by Unknown
But other and more important events soon claimed the attention of theearth people. Day by day the herds of dinosaurs and other monsters oflike breed edged closer and closer to the tiny civilization around theplateau. It worried Carruthers so much that he sought out Zark and hadhim bring the other six members of his tribe together for a council ofwar.
"A complete defensive system, Zark," he told them. "We must make afortress of the plateau and fill the caverns with food."
* * * * *
Zark shook his head. "No. It is quite useless. Followers of Marbo haverecently returned from over the beyond and report strange things. Ihave hesitated to speak of them for fear of alarming you. Our planetis breaking up. Violent eruptions have caused fires of stone and mud.The rumblings you have heard were not made entirely by our enemies.They came from the ground.
"An earthquake," murmured Carruthers, momentarily stunned by the news."But they are always of short duration, Zark. We have them on our ownplanet."
"Ah, but these are different. They cover the whole of our globe. Thegreat Dahlgren noted them while he was with us. He wrote many wordsand figures on paper concerning them. Only yesterday I unearthed theserecords. The life of our planet was doomed to destruction during thepresent year. What matter if the herds of dinosaurs overrun us anddestroy lives? In the end they, too, will be destroyed. It is fate. Wecan do nothing."
Even as the old chieftain spoke a gigantic rumbling, greater inintensity than any heretofore, shook the electron. Above the deeprolling disturbance underground rose the shrill cries of the apemen.
Carruthers leaped to his feet and raced through the tunnel. A herd ofdinosaurs choked the path leading to the outside entrance. Marbobrushed past him, shrilling in great excitement.
"Drive them away!" ordered Carruthers. "Like this!" He hurled a rockat the eye of the nearest animal.
The dinosaur bellowed and backed away. The apes, and gorillas, used tofighting only with their long arms, caught on to the stunt withsurprising quickness. Their powerful arms reached out. Stones andboulders began to hurtle from the mouth of the tunnel. They thuddedagainst the heads of the great monsters like hailstones.
Subdued and frightened by this sudden display of force, the monsterswithdrew down the path. But the apemen had discovered a new method ofwarfare. They found a childish delight in hurling stones. Within a fewminutes the slope was barren of rocks. The animals followed up theirmomentary advantage and ran screaming down the path. The dinosaursfled in panic.
* * * * *
AS soon as the enemy had been driven away, Carruthers pointed out toMarbo the advantage of gathering the stones up from the ground andreturning them to the space around the mouth of the tunnel so that heand his followers would be ready for a second repulse.
Zark appeared at this moment and helped with the explanation. Hiscrafty old eyes turned with new respect upon the earthman.
Carruthers toiled with them every day from then on, building andfortifying the plateau against further incursions of the monsters.Security and peace reigned for several weeks then hostilities brokeout afresh.
The rumblings of the electron had increased with each passing week.Volcanic eruptions poured fresh discharges of molten lava and fierysparks along the edges of the jungles.
"I don't want to needlessly alarm you, Nan," he told her that night,"but the fires have started. Zark was right. Unless we have rainbefore to-morrow morning the heat and smoke will drive us out intothe open."
"But we can go to the top of the plateau," suggested the girl. "Therearen't any trees--"
A concentrated bellowing cut off the rest of her words. Driven towardshigher ground by the heat of the flames, the dinosaurs were tramplingup the path leading to the tunnel.
Once again Carruthers rallied his army of apemen around him andattempted to drive the mammals away. As they reached the end of thetunnel a cloud of dense smoke stung their eyes. The apemen shrilled ina sudden panic and forgot all their previous training in driving offthe dinosaurs. Like scurrying rats they scattered.
* * * * *
Flames from the conflagration broke through the smoke--flames thatleaped and twisted skyward.
Carruthers flung off the fear that held him spellbound and startedalong up the path leading to the top of the plateau. A disheveledfigure appeared suddenly at his side--Nanette!
"Come," he whispered, hoarsely. "We've got to get out of this or we'llchoke to death."
"But Zark," breathed the girl, "He and his followers are still in thecavern. We can't leave them."
Like one demented of reason, Carruthers raced back along the tunnel tothe cavern. "Zark!" he shouted.
