby, prodding Weston and Sceranka -with a double-barreled, automatic rifle. "Or ye'll git a puck in the -lug!"</p> - -<p>"Let's go, everybody," said Colonel Rogers. "Inasmuch as this is a -military situation I'll take charge of our group and be the spokesman. -When we're presented to the authorities for questioning we'll have -time enough to tell our story."</p> - -<p>"And who would believe it?" asked Dr. Edwards, pessimistically.</p> - -<p>"Who would believe <i>this</i>!" retorted Colonel Rogers.</p> - -<p>They all marched along with their captors, including Weston and -company, simply because there was no alternative.</p> - -<p>In a subterranean staff headquarters somewhere in the center of the -city, they faced an impatient Major in the service of Her Majesty, -Helena III, Empress of New Bretania.</p> - -<p>"What is all this!" he complained, over an unprocessed pile of urgent -communiques, even as two visiphones on his desk glowed red call signals -simultaneously. "Who are you? I can't be bothered at a time like this—"</p> - -<p>"We don't wish to bother you," interrupted Colonel Rogers. He could -appreciate the indescribable urgency of war and knew it would be best -not to antagonize the officer with too much verbage. "Our presence -here is not of our choosing and it would take too long to explain, -although we are perfectly wiling to do so at your convenience. Suffice -it to say, we are neither New Bretanians nor Texanians. So I suggest -you place us in protective custody for the time being, and if you need -volunteers for some of the manual work in the city you may call upon us -to help."</p> - -<p>The Major ignored the visiphones and glared at Colonel Rogers. "I -said—who are you?"</p> - -<p>"I am Colonel Rogers, attached to the Infantry of the United States -Army, and these are—"</p> - -<p>"United States!" exclaimed the Major. "That's a myth! What in the devil -are you trying to say?"</p> - -<p>Henry shook his head sadly, but with a grim expression of conviction on -his aquiline face.</p> - -<p>Martia's eyes were wide as she drew closer to him. "Henry!" she -whispered. "I think I <i>know</i>!" Tears came to her eyes, and she said, -"Mother! I'll never see her again."</p> - -<p>For answer, Henry pressed her hand, wordlessly, and continued looking -at the Major.</p> - -<p>"Please!" said Dr. Bauml, pressing forward. "What is this battle all -about? What is that space ship for?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The Major sprang to his feet, motioning to the guard detail that had -brought them in. "These strangers are some type of Fifth Column!" he -exclaimed. "They are obviously attempting to camouflage their true -identities and their purpose under a blanket of innocence! But no one -could be <i>that</i> innocent of the facts!" He leaned forward, addressing -Dr. Bauml. "My dear sir, in case you have been reposing under a rock -somewhere, I'll bring you up to date! Earth is dying! The ionosphere is -shifting toward critical mass. Our race—the human race—is becoming -sterile under the hardening radiations. It is imperative that we -transport some of our kind to another world—Venus, to be specific! Or -hadn't you heard that Hardesty and Williams discovered an atmosphere -there under the upper dust strata? The Texanians could not build an ark -such as ours—so they want it!" His dark eyes blazed angrily. "<i>You</i> -want it! You are Texanians and you want our ship, but you're not going -to get it! Take them away! They are spies!"</p> - -<p>"Irons, sir?" asked the officer in charge of the detail.</p> - -<p>"Irons be damned! Execute them! This is war!"</p> - -<p>They stood in a bleak prison yard, sixty-nine passengers of MATS flight -702, London to New York. But where they were just now did not matter. -A ganged battery of machine guns faced them, with one operator seated -apathetically at a bank of controls.</p> - -<p>"<i>Ready—!</i>" cried the officer in charge.</p> - -<p>Some of the women screamed, while others prayed. Uncle Andy had an arm -around Valerie Roagland, as well as Henry and Martia. Sceranka was -swearing in Polish. Pee Bee was hiding behind as many people as he -could find, shivering.</p> - -<p>"<i>Aim—!</i>"</p> - -<p>Henry thought: This is all impossible! I can't let it happen! But who -am I to—</p> - -<p>Something began to happen inside his head. It felt like he had had -a cold and his ears were clearing up. But it was purely a mental -sensation. Suddenly, he saw everything with a new clarity. And in the -same instant he began to utilize that new faculty.</p> - -<p>But before the word, "Fire!" could be given, a new change occurred with -the abruptness of an explosion....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>They were back again at the old campsite on that timeless shore, with -the jungle all around them. The city was gone, as were the warships and -the planes and the soldiers—and the space ship. There stood Weston and -Sceranka as before, in front of their calloused bowmen.</p> - -<p>And Weston was saying, "We want action!"</p> - -<p>Both Henry and Martia looked at their companions in growing amazement, -<i>because the others acted exactly as if there had been no interlude -whatsoever</i>! Yet Henry and Martia, when they looked into each other's -eyes, knew that <i>they</i> remembered!</p> - -<p>"Wait!" cried Henry. Everyone looked at him, including Weston and his -gang. "Something has happened! Doesn't anybody remember?"</p> - -<p>"Remember <i>what</i>!" exclaimed Weston, impatiently.</p> - -<p>"The city! All those warships and planes!"</p> - -<p>They all looked at him, blankly, and he and Martia returned their -stares, anxiously.</p> - -<p>"The Major who called us Texanian spies! The space ship! The firing -squad—I mean, those machine guns!"</p> - -<p>Again, the blank, uncomprehending looks.</p> - -<p>"The kid's cracking up!" said Weston. "Let's get on with this! Now I'm -running things and I'll tell you what we're going to do!"</p> - -<p>Just then Martia and Henry grasped each other's hands, their eyes wide -with consternation.</p> - -<p>"Henry, do you—"</p> - -<p>"Yes!" he hissed, cautioning her to silence. "I hear it!"</p> - -<p><i>The ringing was in their heads.</i></p> - -<p>"Henry," said Uncle Andy, "what in the world were you saying about a -city?—and about this—er—space ship?"</p> - -<p>Henry grasped his uncle's arm and signalled to Valerie, and Peggy -Hollenbeck. "Follow me quickly!" he said.</p> - -<p>The two young women looked at Uncle Andy and he studied Henry and -Martia gravely. Then he turned to them and nodded. They all followed. -Henry and Martia both put their fingers to their lips, admonishing them -to silence.</p> - -<p>They were about fifty feet away from the group when Weston yelled at -them. "Hey! Where you think you're going?"</p> - -<p>Henry grabbed Martia's arm and told her to scream and flail about, -which she did instantly.</p> - -<p>"The girl's out of her head!" answered Uncle Andy, catching on. -"Psycho! We'll be back in a minute!"</p> - -<p>"Well—hurry it up!"</p> - -<p>When they gained a clump of verdure that cut off their view of the -others, Henry motioned them into the woods. They all ran in to hide, -only to be overtaken by Pee Bee.</p> - -<p>"What done happened to dat girl?" he asked, panting.</p> - -<p>"Nothing," said Henry.</p> - -<p>"Then why are we here?" asked Peggy, the air hostess.</p> - -<p>Henry looked at them squarely. "It's that alien," he said. "He is close -by."</p> - -<p>"The alien!" exclaimed Valerie. "How do you know?"</p> - -<p>Pee Bee went bug-eyed again. "You mean dat Missing Link is back? Man, -where's mah feet!"</p> - -<p>"Stay here!" said Henry. "I believe he is searching for the main group. -We can go back through the jungle and watch from hiding."</p> - -<p>"Oh no!" exclaimed Pee Bee. "Dis am de point of no return! Ah just lost -mah reversin' equipment and can only head straight for the no'th pole!"</p> - -<p>But they all went back and looked.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Just as they arrived at their hidden point of observation, a bedlam of -sound smote their ears. Screams, yells, swearing—the sound of running -feet.</p> - -<p>"Wait a minute!" they heard Weston shouting. "Hold on, all of you! I'll -handle this!"</p> - -<p>The sound of running stopped. The bedlam subsided.</p> - -<p>They saw Weston making gestures at his bowmen to take up a new -position. With tense motions and sober faces, the men obeyed, fixing -arrows to their bowstrings while the rest of the camp watched them—and -something else that stood just on the edge of the jungle.</p> - -<p>There, towering a head above the tallest man, was the alien, staring -at all of them with his one, baleful eye. Across his chest, near the -breathing orifice in the middle, he wore several patches of something -that looked like plasters, or bandages, where Scarface had shot him. He -looked weak. His shoulders slumped, and his arms dragged almost to the -ground.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter, Merman?" yelled Weston.</p> - -<p>Merman had been one of the first to run. Now he stood at a considerable -distance from the group, looking back.</p> - -<p>"You were willing to have a small bunch of guys tackle this freak in -the lounge on board the plane," Weston shouted. "But now when you're -face to face with him you run! Don't go yellow, Merman! I said I was -taking charge, and I <i>am</i>!"</p> - -<p>Weston looked at the crowd of castaways and grinned, contemptuously. -"This was our 'common goal,' wasn't it? Now I've got it my way! If it -was up to you guys, you'd all put on your best ties and sit down to -have a conference. Not me! I say—<i>get</i> him!"</p> - -<p>Whereupon, he led his men toward the alien, axe in hand.</p> - -<p>"No, wait!" cried Dr. Bauml. "Don't harm him or we'll never know!"</p> - -<p>When the alien saw Weston and his gang approach, he did nothing. He -only stood there and watched them come. He still wore the same pack -of apparatus on his back and the controls at his waist. The tendrils -around his double wrists flicked nervously. And many there were who -wondered what had become of Scarface—the man with the gun.</p> - -<p>Weston stopped in front of the alien, about five feet from him, which -was approximately just beyond the other's reach.