Fantastic Tales of Terror

by Eugene Johnson

  From a classified transcription of a conversation held in the Situation Room, retrieved from the hacker group Anonymous, dated September 11th, 2011:

  [name redacted]—“This ‘device’ [emphatically], we can pinpoint its focus to a single location in the sky, to a moving plane, even, with minimal civilian casualties?”

  [name redacted]—“The beam can be directed to Flight [number redacted]’s exact location in the sky. Everyone onboard will be lost, sir, instantaneously. Ground control will simply see its blip vanish from radar. Those on the flight . . . there is no avoiding—”

  [name redacted]—“Besides those on the plane, [salutation & name redacted], can we avoid further loss of life?”

  [name redacted]—“Flight [number redacted] will become debris, a minimal amount, with trajectories uncertain.”

  [name redacted]—“Debris over Ohio.”

  [name redacted]—“Farmland, sir.”

  In a letter from Samuel Langhorne Clemens to Nikola Tesla, August 1st, 1934:

  I understand now, my friend. Much success in carrying out this burden! To imagine . . . a world without war!

  From the New York Herald Tribune, pp. 1, 15, in an article by Joseph W. Alsop, Jr., titled “Beam to Kill Army at 200 Miles, Tesla’s Claim on 78th Birthday: Death Ray Also Available as Power of Agent in Peace Times, Inventor Declares,” also published July 11th, 1934:

  He came to the idea of a beam of force, he said, because of his belief that no weapon has ever been found that is not as successful offensively as defensively. The perfect weapon of defense, he felt, would be a frontier wall, impenetrable and extending up to the limits of the atmosphere of the earth . . .

  The beam of force itself, as Dr. Tesla described it, is a concentrated current—it need be no thicker than a pencil—of microscopic particles moving at several hundred times the speed of artillery projectiles. The machine into which Dr. Tesla combines his four devices is, in reality, a sort of electrical gun.

  He illustrated the sort of thing that the particles will be by recalling an incident that occurred often enough when he was experimenting with a cathode tube. Then, sometimes, a particle larger than an electron, but still very tiny, would break off from the cathode, pass out of the tube and hit him. He said he could feel a sharp, stinging pain where it entered his body, and again at the place where it passed out. The particles in the beam of force, ammunition which the operators of the generating machine will have to supply, will travel far faster than such particles as broke off from the cathode, and will travel in concentrations, he said.

  As Dr. Tesla explained it, the tremendous speed of the particles will give them their destruction-dealing qualities. All but the thickest armored surfaces confronting them would be melted through in an instant by the heat generated in the concussion . . .

  In a New York World Telegram from Nikola Tesla, dated July 24th, 1934, in response to an article written by William Engle re: hydro-electric development in an issue published June 24th, in which the author announces Tesla’s inexhaustible source of power as “nebulous”:

  We are all fallible, but as I examine the subject in the light of my present theoretical and experimental knowledge I am filled with deep conviction that [I] am giving to the world something far beyond the wildest dreams of inventors of all time.

  From Every Week Magazine, published October 21st, 1934, p. 3 in an article titled “Dr. Tesla Visions the End of Aircraft in War” by Helen Welshimer:

  Now, 15 years after the War has ended, Tesla, one of the greatest inventors of all time, has announced that his invention to end all wars, by a perfect means of defense which any nation can employ, is ready . . .

  Dr. Tesla wishes it to be understood that the means he has perfected has nothing in common with the so-called “death ray.”

  “It is impossible to develop such a ray. I worked on that idea for many years,” he says, “before my ignorance was dispelled and I became convinced that it could not be realized. This new beam of mine consists of minute bullets moving at a terrific speed, and any amount of power desired can be transmitted by them. The whole plant is just a gun, but one which is incomparably superior to the present.”

  From a Western Union Telegram from [name redacted], a past and sometimes frequent financier of Nikola Tesla, dated October 13th, 1934:

  We regret to inform you that your persistent requests for additional funds will continue to be denied. Please cease and desist further requests for support from [business name redacted]. Consider all ties cut.

