A Large Anthology of Science Fiction

by Jerry

  Every normal human being has five definite senses. We can hear, see, smell, feel, and taste. Some are supposed to be blessed with a sixth sense, though the exact nature of it is rather hazily explained—something like a gift of being able to tell what is going to happen. This is a rather unscientific idea.

  Our author, who will be remembered for his “Dimensional Fate” in our August, 1934 number, shows us the possibility of a sixth sense that is more than convincing.

  You will find this an interesting little tale by an author whose imagination is a thing to be proud of.

  l The alarm system was sending its mental impulses pulsating through the ship, stirring the great brains from their long continued state of suspended animation. The greatest and the most complex of all the brains, First Supervisory Intelligence, stirred as streams of memory surged through it, induced by the mental vibrations of the alarm system. Then suddenly wide-awake, the huge brain focused its optical organs upon the maze of instruments surrounding it and saw that fifty-three thousand years had elapsed since the beginning of their voyage—fifty-three thousand years at half the speed of light; they must be somewhere near the center of the galaxy and hence the going off of the automatic’s mental alarm. The Second and Third Supervisory Intelligences were, already, attempting to establish mental contact with the First, and the different coordinating intelligences were beginning to signal that they awaited orders.

  What memories flooded through these stupendous intellects! One hundred and twenty thousand sentairs (53,000 years) ago they had left a dead star in one of the globular clusters upon the outskirts of the Universe. There, untold aeons ago they had evolved upon the outer-most planet of a blazing sun. They had developed intellectually until they were literally a race of brains.

  First Supervisory Intelligence was a mammoth brain, ten feet in length and about eight feet in width and depth. Upon its front part were three optical organs, each about six inches in diameter, through which the creature was able to view things four-dimensionally. These eyes were also capable of perceiving all etheric vibrations from well below the infra-red to well above the ultra-violet. Upon each side of the brain was a peculiar-shaped organ, through which it heard or received thought and mental vibrations: and upon the top of it were four ear-like organs, arranged in a diamond shape, and through these the creature heard sounds or auditory vibrations over a very wide range of wavelengths. All of the other brains were, in shape, exact replicas of this one but were, in size, somewhat smaller.

  Each brain was enclosed in a hemisphere of transparent metal, and these hemispheres were fastened down upon the tops of upright cylinders made of an opaque, gray metal. These cylinders contained automatic machinery that transmuted the surrounding atmosphere (or any other available materials) into the gases, water, and predigested foods necessary for the creature in the hemisphere above and sent these necessities in the proper amounts through tubes into the brain. Waste materials came back through other tubes, to be transmuted into useful materials again or else ejected from the apparatus. These machines also made, by transmutation of surrounding materials, their own fuel and lubricants—and each could, under the direction of the brain above it. effect minor repairs upon itself. Within limits, each machine kept its brain at a constant temperature, irrespective of what the surrounding temperature might be. The whole of each machine was under the absolute control of the brain it contained, which controlled it by means of mental impulses, much as our brains control our bodies. These machines were the artificial bodies that the intelligences had devised to supplement and then to completely replace the imperfect, natural bodies of flesh with which Nature had originally provided them ages before. They could be swiftly moved about through a gaseous or a liquid medium or through vacuum at the will of their occupants, the brains, by means of beams of pure force emitted from them. The same force beams were, also, used for moving and manipulating tools and other material objects outside of the apparatus. One of these remarkable mechanical bodies would function perfectly for over a million sentairs, but once in every hundred thousand sentairs, each brain was carefully removed from its machine and placed in a new one and the old one was then overhauled and repaired. By means of this wonderful method, the intelligence could live and function for millions of sentairs. New brains could, when needed, be bred artificially from a few live cells taken from some unimportant part of a brain.

  Upon their original planet, they had thrived, built up a mighty civilization, and evolved to their present state of efficiency and perfection. As their sun had cooled, the frigid cold, the absolute zero, of inter-stellar space had slowly intruded upon them and had driven them from planet to planet, closer and closer to their dying sun. As their sun grew colder and its feeble rays died out completely, they had moved in and established themselves upon its very surface, upon the burnt out cinder of their dead star. Neutralizing most of the effects of its tremendous gravity upon them, in order to make their weights bearable, they had lived upon it for untold ages and drove long tunnels into its very heart to get and utilize the last faint sparks of its once great store of heat and energy. The dead and useless planets were broken up and their materials transformed into heat and energy. The very material of the dead star, itself, was used for the same purpose until, when it was reduced to about five per cent of its original volume, the remnant of the race was being faced with the prospect of being left without a world to stand upon. In this extremity, they built and embarked in ten great space-ships and set out to find a new home. Setting their automatic machinery to pilot them to the center of the Galaxy, they placed themselves in a state of suspended animation in order to conserve their resources and to escape the unbearable monotony of a voyage that would last for many thousands of sentairs.

  l Some thirty thousand sentairs later, the automatic alarms had aroused them and they found the cause was that they were passing close to a dead star from which thousands of small, intelligent machines were swarming up to attack them. In the ensuing battle, all of these were destroyed, but they had lost nine ships, leaving this one, the sole survivor and last hope of their race, to continue its quest. Now the alarms had aroused them again and, as it was the end of the time estimated for the trip, they must be at the center of the Universe and ready to begin their search in earnest. They numbered nine hundred and twelve brains in all—three supervisory intelligences, nine coordinating intelligences, and nine hundred specialized intelligences.

