by Jerry
Thousands of tiny ships operated by remote control and carrying television apparatus were sent out to keep watch upon the Magellanian column. Those small ships were nothing but tiny dark bullets carrying no light and amazingly fast. Through them came the first inkling that the column was slowing down and coming to a stop. On huge television screens at the headquarters of the Confederation the intense activity within the column was watched with great anxiety. The column was splitting into three parts, the center force beginning to resume the column’s forward sweep to the galaxy, the other two forces were veering off to attack it from different points.
The Magellanians commanding the main column before it split must have grown contemptuous of the strength of the defenders, for ridiculous was the ease with which the fleets of slow ships armed with puny rays and obsolete cannon firing explosive missiles attempting to bar their way had been destroyed. They may have conceded that the creatures manning those ships of space were brave enough, but the ships, compared to their own mighty fighting craft, were hopelessly outclassed.
In the interval of time while the invaders had stopped and divided their column, the Supreme Council had gathered together from the ends of the galaxy one of the greatest aggregations of fleets that the allied races of the Confederation had ever assembled before, fleets of real interstellar warships built for the express purpose of stopping the Magellanians.
As soon as the television screens showed that the center column was resuming a forward course, the Supreme Council ordered the assemblage of fleets from hundreds of different solar systems waiting at the galaxy’s edge to be launched. Hardly had they disappeared into the distance when they ordered another vast gathering of fleets to proceed to the frontier of the island universe by means of matter-transmitters. As soon as enough fleets were assembled they launched them after the first. A short interval of time elapsed and then another countless host of ships was ordered out. Following that was still another, each greater and better equipped than its predecessor.
The tiny ships equipped with television apparatus showed the center column rushing toward the galaxy with swiftly increasing speed.
Soon would the four hosts of ships bearing the emblem of the Confederation strike one after the other, halting and taking a terrific toll of those Magellanian ships.
WORD went to the waiting galaxy that the advancing Magellanian column had been detected at last by sensitive instruments aboard the foremost of the first mighty gathering of fleets rushing outward to meet it Orders went darting through the lines of those fleets. Forward shot the mightiest interstellar warships of that first host to bear the brunt of the attack and shield the smaller craft behind until they were near enough to use their weapons.
The invaders were now sighted with the aid of powerful space-penetrating apparatus aboard those foremost ships. Though the column’s way was barred by massed fleets of ships of every shape and size, stretching as far as eye or instrument could penetrate, they came on with no perceptible slackening of speed.
At the headquarters of the Confederation the representatives of the various allied races saw on the huge television screens the Magellanian column hurtle steadily forward to blast and disintegrate its way through. No doubt they thought they would make as short work of the rash and presumptious creatures, who were daring to bar their way, as they did of the other forces that had been sent against them.
Far in front of the Magellanian column swept a solid wall of giant space ships from whose millions of projectors poured an unbroken flood of disintegration vibrations.
The ships hurtling outward from the galaxy did not slacken their terrific velocity as the much greater force came rushing toward them. No powerful shield of disintegration rays preceded the ships on which was emblazoned the faintly luminous patch that resembled a spiral nebula from which a streak of lightning was darting forth. All of their mighty weapons were stilled. Until an order came to loose them, no power would be fed into the deadly projectors.
The part of the galaxy from which man had come was to be represented in the forthcoming battle. A fleet from the solar system of the Alpha Centauri was at the very forefront of the Confederation’s forces. A fearless race were they.
Close were those two forces now. The distance separating them was just a little more than the distance it would take light twenty-six hours—Earth time—to cross.
Would the order to loosen their powerful rays never be given?
Nearer swept those two fleets, nearer and nearer. Twenty light-hours separated those onrushing forces, nineteen light-hours, eighteen light-hours, still were the weapons on the ships rushing outward from the galaxy silent.
The order to loose their weapons came!
From the fleets of the Confederation a raging inferno of destructive forces swept at the speed of light to meet the shield of disintegration rays pouring from the approaching ships. Back were those rays driven as rays of slightly superior strength were hurled against them. With those vibrations, that broke down molecular equilibrium, went other rays. Magellanian ships began to glow red, then white, as heat rays picked them off; disappeared as more powerful disintegration beams drove back their own destructive vibrations and enveloped them. As the distance lessened, the number of those giant ships bearing the powerful disintegration ray-projectors far in front of the Magellanian column dwindled fast. Few of them reached the foremost ranks of ships bearing the emblem of the Confederation.
The mighty invading column behind, receiving sudden warning of the deadliness of the ships in front, tried to swerve, but were met by ships bearing the faintly luminous patch resembling spiral nebula they were attacking.
Into a blinding, blazing day was the eternal night of that region turned, as ships began to meet ships in head-on collision and were vaporized. Other ships behind the front ranks began to glow red, became blindingly white, then masses of molten metal, as heat waves caressed them; became strangely silent as electronic streams rushed through metal walls and stripped flesh and life from the living forms; crumpled up as ships out of control careened into them; exploded into thousands of fragments as tiny missiles loaded with atomic-explosives found their mark; disappeared in puffs of hazy light shot with many coruscating streamers as disintegration rays enveloped them.
