by Earl
It only took Jon a few seconds to wield the metal club and smash the time-radio to broken bits. Jaxon Joad of 1950 had not received the full data for the Cosmic Bomb. And no scientist of 1950 could complete the missing formula, so far beyond their time.
Earth of 1950 had been saved from crushing dictatorship!
An hour later, Jon had thoroughly destroyed the entire laboratory. Then he turned to Carson, who had watched with dismay.
“That’s the second time you failed to conquer a world,” Jon grinned. “And you won’t get a third chance, my fine friend. No laboratory for you any more. On my next visit, a month from now. I’ll bring you paper dolls to cut out. Let’s see you plan any world conquests with that!”
1951
THE METAL WORLD
Two rocketships sped through space, one in hot pursuit of the other. In the fleeing ship was Pluto Pete, notorious space criminal. In the pursuing ship was Lieutenant Jon Jarl of the Space Patrol.
“He won’t get away from me,” gritted Jon Jarl, revving his rockets to higher speed. “He’s heading out for the wide open reaches of space beyond the solar system, but he won’t get away.”
“Blast that space cop,” Pluto Pete was muttering in turn. “Can’t I shake him at all? Hey, what’s that?”
Ahead lay a glinting body that slowly took form as a small worldlet, wandering aimlessly in free space. It was unknown and uncharted, for ships seldom came out this far into the deeps between suns.
Pluto Pete swung his ship for the nomadic planet. “I’ll land there,” he gloated. “I can hide somewhere on that world. I’ll shake that copper yet!”
Jon Jarl followed grimly, but he was worried. It was easy to trail a ship through space, following the bright red glare of its rockets. But if Pluto Pete found some place to land below, among concealment, he might be difficult to track down. Jon saw his ship maneuver over the horizon of the wandering world, but when Jon tried to follow, his ship was suddenly gripped by invisible forces and pulled down violently.
Desperately, Jon used the full power of his rockets, but could not break away. All he could do was ease the shock of the landing. But it was still a grinding bump that hurled him against the wall with bruising force. Luckily, the hull did not crack open.
Dazed, Jon donned a breathing helmet and stepped out onto the unknown planetoid’s surface. His eyes widened. All around was a bright gleam from the ground. As Jon stooped and looked close, he realized the astounding truth.
“Metal!” he muttered. “This whole planet seems to be made of metal.” The ground was a mixture of crystals of iron, copper, lead, aluminum and all other metals. But in pure metallic form! “And what yanked my ship down was magnetism. This ground is loaded with magnetized iron.”
It was strange indeed to find a metal world. All other worlds had soil composed of organic compounds, but this world simply had a “soil” of metal crystals.
Then Jon gasped. There was another surprise. Growing out of this metal ground was plant life! Long reeds and grasses and strange flowers. And when Jon touched them, they clanged together, like pieces of metal!
Metal life, too, on this metal world. It was fantastic.
But there was one more staggering surprise for Jon. Forms appeared in the distance and approached with a thudding clang of their feet. Jon’s eyes bulged, noting their shiny coppery bodies and steely legs and silvery hair.
The people of this world were metal men!
Not robots. Not mechanical creatures made in a laboratory. These were actual biologic forms of metal life. They were composed of hard iron and silver and zinc and other metals. Their “bones,” no doubt, were solid steel. And Jon could see that their fingernails were pure gold!
And they could talk, too. Jon’s telepathy translator picked up their rumbling words. “A stranger to our world!” one of them boomed. “The first visitor we ever had. But what a strange-looking creature he is—so dull and unshiny.”
The metal man poked a hard finger into Jon’s ribs, nearly knocking his breath out. But the metal man was even more taken aback. “It’s incredible!” he said. “Why that fantastic creature is made of something soft and jelly-like. He’s not made of metal. It’s impossible!”
Jon had to grin. The metal men seemed “impossible” to him. And vice versa.
“Where do you come from?” the leader asked.
Jon explained, waving back to the solar system and its nine planets and many moons, all inhabited by non-metallic people like himself. His audience gaped in astonishment.