  The Second Supervisory Intelligence emitted a long, thin beam of force from its mechanical body and touched a control with it, and instantly views of the space surrounding the ship appeared upon screens. No enemy or other danger was visible, nor did the various other detecting instruments of the vessel reveal any, but dead ahead and about one and one half light years distant was a dwarf, yellow star surrounded by planets. All of the various detecting apparatuses were then turned upon it and it was discovered that the star in question was surrounded by eleven planets which rotated in a plane about it. The sixth planet was ringed, the fifth had a huge red spot upon it, the third was accompanied by a huge moon, several of the others had small satellites, and several had none at all. Between the fourth and the fifth planets, a stream of tiny planetoids and fragments rotated about the star.

  A very careful analysis of the star’s light revealed no deadly rays and surely one or more of these bodies would furnish at least a temporary home. At a mental command from the First Supervisory Intelligence, several of the specialized intelligences commenced the slow task of making several hundred new brains from some of the live cells brought in storage for that purpose. Then the three supervisory intelligences and the nine coordinating intelligences devoted themselves to the study of the approaching planetary system.

  As they neared the star, they greatly checked their speed and steered in a great circle about it, far beyond the orbit of its outermost planet. Then further checking their velocity, in order to reduce the centrifugal force acting upon the ship, they allowed the gravity of the st
ar to slowly drag them in toward it in a gradually closing spiral. The six outermost planets with their moons were found to be frozen and devoid of life, but the largest satellite of the fifth planet from the sun was discovered to be teeming with unintelligent creatures of very low orders. Leaving the plane of the planetary bodies, in order to pass safely over the whirl of planetoids and fragments rotating “bout the star between its fourth and fifth planets, and then returning to the plane, they approached the fourth planet.

  It was a small world with two tiny moons revolving swiftly about it, and was apparently inhabited by intelligent creatures, for the detectors showed huge canals criss-crossing its surfaces and small points of light at their intersections. Nor did this life leave the intelligences long in doubt, for as the ship circled the planet in an orbit of about one hundred thousand miles radius, there was a tremendous flash upon the nearer of its moons and a large ship rushed out to meet them. The supervisory intelligences swiftly swung their vessel away at an angle, but the other craft immediately altered its course and a collision seemed imminent. Hurriedly, the Third Supervisory Intelligence actuated certain complex machines and great repellor beams shot out, seized the other ship, and forced it from its course so that it passed harmlessly out into space. At a distance of some seventy thousand miles, the vessel from the fourth planet suddenly exploded and sent great sheets of flame and millions of fragments flying for thousands of miles in all directions. Hardly had this happened than a great beam of force flashed out from the planet itself, seized the invading ship, and commenced to drag it slowly down toward the surface of the planet. Third Supervisory Intelligence then hurled a mental impulse at a huge machine and it roared into life, sending great force shields flashing out around the vessel and thus cutting off the attractor beam.

  The denizens of the fourth planet were certainly showing, in no unmistakable manner, their unwillingness to submit peacefully to either investigation or invasion.

  The invading space-ship then darted in between the two small moons and, catching hold of both with great attractor rays, began to pull them together. Slowly they gained speed and then faster and faster they hurtled at the great space-craft between them. At the last moment, the intelligences cut off their pulling forces and sent their ship darting out from its perilous position. The two satellites crashed together behind it and a great blob of incandescent material, that had been two moons, fell like a plummet to the planet below, where it made a great, smoking crater.

  “That should teach those puny creatures not to try to match their feeble minds against what are probably the greatest minds in the Galaxy,” the Third Supervisory Intelligence thought as the ship moved on toward the orbit of the third world from the sun.

  l The third planet was larger than the fourth and three-fourths of its surface proved to be covered with water. It was accompanied by one huge moon which the detectors showed to be airless and lifeless. The planet itself was plainly inhabited by intelligent life, for the detectors showed scattered patches of light upon the land and from time to time a tiny, moving pinpoint of light upon the sea, in the dark half of the world where night prevailed. A study of nature of this light revealed to their super-science that it came from metal, rendered incandescent by passing a stream of electrons over it.

  The First Supervisory Intelligence reflected that many aeons past, when its own race had newly arisen from the primeval slime of their first planet and still walked their little primitive brains about upon the crude muscular contrivances that Nature had originally furnished to them for bodies then, they too had used electricity for purposes of lighting and power.

  “A good temporary home,” thought the three supervisory intelligences. “A fairly young world, rich in material resources, and a hot star to furnish light, heat and power. Nearby a large moon—a veritable storehouse of materials for transmutation into needed substances and for transformation into energy. Here the race would dwell for ages and create great numbers of new brains; with this planet as a base, they would soon conquer the entire system and then reach out for other stars.”