</p> - -<p>"Now talk, damn you!" he said. "You got us into this and you're going -to get us out of it!"</p> - -<p>But the alien gave no answer. Nor did his single, multi-faceted eye -move from its fixed focus upon the man who addressed him. It glared in -its concentration, indefinably.</p> - -<p>Weston turned to his men. "He's dead beat," he said. "Those bullet -wounds made him weak. We gotta capture him, but don't mess him up too -much. We'll just get him down and tie him up. Somebody get some rope!"</p> - -<p>Confidently, Weston dropped his axe temporarily and hitched up his -trousers. As he did so, his arms and chest bulged and glistened -massively in the eternal light of the sky. Sceranka hulked ponderously -behind him, his ham-like paws ready for action. Five more of Weston's -best huskies closed the semi-circle before the alien.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Henry could feel the pulse in his arteries, and he saw a pink spider -making a web in front of him, in the timeless, geometrical design that -all such spiders made. Beside him, he could feel Martia's tenseness. -Down by the beach, the waves rolled peacefully across the sands, -sighing with the eternal voice of the sea. The jungle smelled of damp -rot and sickly sweet flowers. And he sweated.</p> - -<p>Weston, grinning somewhat tensely now, slowly lifted up his axe again, -with the blunt end toward the alien. He took one swift step forward, -but that was all. The alien emitted a blood-curdling, monstrous roar -and waded into the gang, just as Weston reversed his axe and struck him -a blow in the neck. It was an interrupted blow, because the alien's -great arms flew up and sent Weston sailing unconscious through the -air. He then grabbed Sceranka, oblivious to three arrows in his side -and four men climbing onto him, striking, punching and tearing at him. -Sceranka's rib case popped audibly as he was instantly crushed and -mangled. Then the alien turned and tore one man's arm off and sent -another of his attackers flying after Weston, headless. The others -turned and ran.</p> - -<p>But they did not get far.</p> - -<p>He paralyzed them with some invisible force controlling it from his -waist. Others did not need this treatment, because they had fainted.</p> - -<p>Then he released them from the paralysis sufficiently for them to walk, -but not to run. He motioned to all of them, making it quite plain that -they were his prisoners and were to follow him into the jungle.</p> - -<p>Without a murmur, they obeyed like somnambulists. The alien leaned -over the ones who had fainted and did something else with the controls -at his waist. These also revived, in a state of trance, and obeyed -his silent commands. In single file they went—Merman, Nelson, the -navigator, the commissary steward, Congressman Burley, Dr. Bauml, Dr. -Edwards, Dr. Singer, Colonel Rogers, the women, the servicemen—all of -them blindly following a trail into the Unknown.</p> - -<p>Henry and Martia turned to look at their companions. There were Uncle -Andy and Valerie and Peggy. But Pee Bee had gone. His trail of sudden -departure was marked cleanly through the otherwise impenetrable -underbrush on their right. Sizeable branches looked as though they had -been shorn clean.</p> - -<p>Silently, these five watched their friends and enemies depart—all of -those who had not been killed—and excepting Weston, who seemed also to -be dead. He lay face down in the sand, arms pointing toward the jungle, -feet awash in the surf. He had been thrown thirty feet.</p> - -<p>Henry felt Martia shudder.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was decided that to trek aimlessly through the jungle unaware of -what they were looking for would be futile. Instead, they chose to -follow the well delineated trail of the captives in order to determine -where the alien was taking them.</p> - -<p>Uncle Andy and Henry provided the two women with bows and arrows which -had fallen from the hands of some of the alien's attackers.</p> - -<p>"Do you know how to use them?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Valerie Roagland, "but I hope it will not be necessary." -The arrow heads were tipped with sharpened pieces of aluminum rod taken -from the plane. In fact, some of the arrows were made entirely of -aluminum rod.</p> - -<p>"We don't know what may be in that jungle," said Uncle Andy, picking up -Weston's axe for himself. He carefully examined the blade of the axe. -There were traces of very dark blood on it. "Our Pied Piper was wounded -in the neck by Weston's blow. I wonder if he'll survive. After all, -bullet wounds, arrow wounds—and a chomp in the neck with an axe!"</p> - -<p>"Good Heavens!" exclaimed Peggy Hollenbeck. "That ought to spell -curtains even for Superman!"</p> - -<p>"But—" Martia started to express herself, then her eyes widened in -alarm as the full implication of her thought struck her. "He is the -only one who knows what this is all about!" she exclaimed. "He's the -conductor, the engineer and the crew! He knows how we got here and how -to get us back to where we came from—if that is possible. If he dies -now—!"</p> - -<p>They all looked at each other in shocked silence, except for Henry. He -merely experimented with one of the bows.</p> - -<p>"She's right," he said. "Whether friend or enemy, we've got to make -sure that creature does not die until we learn what we need to know. -But I'll tell you one thing that may be encouraging...."</p> - -<p>Peggy Hollenbeck's chin began to tremble and her eyes misted suddenly. -"Henry, if you can say <i>anything</i> encouraging about this whole -business, for the love of God let's have it before I crack up!" Valerie -put her arms around her and the other burst into a fit of crying, which -was a delayed reaction from what she had witnessed fifteen minutes -before.</p> - -<p>Martia might have joined her, but the secret knowledge she shared with -Henry helped to sustain her.</p> - -<p>"Somewhere in that jungle," said Henry, "is a time machine...."</p> - -<p>He calculated that the shock of that statement would bring Peggy out -of her semi-hysteria, and it did. She looked at him over Valerie's -shoulder, her tearful eyes suddenly wide with surprise and wonderment. -Valerie and Uncle Andy both turned slowly to stare incredulously at the -two adolescents, both of whom appeared to share the same conviction.</p> - -<p>And Uncle Andy thought: <i>What incredible thing is it these two children -share in common?</i></p> - -<p>But he asked, "What makes you think so?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was then that both Henry and Martia launched themselves into a -detailed and vivid account of that strange interlude in time which -they, alone, remembered. The other three listened, with both mixed -emotions and mixed opinions relative to the youngsters' sanity.</p> - -<p>"The reason we're giving you such a wealth of details," Henry -concluded, "is because therein lies the proof that there is a time -machine in the jungle."</p> - -<p>Uncle Andy shook his head, bewildered. "I'm afraid I'm hopelessly -lost," he said. "I can't see where it fits in. And if it happened, why -wouldn't the rest of us remember it? You say we were there, too."</p> - -<p>Henry cast a covert glance at Martia, and only she could understand -what that look meant. Impulsively, she grasped his hand and held on to -it.</p> - -<p>"Let's skip your lack of memory for a minute," Henry answered. -"Instead, try to remember the fact that certain people were missing in -this camp before the meeting took place."</p> - -<p>"That's right!" said Valerie. "The English people—" She looked at -Martia. "Your mother, Lady Dewitt! She went away and got lost!"</p> - -<p>"And Sir Rollins!" put in Peggy.</p> - -<p>"Now it comes back," said Uncle Andy. "They had gone out to look for -springwater and had not returned."</p> - -<p>"To make a long story short," said Henry, "there were two separate -groups. First, the English group, consisting of Lady Dewitt, Cyril -Rollins, the Crispin sisters, the two mothers who lost their babies, -and Mr. Langham. The second group consisted of Mania's governess, -Emily, three WAACs, and the three Texas GIs.</p> - -<p>"Now as I see it, here's what happened. The first group found the time -machine and entered it, possibly without knowing what they were doing. -They were transported back in time perhaps several thousands of years. -Stranded there and with no other recourse but to survive, they set up -their own type of colony, and their descendants established the Empire -of New Bretania."</p> - -<p>Peggy looked at Valerie, and both found a common conviction in their -eyes. They were sadly understanding and patient as they looked back at -Henry and Martia. Uncle Andy only refilled his pipe with the last of -his tobacco and watched Henry intently.</p> - -<p>"Now wait a minute!" put in Martia. "Henry's not as crazy as you think! -Let him continue!"</p> - -<p>"We're listening," replied Uncle Andy.</p> - -<p>"Having benefitted by some knowledge of modern technology on the part -of their original ancestors, this race soon attained a degree of -civilization equivalent to our own, though with fewer numbers. Their -science enabled them to detect the unbalanced nature of the ionosphere, -so they knew they had to get off the planet in order to survive. By -some means unknown to us, they were able to make observations through -the ionosphere and detect livable conditions on Venus, after all. In -other words, after a billion years beyond our time, Venus must have had -sufficient time to build up an atmosphere containing a life-sustaining -percentage of oxygen. This discovery spurred the building of their -space ark, which was to take a representative number of their kind to -the new world.</p> - -<p>"Now in the meantime let's go back to the second group that was -lost—Emily, the WAACs and the Texans. They, too, went through the time -machine and built up a civilization contemporaneous with that of New -Bretania. Hence the origin of the country, Texania. These latter people -were trying to get the ark of space from the New Bretanians.