  In a letter mailed from Hotel New Yorker, New York, NY, addressed to J.P. Morgan Esq. at 23 Wall Street, New York, NY, dated November 29th, 1934:

  Dear Mr. Morgan:

  I have made recent discoveries of inestimable value which are referred in the marked passage of the clipping enclosed. Their practical application should yield an immense fortune.

  The flying machine has completely demoralized the world, so much that in some cities, as London and Paris, people are in mortal fear from aerial bombing. The new means I have perfected afford absolute protection against this and other forms of attack . . .

  Yours most faithfully,

  N. Tesla

  Following the ellipses in the letter above, Nikola details Mr. Morgan in the urgency and importance of continuing the development of his recent discoveries, requesting substantial funds:

  Words cannot express how much I am aching for the same facilities which I then had at my disposal and for the opportunity of squaring my account with your father’s estate and yourself. I am no longer a dreamer but a practical man of great experience gained in long and bitter trials. If I had now twenty five thousand dollars to secure my property and make convincing demonstrations I could acquire in a short time colossal wealth.

  Mr. Morgan, you are still able to help an undying cause but how long will you be in this privileged position? We are in the clutches of a political party which caters openly and brazenly to the mob and believes that by pouring out billions of public money, still unequalled, it can remain in power indefinitely. The democratic principles are forsaken and individual liberty and incentives are made a joke. The “New Deal” is a perpetual motion scheme which can never work but is given a semblance of operativeness by an unceasing supply of the peoples’ capital. Most of the measures adopted are a bid for votes and some are destructive to established industries and decidedly socialistic . . .

  From a classified transcription of a conversation held in the Situation Room, retrieved from the hacker group Anonymous, dated September 11th, 2011:

  [name redacted]—“How does this device work, this system?”

  From a Western Union Telegram from Nikola Tesla to his nephew, Sava Kosanović, in New York, NY, dated March 1st, 1941:

  In the system there are no electrons. Energy goes into the same direction without any distribution [dissipation] and the same on all sides of distance. It contains neutrons. [In] the air [its size] is equal to a diameter of hydrogen. It can destroy the largest ships afloat. There is unlimited distance of travel. The same is for airplanes.

  From a classified transcription of a conversation held in the Situation Room, retrieved from the hacker group Anonymous, dated September 11th, 2011:

  [name redacted]—“We have used teleforce for years, sir, in Afghanistan, in Kuwait, in Syria, home abroad—”

  [name redacted]—“So tell me again why the towers are gone. So many lives lost, so many lives.”

  [name redacted]—“We cannot defend against the unexpected, and the use of such a weapon requires an executive order.”

  [name redacted]—“Weapon? [emphasized]”

  [name redacted]—“Yes, a defensive weapon . . . of sorts.”

  Snippets from the article “A Machine to End War,” dated February 1935, in which Nikola Tesla discusses humanity in his future, subtitled “A Famous Inventor, Picturing Life 100 Years from Now, Reveals an Astounding Scientific Venture which Believes Will Change the Course of History”:

  No m
an can look very far into the future. Progress and invention evolve in directions other than those anticipated . . .

  Life is and will ever remain an equation incapable of solution, but it contains certain known factors. We may definitely say that it is a movement even if we do not fully understand its nature. Movement implies a body which is being moved and a force which propels it against resistance . . .

  There is no conflict between the ideal of religion and the ideal of science, but science is opposed to theological dogmas because science is founded on fact. To me, the universe is simply a great machine which never came into being and never will end. The human being is no exception to the natural order. Man, like the universe, is a machine . . .

  In the course of ages, mechanisms of infinite complexity are developed, but what we call “soul” or “spirit,” is nothing more than the sum of the functionings of the body. When this functioning ceases, the “soul” or the “spirit” ceases likewise . . .