  Upon one side of the planet were two great masses of land, extending nearly from pole to pole and joined together by a narrow neck of land. At one corner of the geographically topmost one and upon the side toward the direction of the planet’s rotation was a peninsula of soft, swampy land.

  “An excellent place to stop,” thought First Supervisory Intelligence.

  The great ship entered the planet’s atmosphere and, decelerating rapidly, rushed down to a perfect landing with its outer shell glowing from friction with the gases composing the planet’s shell of air. It was a perfect landing at exactly I the predetermined spot and at last, after a hundred and twenty thousand sentairs l of travel, the great craft had come to rest.

  But all was not well; for hardly had the ship penetrated the atmosphere when a mental bedlam broke loose. Every brain and nervous system upon the entire planet | seemed to be so constituted that it broadcasted its thoughts and emotions as a radio transmitter broadcasts radio waves. What thoughts these creatures had! What a hell of passion and emotion this planet seemed to be! Powerful, but incomprehensible, mental impulses and vibration from billions of primitive brains assailed the telepathy organs of the intelligences and tortured their minds. Madness lurked everywhere!

  Could not these creatures prevent the escape of their mental vibrations? Why did not this bedlam of their own creation drive them insane? Could it be that they were not provided with natural organs to receive thought from others?

  Already, the simpler and weaker of the great brains, the nine hundred specialized intelligences, were going insane under strain of this mental tumult of idiocy and viciousness.

  Unceasingly, the weird thoughts beat in upon them. Now a scaly quadruped stalked a hairy quadruped to kill it. Now two hairy bipeds fought to the death over the question of which of them should cooperate with a third hairy biped in order to in some mysterious manner create a small, fourth biped. Here a strange, winged creature circled in the atmosphere and watched the ground for small, six legged creatures, which it caught and devoured. Here a hairless biped stood before a group of its own kind and supplicated an imaginary power above the atmosphere to grant certain favors to it and to its fellows and, at the same time, wondered what sort of creatures, plant and animal, would be served it to eat later in the day.

  Hate, love, greed, lust, loyalty, treachery, and violence were everywhere. Occasionally, there came a lucid and almost intelligent thought, but the bulk were sheer insane ravings.

  In one of the power generating compartments of the ship, Specialized Intelligence Second of Material Mechanism suddenly, in an insane fit, hurled itself across the compartment and against the metal wall. It and its mechanical body were completely destroyed by the impact, so sudden and violent was its mad act. In a storage compartment, three specialized intelligences fought a battle royal with their force beams until they were suddenly rendered unconscious by powerful mental vibrations emitted, for the purpose, by several of the coordinating intelligences. Fifth Coordinating Intelligence was suddenly killed by a crazed specialized intelligence.

  The specialized intelligence had all gone insane and even the eight surviving coordinating intelligences were beginning to behave in an erratic and untrustworthy manner. The three supervisor intelligences fought desperately for sanity against the overwhelming flood of mad mental vibrations that beat upon their laboring brains. Something had to be done! They must flee and that quickly, First Supervisory Intelligence decided, or else they would all die of madness. Even First Supervisory Intelligence’s mighty mind was reeling and strange ideas would come to it in unguarded moments.

  The combined will-powers of the three supervisory intelligences strove to subjugate and control the wandering minds of the coordinating intelligences and to force them back to their duties, in order that the craft might take off and leave this madhouse of a world. What a battle it was! The surrounding space seemed warped and bent by the tremen
dous mental forces emitted by these three titanic minds; even the bedlam from outside of the ship was occasionally drowned out by the great thought vibrations they emitted! Little by little the fight was won, and one by one the coordinating intelligences were brought under control and lent their aid.

  The machines were finally started and, jerkily and uncertainly, the great spacecraft arose from the ground and left the atmosphere. Once outside of the planet’s atmosphere air-blanket, the bedlam died out and a few thousand miles out in space, absolute mental peace prevailed.

  One coordinating intelligence and several of the specialized intelligences had been destroyed, either by themselves or by others, and several more specialized intelligences were hopelessly and completely insane and had to be destroyed by the coordinating intelligences. But the majority speedily recovered their reason and resumed their duties.

  Far to the rear, the accursed yellow star and its mad world receded in the distance. The Intelligences were leaving the crazy system forever, to seek a more suitable home of some fairer star.

  THE END

  ENTROPY

  Nathan Schachner

  A gripping science fiction novel which concerns the timelessness of force.

  IT WAS a small but select audience that gathered in Jerry Sloan’s laboratory that late June afternoon. They filed in with murmured words of greeting and swift, appraising looks at the young man who had maintained with unseemly positiveness that all their lives of laborious research had been along radically erroneous lines.

  He stood up well under their cold scrutiny, however. His keen, alert face showed no signs of his inward perturbation; his gray eyes twinkled gravely at the veiled hostility with which these world-famous physicists shook his hand.