</p> - -<p>"Don't you see how it all fits in? When those two groups went through -the time machine, we found ourselves in an alternate time, a world -changed by their effects on two or three thousand years of the -immediate past."</p> - -<p>"Then how did everything get back to where it was originally?" asked -Uncle Andy. "What got rid of that alternate time so abruptly?"</p> - -<p>"The alien," Henry replied. "I think we arrived here, in the first -place, by accident and without his knowledge. As a time-traveler, he -was no doubt gone from this world for long stretches of time. Perhaps a -gap of several thousands of years means nothing to him. But somewhere -along that alternate time he returned. He probably proceeded at once to -trace down the sources of New Bretania and Texania. This could have led -him not only back to Lady Dewitt and the Texans but forward, again, to -this present time, to the moment when they were about to go into the -time machine in the first place. Taking them prisoner thus prevented -that alternate time from occurring. So it was all a lost interlude -and Weston went right on talking at the meeting as though nothing had -happened. Yet all the while the alien was now aware of our presence, -and so he came to take us into custody."</p> - -<p>"That is the most astounding tale I have ever listened to," said Uncle -Andy. "Now tell me, Henry, why is it that only you and Martia remember -that alternate time experience and we do not?"</p> - -<p>Again—that strange, knowing look between Henry and Martia.</p> - -<p>"Look!" cried Peggy, pointing toward the beach.</p> - -<p>When they all turned and looked they saw the same, eternal sea as -before, its lazy surf glistening in the forever light of the sky. But -there was one, subtle difference. Weston lay there no longer. The -whole beach was a scene of desolation—deceivingly peaceful, ominously -deserted.</p> - -<p>"Cone on!" said Uncle Andy, with sudden sternness. "We can talk about -all this later. Just now we'd better try to keep one step ahead of -Weston."</p> - -<p>They took <i>all</i> of the available weapons with them....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The trail of the captives led them gradually upward toward the summit -of the low range of hills. They soon discovered that the nature of the -jungle near the seashore was much less spectacular than the aspect -of it inland. It began to appear as though Nature had dumped all her -experiments into one bottle and mixed them together.</p> - -<p>They passed through "groves" of trees that were mostly roots, all -intertwined like some giant vine. Their bark was like shaggy hair -and their fine, web-like branches sprouted foliage that looked like -feathers. Among these feathered branches crawled brilliant orange and -red land crabs, some of them as much as two feet in diameter.</p> - -<p>In a swampier region just at the base of the hills they observed flat, -leathery looking discs oozing along over the swamp mud, some of them -reaching three feet in diameter. They could not imagine what they were -until they saw one of them uncover a six foot, scaly worm. The latter -fought ferociously, but the leathery disc wrapped itself around its -body and the worm's mouth very much like that of a snapping turtle, was -incapable of penetrating that leathery hide.</p> - -<p>"Those are gigantic leeches," observed Uncle Andy.</p> - -<p>And so they went on, following the trail upward, beyond the swamp. They -discovered carnivorous plants, huge insects, gigantic birds, but always -any mammalian species they saw was small and in the minority.</p> - -<p>Finally, they came to an abrupt halt, because the trail ended. There -were no more footprints, no more tell-tale marks such as trampled weeds -and underbrush or broken branches. No matter where they searched, they -could not find a further continuation of the trail. It ended in the -center of a meadow, half way up in the jungle clad hills.</p> - -<p>"You don't suppose they could have been taken away in some kind of an -airship, do you?" asked Uncle Andy.</p> - -<p>"No," said Henry. "There are no marks here showing that any such vessel -has been sitting here. Moreover, if the alien had come in an aircraft, -why would he land it here and walk so far?"</p> - -<p>"<i>Hey! Get yo'selves off'n dat place!</i>"</p> - -<p>When they all looked, startled, behind them, they saw Pee Bee standing -on the edge of the meadow.</p> - -<p>"Pee Bee!" exclaimed Valerie, relieved to see something that was both -familiar and harmless in this place. "How did you get here?"</p> - -<p>"Get off'n dat place you're standin' on!" shouted Pee Bee. "It goes -down into de ground where all dose other folks's went!" His eyes were -wide with superstitious terror. "Man, ah had mah suspicions dat Missin' -Link was de debbil, an' ah don't need no further convincin'! He's <i>it</i>! -He done took dem folks t'<i>his</i> place! Dat's where dey are!" he yelled, -hysterically. "Dey's done gone to de hot place! Get off'n dat ground!"</p> - -<p>"Poor Pee Bee!" said Peggy. "Now he's going crazy on us!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Pee Bee ran back and forth at one edge of the meadow, helplessly -wringing his hands but not daring to approach his friends.</p> - -<p>"Look at this," said Martia. "It's a cairn!"</p> - -<p>They had not noticed it before, because it was small and half concealed -by weeds.</p> - -<p>"Who could have put that there?" asked Peggy.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps one of our captured friends," said Uncle Andy, squatting down -to examine it.</p> - -<p>"<i>Get off'n dat ground!</i>" shouted Pee Bee, at the top of his voice.</p> - -<p>Uncle Andy removed the top rock from the cairn and uncovered a metal -pipe with a screw cap on it. "Oh, oh!" he said. "Booby trap!"</p> - -<p>"Unscrew it!" Henry urged him.</p> - -<p>"Do you think you'd better?" asked Valerie.</p> - -<p>"What else can we do?" put in Martia. "We can't just sit down here and -form a colony of our own!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Andy looked at the two women and their faces colored. "You asked -for it!" he said, abruptly, and unscrewed the cap.</p> - -<p>Beneath the cap were two tiny light bulbs embedded in a small panel, in -addition to a red button. One of the lights glowed red.</p> - -<p>"Well! Civilization at last! Shall I press the button?"</p> - -<p>"I think Pee Bee may be right," said Henry. "They probably all went -down under the ground and this is the control operating the hidden -opening."</p> - -<p>Uncle Andy looked up at him. "But if we go rushing in we're liable to -end up captives too...."</p> - -<p>In that moment, however, the decision was made for them. They -discovered that the cairn marked the exact center of an area that was -about fifty feet in diameter. This area suddenly sank downward.</p> - -<p>"Run!" shouted Uncle Andy, springing to his feet.</p> - -<p>But it was too late.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The walls of the pit into which they descended were twenty feet -high before they could reach the edge of the circular area. As -they continued their descent, the walls grew higher—fifty feet, -seventy-five, a hundred....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Pee Bee threw himself on the trampled jangle grass and beat at his head -in blind frustration.</p> - -<p>"Ah told 'em!" he cried out. "Ah done told 'em t'stay off'n dat debbil -ground! Now dey done gone 'n left me all alone—'n where am I?"</p> - -<p>He sat up, abruptly, more bug-eyed than ever before. He listened.</p> - -<p>The still, hot air brought him only the sound—and the smell—of the -pristine jungle surrounding him. A giant bird with a black back and -brilliant yellow belly soared over-head and squawked at him hostilely. -Somewhere down the hill something small and warm-blooded squealed in -terror. He heard a tremendous threshing about in the underbrush and -remembered the vines that made a net for their prey—then clutched it -inescapably and mashed it into pulp before devouring it. The eternal -sky that never turned dark and cool, that sky up there that beat its -itchy heat down on him and was making a rash creep up on his skin—it -wasn't God's blue sky.</p> - -<p>But it was <i>his</i> sky—Pee Bee's! All Pee Bee's world now.</p> - -<p>He sprang to his feet and screamed, "Dey can't leave me alone in dis -place!"</p> - -<p>But when he looked at the big, round, gaping hole in the center of the -meadow he had to admit the reality of the situation. He <i>was</i> alone!</p> - -<p>So he threw himself down on the musty smelling grass again and sobbed -uncontrollably. How had he gotten himself into this? By being in the -Army in the first place. He didn't make the wars and all the trouble in -the world, but they dragged him off to Europe to hold a bayonet in the -people's faces—at a boundary line. He didn't make those boundaries! -God made the world, but he didn't make no boundary lines. Man made the -boundaries. Man made shoes for me to shine.</p> - -<p>Shine, <i>shine</i>?</p> - -<p><i>All God's chillun got shoes....</i></p> - -<p>"Pee Bee!"</p> - -<p>Was that somebody calling him? Sure! Hank Thomas, standing there by his -newspaper stand at 12th and Central. The traffic light was red. <i>Was</i> -red. <i>Was</i> red.</p> - -<p>When? A <i>billion</i> years ago! That's what Henry said.</p> - -<p>"Pee Bee!"</p> - -<p>That was <i>Henry</i> calling!</p> - -<p>Pee Bee sat up again and looked out onto the meadow. The hole was gone, -all filled in. In the middle of it stood Henry, alone, beckoning to him.</p> - -<p>"Come on, Pee Bee! It's all right!"</p> - -<p>Pee Bee jumped to his feet and started to run. Then he stopped, -abruptly.</p> - -<p>"Oh no!" he said. "Ah done heard about <i>my</i>-rages before! Sometimes -it's a lake in de middle of de desert or one of dem oh-wayseses, but -you ain't gonna fool Pee Bee! Ah's stayin' right here an' if Gabriel's -still got wind left after all dis time t'blow dat beat-up ol' horn o' -his he's gonna have t'play a solo fo' jist little ol' me—'cause I -ain't leavin' dis spot! No debbil's gonna git me. No animulated bush -is gonna git me! An' no <i>my</i>-rage is gonna git me! Ah's jist gonna sit -here an' wait fo' me, only kind of pick-up dat pays off—when Gabriel -blows dat horn!"