There was a discussion in the garden in which Dana Gleason, a handsome matron with but a faint show of gray in her black hair, was apparently the leading factor. “Yes, Elsie,” she was saying, “I quite agree with Mr. Kington, Dick and Ezra that it is only right that you repeat the tale of your adventures with your revered husband, Moura. It really belongs to the history of Earth and Abrui, for never has there been a greater figure than Moura-weit in all time, and he belongs to us almost as much as to you. We certainly ought to know more about him.
“Here under these familiar stars of his, he would be glad to have you repeat the past. Only tell us, and I myself will write it down later so that all of our worlds can know their benefactor better!”
A slow, gentle smile wreathed the lips of the woman of the void, as the Abruians were wont to call Moura-weit’s widow. Slowly she glanced about the circle at its various members. Her eyes lingered longest on the face of her son, then crept beyond the group to where Ubca-tor, Moura-weit’s closest friend sat on a bench detached from the others. It was to his nod that she responded before she began to speak. She was silent a moment and seemed to collect her thoughts.
“All right, Dana, if you put it that way it is only right that I do what you wish, only remember, that at best I am a poor hand at story-telling. I wish I had the power to present the tale to you mentally, but that is beyond me.”
“You need not apologize to us, Elsie. We know the telling will be hard for you.”
THE STORY
ALMOST all of you, began Elsie, were at one time acquainted with Moura-weit. You knew him as a man who was set apart from other men because he was made of other things than men are made of[3], a man whose brain had delved into every science and who took from the minds of his fellowmen all that he required for himself! Once, when he was young, he had made the mistake of being too ambitious, and in his ambition was prepared to break any man or woman who stood in his way, but he had learned in a hard school where he had erred and the remainder of his life was spent in considering others instead of himself. Everything he did henceforth was done for the good of humanity, expiation for his early sins And he died because he sought to save another from making the same hideous mistakes he himself had made. He crossed the outer void to accomplish that deed!
When Moura came to the little bungalow on the African veldt where Uncle Ezra and I had continued to live quietly since that memorial night when Dana and Dick had departed ostensibly for Mars, the wounds in his heart had not yet been healed. Moura was just learning the truth about himself and was hurt by what he had discovered. In turn, I hated him thoroughly when he told us the part he had played in the lives of our friends, his villainous attitude toward them, but I pitied him too, for in his eyes was all the suffering he had been through. In bringing to the professor word from Dana and Dick, word that they were safe and happy at last, he had forged the first links in the chain that bound him to his new self!
Moura had not wished to tell us his name after relating the story of the adventures of the two Earthlings on Abrui in which he had figured so strongly as villain, that he had all but ruined their chances for happiness, and all but ruined a world, but he was too much a man to lie when Uncle Ezra asked his name, so he had given us the truth. Again, he had no desire to carry us with him into space; he wished for no other companionship as yet but that of his one true friend, the golden man, who preferred exile with him to freedom with his people on Abrui. Yet he conceded to the old scientist’s wishes, because he was able to appreciate what it meant for the old professor to have the chance to see at first hand the universe he had known only through the telescope.
There were five of us in the Yodverl when it headed away from Earth; Ubca-tor, Moura-weit, Urto, Uncle Ezra and myself. The ship, as you know, is readily piloted by a single man for once out of the confines of a world the controls are locked, the pilot only being necessary when the ship was passing through dangerous areas filled with meteorites or aerolites. At these times all three of the Abruians took their spells, Urto could manage the ship as well as Moura or Ubca.
When Richard Dorr freed the golden men of Moata from their slavery to the Tabora, Urto might have gone free, too, being a prince in his own name, but like Ubca, he had preferred exile with Moura. Both of them would have laid their lives down for him, if the need was ever to arise. Urto did try to save Moura when he fell on the planet, Kal, but though he died, he was unable to save his master.