  Today the most civilized countries of the world spend a maximum of their income on war and a minimum on education. The twenty-first century will reverse this order. It will be more glorious to fight against ignorance than to die on the field of battle. The discovery of a new scientific truth will be more important than the squabbles of diplomats . . .

  Progress [illegible] will be impossible while nations persist in the savage practice of killing each other off . . .

  I believed at one time that war could be stopped by making it more destructive. But I found that I was mistaken. I underestimated man’s combative instinct, which it will take more than a century to breed out. We cannot abolish war by outlawing it. We cannot end it by disarming the strong. War can be stopped, not by making the strong weak but by making every nation, weak or strong, able to defend itself.

  From the Baltimore Sun in an article titled “Aerial Defense ‘Death Beam’ Offered to U.S. by Tesla,” dated July 12th, 1940:

  “All my inventions,” he [Nikola Tesla] said, “are at the service of the United States Government.”

  The death beam, he said, is “based on an entirely new principle of physics that no one has ever dreamed about.” The principle, he added, was different from those relating to the transmission of electrical power by wireless . . .

  The beam, he said, would be only one hundred-millionth of a square centimeter in diameter and could be generated from a special plant that would cost no more than $[redacted] and would take only about three months to construct. A dozen such plants, located at strategic positions along the coast, he said, would be enough to defend the country against all possible aerial attack.

  From an article titled “‘Death Ray’ for Planes,” published in the New York Times, September 22nd, 1940, Sec. 2, p.7:

  Nikola Tesla, one of the truly great inventors who celebrated his eighty-fourth birthday on July 10, tells the writer [name redacted] that he stands ready to divulge to the United States Government the secret of his “teleforce” . . .

  In the opinion of the writer [name redacted], who has known Mr. Tesla for many years and can testify that he still retains full intellectual vigor, the authorities in charge of building the national defense should at once look into the matter. The sum is insignificant compared with the magnitude of the stake.

  From the Philadelphia Inquirer in an article titled “Proposing the ‘Death Ray’ for Defense,” published October 20th, 1940:

  “If only they will let me try out my new teleforce.” exclaimed Nikola Tesla, who has been called one of the greatest electrical inventors since Benjamin Franklin flew his kite. “If only they will let me show how this Nation can be made invulnerable to air attack . . . ”

  Nikola Tesla continued to work on plans for the directed-energy weapon until his death on January 7th, 1943. At a luncheon in his honor, concerning this “death ray” turned “peace beam,” he is noted as declaring, “But it is not an experiment! I have built, demonstrated and used it. Only little time will pass before I can give it to the world.”

  Thus, from the New York Times in an article titled “‘Death Ray’ for Defense an Unobtainable Mad-Man’s Fantasy,” published April 23rd, 1943:

  . . . the death of famed inventor, Nikola Tesla, brought upon a great deal of investigation into his work from disgruntled investors. His highly-sought-after “death ray,” sometimes referred to as a “peace ray” because of its proposed use/non-use to bring an “end to all wars,” as Tesla was often noted to claim, has been debunked as a farce, with much of his notes and experimentations in building such a device lost in the fire that burned down his most recent laboratory. What remains of Tesla’s estate is a mystery . . .

  In a letter from Nikola’s nephew, Sava Kosanović to [name redacted], [address redacted], Belgrade, Serbia, postmarked November 5th, 1952:

  Dearest [name redacted],

  I am shipping Nikola Tesla’s entire estate to you in 80 crates, simply marked with the initials N.T. Please take care of my deceased uncle’s notebooks and remaining possessions, and make sure they do not fall into the wrong hands. The contents of which are not to be sold, not to be used in any means oth— . . . [the rest of the letter is water-damaged and indecipherable].

  From a classified transcription of a conversation held in the Situation Room, retrieved from the hacker group Anonymous, dated September 11th, 2011:

  [name redacted]—“Flight [number redacted] is gone, sir. Other than those on the aircraft, zero civilian casualties are being reported in northern Ohio, although a water tower—”

  [name redacted]—“Sir?”

  A long silence . . .