</p> - -<p>Henry approached him and took him by the arm. "It's all right, Pee Bee. -It's me in the flesh. Now come on! There's no time to lose."</p> - -<p>As the circular slab of meadowland lowered itself once more into the -ground, Pee Bee remained on his knees, clutching Henry to him for -dear life. At the bottom of the pit he fell into Uncle Andy's and -Valerie's arms, sobbing. They patted him and consumed several minutes -in reassuring him.</p> - -<p>All the while, the others shared one thought in common that they felt -it would be inopportune to express to Pee Bee. The place they had -reached appeared to be empty. Yet someone had operated controls to let -them in—those button controls right there in the passageway.</p> - -<p>The question was: <i>Who?</i></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>They were in a subterranean city, or palace, or laboratory. It was -difficult to determine the purpose of everything they saw. Light -apparently without a source followed them automatically wherever they -went. The walls, ceiling and floor seemed to be made of a translucent -substance that was as soft as rubber yet tougher than steel. Now -Henry's billion year theory made more sense to the others. In all -that time some high form of civilization had to evolve. And this was -indisputable evidence that it had.</p> - -<p>But why was it hidden so cleverly under the ground? This fact allowed -them to presuppose the existence of an enemy. What, in the outer world, -could oppose the race that had built this?</p> - -<p>Or more logical still—what, in outer space?</p> - -<p>"Perhaps," said Uncle Andy, "it's the ionosphere. This is another -answer to the danger of hard radiations."</p> - -<p>"But not for long," said Henry. "When the critical moment comes -there'll be no more atmosphere. What will they do without air?"</p> - -<p>"The place is empty," observed Peggy. "Where did the others go?"</p> - -<p>That was the principal question.</p> - -<p>Twenty minutes later, they stood in a circular room which was roughly -forty feet in diameter. In one wall was a mirror, ten feet high. It -shimmered like molten silver. They had been in the room twice already.</p> - -<p>"What do we do now?" asked Valerie. "Go back to some of those control -rooms and start pulling levers?"</p> - -<p>"Wait!" exclaimed Martia. "Listen!"</p> - -<p>In another moment they could hear the sound of their own breathing. -Then—unmistakably—they heard slow, hesitant footsteps.</p> - -<p>Valerie and Peggy paled, remembering only too vividly the one-eyed -towering creature that had thrown Weston thirty feet through the air. -Henry appropriated Valerie's bow and arrow. Uncle Andy, his jaws -clamped on a pipe that had long since burned out, took a firm grip on -his axe. Pee Bee stood rooted to the floor, unable to do anything but -stare in the direction of the curving passageway from which the sounds -of the footsteps emanated.</p> - -<p>"Weston tried violence against him," whispered Martia to Henry. "Maybe -if we—"</p> - -<p>"Shh!" From Uncle Andy. He raised his axe and braced himself.</p> - -<p>The automatic, progressive light of this place advanced into view -and blended with their own light aura as the owner of the footsteps -approached.</p> - -<p>Once more, Henry's mind began to awaken into that strange condition of -ultimate clarity, as it had in alternate time, in New Bretania, before -the machine guns.</p> - -<p>"Hold up!" he said, lowering his bow.</p> - -<p>"Yes!" exclaimed Martia. "It's a friend!"</p> - -<p>At that moment, Scarface stepped into view, gun in hand. And Peggy -almost swooned with relief.</p> - -<p>Pee Bee wiped his forearm across his moist brow and said, "Man! Dat's -de finest lookin' <i>my</i>-rage ah seen today!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Andy could not refrain from studying the two adolescents again -in amazement. They had definitely known beforehand that Scarface would -appear instead of the alien.</p> - -<p>"I've been doing some checking," said Scarface, without smiling, and -without preamble. "There's only one place they could have gone."</p> - -<p>"Did you let us in here?" asked Uncle Andy, irrelevantly.</p> - -<p>"Yes. There's some kind of viewer that shows who's upstairs. When I saw -you out there I pressed the entrance button. But I've been busy since. -I think I know the next step."</p> - -<p>"Where have you been all this time?" asked Henry.</p> - -<p>Scarface glanced at Martia, then at the shimmering mirror behind her. -"Trying to trace down missing persons," he answered. "I was topside in -the jungle when One Eye brought in his prisoners. So I came down here -to pick up the trail, and it ends in front of that mirror."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>As all of them turned to look at the shimmering mirror, Scarface -advanced toward it to show them something that had, until now, escaped -their notice. He mounted two steps of a raised dais on which the mirror -stood. Then he halted before it and pointed at its base.</p> - -<p>"Look at that!" he said.</p> - -<p>Protruding from the strange substance of the mirror was a small branch. -He kicked it outward with his foot, and more of the branch emerged into -view.</p> - -<p>"One of the bunch that was captured dropped that as he went through. -Look!" He shoved his hand into the mirror up to his elbow, then pulled -it out again. "No pain at all," he said.</p> - -<p>"A teletransporter!" exclaimed Henry.</p> - -<p>Scarface looked at him quizzically. "I knew <i>you'd</i> have a name for -it," he said. "But come again?"</p> - -<p>"A teletransporter. I get more of the picture now," said Henry. -"Underground stations like this may be scattered all over the planet. -Transportation between them is accomplished instantaneously by this -means. Perhaps, with the proper setting of controls, one could walk -around the world, through various stations, in a few minutes!"</p> - -<p>"Whoa!" said Uncle Andy. "When did you ever see a teletransporter?"</p> - -<p>"I didn't, but their possibility may be extrapolated from a set of -known facts in our own era of time. One premise is that energy may -be propagated at the speed of light through the ether, in various -pulsation patterns that can be used for the reintegration of sound -or light in receivers. Another premise is that matter is energy. -Therefore, it lies within the realm of possibility to reduce matter to -its basic energy components, broadcast the energy in a representative -pattern sequence—perhaps on multiple wavebands—and reintegrate the -same form of matter at the other end. On the other hand, new principles -may have been discovered after our own time, such as the manipulation -or use of hyper-space or ether warp of some kind. But I'm sure this is -a bonafide teletransporter. We have only to step through it, the way it -is adjusted now, and be where our friends are. Since Scarface is armed, -I think we need not fear being surprised by the alien."</p> - -<p>Scarface raised his brows and looked at the others. "It's simple when -you know how," he said, wryly. "But there's an easier way of analyzing -this contraption. I'll walk through it. If I don't come back, you can -decide for yourselves if you want to follow or take up camping in that -jungle outside for the rest of your lives. Here goes!"</p> - -<p>"Wait!" cried Uncle Andy.</p> - -<p>But Scarface walked into the mirror and disappeared.</p> - -<p>They waited. Five minutes. Ten minutes. And Scarface did not return. -Finally, Pee Bee offered a solution.</p> - -<p>"Ah sees it like this," he said, breaking an oppressive silence. "Ah -feels safe when ah's on de right side of dat gun. Now if we goes -through dat mirror an' finds Scahface, we's better off than we is here. -If we goes into dat mirror an' gets snuffed into nothin'—then dat -means Scahface an' all de rest is probably big, flattened out blobs of -nothin', too. So we might as well join 'em instead of hangin' around -here. Ah's sick of it, an' ah's ready!" Before they could stop him, he -hurled himself into the mirror and disappeared.</p> - -<p>The remaining castaways looked at each other in silence for almost -thirty seconds.</p> - -<p>Then Uncle Andy said, "I think we'd better try it."</p> - -<p>Valerie grasped his hand and Martia's. "Let's all go through together," -she suggested, quietly.</p> - -<p>They drew close to each other, held hands, and formed a straight -line of five as they walked through the mirror together—just as the -corridor behind them filled with light again and a pair of bloodshot -eyes noted their departure....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>This was definitely a tremendous, subterranean city, or the beginning -of one. But its only inhabitants, other than the alien, seemed to -be the survivors of MATS flight 702. They were still in a state of -hypnosis, standing there on the pillared mezzanine that overlooked the -vast room below and beyond them. Other mezzanines were visible on the -far side of that tremendous chamber, and beneath them a dozen or so -tunnel entrances indicated that there was much to be seen further on.</p> - -<p>Among the people who stood out there on the mezzanine were Pee Bee -and Scarface, also in a trance, as well as the Texas GIs, the missing -WAACs, Martia's governess, Emily, the two mothers, Mr. Langham, Sir -Rollins—and Lady Dewitt.</p> - -<p>Martia might have cried out and run to her mother were it not for the -fact that the alien, himself, confronted them.</p> - -<p>They stood in an alcove that was half filled with banks of controls and -instruments. The alien stood before these controls and glared at them -purposefully as they came through the teletransmitter. His neck was -dark with dried blood, and the three arrows still protruded from his -side. His stooping posture gave more evidence than before that he was -growing weaker.</p> - -<p>As they came through and caught sight of him and the others, one of his -hands moved on the control panel, then paused.</p> - -<p><i>Don't do that!</i>—came a sharp command into his mind.</p> - -<p>He straightened up suddenly, his single eye brightening in shocked -surprise as he looked first at Henry, then at Martia.