As for myself I could not help but admire the man, Moura, even though I detested him for what he had almost done to my friends on Abrui. He was a handsome man judging from both Earth and Abrui standards, with an arresting personality that forced one to like him regardless of what he had done or failed to do. (Here Dana Gleason nodded affirmatively.) Later I was to know what it meant to love him far more intensely than I hated him, but that did not come immediately.
I had not wanted to go on this trip from Earth. I dreaded it, fearful of what could happen out there in space, but Uncle Ezra would have it no other way. He had told me I was free to stay home, but of course I would not allow him to go without me. He had been mother and father to me, the only person who belonged to me, in fact. He was an old man already when he had sent the rocket to Mars, and the years during which he awaited the message from Dana had aged him more than the years should have done. Now, I had the feeling that he was not to return to Earth alive.
CHAPTER II
Sunward!
YOU all know as much about the mechanics of the Yodverl as the Interplanetary Commission are willing for you to know, as much as I do, in fact, for I am not a scientist enough to understand it all fully. We do know that after years of study, Moura had discovered that each planet, each sun, tosses off vibratory impulses into space, vibrations that Moura carefully has plotted for us, and which the simple radium motors of the Yodverl are attuned to as a magnet is attuned to its lodestone and attracted to it as uerringly as the arrow goes to the bull’s eye. Magnetic streams we call them.
Uncle Ezra had asked that first we visit Sol, as close as it was humanly possible to go, and Moura had set his intricate dials, allying his ship to the vibratory impulses of the sun. As yet there were no gravity nullifiers on the Yodverl, so the ship had to depend wholly upon the sun’s attraction to draw us from Earth’s bosom which, as Moura explained to us, was not entirely dependable as long as we were within Earth’s blanket which tended to shut away much of the impulses. Consequently, our trip through the Earth’s blanket was not overly pleasant, for we went in jerks and starts that threw us from our balance as Earth intervened continually, seeking to hold us to her. Once it seemed as if Earth should surely regain us as we went into a fall of several thousand feet, but Moura at the dials quickly switched them from the sun to the moon gleaming there in the night sky. The change steadied us, and the meters told us we were rising properly.
Moura suggested now that both Uncle and I retire to couches in the atol so that we should not suffer too intensely from space-sickness that would be brought upon us by the change from Earth’s gravitational pull to a weightless condition. The Abruians were accustomed to these changes, but we would feel its full force. Uncle Ezra did not wish to leave the pilot room but I went docilely enough, and I was glad to hide my face in the cushions in the attempt to forget what was happening.
I must have fallen asleep for a while for when I became aware of my surroundings, I felt horribly sick, so sick that I wanted to die then and there. I could not open my eyes for the room would spin around and around. Then I had the sensation as though I had been strapped down with heavy bonds and could not move a muscle. This sensation persisted for a number of minutes, became certain reality, so again I essayed to open my eyes to peer about. The room was steadier this time, and sure enough I saw I was bound down to the couch with heavy straps, one across my chest, the other across the thighs. What could it mean? Frantically looking about, I saw on the couch near at hand that Uncle Ezra had been dealt with in the same manner.
&n
bsp; Thoroughly frightened, I sought the answer. Had we been made prisoners in our sleep? But why? Were we not prisoners enough on this space-ship? Quaking with fear I did not know what I awaited. My vigil was not for long. Urto appeared in the doorway. He carried a tray on which he was holding two long rubber bladders and he was smiling.
In astonishment, I watched him approach, for never had I seen a man walk as he walked, strange, slow slithering walk, in which he did not raise his feet from the floor. He came in this fashion to the side of my couch, and I shrank away from him as far as my straps would allow, now certain that he must be drunk or out of his head, for he had taken one of his rubber bladders from his tray, which he had set down on the floor carefully, then held it toward my face. I started to struggle while he was saying something in a soothing voice. He spoke but a few words in English and those were unintelligible to me-until later, when I had learned to understand him better. Now the situation was made more horrible, for I thought I was in the hands of a madman. While he sought to fasten the bladder over my mouth and nose, I strove to evade it by turning from side to side.
