The Black Star Passes

by Jr. John W. Campbell

  I.

  On the thirty-ninth floor of a large New York apartment two young menwere lounging about after a strenuous game of tennis. The blue tendrilsof smoke from their pipes rose slowly, to be drawn away by the efficientventilating system. The taller of the two seemed to be doing most of thetalking. In the positions they had assumed it would have been ratherdifficult to be sure of which was the taller, but Robert Morey was agood four inches taller than Richard Arcot. Arcot had to suffer underthe stigma of "runt" with Morey around--he was only six feet tall.

  The chosen occupation of each was physical research, and in that fieldArcot could well have called Morey "runt", for Arcot had only onecompetitor--his father. In this case it had been "like father, likeson". For many years Robert Arcot had been known as the greatestAmerican physicist, and probably the world's greatest. More recently hehad been known as the father of the world's greatest physicist. Arcotjunior was probably one of the most brilliant men the world had everseen, and he was aided in all his work by two men who could help him ina way that amplified his powers a thousand fold. His father and his bestfriend, Morey, were the complimentary and balancing minds to his greatintelligence. His father had learned through years of work the easiestand best ways of performing the many difficult feats of laboratoryexperimentation. Morey could develop the mathematical theory of ahypothesis far more readily than Arcot could. Morey's mind was moremethodical and exact than Arcot's, but Arcot could grasp the broaddetails of a problem and get the general method of solution developedwith a speed that made it utterly impossible for his friend even tofollow the steps he suggested.

  Since Arcot junior's invention of the multiple calculus, many newramifications of old theories had been attained, and many developmentshad become possible.

  But the factor that made Arcot so amazingly successful in his line ofwork was his ability to see practical uses for things, an ability thatis unfortunately lacking in so many great physicists. Had he collectedthe royalties his inventions merited, he would have been a billionairetwice or thrice over. Instead he had made contracts on the basis thatthe laboratories he owned be kept in condition, and that he be paid asalary that should be whatever he happened to need. Since he had soldall his inventions to Transcontinental Airways, he had been able todevote all his time to science, leaving them to manage his finances.Perhaps it was the fact that he did sell these inventions toTranscontinental that made these lines so successful; but at any rate,President Arthur Morey was duly grateful, and when his son was able toenter the laboratories he was as delighted as Arcot.

  The two had become boon companions. They worked, played, lived, andthought together.

  Just now they were talking about the Pirate. This was the seventh day ofhis discovery, and he had been growing steadily more menacing. It wasthe great Transcontinental Airways that had suffered most repeatedly.Sometimes it was the San Francisco Flyer that went on without a pilot,sometimes the New York-St. Louis expresses that would come over thefield broadcasting the emergency signal. But always the people wererevived with little difficulty, and each time more of the stock of"Piracy, Inc." was accumulated. The Air Guard seemed helpless. Time andtime again the Pirate slipped in undetected. Each time he convincedthem that it was an outside job, for the door was always sealed from theoutside.

  "Dick, how do you suppose he gets away with the things he does rightunder the eyes of those Air Guardsmen? He must have some system; he doesit every time."

  "I have a vague idea," Arcot answered. "I was going to ask you today, ifyour father would let us take passage on the next liner carrying anymoney. I understand the insurance rates have been boosted so high thatthey don't dare to send any cash by air any more. They've resorted tothe slow land routes. Is there any money shipment in sight?"

  Morey shook his head. "No, but I have something that's just as good, ifnot better, for our purpose. The other day several men came into Dad'soffice, to charter a plane to San Francisco, and Dad naturally wonderedwhy they had been referred to the president of the company. It seems thedifficulty was that they wanted to hire the ship so they could berobbed! A large group of medical men and cancer victims were going forthe 'treatment'. Each one of the twenty-five hundred going was to bringalong one hundred dollars. That meant a total of a quarter of a milliondollars, which is to be left on the table. They hoped the Pirate wouldgas them and thus cure them! Dad couldn't officially do this, but toldthem that if there were too many people for the San Francisco express,two sections would be necessary. I believe they are going on that secondsection. Only one hundred dollars! A low price for cancer cure!

  "Another thing: Dad asked me to tell you that he'd appreciate your helpin stopping this ultra-modern pirate. If you go down to see him in themorning, you'll doubtless be able to make the necessary arrangements."

  "I'll do so gladly. I wonder, though, if you know more about this than Ido. Did they try that C-32L mask on an animal?"

