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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77610 ***
[Illustration: Henshaw approached the window, his incredulity
vanishing.]
THE COLOR OF SPACE
By Charles R. Tanner
Illustrated by Frank R. Paul
FIRST PRIZE $150.00 Awarded to
THE COLOR OF SPACE
In awarding Mr. Tanner the first prize of $150.00 in our very
interesting cover contest, we were impressed, in the first
place, with the excellent way in which he developed his story.
It is a pity that too few science fiction authors consider the
story or fiction element of their work to be important enough to
demand a great deal of careful thought and preparation.
We want emphatically to encourage these writers, who have the
knack of developing an interesting story, one that carries you
breathlessly through its incidents and comes to a natural
climax.
Mr. Tanner further was not content to take the cover at its face
value, but he tried to analyze its meaning and penetrate its
possible significance. This he does in a very convincing manner
and we think our readers will agree that the startling
conclusion to his story was foreshadowed by what went on before.
Mr. Tanner is, we believe, a newcomer to science fiction; yet by
the exercise of his splendid powers of observation and facility
for developing incidents, he can become a writer of no mean
excellence.
THE COLOR OF SPACE
Dr. Henshaw faced his captor wrathfully.
“Have _you_ kept me here, doped for a week?” he began. The Russian
interrupted him with a quieting gesture.
“Wait, Doctor,” he said, “there is much that must be explained before
you indict me. Have you no curiosity regarding your kidnapping or this
room in which you find yourself?” His eloquent gesture took in the
strange metal walls, the two doors and the immense, shuttered, circular
window that covered almost all of one wall.
“I think I understand clearly why I was kidnapped,” growled Henshaw.
“It’s that secret process of mine. Russia and France have both been
making frantic efforts to persuade me to sell. But I won’t.”
“Really, Doctor. After my explanation I do think you will agree to sell
it to Russia. Much has happened in the week that you have been
unconscious.” And seating himself in the room’s only chair, Godonoff
went on:
“The day after I--er--kidnapped you, a series of events were started,
resulting in a war in which Russia faces the rest of Europe. Troops have
massed on the Polish border, and the Powers expected to invade Russia
immediately. Then suddenly news came from Paris that the Eiffel Tower
had disappeared! Was this the work of Russia? Hard upon this news came
the reports of the disappearance of the Nelson monument from Trafalgar
Square, in London, and of the Woolworth Building torn from its
foundations in New York. That turned the tide. Panic attacked the
Powers. I’m afraid the morale of your Western nations is crumbling now,
Dr. Henshaw.”
“What’s the explanation?” asked Henshaw, dazedly.
“Just this, Doctor,” the Russian answered: “Our scientists have
succeeded in overcoming gravitation! Eight years ago, two of our
scientists, while attempting to disprove the Langmuir theory of the
construction of the atom, managed, by the use of terrific pressure, to
combine helium and fluorine. As you know, helium has never before been
combined with any element. The result was a dark green solid that was
absolutely weightless. _And further investigation showed that an
electric current passed through it caused an absolute negation of
gravity._
“Armed with this great weapon, our government began the construction of
three great ships, designed to fly through the atmosphere or, if
necessary, beyond it. The first was one hundred meters in diameter, and
was such a success that the others were made four times as large! It is
these vast machines that have stolen those great buildings! What do you
think will be the effect, Doctor, when Russia tells the Powers tomorrow
to search for their lost buildings on Venus? Do you think they will feel
like going to war with a nation that can accomplish such miracles?”
“Do you expect me to believe you?” asked Henshaw cynically.
Godonoff rose and moved over to the huge circular window. He began to
turn a wheel that opened the window’s metal shutters.
“Due to certain work which I had accomplished in America,” he said, “the
government honored me by placing me in command of the smallest of the
machines. In order to secure your secret, Doctor, I took the liberty of
bringing you along when the machines left for Venus. You are now 170,000
miles from the earth, and traveling fast. I offer you your return in
exchange for the secret.”
Still smiling, Godonoff released the wheel and turned to Henshaw.
“And, Doctor, if you care for proof....” and he gestured toward the now
uncovered window.
Henshaw approached the window, his incredulity seemingly vanishing as he
gazed at the stupendous scene without. Stars--millions of stars--covered
the entire view. Above, below, everywhere, stars swung in a mighty sweep
around him from left to right as though the entire heaven were spinning
like a stupendous top.