All the while he was seeking to soothe away my fears, to coerce me into submitting to his ministrations. I might have screamed, but so intent was my struggle, I never thought to use my voice and at last he succeeded in accomplishing what he wished. When the open mouth of the bladder was over my mouth and nose, there was nothing for me to do but to try to breathe, and in breathing, I was doing what he wanted me to do, I was taking into my lungs the contents of the bladder. It was a sweetish, clean odor that came to me; then the bladder was empty and I was choking for air. Quickly Urto removed it from my face and then busied himself in removing the straps that held me down. Immediately I was surprised at the feeling of well-being that filled me. All sickness was gone, and I felt as free and light as thistle-down. Sitting up suddenly I was shocked to find myself shooting from the couch straight into the center of the room and up until my head met the ceiling!
URTO seemed to have expected just such a movement on my part and I felt him grasp one of my feet as he pulled me down to the floor again. Standing shakily on my feet, I understood it all and began to laugh—to laugh until the tears came. Urto laughed in comradely fashion with me. First he had strapped me down to the couch so I would not go floating off from it in my present weightless condition, then he had only sought to settle my stomach with the inhalation of the mixed gases in his rubber bag! And I, silly fool, had misunderstood it all!
At that moment Ubca-tor appeared in the doorway and came with a dragging walk towards us to inquire solicitously as to my condition. I told him how great I felt, and as Urto turned to minister to Uncle Ezra who had just opened his eyes, we watched the operation. The old professor showed no surprise at what was done to him, and then he was on his feet exclaiming at what a wondrous sensation it was to be without weight. Between the two of them, Ubca and Urto taught us the first rudiments of space-walking. We were very awkward at first, and more often than not had to reach for a support. Left alone, we might easily lose our equilibrium and go floating off to the ceiling, then to settle in the center of the chamber between floor and ceiling with nothing near to cling to. For the first few days the two of us kept the Abruians busy rescuing us. We had, instead, to learn to control our every movement, to walk slowly and not to make a too sharp turn or gesture. Later, we accomplished the feat of air swimming, so that with flaying arms and legs we could push ourselves through the weightless air to some destination.
Presently, by taking our arms, Ubca and Urto led us to the pilot room where Moura awaited us. Looking through the clear glass of the pilot room I was nonplussed by what I saw. No one can picture that awful wonder of space, and when I saw Earth dwindled in size so that I could no longer make out the shape of its continents, I cried out in pain. There was the moon in quadrant slowly moving on its way beside Earth, growing smaller and smaller as we drew away: Later, as the distance grew greater, Earth commenced to become slightly luminous, and the wonder and beauty of the aurora with its glorious streams more than several thousand feet in height was an inspiring sight.
And now the sun was shining full upon us, so brightly it hurt the eyes to look at the great globe. Later, a black curtain had to be drawn around the walls of the pilot room, else the light and heat there would have become intolerable. In the living quarters it was better since the light shone through the walls above obliquely and we received only the afterglow. Of course, only the forepart of the ship was receiving the full blast of the sun, and the radium treated shell was gathering the energy to store away for further use or to redistribute so as to keep the ship at an even temperature throughout.
As you are aware, the energy from the sun does not actually come to us as heat. The waves merely carry the energy, which becomes heat only when it acts on or against a substance that is capable of translating it as such. A black rough surface does not reflect the heat and the waves will pass through a transparent object without warming or lighting it. And but for the fact that there were solids in our ship, we would have received neither heat nor light. As it was, the rear of the ship had none of this but felt the bitter cold and darkness of space so it required an intricate system of heating and refrigeration to keep the ship comfortable throughout its length at all times. However, as we drew nearer and nearer Sol less heat was needed and more frigeration was used instead, else we could not have stood the close approach to the sun.