  "The Pirate was telling the truth. They tried it on a dog and he went tosleep forever. But do you have any idea how that gas does all it does?"

  Now Arcot shook his head. "I don't know what the gas is, but have a leadon how it works. You may know that carbon monoxide will seep through asolid plate of red-hot steel. That has been known for some three hundredyears now, and I have to hand it to this Pirate for making use of it.Even in the war of 2075 they didn't find any practical application forthe principle. He has just found some gas that induces sleep in very lowconcentrations, and at the same time is able to penetrate to an evengreater extent than carbon monoxide."

  "I was wondering how he stores that stuff," Morey commented. "But Isuppose he makes it as fast as he uses it, by allowing two or moreconstituents to react. It might well be simple enough to store themseparately, and the air-stream blowing past him would carry the gasbehind him, permitting him to lay a stream of it in front of the bigplane. Is that about it?"

  "That was about what I had figured. One of the things I want to do whenI go with that Invalid Special tomorrow is to get some samples foranalysis."

  "That's a pretty big order, isn't it, Dick? How are you going to handleit, or even get it into your apparatus?"

  "Easily enough as far as getting the sample goes. I have already hadsome sample bottles made. I have one of them in the lab--excuse me amoment." Arcot left the room, to return a few minutes later with a largealuminum bottle, tightly closed. "This bottle has been pumped out to avery good vacuum. I then swept it out with helium gas. Then it waspumped out again. I hope to take this into some gas-filled region, wherethe gas will be able to leak in, but the air won't. When it comes togoing out again, the gas will have to fight air pressure, and willprobably stay in."

  "Hope it works. It would help if we knew what we were bucking."

  * * * * *

  The next morning Arcot had a long conference with President Morey. Atthe end of it, he left the office, ascended to the roof, and climbedinto his small helicopter. He rose to the local traffic level, andwaiting his chance, broke into the stream of planes bound for the greatairfields over in the Jersey district. A few minutes later he landed onthe roof of the Transcontinental Airways shops, entered them, and wentto the office of the Designing Engineer, John Fuller, an old schoolmate.They had been able to help each other before, for Fuller had not paid asmuch attention to theoretical physics as he might have, and though hewas probably one of the outstanding aeronautical designers, he oftenconsulted Arcot on the few theoretical details that he needed. Probablyit was Arcot who derived the greatest benefit from this association, forthe ability of the designer had many times brought his theoreticalsuccesses to practical commercial production. Now, however, he wasconsulting Fuller, because the plane he was to take that afternoon forSan Francisco was to be slightly changed for him.

  He stayed in Fuller's office for the better part of an hour, thenreturned to the roof and thence to his own roof, where Morey junior waswaiting for him.

  "Hello, Dick! I heard from Dad that you were going t
his afternoon, andcame over here. I got your note and I have the things fixed up here. Theplane leaves at one, and it's ten-thirty now. Let's eat lunch and thenstart."

  It was half-past eleven when they reached the flying field. They wentdirectly to the private office which had been assigned to them aboardthe huge plane. It was right next to the mail-room, and through the wallbetween the two a small hole had been cut. Directly beneath this holewas a table, on which the two men now set up a small moving picturecamera they had brought with them.

  "How many of the gas sample bottles did you bring, Bob?" asked Arcot.

  "Jackson had only four ready, so I brought those. I think that will beenough. Have we got that camera properly placed?"

  "Everything's O.K., I believe. Nothing to do now but wait."

  Time passed--then they heard a faint whir; the ventilator machinery hadstarted. This drew air in from outside, and pumped it up to thenecessary pressure for breathing in the ship, no matter what theexternal pressure might be. There was a larger pump attached similarlyto each of the engines to supply it with the necessary oxygen. Any lossin power by pumping the air in was made up by the lower back pressure onthe exhaust. Now the engines were starting--they could feel themomentary vibration--vibration that would cease as they got under way.They could visualize the airtight door being closed; the portableelevator backing off, returning to the field house.

  Arcot glanced at his watch. "One o'clock. The starting signal is due."

  Morey sank back into a comfortable chair. "Well, now we have a nice longwait till we get to San Francisco and back, Dick, but you'll havesomething to talk about then!"