And as he gazed, earth and moon swept into view. The latter was almost
hidden behind one of two disc-like machines that hung between the earth
and Henshaw’s viewpoint. The doctor caught a glimpse of a great brassy
reflecting surface, a central apparatus resembling a solar engine, and
tremendous tentacles that held a huge building in their grasp. Then
machines, earth and moon had swept past the window and only the stars
appeared.
When he turned, he found the Russian beside him, looking over his
shoulder.
“Are we--rotating?” Henshaw asked, his disbelief turned to awe.
“Yes,” Godonoff nodded, “the centrifugal force of our rotation is what
gives the effect of gravity in the car.”
As Godonoff spoke, earth, moon and the great machines again swept into
view and this time, Henshaw was able to secure a better view of them. He
saw that the building in the grasp of the foremost machine was really
the Woolworth, and that the farther one held the Eiffel Tower in its
arms.
The machines swept out of view, but in a few minutes appeared again.
Godonoff began proudly to explain them.
“That brass surface reflects the greater part of the sun’s rays.
Although space is intensely cold, when the rays strike directly on
anything, they heat it up to a remarkable degree. As you see, we reflect
most of the heat from the machine’s surface; what we need is absorbed by
the solar engine in the center. Note the curved mirrors which reflect
the heat to the central cylindrical steam boiler. The steam generated
runs the turbines that generate electricity to heat and operate the
whole machine.
“See that green globe in the middle of the machine?” he continued as the
machines swung past again, “that’s the helium fluoride. An electric
current is passed through it, when we first leave the earth, but, after
a good speed is secured, our inertia carries us on.”
“What are those two searchlight beams?” asked Henshaw.
“They are not light beams, Doctor. They are hollow cones of gas, lit up
by the sun. The helium fluoride is not a stable substance; it slowly
decomposes into its elements. The resulting gases are forced through
pipes and through the boiler of the solar engine, where the heat expands
them and drives them at high pressure through the nozzles you see. The
recoil of the resulting jets is used for steering the disc.”
Henshaw turned back into the room, his eyes dazed by the view of the
rapidly revolving heavens.
“That door,” he said, pointing, “it leads to outer space?” The Russian
eyed him narrowly and then nodded.
“I suppose you’ve bolted it,” Henshaw went on smilingly, “so that I
can’t leap out into space and take my secret with me?”
“Oh, no,” Godonoff answered. “It was locked when we left the earth, and
I’ve just left it that way. I’ll unlock it, but don’t think it can be
opened. With fifteen pounds of air pressure on this side and a vacuum on
the other, wild horses couldn’t open it.”
As he spoke, he unbolted the door and stepped back, smiling. Like a
flash, Henshaw flung himself at the door, and jerking it open, fled
through. Darting down the long hall in which he found himself, he tore
open another door, and before Godonoff could gather his startled wits,
he hurled it open and was out! ... Finding himself in a well-lighted,
well-populated street, Dr. Henshaw walked calmly away.
The next day, an admiring group of reporters listened in amazement to
Henshaw’s story of the kidnapping.
“Godonoff’s story, the metal room, and all the rest were just staged to
put me in the proper mind to divulge my secret,” he said as he finished.
“The scene that I witnessed through the window was probably a cleverly
designed motion picture. You know how uncannily natural these
orthochromatic stereopictures are.”
“But, Doctor,” interrupted one of the men: “It took nerve to open that
door. How did you know that you wouldn’t find yourself in interplanetary
space?”
Henshaw’s eyes twinkled.
“I was quite positive before I opened the door that I wasn’t in
interplanetary space. In the first place, as the Russian said, if we
were in free space, I couldn’t open it. Then, when the Russian designed
his little show, he made two rather inexcusable mistakes. In the first
place, the disc nearest me, when lighted by the sun, would have made a
reflection of such an intense brilliance that I would have been unable,
even, to look at it. Then again, he pictured the sky as it appears to us
on earth--deep blue, and sprinkled with stars. As we know, the bluish
tinge of our midnight sky is caused only by the diffusion of the faint
starlight by our atmosphere. In space, the sky would appear a black of
the deepest jet. Furthermore, there would be seen ten times as many
stars as were perceptible from the space ship. Therefore, with these
fundamental mistakes in the little drama, I was quite sure I would find
a city street beyond that door.”
Transcriber's note: This story appeared in the March 1930 issue of
_Science Wonder Stories_ magazine.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77610 ***
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