</p> - -<p>Valerie, Peggy and Uncle Andy watched the alien, white-faced, -uncomprehendingly, as he slowly turned to face them squarely, his -eye fairly glittering with inner lights of its own. Then—without -warning—he uttered a few unintelligible words, groaned, and fell on -his face.</p> - -<p>"Quick!" said Uncle Andy. "The gun!" He ran, himself, to pluck it out -of Scarface's nerveless fingers.</p> - -<p>"But what happened!" exclaimed Valerie. "Is he dead?" She and Peggy did -not follow Henry and Martia as they went over to look at the alien.</p> - -<p>"Henry," whispered Martia. "What <i>are</i> we? I know what you did!"</p> - -<p>Henry paused to look at her. "Martia, Lady Dewitt is not really your -mother—<i>is</i> she?"</p> - -<p>Martia colored.</p> - -<p>"You know there are no secrets between us," he insisted.</p> - -<p>"No," she answered. "I am an orphan, like you."</p> - -<p>"An orphan equipped with photographic memory and extra-sensory -perception," he said, rapidly. "Also, other things, like extended -perception in time. You have lately come to sense that your mind was -'fixed,' long ago, to keep you from using your full powers and to -prevent you from knowing who or <i>what</i> you were, but these recent -experiences have started an awakening process—"</p> - -<p>"Yes!" she agreed. "Henry, what—"</p> - -<p>His eyes bored into hers, his nostrils flaring in his tense excitement. -"Shall I tell you where you were really born?" He turned his head and -looked down. "Wait! He's beginning to stir! <i>He</i> can give us the final -answer!"</p> - -<p>As the alien stirred, one of the tendrils on his wrist twirled a -control on the panel at his waist. Martia swayed, but Henry stood his -ground, blocking that telepathic signal and showing Martia how to do it -at the same time. But Valerie and Peggy and Uncle Andy dropped to the -floor, unconscious.</p> - -<p>The alien rose slowly to his feet, and Henry turned, instinctively, to -get the gun that Uncle Andy had dropped. Then he and Martia, as well as -the alien, stiffened in surprise as Scarface smilingly picked up the -gun and leveled it.</p> - -<p>"Everything is going to be all right," he said, confidently. "I think -I have all the answers now. It was not the impossible coincidence I -imagined it to be, his coming upon all three of us on board that plane. -I think that he—"</p> - -<p>"Look out!" screamed Martia.</p> - -<p>Out of the mirror had come an unexpected figure, hurling itself upon -Scarface's back. Scarface went down and the gun was torn from his -fingers, even as the alien reached for his controls on the instrument -panel behind him.</p> - -<p>"No you don't!" yelled Tommy Weston.</p> - -<p>He stood there, his clothes half torn off, supporting himself on one -good leg and painfully trying not to bring pressure to bear on the -other, which appeared to be sprained.</p> - -<p>"I'm <i>still</i> running the show!" he yelled, hysterically.</p> - -<p><i>Quick!</i>—came a thought from Scarface to the two adolescents. <i>Through -the teleporter!</i></p> - -<p>As they literally threw themselves into the silvery mirror in back of -them, they heard Weston firing shot after shot into the alien....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Back in the subterranean chamber where they had come upon their first -teleporter, Scarface reached behind the mirror and adjusted something, -whereupon the sheet of silvery substance took on a bluish sheen.</p> - -<p>"You see, I knew all along what this was," he said. "But if I had told -you that it would probably lead you right into Mlargn's hands you would -not have dared follow. You needed one more shock to bring you out, and -I waited there for you, waiting for my final proof." He smiled. "In his -weakened condition, it was too <i>much</i> of a shock to Mlargn. I didn't -quite expect him to pass out like that—the poor beast! Well, anyway, -Weston has taken care of him, and this adjustment will keep him from -following us."</p> - -<p>"Wait, please!" interrupted Henry. "You're assuming too much knowledge -on our part. We—"</p> - -<p>"Just one more detail," said Scarface, as he made a last adjustment -behind the mirror. By now it was a shimmering pink. "Follow me," he -directed. And without further explanation he stepped <i>back</i> through the -teleporter.</p> - -<p>Under ordinary circumstances, Henry and Martia would have reacted -emotionally to this new development, and fear would have restrained -them. But this was a very special circumstance because they had had an -awakening. A calm logic told them that Scarface would not have directed -them to follow him if it would do them any harm. One of the premises -of that logic was that they had "read" at least his attitude. He was -definitely an ally—and the ultimate answer to their mutual enigma.</p> - -<p>So they followed him.</p> - -<p>They found themselves in a great, domed citadel which covered the -entire top of a small island. Some miles away was a long stretch of -jungle-covered land and low hills easily recognizable as the country -where they had first camped. They could even make out the silvery -glitter of the wrecked plane.</p> - -<p>They remembered having seen this island from the shore, but it had -looked like a flat-topped, barren rock protruding from the sea. Then it -came to them that the citadel on top was invisible from the land.</p> - -<p>Scarface sat at the console of a tremendous instrument panel. On his -head was an elaborate headpiece equipped with silvery anodes that -clamped against his skull. His eyes were closed. His fingers made -delicate adjustments on the console while strange, almost ultra-sonic -tones emanated from a battery of glowing tubes on the wall.</p> - -<p>Martia and Henry sensed that they were not to disturb him. So they -walked around inside the dome and looked at the sea, and the old, old -land. Their minds were awakening to new perspectives and powers, and -slowly they caught glimpses of a billion year pattern of destiny that -dazzled their thoughts. So they barred these perspectives, holding them -breathlessly at the threshold of soaring consciousness—waiting for -experienced guidance.</p> - -<p>At length, Scarface finished his task and came over to them. "While I -am waiting for results," he said, "I will tell you what you want to -know...."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He told them that somewhere in the era of time in which they had been -raised, a cataclysm had occurred which had destroyed all life on Earth. -Oceans had come over the land and the whole, slow, geo-biological -process of regeneration had begun once more. Evolution through hundreds -of millions of years had at last arrived at a dominant, intelligent -species of which Mlargn, the "alien," was the last survivor.</p> - -<p>He told them the story of Xlarn, of the cooling of the sun, of -the reaction sphere, and of the Chronotron. And he described the -developments which finally led to Mlargn's time journey in search of -life before the Beginning.</p> - -<p>"Actually, Mlargn made two trips into Earth time. On his first trip -he must have arrived somewhere in an earlier century than the one you -knew—"</p> - -<p>"The thirteenth century," interrupted Henry.</p> - -<p>Scarface looked at him in wonderment. So both Henry and Martia told him -the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.</p> - -<p>For almost a minute, the other was silent. Then he said, "So that's -where the ancestors of Galactic Civilization came from...."</p> - -<p>"Galactic Civilization!" Martia exclaimed.</p> - -<p>Scarface grinned at them. "Yes," he said. "We call it that, because we -have inhabited at least a dozen solar systems and are still growing. -Let me continue the story...."</p> - -<p>Mlargn had chosen a group of children because he knew they could be -trained and conditioned easier. When he returned through the Chronotron -to his own time, the Xlarnan immortals considered the human captives -to be unimaginable, short-lived, soft-skinned bipeds, but amazingly -advanced mammalia from the evolutionary viewpoint. And they could -think, in a primitive fashion. Moreover, they proved to be incredibly -fertile.</p> - -<p>Only slightly encouraged, the Xlarnans threw them into a Chronotron -cycle of five hundred thousand years. The resultant race and alternate -time proved to be something for which they were totally unprepared. -Since the continuum between Cause and Effect was a simultaneous -structure in time, there it was, complete from beginning to end—a -superman civilization that encompassed great stretches of the -galaxy. An alien brand of intelligence. Virile resourcefulness and -aggressiveness, far outstripping the sterile civilization of Xlarn.</p> - -<p>Astounded and frightened, the Xlarnans sought to trace the beginnings -of this alternate time, through the Chronotron, and throttle the -totally unexpected development at its source. However, this was -foreseen by the civilization which had sprung from the Chronotron—and -there was war. The Xlarnans were eliminated, except for one, who swore -vengeance.</p> - -<p>This unsuspected immortal was he who had brought back the ancestors of -the star men from beyond Beginning, from the world where the moon was -young. This was Mlargn, himself.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Although the star men had abandoned the dying solar system of their -origin, it was inevitable that a few of their number should be left -behind—castaways who finally organized themselves, built a citadel of -their own, and sought to build a small star ship in which to escape the -threat of the reaction sphere. But the specialized science that had -developed the hyper-space drive eluded them and they struggled in vain, -while Mlargn besieged them, jealously endeavoring to discover what they -were accomplishing. He applied his warfare so vigorously that one day -only Kimnar was left, with two youngsters. In fact, they were babes.</p> - -<p>In desperation, Kimnar gained access to the Chronotron. Hoping to -create another alternate time, he hurled himself and the two children -into further depths of time than he intended.</p> - -<p>And Mlargn followed him. Aware of his own immortality and equipped -with controls that could reverse his course in time because they were -interlocked with the Chronotron, he was determined to spend centuries, -if necessary, to find those two advanced children and use them to his -own advantage....