  "I hope so, Bob, and I hope we can return on the midnight plane from SanFrancisco, which will get us in at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, NewYork time. I wish you'd go right to your father's office and ask himover to our place for supper, and see if Fuller can come too. I thinkwe'll be able to use that molecular controller on this job; it's almostfinished, and with it we'll need a good designing engineer. Then ourlittle movie show will no doubt be of interest!"

  There was a low rumble that quickly mounted to a staccato roar as thegreat propellers began whirling and the engines took up the load. Theground began to flash behind them; then suddenly, as flying speed wasreached, there was a slight start, the roaring bark of the engine tookon a deeper tone, the rocking stopped and the ground dropped away. Likesome mighty wild bird, the plane was in the air, a graceful, sentientthing, wheeling in a great circle as it headed for San Francisco. Nowthe plane climbed steadily in a long bank; up, up, up she went, andgradually the terrific roar of the engine died to a low throbbing hum asthe low pressure of the air silenced the noise.

  Below them the giant city contracted as the great ship rode higher. Thetiny private helicops were darting about below them like streams of nighinvisible individuals, creeping black lines among the buildings of thecity. The towering buildings shone in the noon sun in riotous hues asthe colored tile facing reflected the brilliant sunlight with glowingwarmth of color.

  It was a city of indescribable beauty now. It was one of the things thatmade this trip worthwhile.

  Now the shining city dropped behind them, and only the soft green of theJersey hills, and the deep purple-black of the sky above were visible.The sun blazed high in the nigh-black heavens, and in the rarefied air,there was so little diffusion that the corona was readily visible withthe aid of a smoked glass. Around the sun, long banners in space, theZodiacal light gleamed dimly. Here and there some of the brighter starswinked in the dark sky.

  Below them the landscape swung slowly by. Even to these men who had madethe trip dozens of times, the sight was fascinating, inspiring. It was aspectacle which had never been visible before the development of thesesuper-planes. Whole flying observatories had been made that had takenphotographs at heights of fifteen miles, where the air was so rarefiedthat the plane had to travel close to eight hundred miles an hour toremain aloft.

  Already ahead of them Arcot and Morey could see the great splotch ofcolor that was Chicago, the mightiest city of Earth. Situated as it wasin the heart of the North American continent, with great water andground landing facilities and broad plains about it, it made a perfectairport. The sea no longer meant much, for it was now only a source ofpower, recreation and food. Ships were no longer needed. Planes werefaster and more economical; hence seacoast cities had declined inimportance. With its already great start toward ascendancy, Chicago hadrapidly forged ahead, as the air lines developed with the greatsuper-planes. The European planes docked here, and it was the startingpoint of the South American lines. But now, as they swung high above it,the glistening walls of soft-colored tiles made it a great mass ofchanging, flashing color beneath them. Now they could see a great airliner, twice the size of their plane, taking off for Japan, its sixgiant propellers visible only as flashing blurs as it climbed up towardthem. Then it was out of sight.

  It was over the green plains of Nebraska that the Pirate usually worked,so there the men became more and more alert, waiting for the first signof abnormal drowsiness. They sat quietly, not talking, listeningintently for some new note, but knowing all the while that any sound thePirate might make would be concealed by the whirring roar of the airsweeping past the giant airfoils of the plane.

  Suddenly Arcot realized he was unbearably sleepy. He glanced drowsilytoward Morey who was already lying down. He found it a tremendous effortof the will to make himself reach up and close the switch that startedthe little camera whirring almost noiselessly. It seemed he never pulledhis arm back--he just--lay there--and--

  A white uniformed man was bending over him as he opened his eyes. To oneside of him he saw Morey smiling down at him.

  "You're a fine guard, Arcot. I thought you were going to stay awake andwatch them!"

  "Oh, no, I left a much more efficient watchman! _It_ didn't go tosleep--I'm willing to bet!"

  "No, it may not have gone to sleep, but the doctor here tells me it hasgone somewhere else. It wasn't found in our room when we woke up. Ithink the Pirate found it and confiscated it. All our luggage, includingthe gas sample bottles, is gone."

  "That's all right. I arranged for that. The ship was brought down by anemergency pilot and he had instructions from father. He took care of theluggage so that no member of the pirate's gang could steal it. Theremight have been some of them in the ground crew. They'll be turned overto us as soon as we see the emergency man. I don't have to lie here anylonger, do I, doctor?"

  "No, Dr. Arcot, you're all right now. I would suggest that for the nexthour or so you take it easy to let your heart get used to beating again.It stopped for some two hours, you know. You'll be all right, however."