The sound of his voice was drowned in the welter of screaming bedlamcoming up from below as the dinosaurs and apes fought for thesupremacy of life. But of Zark and his six followers he foundabsolutely no sign. Quickly he hurried back to where he had leftNanette.
Even as he reached the spot he had a sudden premonition of danger. Agorilla, huge and black, brushed past him on the path, carrying a limpburden under his shaggy arm.
"Stop!" commanded Carruthers, hurrying after the animal.
A huge arm knocked him sprawling. Spitting blood Carruthers staggeredto his feet. Up to this time he had felt no fear of the gorillas. Theyhad been orderly and well behaved. Fearful that harm would come to thegirl he ran after the dark figure ahead. The red glow of flames sweptnearer. The gorilla came to a stop and faced its pursuer. Lust shonefrom its close-set eyes--lust and passion.
Carruthers stopped dead in his tracks. "Drop her!" he demanded.
The animal snarled hoarsely. There came the sound of ripping cloth.Nanette screamed--a terrifying scream that echoed and re-echoedthrough the electron night.
* * * * *
It was then that the thin cloak of civilization dropped from AaronCarruthers' back. He became in a single moment an animal fighting forhis mate. With a snarl equally vicious as that of the gorilla pawingat the helpless girl, he lunged forward.
Mouthing his rage, the gorilla flung the earth man to the ground.Carruthers came up frothing at the mouth. With grim intensity hefastened himself to the animal's free arm. The raging mammal staggeredhelplessly under the extra burden and dropped the girl to concentratehis fury on the man. It raised a hairy arm aloft for the smashingblow. Instinctively Carruthers released his hold.
At that very moment the electron lurched sickeningly, causing themboth to lose their footing. The violent upheaval sent Carruthers oneway and the gorilla the other. While the man stumbled to his feet toresume battle he saw the infuriated monster stagger over the edge ofthe plateau wall into a sheer drop of a thousand feet.
Starkly through the night came the growling roars of the giant beastsfrom the jungles below. Nanette fluttered to his side. Her dress wastorn and dragged on the ground. For all her disheveled appearance shewas still beautiful to look upon. Forgetful of the danger on all sidesof him, the animal in Carruthers saw in her pitifully half-clad bodythe same thing that the beast had desired. His head whirled hotly.
"Aaron!" she pleaded as his arm reached out to clutch her.
Hungrily he drew her to him. The pale light of the electron moonmingled with the roaring blast of the flames. Madness inflamed hisheart and pounded his blood.
"Don't, Aaron," protested the girl, trying to free herself.
* * * * *
Something in the quality of the girl's frightened tones brought theman back to normal. He fought against the overwhelming desire topossess with all the force of his nature. And the better halftriumphed. No longer was he an animal, but a reasoning human being.With a faint sigh he released her and wiped a hand across his drippingforehead.
"I'm sorry, Nan," he murmured. "That great brute drove me mad for aninstant. I'm all right now."
Together they stood in the electron night and watched death creepcloser and closer. The plateau was entirely surrounded with flames nowand the heat was increasing with each passing moment. As it increasedthey backed towards the center.
> From under their feet came the choking cries of the apemen. They hadreturned to the cavern only to be overcome by smoke fumes. While yetthe earth people stood there waiting and watching the red death creepnearer, the path leading downward into the jungle became a mass ofmoving shadows.
"The dinosaurs!" cried Nanette. "Oh, Aaron! We are lost!"
"Steady, girl," soothed the man. "If we stand still they might not seeus in the dark. The smoke will destroy our scent."
But as the minutes passed the herd of monsters increased. They crowdedalong the path and spread out over the top of the plateau. Once againthe smell of their glistening bodies fouled the nostrils of the earthpeople.
Slowly Carruthers guided Nanette back towards the ring ofrocks--perhaps the barrier would serve to keep the animals away. Hescrambled across one of the boulders and pulled the girl after him. Ashe did so, a violent subterranean action shock the electron from oneend to the other.
* * * * *
Carruthers braced his feet against the ring of rocks to keep frompitching headlong to the ground. Nanette clung to him wordlessly. Allaround them the giant forces of nature raged sullenly. Twisting seamsappeared in the rocky floor of the plateau from which oozed gaseousvapors.