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Henry shook his head to clear it. "Just a moment," he said. "I might -extrapolate from all this that you are Kimnar."</p> - -<p>"I am," smiled Scarface. "I arrived with you two in the human era, in -Earth's calendar year nineteen hundred forty-four A.D., on June 6th, -to be exact. The country was France. The place—Caen...."</p> - -<p>There was a stunned moment of silence. Then Martia's eyes widened. "But -that was—!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Kimnar, smiling grimly. "The Allied invasion of Normandie. -I landed right in the middle of D-Day."</p> - -<p>"What happened?" asked Henry. "I mean—to you?"</p> - -<p>"I was injured by shrapnel. That's how I acquired the scar on my face. -I woke up later in a hospital and have been looking for you two ever -since."</p> - -<p>"Kimnar," said Henry, "are Martia and I sister and brother?"</p> - -<p>Martia's mind leaped out to find the answer in Kimnar's thoughts before -he could speak. "No!" she cried, happily. "We're not!" Henry suddenly -found her in his arms.</p> - -<p>"She's right," Kimnar confirmed.</p> - -<p>"You two were survivors of Mlargn's attack in those days when Jirahn -was alive—but you were not of the same family."</p> - -<p>"Who was Jirahn?"</p> - -<p>Kimnar waved a hand toward the great instrument panel. "It was he who -invented that hyper-space transceiver. Or rather, he re-invented it, -remembering much of the science of our kin, the star men. Just before -Mlargn's powerful attack, in which he utilized a deadly radiation -that killed everybody in the citadel, I believe Jirahn succeeded in -contacting the star men. But I could not be certain, as I had been -away from the citadel when the attack came. Upon my return, I found -my friends dead, and Jirahn sat slumped over those controls with the -head gear attached to him. Certain lights were signalling to me from -the board, but I could not decipher them. Moreover, I feared that -Mlargn would find the right teleporter frequency to tie his system in -with ours, and that he might surprise me at any time. So I removed the -bodies, dumping them into the sea, and prepared, generally, to 'abandon -ship.' Just as I was about to leave, I found you two halfway down the -cliffs on a covered terrace that your parents had been in the habit -of using. They had left you there for your naps. It was then that I -conceived the idea of finding the Chronotron and trying to create a new -alternate time based on your descendants."</p> - -<p>"But Kimnar," persisted Henry. "What about that transceiver? You worked -it when we first arrived here, and I remember you mentioned something -about 'waiting for results.'"</p> - -<p>Kimnar shrugged. "I tried the thing, and to the best of my knowledge I -was transmitting through hyper-space at full power. So far, there has -been no response. I have the receiver wide open."</p> - -<p>"Do you mean—it is conceivable that some of the star people might -return for us?"</p> - -<p>Kimnar smiled in a puzzling sort of way. "I tossed them the bait," he -said. "I think they'll consider the risk worth while—if they received -my message."</p> - -<p>"What risk is there now? I'm quite sure Weston finished Mlargn off."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Kimnar raised his eyes heavenward. "Remember? The reaction sphere could -go any time. Fortunately, most of the harder radiations are expending -themselves convexly, into outer space, and what is shooting towards us -still has many miles to travel. But it's getting very unhealthy around -here. When the sphere blows, it will take the Great Ring with it—the -ring that used to be the moon."</p> - -<p>Simultaneously, Henry and Martia thought of something else. The other -passengers, their original companions. What of them—and Weston, with -his gun?</p> - -<p>"We can't leave them here to die," said Henry. "What about the -Chronotron? Can't we send them all back?"</p> - -<p>Kimnar shook his head. "The Chronotron is not that accurate at such -long range. Only a few people at a time can go through, and they -might land anywhere, from Earth's prehistoric ages to Xlarn's eras of -development ante-dating the generation of an oxygen content atmosphere. -Moreover, Mlargn changed the location of the Chronotron. I have not -been able to find it. That was what I originally went back to look for -when I left you on the beach after that fight with Weston."</p> - -<p>"Wait a minute!" cried Martia. "But my moth—I mean, Lady Dewitt and -those others found it!"</p> - -<p>Kimnar looked at both of them wonderingly. Briefly, they told him about -the alternate time episode involving New Bretania and Texania, which -Mlargn successfully nipped in the bud.</p> - -<p>"I must have been underground somewhere at the time," said Kimnar, -"traveling through various teleporters. Otherwise, had I been on the -surface, I have enough temporal perspective, myself, to have been able -to remember that alternate time experience." He frowned. "If Weston -ever finds the Chronotron—"</p> - -<p>"Well, why not?" asked Martia. "You couldn't blame them for going -back—or trying to!"</p> - -<p>"I see what he means," said Henry. "If any of them should go back -to the approximate time from which we started and do anything to -circumvent that moon experiment—"</p> - -<p>"<i>What</i> moon experiment?" asked Martia.</p> - -<p>"I forgot to tell you, I guess. Kimnar knew because he read it in -Uncle Andy's mind. Uncle Andy as Andrew Dearden, is one of the world's -greatest rocket specialists. He was just returning from Africa on that -plane after having supervised all preparations for firing a rocket at -the moon."</p> - -<p>"That <i>is</i> amazing," said Martia, "but—oh!" She read the rest in -Henry's mind. The rocket carried the world's first D-C bomb, which -letters represented the word, "de-cohesion." In detonation, the bomb -was supposed to liberate the cohesive forces of the proton. They were -going to observe its effects on the moon.</p> - -<p>"I believe," said Henry, "that it produced a sustained reaction in -stable matter, and the moon blew to fragments, thus creating the Great -Ring. The thermal effects plus orbital perturbations of the Earth -destroyed all life on the planet. And I deduce that the free oxygen and -hydrogen in our atmosphere made some kind of critical mixture and went -<i>foom</i>! The result was H<sub>2</sub>O, oceans of it. And so time began again, -biologically speaking, anyway."</p> - -<p>"If Andrew Dearden or any of his kind get back there and manage to -abolish the 'D-C' bomb," said Kimnar, "then Xlarn will never have -been, and neither you nor I nor Galactic Civilization, with its myriad -worlds and metropoli and billions of star people and all their science -and culture, shall have ever evolved. And there you have a difficult -question. Is it better for us to relinquish our existence for the sake -of a civilization that might have continued, or to preserve a greater -one that actually exists <i>now</i>?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Before they could bring much concentration to bear upon this weighty -problem, a new situation diverted their attention. Inasmuch as the -three of them were standing by the transparent wall of the citadel and -facing shoreward, they could not help seeing the small industrial city -that suddenly sprang into being there. Again, up on the hill, was a -great black rocket, its nose pointing toward the threatening sky.</p> - -<p>But this was not New Bretania. Nor was it Texania. Nor was there the -slightest evidence of any type of conflict or preparations for defense, -except in the design of the rocket, itself.</p> - -<p>"That's a different alternate!" said Henry, instantly. "The city is -different—more heavily industrialized. See the steel mills? It's even -futuristic. Those insulator towers and antenna, for some kind of power -transmission—"</p> - -<p>"And that rocket is different—more efficient looking," observed -Martia. "It seems to carry armament. You can see the firing cupolas."</p> - -<p>"You're both very calm about it," said Kimnar. "Somebody has found the -Chronotron. Come on!"</p> - -<p>A moment after they had stepped through the teleporter, leaving the -island citadel deserted, the hyper-space receiver began to react to -signals. Lights flickered rapidly for several minutes. Then a human -voice boomed into the empty dome. It spoke in a strange language, -rapidly, urgently. But there was no operator there to reply....</p> - -<p>When Kimnar, Henry and Martia stepped through the teleporter, they -arrived in the circular room they had first visited in the subterranean -world of Xlarn.</p> - -<p>"There's somebody down here," said Henry.</p> - -<p>"They're in that room with the vision screens," added Martia.</p> - -<p>Kimnar frowned. "You're right, and I sense that one of them is Weston. -Let's have a closer look!"</p> - -<p>But already, it seemed, detectors had discovered their presence. In -three seconds they heard running footsteps and they saw the tell-tale -progression of light advancing toward them along the curved passageway.</p> - -<p>Two men came into view, to be followed by a man on crutches who -shouldered his way in between them.</p> - -<p>"Weston!" exclaimed Martia.</p> - -<p>"Dr. Edwards!" Henry cried out. Edwards was the man with the gun—the -same gun that Kimnar had used against Mlargn.</p> - -<p>The other member of the trio was the Indian Prince, his precious turban -now much disheveled and awry.</p> - -<p>"Aha!" cried Weston, grinning and leaning on his crutches with a -derisive air. "So the wanderers have returned!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The Indian Prince ran forward and kneeled before Henry, wringing his -hands in supplication. In his fat, brown face and his wide, brown eyes -was registered an expression of terror and desperation.</p> - -<p>"Henry!" he exclaimed. "Only you can give me the answer—it is all so -mixed up that I cannot understand. Only you can tell me if it's true!"</p> - -<p>"If <i>what</i> is true?" asked Kimnar.</p> - -<p>"Shut up, Mohammed!" yelled Weston. "Edwards knows what he's doing! -Tell them, Edwards!