The leader was excited now. “And you came in that ship? We never found a way to travel in space. But if we study your ship and make more of them, then we, too, can sail through space.” His metal eyes shone with a ruthless joy. “And I think we would be able to conquer any worlds of weak jelly people like him!”
The monstrous thought had already spawned in their minds. “You won’t take my ship,” Jon snapped, pulling his ray gun and firing. But the powerful ray charges, which could kill any flesh-and-blood creature, had no effect against the metal men. They laughed, as Jon emptied his gun at them. Then the leader flipped his hand at Jon. It was a lazy movement. But to Jon it was a sledgehammer blow. Jon spun through the air and landed twenty feet away, stunned.
“See?” laughed the leader. “They are puny and helpless. Take his ship to our city. Let him be. The soft creature is not worthy of attention.”
And before Jon’s agonized eyes, the metal men simply picked up his whole heavy rocketship and walked off with it. They had the strength and power of giants.
And now, Jon himself was marooned on their world. Hunger and thirst overcame him now. Jon staggered over the hard metal ground and then broke into a run, seeing a stream bubbling between orchard trees. Fruit and water!
But when Jon got there, a half-maddened groan tore from his throat. The “water” was liquid mercury metal! And when Jon pulled down a luscious fruit and tried to bite into it, his teeth met hard, unyielding metal. Metal fruit too on this made-of-metal world. Jon faced the ghastly truth. No non-metal creature could live on this harsh metal world. How could you eat and drink metals? Jon would soon starve or die of thirst. And he couldn’t escape. They had taken his ship.
It was an hour later, stumbling on hopelessly, that Jon heard another maddened yell from a grove of metal trees. Jon strode up and stared at the forlorn human figure casting down the metal fruit he had picked. Jon stiffened.
It was Pluto Pete, the space criminal he had been chasing!
Automatically, Jon drew his ray gun and snapped, “Reach, Pluto Pete. Come along quietly now.”
The criminal turned with a ghastly mocking grin. “Where, copper?” he grated. “How you going to take me to jail? We’re both stuck on this horrible metal world. My ship was pulled down by magnetism and the metal men took it away. We’re both in the same boat.” Then he laughed madly. “We’re both going to starve to death on this crazy world.”
Jon put his gun back. This was most ironic of all. He had caught up with his quarry, but with both of them facing doom. Jon pondered and then spoke up grimly.
“Listen, Pluto Pete. Let’s call a truce between us for the time being. We’re not a space cop and space crook here. We’re two human beings pitted against a common enemy—the ruthless metal men. We’ve got to join forces against them. Agreed?
“Sure,” said the criminal, sticking out his hand. “Shake, pal!”
Jon shook hands with the desperado he had so recently vowed to track down and capture, dead or alive! It was a strange drama, on this fantastic metal world.
“Look,” Jon went on rapidly. “We need one our ships back to escape, and I have a plan. We can sneak into the city of the metal men—in disguise. There are plenty of metal leaves around, and metal grass and such, which we can weave around us. Get to work.”
Later, two metallic-looking forms approached the city of metal men. Jon Jarl and Pluto Pete were encased from head to foot in glinting metal disguise. It was a rough job, b
ut it was night now and the city was sleeping. After some searching, they found their two rocketships parked in a city square, for examination the next day, with only a sleepy metal man on guard.
“Hsst, listen!” whispered Jon. “The only way we can get away from the terrific magnetic drag of this metal world is to load all your rocket-fuel into my ship, for a souped-up take-off. Transfer all your tins of fuel into my ship. It’s your skin as well as mine.”
The criminal nodded and they cautiously but swiftly carried tins of rocket-fuel from one ship to the other. But some noise was unavoidable, and suddenly the sleepy guard snapped alert and saw them. He charged forward to seize them in his powerful metal hands.
Jon and Pete broke for the loaded ship, but Jon tripped and fell. The criminal went on and leaped in the ship. Jon realized he was sunk. Pluto Pete would shoot away from the metal world safely. Jon himself would be caught by the metal men. And of course Jon could expect no aid from Pluto Pete. Why should he save the man who wanted to jail him?