  SIC OLIM TYRANNIS

  DAVID WELLINGTON

  There was no banner of fire trailing across the sky. It happened too fast for that.

  No roar as the atmosphere was torn open, no sound at all, from so far away. There was a flash of light, there and gone so fast it barely irritated the dull eyes of the watchers. Then darkness swallowed the sun.

  And the dust began to fall.

  Thick fat flakes descended to cover a world that had forgotten what snow looked like. The dust piled up in great drifts, filling valleys, staining the sea. The giant fern trees, the tall, swaying grasses were buried, suffocated, already well on their way to fossilization. The dust clogged the burrows of the smaller animals, asphyxiating them in their sleep. It made the air so thick the leather-winged hunters couldn’t fly, but only perch in high places, in hollows up on rocky cliffs, their long pickaxe-shaped heads pressed together, their wings wrapping each other up for protection.

  The dust fell, and fell, and fell, and it seemed it would never end. As the first day passed it only got hotter, the air volcano-mouth hot. Hot dust kept falling, hot enough to scorch feathers and burn exposed, scaly skin. The smart ones, the ones with brains bigger than a walnut, dug deep, dug down into the ash pits, and tried not to breathe.

  For days the dust fell and accumulated, soft avalanches of it slipping down the sides of young, ragged mountains. For days it covered the whole world, and filled the air.

  But there came a day when it stopped, when the massive dark clouds that choked the sun began to part, and the light came back.

  On the third day, the tyrant began to stir. To move. He lifted his massive square head from the ground, and dust fell away from his ridged snout in great cascades. His foreclaws twitched and scratched at the dusty ground. His long tail swayed behind him, stirring up a great cloud.

  He opened one long suspicious eye—and squeezed it shut again almost instantly, as fine dust slipped in under his nictitating membrane, irritating, caustic dust. He coughed and spat and sneezed and gray freshets of snot burst from his nostrils.

  One limb at a time, one cautious, scrabbling foot after another found purchase. The tyrant had never laid down on his side before—even in sleep he had simply crouched on his hind legs. It took some tricky maneuvering just to get back on his feet.

  But he managed. He rose, his head up out of the dust, his eyes clearing, his stomach rumbling
.

  He lived.

  Nor was he alone.

  There had been a valley, a long, sloping descent toward a broad and silver lake. There had been forests clothing the mountainsides, and marshy ground where the big meat animals wallowed, and herds of the little runners, the little fleet-of-foot that the tyrant loved to chase and snatch up in his great jaws. There had been cries and shrieks in the branches of the trees, and dark little eyes glinting there. The thing from another world, the world-killer, had tried to take all of that away. It had hidden the sun and turned the air to poison and it had flooded the world with its dry rain. And it had wreaked a terrible change, it was true—the valley was a dustheap now, a stir of fine powder that flew up into the air in a choking haze every time the tyrant moved or turned around. Yet life had not drained out of the world, not entirely. Those lizards, those terrible runners and hunters and armored herbivores were survivors, gifted by a hundred million years of evolution, engineered to live. As the tyrant turned his square head from side to side, he saw movement everywhere he looked. He heard a lowing sound, a long, low bellow and saw an armored behemoth shake itself clear of the dust, its great war club of a tail slapping at the armored plates on its back as if it were clearing away parasites. From across the valley he heard the gruff snorting of his three-horned nemesis, king of the plant-eaters, and saw it rear back its vicious head and cry at the sun. All around him the dust boiled and furrowed as the little ones, his meat, stirred beneath the dust and dug their way toward clear air.

  And overhead a flier took wing, leaping from the rocks and gliding from one mountain peak to another, its shadow flickering across the broken sky.

  The tyrant could not laugh, but it could smile. A great, wide beaming grin that showed its long, sword-like teeth. It was a grin that drove the little ones to panic, a grin of pure rapacious malice. The tyrant grinned now at the sky that had tried to kill him, had tried to destroy his empire of blood and life. The world-killer had failed—the world yet lived—and life alone felt so good. It felt like victory.