—before you plug 'em!"</p> - -<p>Since Edwards held the gun, he took time to explain. In his eyes was a -wild sort of triumph.</p> - -<p>"I don't know where you three have been," he said, "but in your -absence a great deal has happened. Since young Henry, here, has always -exhibited his great intelligence so willingly, perhaps he would -corroborate my own deductions—by doing some fast extrapolating!" He -said this last word through his teeth. There was a smile on his lips, -but not in his dark and wearied eyes.</p> - -<p>As he went on rapidly with his story, his three listeners were scanning -his mind for the rest of it, putting the whole picture together even -before he had finished.</p> - -<p>When Weston killed Mlargn, he managed to manipulate controls that -finally released all the others from their mental paralysis. He made -Lady Dewitt and the Texans show him the location of the Chronotron, and -under directions from the various scientists at his command a series -of experiments was conducted. Various power settings were utilized, -and test groups volunteered or were assigned to be sent back through -time. Some, they knew, might arrive in a place where conditions would -not be suitable for life. Others might perish in a world populated -by carnivorous monsters, or they might freeze, or drown in shoreless -oceans. But most of them seemed willing to risk it.</p> - -<p>It was Uncle Andy's group that produced the alternate time that the -three had witnessed from the citadel. This group had consisted of Andy, -Dr. Bauml, Dr. Singer, Valerie Roagland, Peggy Hollenbeck, and several -other men and women. Pee Bee, it developed, had been in the first -"group," which had consisted only of himself—as he had apparently -been in a suicidal mood and was desirous of giving the dice a roll for -double or nothing.</p> - -<p>Andy's group, it appeared, had only been thrown back about a thousand -years, because the "civilization" they founded was small and still -dedicated to the same goals which had been in the minds of the basic -group when they entered the Chronotron. These descendants remembered -their ancestors and carried some of their theories to the point of -physical application.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>In the meantime, only Weston, Edwards and the Prince remained below. -The alternate time civilization, which referred to itself as "Little -America," had appropriated the Xlarnan underworld facilities for -itself, and the three observers had found it necessary to conceal -themselves. To their dismay, the "Little Americans" had destroyed the -Chronotron in order to make certain that none of their group would ever -be tempted to snuff them out with a superimposed alternate.</p> - -<p>Far from abandoning the idea of returning to the world and time of -their ancestors' origin they had concentrated on time-travel theories -of their own, with the intention of evolving a more accurate method so -that they could be sure of where they were going.</p> - -<p>"You said something to me and your Uncle Andy on board the plane before -all this happened," Edwards remarked to Henry. "Something about novae -and super fast light rays being thrown along the Fourth Coordinate. -That must have started them on the road to their present discoveries -and development, because there's a ship out there now that only uses -rockets for take-off and navigational purposes. Once out in deep space -it is supposed to operate on Cosmic energy, or so we have heard. It -will go out faster than light. The idea is that when that happens it -will be rotated out of three dimensional space and be forced to expend -its extra velocity along the Fourth Coordinate, emerging in another -time when it again slows down to the speed of light. But this isn't -all. These scientists have worked out some new kind of mathematics -and seem convinced they have been able to determine the direction and -the rates of acceleration and deceleration necessary to deliver them -into any given era of time, past or future. And their flight equation -calls for the time we came from. Of course, they'll not hit it in the -first attempt, but all subsequent time-jumps will be like vernier -adjustments, focussing them down into the twentieth century—even that -specific part of it they're aiming for."</p> - -<p>"You can't let them do it!" exclaimed Kimnar. Weston, Edwards and the -Prince stared at him in mild astonishment.</p> - -<p>"I don't know what your objections may be, Scarface," said Edwards, -"but as a matter of fact we <i>don't</i> intend to let them get away with -it!"</p> - -<p>Weston grinned sadistically, his gold-capped teeth glistening. "You -see—<i>we</i> are going instead! Of course we'll cop their pilot, and he'll -do what we tell him. And here's another little point. I'm not so sharp -with the science, so Edwards will tell you that, too. Tell them about -Africa, Doc!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The three listeners tensed. They saw it coming. The "Little Americans" -were well aware of Andy's connection with the D-C bomb. Andy, too, had -been able to deduce, largely from the lack of ocean tides in this world -of Xlarn, that it could have been the bomb that had brought the world -of Xlarn into being by the destruction of the moon. The most sacred -admonishment to his descendants in alternate time had been to find -a way of getting back to the twentieth century and prevent the bomb -from being launched. That single act would enable the original Earth -civilization to continue, and Xlarn would cease to exist.</p> - -<p>"It's all a nice, neat package," said Weston, "because don't forget I -worked that French Morocco project, too, and I know how to sabotage -that damned rocket! Then to make the whole story turn out real pretty -with a happy ending, we have Mohammed here to pay off like he said, for -getting him back home!"</p> - -<p>The Prince still looked at Henry, his turban almost down over his eyes. -"You have heard!" he cried out. "Tell me, Henry! Can it be done?"</p> - -<p>"There's just one little technicality," said Henry. "How do you propose -to capture that Cosmic drive rocket outside?"</p> - -<p>Weston grinned again, and Dr. Edwards explained. "Our friends upstairs -never suspected our existence. They probably assumed we got lost -somewhere in the Chronotron. Having had no one to defend themselves -against, they have produced no weapons of any description, with the -exception of those they have installed on the rocket, for use when they -get back to the twentieth century, if necessary, to force the issue -concerning the D-C bomb. So they are quite vulnerable to a surprise -attack. This gun should do the trick easily enough. It is fully loaded."</p> - -<p>"What of their superior numbers?" asked Kimnar. But he read the answer -before it was voiced.</p> - -<p>"The poor devils were quite aware of the reaction sphere," Edwards -answered. "There isn't much time left, you know. They chose their -pilgrims, and the rest—"</p> - -<p>Martia paled. "All dead!" she exclaimed.</p> - -<p>Edwards shrugged. "Euthanasia. Tragic, perhaps, but very convenient. -We only have six men to contend with."</p> - -<p>"I don't want to appear too forward about all this," said Kimnar, -slipping back into the sarcastic dialect of Scarface, "but we'd like to -ride in that star buggy, ourselves. Maybe you can use another hand in -your surprise attack?"</p> - -<p>Henry and Martia looked at him quizzically, then their brows furrowed -in deeper puzzlement as they read the weighty thing that was in his -mind.</p> - -<p>"To hell with you," yelled Weston. "I owe you something for that lousy -deal you gave me on the rock. On second thought, maybe a bullet would -be too easy. Maybe you should wait and see the sky blow up. You and the -kids wouldn't want to miss all the pretty fireworks, now would you?"</p> - -<p>The Prince sprang into action. Swiftly, he took up a position in front -of Henry, Martia and Kimnar. Trembling, and with arms outspread, -he cried out, "If you leave them, you can leave me, too! Shoot -me—anything! But Henry and his friends are sacred! They go, or I stay!"</p> - -<p>Dr. Edwards grimaced, looked at his gun, then at Weston. The latter -glowered at the Prince, menacingly.</p> - -<p>Finally, he muttered an oath that made Martia's face turn crimson. And -he added, "What's the difference! We'll take you as excess baggage, but -on condition you'll follow orders. Edwards here is going to be awful -nervous on that trigger, so don't try anything."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The surface world was very warm and the sky was sickeningly bright. -Vegetation drooped, dried up, dead or dying, and the plant stench of -rot was in the degenerating air. In the mind of every sweating human -left on Xlarn was one thought:</p> - -<p><i>It can happen any second now....</i></p> - -<p>Driven by the deadly threat of the sky, Weston and Edwards did not -waste time on strategy. They approached the rocket base directly, out -in the open, in the glaring light. The pilot and one other man was -inside. Four others met them, in mild astonishment, but there was very -little time for conversation.</p> - -<p>When Weston let them know his intention, and when they looked at Dr. -Edwards' gun, they smiled, resignedly.</p> - -<p>"What is life or death to us now?" said the spokesman, a somewhat older -man than the others. "The main consideration is our common purpose. -You, too, want to stop the <i>bomb</i>. And if Doctor Edwards here is, as -you say, a prominent authority known to that time, his influence would -be greater than ours. As long as you intend to take Kennedy, the pilot, -our efforts and sacrifices shall not have been in vain. Go—before it -is too late!"</p> - -<p>Once at the ladder Weston threw the crutches away and practically -pulled himself up to the airlock with his powerful arms. Edwards -followed close behind with his gun, and then came Martia, Henry and -Kimnar, who gave the Prince a helping hand as he climbed.</p> - -<p>The four on the ground watched silently for five minutes.</p> - -<p>Then they saw their colleague, Mark Thixton, climb down out of the -rocket. That left Kennedy alone—with those others.