The Moon Colony

by William Dixon Bell

  CHAPTER XIII

  The Landing

  A sudden burst of light, stronger than the meridian sun, flashed intoEpworth’s face, causing him to jump excitedly.

  “Holy smoke!” he exclaimed. “Is the ship on fire?”

  “The general is throwing open all the windows,” Michael Straussreplied from outside of the door. “We are approaching the moon. Comeout and peep through a windowpane. It is safe. The crew is busy at thefar end.”

  Epworth slipped out of Joan’s cabin into the companionway. From whereMichael stood they could see out and downward. Far below him Epworthsaw a rounding world, full of deep pits, enormous craters, steepmountains. For several moments he gazed at it in silence and awe, andthen his mind flashed back to a previous air ride he had taken. Thiswas almost exactly like flying over Mount Vesuvius.

  He was still standing at the window gazing downward when Joan andBilly joined him.

  “That prisoner in there,” Billy observed. “What are we going to dowith him if we make a landing? From what I see we are about ready todrop.”

  They shot suddenly across a range of high mountains and came to a longlevel stretch of shimmering white.

  “If a landing is made we will have to tie him up and——”

  Epworth had not completed his sentence when the Aerolite droppeddownward and landed as light as a feather. When he turned to look outagain he discovered that they were located on the peak of a highmountain that sheered off almost straight down for ten thousand feetto a long level stretch of land composed of brownish colored soil.This stretch of land sloped gradually eastward. Remembering that eastwas west and west was east on the moon, Epworth tried to establish thepoint of landing from his knowledge of the surface of the moon asoutlined by Flammarion. The moon, he knew, was now full, and theentire surface was flashed with sunlight—that is the portion thatfaced the earth.

  But, to his astonishment, they were not landing in the light of thesun.

  When the ship came to a stop and he was able to get a better view oftheir surroundings he discovered that they were surrounded by a dimreflected light that came from the east. On the west the darkness wassteadily deepening. While he was still watching the darkness inwonder, the colonists began to pour out of the ship onto the moon.

  They looked strange—not at all like men—and Epworth gasped slightly ashe recognized the fact that they were encased in air helmets, and woreheavy iron shoes to maintain a balance on the light gravity of thesmall globe.

  The moment they landed the men began to unload sheets of metalsilvered into giant reflectors.

  “W-w-what are they going to do?” Joan gasped in astonishment. “Why allthose sheets of silvered metal?”

  “That Toplinsky is a deep man,” Michael responded in awe. “He hasnever been on the moon before, but he has a great scheme to make itinhabitable by men. That silvered metal, when completed, and erected,will be his first moon mirror. If you notice it is to be erected on aparticular point of this mountain—just beyond the part visible fromthe earth. For fourteen days the sun will be reflected directly towardthe earth, and then the rays will move further westward, finallypresenting only a dark sphere to the earth. This results, Toplinskysays, in the establishment of a line on the moon which is alwayslighted by the appearance of the sun in the distance. This linetravels into the sunlight and retains the light of the sun while theface of the moon fronting the earth is dark. Thus, at a point onlyseveral miles removed, when the sun disappears from the Sea ofVapours, we will say, it touches the mountain system on the west andremains there until the moon’s movements shift it back again.Toplinsky’s scheme is simple. He intends to locate mirrors on thatline, catch the light of the sun as it disappears from the part facingthe earth, and reflect its heat down into the valley. With the heatnaturally will come the reflected light. In this manner he will buildsolar heaters to overcome the cold and darkness of the long night.Naturally he will locate his colony close to the mountain where itwill be near the solar heaters.”

  Hardly had Michael finished his explanation when some of the colonistsre-entered the airship, and started the machinery. Again they liftedin the air. But they were not up long. For ten minutes they sailedover a dark line where the rocks showed beneath them rugged andmountainous, and then they flitted like a long silent streak acrossthe line of darkness into a brilliant sunlight. Here Toplinsky droppedthe airship quickly to the ground, and presently they landed in asmall, narrow valley on the bank of a lake half a mile in diameter.

  “That is some more of Toplinsky’s work,” Michael explained. “He madethat lake by shooting rockets filled with water from the Arctic Ocean.The rockets also contained liquid air and enough hydrogen and oxygento protect the water from evaporation.”

  Epworth sauntered down the companionway, and peeped out of the door.The colonists were again leaving the ship, protected by their airhelmets.

  “Does he expect to find hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and other elementshere?” Joan asked.

  “He left orders for the men behind to continue to shoot the rocketsfilled with chemicals at a certain spot, gradually drawing eastward soas to enlarge the lake.”

  “It is light enough here,” Epworth observed, “but I perceive thatToplinsky has landed in a spot where the country is shaded for tenmiles by the high mountain on which he left his mirrors. That mountainmust be six miles high.”

  “Another part of his colonizing scheme,” Michael explained. “He thinksthat if men can be protected from the rays of the sun the heat willnot be unbearable during the long day.”