The metal man came pounding to seize Jon. The rocket motor roared to life and the ship trembled, ready to rise and leave. But instead, strangely, it spun around in a half-circle from offside blasts. And then the full blazing hot discharges of the rockets met the metal man. And even metal could not stand up against the fury of atomic rockets. The metal man screamed hoarsely and began to melt like ice.
Pluto Pete’s veil came from the open door of the ship. “Don’t stand there, you dumb space cop! Jump in the ship and let’s scram!”
Later, when they were safely in space, Jon still couldn’t believe it. “You had a chance to escape alone, Pete. Yet you saved my life! And I have to bring you in now.”
“Aw, forget it,” growled Pluto Pete. “So what? So I go to jail. But I wasn’t going to let those metal apes capture and kick around a fellow human being.” He winked. “After all, blood is thicker than—uh—” He stopped, puzzled. “Say, what do you think does run in their veins anyhow?”
THE NOVA MENACE
Pluto, outermost of the nine planets, hung in the firmament before the rocketship of Lieutenant Jon Jarl of the Space Patrol. Beyond stretched only the emptiness of outer space and the remote stars.
Jon was on routine patrol to Pluto. On that frigid planet lived the Silicon People who had once attempted to rule the solar system, but had been defeated. Thereafter the Space Patrol kept rigid watch on their world.
Jon’s radar screen suddenly gave a blip. Jon frowned as he followed the course of the object. It was small, shaped like a torpedo, and was heading into outer space. What was it? Where was it going? Had the Silicon People sent it off?
Jon landed in the main city and stepped out in an electrically-heated suit that covering him from head to toe. No human being could live in the cold Plutonian air, with a temperature of two hundred degrees below zero. Yet the native Silicon People walked around in scanty clothing. To them it was a balmy day. Cold or heat meant nothing to them.
Jon had an audience with the King of Pluto and came right to the point. “My radar detected some sort of rocket bomb that you sent into outer space. What was it for?”
The King grinned mockingly. “Frightened, Earthling? But of what? If we had shot the bomb the other way, toward Earth, you would have reason to be suspicious. But what is the harm of sending a rocket into open outer space? It was just a little experiment in recording the temperature out there.”
Jon knew it was a lie; but further questioning got no added information, so he left. After all, what harm could a rocket do in empty space?
The next day, as Jon continued his patrol near Pluto, he began to feel warm. Soon, sweat poured off his forehead. Jon checked his air conditioning device, but nothing was wrong with it. So something outside must be causing the heat. Jon glanced out into the regions of outer space and a gasp tore from his lips.
There, among the tiny stars, was a huge nova! A star which had exploded and increased its size by a hundredfold. Such novas occurred now and then, as seen in telescopes, but always the exploding star had been so far away that it was a mere curiosity of science. But after a rapid check-up with his instruments, Jon’s face was white.
“That nova,” he choked, “is only a few million miles from our solar system! Those fiery intense rays will beat down on our worlds and threaten all life!”
Over the next week, while the nova flared in all its fury, temperatures shot up on all worlds by fifty degrees. All people were forced to stay indoors. Some died from heat and exposure, but the rest were saved. Finally the nova waned, went dim, and vanished.
Jon was puzzled. The whole thing was odd. First of all, the next nearest star was Alpha Centauri, trillions of miles away. This nova had been much nearer. Therefore it could not have been a star. Also the nova had been tiny, as compared to what the nova of a big star would be. Was it just some small wandering asteroid in outer space that had flared up? But how could it? Only burning stars could explode into novas.
Suddenly it all clicked in Jon’s mind, and he once more rushed to confront the King of Pluto.
“You caused that nova!” he accused hotly. “You sent out a rocket bomb to hit an asteroid in space, setting off an atomic chain reaction. The asteroid blew up into a nova. A small one, and not very dangerous, but enough to give the solar system a fright. Now explain it all—and your story had better be good! Why did you do it?”