"Courage," soothed Carruthers as he held the quivering body of thefrightened girl close to his own. "This can't last."
But the ground continued to lurch and heave on its axis. Vivid lightscrossed and criss-crossed the atomic heavens. The fissures in theground appeared now as black canals. The lower part of the circle ofboulders disappeared. Off to the right came despairing screams. Whitebodies glowed for an instant against the background of flames.
"Zark!" shouted Carruthers, as he saw the leader of the tribe of Esauand his followers making their way along the plateau top.
Zark must have heard the earth-man's voice, for he started forward ata run. Simultaneously there appeared a herd of the greatest of all theprehistoric monsters--the Brontosaurus. They balked enormously againstthe flame-licked skies. Zark and his followers attempted to avoidthem. But fear of the scorching flames drove the monsters forward.There followed a maddening moment of unutterable pain for theremaining ones of the tribe of Esau, then the herd trampled themunderfoot and rumbled towards the half circle of rocks where the twoearth people were crouched.
The leader of the Brontosaurus herd trumpeted madly and barged for thehigher ground of safety. Too late did instinct warn it of the wideningfissure underfoot. Before it could stop the pressure of the herd droveit into the crevice.
* * * * *
Carruthers drew back to the extreme inside edge of the boulders tryingto still his ears against their insane bellowings. A cloud of heavy,choking smoke enveloped him for a moment then passed away. Then it wasthat he saw a new star in the atomic heavens,--a star that seemed toburn with the brilliance of a meteor. Even as he watched he wasconscious of it drawing closer.
The planet was now in a continuous uproar. The ground was heaving andtrembling as if from some inward strain. This was the end. Carruthersrealized it with a sinking heart. In another minute the electron woulddisintegrate into a flaming mass of matter and fling itself from itsorbit around the atom.
And then the light from the approaching star struck them in a blindingradiance of vermilion flames. Carruthers held his breath. Someinvisible force seemed to take possession of his body and that of thegirl at his side. The rocky plateau, now a boiling mass of rocks,dropped from under their feet. Clear, cold air enveloped their bodies.Then with the speed of light their bodies were hurled throughplanetary space, up, up, up into the vast reaches of the higher ether.
Darkness assailed them. The flames from the jungle fire vanished intonothingness. The electron moon paled to the size of a pin point, thenwent out.
Carruthers had the feeling of expansion and growth. It was as if hisbody was taking on the size of the whole world. It seemed to last forhours, days, ages. But all the while he clung fast to the slender,quivering body of Nanette.
* * * * *
Mountains and hills suddenly blazed before his eyes. Straight up anddown mountains. He tried to stir his sluggish mind into action. Whatdid they mean? Where had he seen them before? And while yet his mindstruggled with the problem the mountains dwindled like melting snow.The pressure around his body relaxed. A blinding glare of steady lightplayed upon his face. Then all was quietness and peace.
"Nan! Aaron!" The voice was Karl's.
Dazedly they looked around. What had once been mountains were nowdesks and chairs. They were back again in the laboratory. Severalagonizing minutes passed before either could grasp the startlingchange in things. The horror of the electronic disaster still filledtheir minds to overflowing.
Carruthers recovered first. He stepped from the railed inclosuremarking the spot where the atomic beam had restored them after theirspace flight, and guided the girl to a chair. Karl's face was drawnand white as his eyes rested on the two pitiful figures that hadmaterialized out of the ether.
"Don't ask us any questions yet," spoke Carruthers in a tired voice."We've passed through too many horrors. What was the matter, Karl?Couldn't you get the rays to work sooner?"
"Sooner?" Danzig's eyes were wide with wonder. He glanced at hiswatch. "It was a little difficult to control both machines all alone,but I switched off the ray from the inverse dimensional tubes andturned on the other immediately. All in all it must have taken mefifteen seconds."
"Fifteen seconds," repeated Carruthers, dazedly. "It's unbelievable."He dropped wearily into a chair and rested his forehead in the palmsof his hands. "How long have we been gone, Nan?"