Those masses of ships plunging recklessly into each other seemed just to melt away. At that rate one or both forces would soon be destroyed.
The invading column began to slow down, forcing the galaxy’s fleets to do likewise. Countless was the number of mighty space ships the invaders had lost. Ships bearing the emblem of the Confederation had not escaped unscathed. Their loss, though appalling, was not nearly as great as that which the invaders suffered.
The two forces came to a stop. Their front ranks, enveloped in clouds of incandescent gases and molten metal, drew back from each other. Beyond the range of their rays they halted.
A great force split from the Magellanian column and plunged forward to sweep the fleets of the Confederation aside. That force did not leap rashly forward as the ships at the forefront of their column had done. The ships opposing them were not slow-moving space craft with obsolete armament. They were mighty battleships of space, some even superior to their own.
The ships from the galaxy drew themselves up in battle formation and waited. They had been ordered to hold the invaders back until reinforcements came.
Swiftly the force that had split from the Magellanian column drew near the waiting ships. Destructive forces met and clashed. The battle raged with swiftly mounting fury. Ever the area of death and destruction widened. Each force began to pour forth solid clouds of huge missiles loaded with all forms of destructive agents. Even the tiny ships at the edge of the conflict, those operated by remote control and equipped only with television transmitting apparatus, were being struck frequently. Soon the television screens at the headquarters of the Confederation were quite dark, as the last of them was destroyed by random missiles.
Reports from that battle area went
flashing back to the galaxy that the invaders, seeking desperately to break through that assemblage of fleets, were stopped again and again. Though the Magellanian ships greatly outnumbered their own, though their apparent disregard for life was such as they had never imagined living creatures to possess, they were holding them back.
Gaping holes began to appear in the ranks of ships attempting to bar the invaders. The Magellanians, sensing a quick victory, threw tens of thousands of their mightiest ships forward again and again. Under those continual batterings, the fleets of the Confederation were rapidly being destroyed. The invading column was prepared to move forward again, when from the direction of that huge sprawling galaxy in front appeared another mighty aggregation of fleets of all shapes and sizes bearing the emblem of the Confederation. That second host of ships was greater than the first. Swiftly did they leap forward to fill the gaping holes in the barrier.
Again did the Magellanian column smash against the now reinforced wall of ships. But as fast as a ship in the front lines was destroyed, another took its place. Each effort of the invaders to sweep around that immovable obstacle was met and stopped by swift moving fleets held in reserve.
The barrier of ships before the invading column once more began to crumple. Another terrific lunge at the barrier, and it would be swept aside. The Magellanians were preparing to deliver that final blow and proceed, when another vast array of ships from the galaxy was sighted sweeping swiftly and majestically forward to strengthen their broken lines. Greater than the other two was that third force.
Upon the barrier that was growing ever stronger the invaders once more began to batter. No longer did their bravest leap forward to clear the way. Grimly their whole column hammered the barrier.
Though the invaders had suffered terrific losses, they still had the advantage of numbers. Slowly was that immovable wall of ships being worn down. Soon would the way be clear.
Furiously the invaders now beat against the opposing lines of ships that were threatening to collapse. They were preparing to deliver that final blow when another mighty force was sighted sweeping forward to strengthen the crumbling barrier, a greater force than any of the other three.
THE leader of the Lunarian legions and his human friend communicated little with each other during the first few days—Earth time—the great array of ships were hurtling outward from the edge of the galaxy to reinforce the mighty aggregation of fleets which had preceded them. Gone from the Lunarian’s eyes was the haunting fear that his race might forsake the cause of the Confederation and go over to the Magellanians. They would not dare. If any Lunarian chief was contemplating such a move, he had but to look out of the windows of his tiny ship to see as far as eye or instrument could penetrate, the endless lines of ships of every shape and size gathered from thousands of solar systems within the interior of the galaxy to repulse the invaders. There, somewhere in the center of that vast host, the Solarians, both men and Lunarians, began to see themselves in their true perspective.
Far ahead was the scene of that titanic struggle. As interstellar distances go it was ridiculously small; still, even though the fifth host was rushing forward at the utmost limit of its speed, more than a year of travel at a velocity approaching that of light must pass before they would reach it.
Automatic devices aboard the Solarian ships took over the control of the ships after the final shifting of fleets into the places allotted to them. Soon would time begin to hang heavy on the hands of the crews. Little would they have to do for a while. The driving mechanism of the ships was wholly automatic.
Don Stelite, gazing out of the telescopic windows in the control room at the disk-shaped ships, wondered what manner of creatures manned them. He did not think they resembled man. Few forms of life in the galaxy did. Trying to imagine their shape, he let run through his mind some of the myriad forms of life dwelling on earth and other planets man inhabited. Instinctively he knew that none of those he brought to mind resembled them. An odd notion came to his mind that the creatures resembled their disk-shaped ships. As that thought flitted through his brain, he had a feeling that someone near had read his thoughts and found them exceedingly amusing. He willed his mind to become blank. As he did so, he seemed to hear a sound resembling a chuckle immediately behind him.