The King of Pluto leered. “You might as well know the truth. Earthling,” he drawled. “That was an experiment showing us the way to at last wipe out all life in the solar system except us Silicon People!”
Jon gasped at the sheer, stark audacity of it. His hand went to his ray gun, but the King grinned calmly.
“My guards have you covered, idiot, from a dozen hiding places. Now listen. Yes, we sent that small rocket bomb which you detected. It met a tiny asteroid, as we planned, and exploded it into a tiny nova. Now, imagine what a big nova will do? For you see, we are next going to shoot a giant atomic rocket at the star Alpha Centauri, making it explode into a nova!”
Jon shuddered. “You can’t do it,” he whispered. “You couldn’t be that heartless. It would wipe out all life in our solar system!”
“Not all life,” denied the King. “You forget we Silicon People ignore heat and cold. You means all carbon life will die. That is, all creatures whose basic protoplasm is composed of carbonaceous organic compounds. And that includes all life as you know it—all your people and the Martians and other races, and also all animals and insects. When the big nova flashes out with its burning rays, every bit of life in the solar system will be boiled alive—except us!”
Jon could only listen numbly, stunned.
“We Silicon People are composed of silicon compounds, closely related to sand, for instance. Thus, like sand, we are impervious to heat and cold and almost all ordinary agencies of destruction. While the nova is burning you all to a cinder, we will only mop our brows and remark that it’s rather a warm day!”
Jon groaned. Every word was true. Carbon life on all the worlds would be annihilated by the nova. Only the silicon life of Pluto would survive. After the nova had died down, the Plutonians would inherit the entire solar system for their own, to colonize and inhabit. Mankind on Earth would only be a memory.
“So you see,” gloated the King, “We don’t have to fight you in order to win out. You licked us in the war, but you can’t lick a nova!”
And worst of all, nobody back in the solar system knew of this hideous plot. The tiny nova had been put down as an accidental phenomenon of space. Only Jon Jarl knew of the rocket sent out by the Plutonians.
“And of course,” Jon muttered aloud, “you’ll kill me now, so the news doesn’t leak out.”
The King shook his head. “No, we won’t kill you. We’ll let the nova kill you. We’ll keep you alive till then, so we can watch you squirm in agony before you die. Until then you are our—guest, shall we say?”
Guest? It was horrible mockery.
Jon
was led to see the giant rocket bomb being completed. Soon it would plunge into space and strike a star, exploding it into a frightful nova. Jon writhed mentally. Was civilization doomed at the hands of these inhuman monsters?
Jon went berserk under the strain. Yelling, he sprang at the King, pounding with his fists. The King only laughed, not feeling the blows as Jon bruised his knuckles. Jon sobbed in helpless rage. There was no way to fight these Silicon Men. They were as strong and hard as stone or glass!
Glass! As that word sprang into Jon’s mind, he suddenly knew one way to fight them. He snatched up a big metal wrench and began banging it against the side of the rocket. A deafening clang split the air. Two guards first rushed at Jon, then staggered back and ran for their lives.
Noise! Vibration! These were the only things the Silicon People feared. Their hard crystalline bodies could be shattered by resonant sound vibrations, just like glass itself!
Soon, as Jon kept up his banging, all the guards had left, followed by their frightened King. Jon was alone with the rocket.
It was simple then for him to tamper with the rocket’s controls. He set the timer for takeoff, with enough time intervening for him to gain his own ship and leave Pluto.
Jon then watched the mighty rocket roar up and hurtle into space. But Jon had aimed it for empty reaches of space with nothing in its way. It would go on endlessly, and never meet a star or create a nova. The big danger was over.
As for the heartless Silicon People, Jon had it figured out. He sent down a radio message that he knew had to be obeyed.
“Deliver your King to me as a prisoner, or I’ll fly over your city and turn on my Police Siren! The noise would drive you all into the hills. It’s run by powerful atomic energy. The King will be arrested and tried in the Interplanetary Courts.”
Jon paused and went on grimly. “As for the rest of you, don’t try any more plots against the solar system. Just remember that we can easily wipe you all out with a very simple weapon—one loud noise!”