* * * * *
Nanette pulled the ragged remnants of a dress around her knees andattempted a smile. "Almost four months, according to the passage oftime on the electron."
"Impossible!" whispered Danzig, shutting his eyes to the truth.
Aaron Carruthers pointed to his clothes, now ragged and torn. "Look,Karl! Everything I have on is worn out completely. Observe my hair andbeard, and the soles of my shoes. Human reason to the contrary,Nanette and I have lived like two animals for four months, and all inthe space of fifteen seconds earth time. How can you account for it?We figured it out on paper. And we've proved it with our bodies. Whatit will mean to future civilization I can't foretell. It's beyondimagination."
And the laboratory became silent as a tomb as the three people triedwith all the strength of their minds to grasp the miracle of thestrange and unfathomable atomic rays.
* * * * *
PRODUCING HEAT BY ARCTIC COLD
Producing heat by means of Arctic cold is a fantastic but none theless quite practicable idea evolved by Dr. H. Barjou of the FrenchAcademy of Science. Dr. Barjou says the water under the ice in theArctic region is about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. While the air is manydegrees less, there may even be a difference of 50 degrees. Theunfrozen water could be pumped into a tank and permitted to freeze,thus generating heat, as freezing a cubic meter of ice liberates aboutas much heat as burning twenty-two pounds of coal. The heat producedwould vaporize a volatile hydrocarbon which would drive a turbine.For condensing the hydrocarbon again, Dr. Barjou says great blocks ofbrine could be used.
Not only would the Arctic regions become comfortably habitable bymeans of this utilization of energy, contends Dr. Barjou, but heatalso could be furnished for the rest of the world.
Now if some one only can discover how to make the Sahara Desert sendforth cooling waves, the world will be perfect, temperaturally.
Jetta of the Lowlands
PART TWO OF A THREE-PART NOVEL
By Ray Cummings
[Sidenote: Into remote Lowlands, in an invisible flyer, go Grant andJetta--prisoners of a scientific depth bandit.]
WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE
In the year 2020 the oceans have long since drained from the surfaceof the earth, leaving bared to sun and wind the one-time sea floor.Much of it is flat, caked ooze, cracked and hardened, with, here andthere, small scum-covered lakes, bordered by slimy roc
ks. It is hot,down in the depth of the great Lowland areas, and it is chieflyadventurers and outcasts of human kind who can endure life in whatfew towns there are.
Into Nareda, the capital village of the tiny Lowland Republic ofNareda, goes Philip Grant, an operative of the United States CustomsDepartment, on a dangerous assignment--to ferret out the men who aresmuggling mercury into the United States from that place.
Grant falls in love with Jetta, the daughter of Jacob Spawn, a bigmercury mine owner of Nareda, only to learn that Spawn has promisedher in marriage to Greko Perona, the country's Minister of InternalAffairs.
Grant follows Perona to a midnight Lowland rendezvous with mysteriousstrangers and eavesdrops on them, sending their indistinct voicemurmurs to his chief, Hanley, in Washington, who relays them back tohim, amplified. He learns several important things: that Spawn andPerona and a depth bandit named De Boer are together involved in thesmuggling; that they have planned a fake robbery of a fortune inradiumized mercury stored at Spawn's mine, to collect the insurance onit and escape paying the Government export fee: and that they, planto kidnap Grant for ransom.
The plotters learn of Grant's absence from Nareda, and suspect that hemay be nearby. They start to search for him. Grant barely escapes,with the bandits and conspirators in hot pursuit. He flees to Jetta,hoping that they will be able to get away together: but he finds hertied hand and foot in her room.
The door is tightly sealed.
And close behind him are his pursuers!
CHAPTER VIII - Jetta's Defiance
I must go back now to picture what befell Jetta that afternoon while Iwas at Spawn's mine. It is not my purpose to becloud this narrativewith mystery. There was very little mystery about it to Jetta, and Ican reconstruct her viewpoint of the events from what she afterwardtold me.
Jetta's room was in a wing of the house on the side near the pergola.Her window and door looked out upon the patio. When I hadretired--that first night in Nareda--Spawn had gone to his daughterand upbraided her for showing herself while he was giving me thatfirst midnight meal.