</p> - -<p>Thixton walked over to his waiting friends. "Seven of them," he said. -"The two youngsters will have to share an acceleration sling together." -After a long moment he added, "Pray God they make it in time!"</p> - -<p>The others said nothing. They only hoped Kennedy would take off fast -enough to get through that raving pile in the sky. The radiation -insulation was excellent in that ship, but they still wondered if -escape would be possible.</p> - -<p><i>It can happen any second now....</i></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When Martia pulled out of the blackness that she had fallen into during -acceleration, she began to cry. Henry could read the thought in her -mind. Those brave, kind men back there—left to die.</p> - -<p>Then came a disturbing thought from Kimnar who lay in the sling above -them: <i>You realize that we are through the reaction sphere. If they -succeed in their purpose, you and I cease to exist. But what really -matters is Galactic Civilization! That, too, will evaporate and be -non-existent!</i></p> - -<p>Henry and Martia were too weak to think back at him. But they thought -to themselves. Earth, as they had known it, with its teeming billions -of people and its cities and sciences and cultures.</p> - -<p><i>And its wars and nationalisms and ideologies and greed and -corruption!</i>—interposed Kimnar's thought, vehemently.</p> - -<p>But its beaches under the blue skies and a real, normal sun, with the -children bathing and laughing, and its theatres and arts, its churches -and universities and—Paris! Think of Paris! If they could stop the -bomb, all that would continue to be—</p> - -<p><i>I can show you six thousand cities greater than Paris! And if you -consider Earth, then think of solar systems—dozens of worlds greater -than Earth—more advanced, benevolent, civilized, where men cannot lie -and cheat because they know each other's hearts and minds! Weigh all -that against one world!</i></p> - -<p><i>No</i>—thought Henry, at last. <i>Consider Earth's own future expansion, -if saved from cataclysm. Think of its own possibilities of reaching for -the stars and also establishing a Galactic Civilization!</i></p> - -<p>Kimnar did not respond.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Suddenly, Kennedy came out of his straps and yelled. He was looking out -the great vision port, from which the radiation shielding had been -removed. Everybody sat up and stared into outer space.</p> - -<p>In the lower part of their field vision was the Great Ring that had -once been the moon, and below it was the glowing reaction sphere that -covered Xlarn. It looked like an incandescent Saturn, with the mighty -star-walls of Infinity rising behind it. But even this tremendous -spectacle was insignificant in its effect when compared with ten other -prominent objects out there.</p> - -<p>"Space ships!" shouted Weston. "Where the hell—"</p> - -<p>Ten great spheres, with rods at top and bottom and thick rings around -their "equators," as though they were space-flying gyroscopes. They -were converging slowly upon the rocket.</p> - -<p>"Shall I tell you what they are?" asked Kimnar enthusiastically. "They -are in the hands of Fate!"</p> - -<p>"If you know what they are, don't get corny, Scarface!" roared Weston, -climbing out of his sling and grabbing the gun from Edwards. "Spill it!"</p> - -<p>Calmly but swiftly, Kimnar told the story, and he explained the issue -that hung in the balance—Earth's alternate future against this already -existing Galactic Civilization.</p> - -<p>"Here and now," he concluded, "Fate can decide. Perhaps it is not in -our own hands, after all."</p> - -<p>Dr. Edwards stared at him aghast, the whole explanation of Henry's and -Martia's precociousness striking him at last. Then he looked again at -the approaching spheres.</p> - -<p>"Do they know what we represent?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Yes," smiled Kimnar. "I communicated the message to them some time -ago. I thought I was lying to them then, or doing some wishful -thinking, merely to make them come for us—but now it's no longer a -lie. You <i>can</i> stop that moon bomb and strike a new alternate across a -billion years of space and time! But if you do, I and my friends and a -Galactic Civilization will cease to exist!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>All this time, the pilot, Kennedy, had been like a man coming out of -anesthesia. He was a tall, gaunt young fellow with heavy, forward -jutting brows and far seeing eyes. His long chin was way out as he -watched everything and listened, with his wiry right hand lying inertly -beside the simple bank of the ship's main controls.</p> - -<p>"Kennedy!" yelled Weston. "What kind of guns are in those blisters?"</p> - -<p>The pilot stared at him. "They fire one pound projectiles—nuclear -bombs."</p> - -<p>"<i>That</i> is for me! Come on, Edwards! To your station!" Before anyone -could stop him, he was swinging lightly away, from support to support, -under the gravity free condition of free fall.</p> - -<p>"Better strap in tight!" called Kennedy, coming to life at last. "If -I'm going to maneuver out here, you're going to feel some Gs!"</p> - -<p>"Let's go!" they heard Weston reply, from his blister. And Edwards was -already on his way to the other position.</p> - -<p>Grimly, the pilot shifted into emergency flight position and strapped -himself in, while Kimnar and Henry and Martia watched him. They heard -the Indian Prince stuttering through his prayers again.</p> - -<p>"Kennedy," said Kimnar, half rising in his sling. "Don't do it!"</p> - -<p>"You better stay strapped," replied the other. Even as he spoke, a -great weight pressed upon them and the firmament outside began to -revolve, sweeping Xlarn and the star ships momentarily out of sight.</p> - -<p>"Kennedy!" persisted Kimnar, doggedly, in spite of the mounting -pressure "Think this over! One world—Earth—cannot be worth twelve -civilized solar systems! Let me contact those star men for you! You -could continue to live—"</p> - -<p>Everybody came close to blacking out as the rocket swept down over -the row of globular ships and shook with recoil from Weston's and -Edward's firing. A horrifying scene of exploding spheres swept by -the observation panels, and Martia screamed in her mixed despair. -Kimnar sweated profusely. Henry tensed his mind, preparing to paralyze -Kennedy. It was an irresistible impulse, not quite tied to logic.</p> - -<p><i>No!</i>—came Kimnar's thought to him. <i>I have decided against that kind -of coercion. There's something bigger out here than we. Call it Fate, -if you will. And that power alone will have to decide! We can only -propose!</i></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was in that moment that Fate cut the cord. An eye-searing light -filled the cabin, and Kennedy shrieked—"The reaction sphere!"</p> - -<p>The planet once known as Earth burst into a minor nova, blasting its -Great Ring into spiraling shreds and tatters of celestial tinsel. In -the face of that swiftly advancing flame, the star ships that had -survived the rocket's first onslaught flicked safely into hyper-space, -and Kennedy <i>tried</i> to stand enough Gs of acceleration to keep ahead of -it. He barely made it.</p> - -<p>But Weston and Edwards did not. At first they were blinded, utterly, by -the blast, unprotected as they were in the blisters. Then, as a very -small fraction of that searing wave licked out at the rocket, the hull -resisted but the blisters fused and exploded. An airlock sealed the gun -compartments off from the rocket's cabin, but the remains of the two -gunners drifted into the turbulent ether.</p> - -<p>There was one other decisive effect of the holocaust. Certain delicate -apparatus connected with the collection and storing of Cosmic energy -was also fused and made useless, before it had hardly begun to store up -for the intended work ahead.</p> - -<p>"That does it!" panted Kennedy. "We're licked!"</p> - -<p>"No we're not," said Kimnar, nodding toward the observation panel. -His tear-flooded eyes were struggling out of the momentarily induced -blindness and he saw that the rocket had turned so that the glare of -the explosion was not visible.</p> - -<p>Instead, there was the towering, eternal firmament, and in it had -suddenly materialized one of the star man spheres, glistening brightly -in the light that their eyes were now being spared. Kennedy watched it -helplessly as it approached.</p> - -<p>Henry and Martia became aware of minds probing them gingerly and -communing with Kimnar—minds of the star men, who had not struck back -immediately because they had been hoping to rescue some of their own -kind and take them home....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><i>While a bewildered but grateful man named Kennedy and a wide-eyed -Indian Prince followed Kimnar, Henry and Martia into a scintillating -civilization in far off space and time, a secret rocket experiment was -being concluded in French Morocco. In the nose of the rocket was a D-C -bomb, which was to be detonated on the surface of the moon.</i></p> - -<p><i>No one who had entered the Chronotron, at Weston's insistence, had -succeeded in reaching the twentieth century and altering the future by -a hair. But Pee Bee had shot far behind the line, landing somewhere -in the 8th century B.C. No change in original Cause can ever fail to -precipitate an equal degree of change in final Effect. Yet the world -that existed between the 8th century B.C. and the twentieth century -A.D. was not greatly shaken by having a few lines of print changed here -and there in various histories, reference books and encyclopedias. It -seemed that there never had been such a word as billiards. There was an -ancient game known as pool (Egypt.—puul), the origin of which was not -England, but in the glorious imperial days of Ethiopia, when Egypt was -one of its provinces and a famous emperor referred to later by Roman -historians as Pibeus, invented it to amuse his harem of two hundred -wives....</i></p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHILDREN OF THE CHRONOTRON ***</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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