Day after day slipped by as we neared Sol, and we were all filled with wonder at the great yellow body. Here was no atmosphere to refract the rays and it was possible to study the great sunspots by the hour, and to chart their courses, for this was a year of many magnetic storms on the star. Above and all around us were the distant stars of the galaxy, the Milky Way, the wondrous sash girdling the whole cosmos. The more brilliant stars, Sirius, Capella, Vega, Canopus, Alpha Centauri, Betelgeuse and others sparkled and shone like jewels, unblinkingly brilliant and glowing in all their natural colors of red, yellow, green, violet, orange, steel-blue and blue-white. Each constellation showed in all its perfect beauty and we could see clearly the component parts of a number of the double stars or binaries. The clouds of the Milky Way were glorious formations, making bright the otherwise black night, making us feel just how small we of the almost insignificant planet Earth and of Abrui were. Here were the five of us daring the Infinite, sheltered by walls of glass, small atoms in the worlds of immensity.
Venus lay far to the right of us and we were barely able to make out Mercury against the splendor of the sun’s corona, but soon Venus was passed by and gradually the diminutive Mercury detached himself from the limb of Sol to allow us to see him more clearly and to think what life would be on that hot-cold little world.
On leaving Earth, we were traveling at the leisurely rate of one hundred and fifty miles per second. Moura feared to travel any faster than that in approaching the sun for of course Sol’s power is tremendous and once we were in his grip it was a question as to whether or not we could have pulled out. As it was, we never fully headed toward him, and upon coming within about twenty million miles or so of him we veered away and then commenced the journey around his great bulk using his emanations now as a brake against him. The journey around the star was short, and throughout the trip, the ship rocked as if in a heavy gale. The sight that met our eyes when we dared to look for a short space of time was a terrible one. After one or two glances through the mirror Moura had rigged up in the pilot room (it would have been impossible to look directly at the sun and keep our eyes intact) I gleaned most of my knowledge of that sight from the copious notes Uncle Ezra afterwards wrote. He had brought a number of note books as well as several astronomical instruments with him, with which he had busied himself during the entire trip, and for hours thereafter he did nothing but write upon his new discoveries of the sunspots, mighty prominences, chromosphere, reversing layer and photosphere.
As far as we knew, we were the first living beings to have ever appro
ached so close to Sol. Perhaps others, from Mars or some of the moons of Jupiter or Saturn, had come before us, but here there were no monuments to man’s achievements, and none to answer our questions. Had we not donned dark insulated clothing as well as the dark glasses, we could not have come through with a whole skin for now the glare was coming through the ceiling of the living quarters and the heat was at broiling point. When we withdrew from the sun’s direct rays, we found our skins badly burned with all that, and for two days we were partially blinded. But it was worth the experience to see the delight in the pale eyes of the old scientist.
CHAPTER III
SWINGING away from the sun now at a tangent, we headed for Mercury, which lay on an angle from us at about thirty million miles. Uncle was anxious to explore there and we all felt a need of a rest upon terra firma no matter how uninviting it might be. So far I have failed to mention some of the dangers we had to pass through in approaching Sol, dangers that would no longer be present. But that was before Moura had invented the meteorite deflector. In passing into the area surrounding Sol, we found on the entire trip there and outward to Mercury that every minute we were in danger of being struck by the space stones, free agents torn from stars or surging through space by themselves and caught in the grip of Sol. They came plunging toward him at terrific speeds to fall like pebbles into the burning heart of the great star.
A lookout had had to watch continually so we could dodge these ‘stones,’ two of which had been the size of small moons, but on turning in the direction of Mercury we ran into a swarm. Luckily there were no large ones in the mass, none measuring more than six feet or so in diameter with most of them from a few inches across to about one or two feet. Ubca who was at the controls dodged the larger fragments, and we could hear the smaller ones ofttimes impinging against the Yodverl’s sides, but we did not worry about them for they could do no damage to our glass shell. However, we were glad when we passed the swarm.
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