  “I see.” Epworth was considerably astonished at the giant’s scientificideas. “The shadow of the mountain will certainly moderate the heat,but I am yet to be convinced that he can generate enough heat with hismirrors and solar heaters to warm up the valley during the longnight.”

  “Leave it to him. See that long strip of light?”

  Michael pointed to a narrow slit of sunlight that suddenly shot downfrom the top of the mountain. It came straight down like a ladder,piercing the darkness of its source and dropping down in brilliantcoruscations on the rugged rocks on the west end of the little lake,and sweeping swiftly over the level stretch of land between themountain and the lake. It brought brilliant light and heat.

  “I’m for getting out of here,” Billy put in.

  “Fine,” Epworth replied scathingly, “but how are you going to live outthere? The colonists are wearing air helmets, and that indicates to usthat if we undertake to leave the Aerolite we must find some way tostore oxygen over our own heads.”

  “There are air helmets in the storeroom,” Michael suggested, “and anoxygen tank in the cook room. Perhaps——”

  But without waiting for a command from Epworth, he sped down thecompanionway into the kitchen. When he came back he was carrying threeair helmets.

  “Here you are,” he said energetically. “I found them hanging near thekitchen oxygen tank, and of course filled them so that you can usethem.”

  “But, how will we refill them after we exhaust the supply nowimprisoned in them?” Epworth protested. “I——”

  “I brought along a recharger, and——”

  “Even so, one recharge will not last us long.”

  “Perhaps we may not need them after all,” Joan suggested. “Thecolonists are taking them off their heads.”

  Epworth opened the window cautiously and stuck his head out.

  “There is atmosphere here,” he observed slowly, “but it is exceedinglythin.”

  “It is not half as thin as these air helmets promise to become,” Billysnorted, “and I think I can explain it. The astronomers on the earthcannot see deep into these craters. They see only the tops of themountains, and the atmosphere has done the same as it does on theearth—sought the lower levels, being pressed down from above andgathering density in the holes and caves.”

  “That being the case right here we separate from Toplinsky,” Epworthdecided quickly. “If we wait he will put a watch over the ship, andcu
t off our escape.”

  “You say that Toplinsky has been shooting liquid air, oxygen, nitrogenand hydrogen up here?”

  Joan put the question to Michael as if she had just heard this, andEpworth looked at her in surprise.

  “Of course,” Epworth answered, taking the words out of Michael’smouth. “That has been gone over half a dozen times.”

  “True, but a new idea has just struck me. Perhaps the liquid air andall the other ingredients that make air, which Toplinsky shot up here,made good breathing air when the explosions occurred and that enoughhave been unloaded from the earth to create a small air circle at thispoint.”

  “Such atmosphere would be held down at this point by the pressure fromabove,” Epworth agreed, “and remain in natural form.”

  “If my theory proves true,” Joan continued, “we can breathe only whenwe are near the lake.”

  “Be that as it may, we will go out and see how we get along but besure to hold on to your air helmets.”

  Locking the prisoner inside of the small cabin the three Americansmoved softly down the companionway toward the kitchen. On the way theycaught a glimpse of Toplinsky and his men standing in a circle, withtheir air helmets in their hands, while several of the company wereturning up the soil with shovels for Toplinsky to examine. Thescientist was doing this carefully, and Epworth could not restrain athought of admiration. The man was certainly a thorough scientist, andin his scheme to make the moon inhabitable he would be sure to plantvegetation that would grow prolifically.

  Michael had informed them that there was a companionway beyond thekitchen which would lead them to the opposite side of the ship, andthey had been thoughtful enough to get instructions that would enablethem to locate it. When they arrived at the kitchen they found itdeserted, the entire outfit having rushed to see the landing, and withvery little trouble they gained the companionway. But when they cameto the door that opened out on the small balcony on the opposite sidethey found it locked.

  For several moments the two men were puzzled. Epworth fumbled at thelock without result, and then Billy took his place. Billy, being amechanic of great ability, used the blade of his knife and afterworking for some time forced the bolt back, and pulled the doorinward. With beating hearts they ran down the ladder and stepped uponterra firma.

  Here they paused for a brief consultation. They were hidden fromToplinsky’s men by the airship but it was evident that if they escapedthey would have to run for it in the open. The nearest protectionconsisted of a range of small mountains on the south. There were othermountains on the north but these were too far away, although they weretaller and more promising as a hiding place. Both ranges appearedrocky and rugged, treeless and desolate. In front of the Aerolite,stretching as far as the eye could reach was a pitted desert of whiteashy sand dunes; behind the machine was the newly made lake whichrippled softly on a nearby beach; beyond this the mountain with thesolar heat.

  “We will have to try the southern mountains,” Epworth said briefly,“and run like scared rabbits. It is lucky, Joan, that you are wearingshort skirts.”

  “Let us scatter,” Billy proposed, “and meet at that large rock whichis projecting over that lower mountain.”

  “Not me,” Joan objected quickly. “I’m staying close to Julian. I mightneed his strong right arm.”