Don Stelite whirled around on his heel. There was no one in the control room at the moment besides himself. Again he thought he heard a chuckle. He sensed that whoever had read his thoughts and was laughing at him was not within the confines of his ship. Coldly then came the knowledge that it was not a human being who had penetrated his mind.
Half believing his imagination was playing him tricks, Don Stelite stared out of the observation window nearest him to the disk-shaped ships again. His gaze was attracted to an observation window near the forward edge of a ship flying parallel with his own. Something moved jerkily behind that window.
“Hail, Don Stelite.”
Thinking that some one had spoken the words in his ear, Don Stelite spun around. No one was near him. Sheepishly he turned to the window.
“I, Zerbin, of Arete 6, greet you.”
“I greet you in return, Zerbin of Arete 6,” Don Stelite replied mentally.
“Forgive me for startling you. You were trying to imagine the form of my species and I could not resist the impulse to hail you.”
“You are one of the beings aboard a disk-shaped ship?”
“Yes. I command the ship flying parallel with your own. Seeing you staring fixedly at my ship I took the liberty of reading your thoughts. The forms of life you likened my species to caused me much amusement We resemble nothing within your solar system.”
“Then what can you possibly look like?”
“Curiosity, I see, is one of the weaknesses of your biped species.”
“Reading my thoughts showed no restraint of curiosity on your part,” said Don Stelite.
“Also, I fear, one of the weaknesses of the inhabitants of Arete 6,” was the reply. “Our races have at least one trait in common. Do you still wish to see what we look like?”
“I do,” Don Stelite replied, feeling himself strangely drawn to the captain of that disk-shaped ship.
“I will impress a picture of myself upon your mind.” Like an object taking shape on the screen of a television screen, a picture formed itself in Don Stelite’s mind.
“Impossible!” Don Stelite ejaculated. “You are trying to amuse yourself at my expense. No such form of life could possibly exist.
“No? Then perhaps the inhabitants of Arete 6 have for countless ages been deceiving themselves in regard to their existence.”
“Such a form of life is impossible.”
“Perhaps in your solar system, biped.”
“I—I—”
“Some of your observation windows are, I see, constructed on the principle of the refracting telescope. You recall seeing something move in an observation window near the outer edge of my disk-shaped Bhip. Adjust one of your space-penetrating instruments so as to bring that window sharply into focus,” said Zerbin of Arete 6.
Don Stelite did so. The telescopic window brought the observation window at the forward edge of the nearby ship very close. The creature standing there stood out clearly. His eyes confirmed every detail of the picture that had been impressed upon his unbelieving mind. Incredulity gave way to an emotion that shook him in its grip. He sought desperately to suppress an overwhelming desire to laugh, to laugh uproariously. He could not check it. Laughter burst, from his quivering lips.
“Laugh, biped.”
Don Stelite controlled himself with an effort.
“Zerbin of Arete 6, I apologize.”
“There is nothing to apologize for. When first I made out your strange biped form standing outlined in the observation window next to the telescopic window, I also gave vent to laughter.”
“The human form is not as ridiculous as your—”
“No? Let us not quarrel on that point. Be thankful that each race has its o
wn conception of the ridiculous and the sublime. I would be friends with you, biped.”
“Gladly do I accept your offer of friendship. Though our forms differ greatly, I think we will find much in common.”
“We will.”
“According to the bright spot in the Confederation’s emblem etched on your ship, Zerbin of Arete 6, your solar system is in the same region of space as ours. I half believe that our suns are near neighbors in space.”
“Picture the heavens as visible from your solar system, biped. Not so fast Wait Hold that section in your mind. Go back a little. That is it Our sun is that bright white star.”
“Altair, the first magnitude star in the constellation of Aquila?”
“Your constellations are meaningless to me. Bring to your mind again the section of the heavens in which shines the star you call Altair. Yes, that is your star.”
“Then we are indeed neighbors. Altair is but fifteen light-years from my own solar system, one of our nearest neighbors in space.”
“Now I recognize your rather feeble sun, biped. Long have our astronomers sought to discover whether or not your star had any planets revolving about it. Their researches led them to believe that only one huge planet revolved about your sun. An extremely minute irregularity in your Bun’s proper motion through space was the basis of that conclusion. Were they right?”
“Nine planets revolve about our sun, seven of them in turn have from one to nine satellites. My race dwells on several of those worlds.”
“It seems as if the astronomers of Arete guessed wrong.”
“And Altair, has it a large family of planets?”
“Around our sun, which you call Altair, there revolves but one planet, a huge one, which we call Arete. Six large satellites of approximately the same size spin around in their orbits at varying distances from the surface of that planet We, the ruling organisms of that solar system, inhabit five of the six satellites.”