  “Then all together.”

  They kept the Aerolite between them and their enemies as long aspossible, and then broke into a run.

  Their attempt to run was at first ludicrous. Being used to the gravitydrag of the earth they put forward all their efforts in taking longquick steps. Instead of steps these muscular movements proved to bejumps, and they moved like Jack in the Magic Boots, covering aboutthirty yards in a single step, and jerking their legs up ludicrouslywhen they took the next step. In fact, after getting off the ground ittook an effort to put their feet back.

  Joan immediately tumbled over, laughing somewhat fearfully.

  “This will not do,” she exclaimed anxiously, as she fell the secondtime. “I can’t run. Let us walk.”

  Epworth, the second step he took, discovered the situation, and wasmoving in accordance with what he thought a moon action should be. Itwas not perfect but it kept him from falling and was a rapid mode ofadvance. He now stopped and gave them instructions in the way hethought they should move. While he was doing this Toplinsky camearound the side of the Aerolite and discovered them. At the time theywere probably about twelve hundred feet distant.

  “Ah, ha, they run,” he shrilled in that sharp voice they had learnedto dread. “Our guests are wearying of their entertainment. They wouldleave us without bidding us farewell. Atta, boys, up and after them!”

  He started on a big run for the Americans. Epworth expected to see himfly up and turn over but the giant was too scientific-wise. He came onwith a hop-skip-and-jump that seemed to make him fairly skim over theground.

  “A regular flying squirrel,” Billy grunted, “and dangerous as asnake.”

  Toplinsky landed in front of Epworth with a broad grin.

  “Ah, ha, ho, ho, my bantam American pugilist, we meet again, and ondifferent footing. This time we shall fight in the same way, but withdifferent results. Then I shall be freed of my promise.”

  He stared savagely for several seconds into the American’s face, andthen leaning forward, with his little eyes twinkling, he aimed an uglyblow at Epworth’s head. The American attempted to dodge it but thedifference in the gravity pull made him clumsy and he half-floated toone side, the blow striking him on the chest, spinning him around androlling him forty feet.

  “Run, Joan,” he shouted. “Make for the mountains. I can’t fight here.Billy will take care of you while I hold this great brute.”

  He scrambled to his feet as Toplinsky tore down on him.

  “Shall I shoot him?” Billy asked softly.

  “And stay on the moon all the rest of your life?” Toplinsky shrilled.“Shoot, will you? Shoot! I’m the only man who can take this expeditionback to the earth.”

  He stopped, tore open his shirt and exposed his hairy chest.

  “Run,” Epworth urged. “Keep your cartridges as long as possible. Iwill attend to this gentleman.”

  Without waiting to see what Billy did, Epworth squatted, sprangforward, and threw his arms around Toplinsky’s legs, jerking at themwith all his strength. The result was exceedingly funny.

  Toplinsky threw out both hands, waved them wildly, and attempted tofasten himself down with his powerful leg muscles. But this time lightgravity aided the American, and he was able to shove the giant’s feetfrom under him. For a second Toplinsky was a bundle of flying arms andlegs threshing the air and he fell in half a dozen directions. Joan,looking back, laughed outright.

  To be laughed at was the crudest punishment that could be inflicted onthe egotistical scientist. He let out a bellow like a bull, and made adesperate, thoughtless effort to stand up. The effort proved acontortion of muscles in the wrong way, and he sprawled in everydirection again.

  There was now no mercy in Epworth’s battles with this man, and he wasnot overlooking an opportunity. The first assault by the giant hadtaught him caution, and now he moved slowly, thoughtfully. He was nota man to draw a weapon carelessly on a man but he was fighting for thelives of three people. He could not afford to be squeamish. This wasnot like fighting on the earth. He was physically outclassed.

  Drawing his gun he brought the butt down on Toplinsky’s head with allthe force he had in his arm.

  The giant was like an ox but the blow knocked him out.

  By this time Toplinsky’s men were stumbling over each other to get tothe fight, and pausing only for a second to get the direction in whichJoan and Billy had gone, Epworth adopted Toplinsky’s method of travel,and departed with a hop-skip-and-jump. The progress he made wasstartling, and very soon he was some distance away from the pirateband, and had caught up with his companions.

  “Do this,” he instructed. “Make it snappy. The giant will be after u
sshortly.”

  But again Toplinsky proved wise. When he discovered that hiscompanions could not master the art of advance, he did not give chase.He knew now that Epworth had a gun, and he was not anxious to push acontest where the gun would have to be used. Thus the three fugitivesreached the mountains, and found refuge in a cave, the entrance ofwhich they blocked with a large boulder.

  “We’re sitting pretty now,” Billy remarked as he rolled a cigarette,“but I am wondering what we are going to eat and drink?”

  The three Americans looked gravely out at the dreary waste land. Not asprig of green grass, not a tree, not a sign of a spring—only barrenwhite sand dunes, climbing cliffs with crater-like holes in them, andthe food and water supply in the hands of men who would kill.