Raymond A. Palmer

“ It would be idle to pretend and dishonest to suggest that 'Sinister Barrier' is anything else than fiction. Some may regard it as fantasy, because it is placed in the future and depicts certain developments that have been predicted by those qualified to forecast the coming triumphs of science. But I regard it as a sort of fact-fiction solely because I do sincerely believe that if ever a story was based upon facts it is this one. ”

“ Mea-Quin gazed thoughtfully at the young emperor. “Some of them must arrive soon,” he said. “I have completed my work, and you have done all in your power. Naught remains now but to wait – and to guard against the Wrongness of Space; against the powerful enemy whom we have not yet seen, but who grow more powerful with each passing hour. We must maintain our vigilance to the best of our ability, or our cause will be lost. Not again may we be hindered by the destruction of the conference dome. ”

“ Shaver told us how he began to hear his voices through a welding machine he was operating, which at first picked up the thoughts of his fellow workmen, and later, weird things that terrified him. Such things as horrible screams from someone being tortured, unseen people discussing outre subjects, speaking matter-of-factly of a world that, by all rights, could not possibly exist. ”

“ Dos-Tev and Mea-Quin sat warily watching, guarding against interference, while the delegates embarked.
“Ten minutes more,” breathed Mea-Quin, “and they will be safely off.”
“Yes,” replied Dos-Tev, “if the Wrongness of Space does not spring something new upon us now, Ay-Artz has all but lost his cause.”
“Perhaps,” sighed Mea-Quin. “Do not underestimate him. We do now know yet what front we will have at the battle line, and there is great probability of things going wrong on several planets.”
“The indicator,” warned Dos-Tev. “It reacts.”
Quickly he swept his gaze about the great crater. ”

“ Sinister Barrier is not fiction offered as truth: it is offered only as fiction. Therefore, it will not be believed. The natural skepticism of my readers is my safeguard."
"SINISTER BARRIER" was part and parcel of the same mystery we call "The Shaver Mystery" today! And like ourselves, Campbell called it factual in basis. Fans, consistency is a jewel! You, and Shaver, and your editor agree about about "Sinister Barrier" and its FACTS! Take a look at more of these SAME FACTS in the Shaver Mystery. We submit that Shaver has not been original. ”

“ Tarvish looked worried. “It is very great. I fear that Earth men will not come if the Automatons do not wish it. Just how far they have my fellow men enslaved, since I left Earth, I do not know.”
Tarvish gazed about the vast crater. “We are the first of the delegates?” he inquired.
“Yes,” replied Dos-Tev. “We know that the men of Venus are also coming, and the rest are in the hands of Tor. But we believe enough will come to make the conference a success.” ”

“ Mea-Quin inquired.
Tarvish’s face darkened. “Yes,” he returned. “They are a creation of science that has outgrown its creator. They threaten the existence of life on Earth, and their hold on man is tightening. ”

“ I have them in the form of a thousand press clippings snatched from half a hundred newspapers in the Old World and the New. A thousand more were given me by adventurers hardier than myself; people who have explored farther and more daringly into forbidden acres than I have done. ”

“ Dos-Tev nodded and continued: “Now, my friends, I ask that you each give me your answer. Do you agree to return to your own worlds and do all in your power to provide a fleet, sufficient warriors to man them, and place that fleet at my disposal in the defense of the entire system? I have prepared here a treaty, which you will all sign. It is that sheet of metal poised there beside Mea-Quin. Inside your own cylinder is a small sheet, identical to the large one. You will sign for your planet with the stylus provided, and the signature will be reproduced on the large sheet for all to see. ”

“ Shaver is perfectly sane. If he is not, we are all nuts; (2) He is perfectly sincere about the caves, the people in them, the Titans, the space ships, and his experiences with rays, projections, voices, pains, etc.; (3) He does not attribute one single experience to what we might term a "ghost" for lack of a better term. Witches, poltergeists, goblins, gremlins, fairies, dwarfs—all of them are real, physical, alive, being either the real thing or the teleported or telepathed image of the real thing. ”

“ And so, the first cylinder of the conference dome became the host to the first of the solar system’s delegates. Bullo remained on guard in the central chamber while preparations were being completed. Then he helped transfer all equipment from their own ship and made ready for the conference while Dos-Tev and Mea-Quin scanned space for more delegates, and waited and watched for that unknown enemy who was so ominously silent now. Days passed, Lemnisian days.
“One of the planets is accounted for,” commented Dos-Tev while they waited. “It should not be long now, before others come.” ”

“ Shaver's opinions fully substantiated by what some call the "astral." The "astral" can very well be nothing more "uncanny" than a real cave world with real people in it with real machines to operate, instead of "astral powers." We consider "spiritualism" to be just one more proof that Shaver theories are more than theories, but can be accepted as factual, and that there is only a need for more understanding. ”

“ But the enemy seemed finished for the time, and after awhile Dos-Tev returned.
“We are fortunate,” he informed Mea-Quin and Bullo, who had returned safely to the ship, unharmed by the force of the bomb, “beyond a good shaking up, Tarvish and his companions were unhurt. However, their ship was completely out of commission, so I transferred them to Martin’s vessel. They will go to Earth with him. Look, they go now!” ”

“ Almost immediately we began to receive letters from readers who had dabbled around with the alphabet and discovered that it worked amazingly well in many languages, and especially so in languages more ancient.
Also, apparently encouraged by our publication of the alphabet, Mr. Shaver (then a welder in a war plant) wrote an account of an "adventure" in caves beneath the earth at incredible depths, where lived a race of people known as dero (detrimental robot) who were evil in intent, and tero (integrative robot) who were good in intent. ”

“ Shaver, the Earth is honeycombed by "caverns" which are inhabited by good and bad human creatures who are victims of detrimental radiations from old and "diseased with radioactivity" machines, and also victims of a vast "secrecy" which has become so traditional that it is maintained at all costs. ”

“ He will find that Dos-Tev still rules.
“However, this is the situation. Ay-Artz is barely a light year away from this system at this present moment, and he will arrive before the planet Earth circles this sun once. Unless you of the solar system can present to his invading fleet, a fleet of your own, in defense of the system, Ay-Artz will ravage your worlds until nothing remains but smoking ruins, and enslaved races. Ay-Artz has but twenty ships, but they are ships such as this system has never known. You will need all the ships you can build within one year to resist him. ”

“ He does not believe in life after death, or that man has a soul, or that things have a basis in something invisible and immaterial. If such exist, he says he has no proof, and therefore will neither accept or reject. Man may have a soul, he says, but you can't see it, taste it, feel it, smell it or hear it. ”

“ We can hardly enlist their aid in this way.”
“Tis better thus,” said Mea-Quin. “If Ay-Artz has gained mental communication, he would be a fool to let the Doravians know what Ay-Artz should not know. But leave it to Vorn Vangal. He will use his peculiar mental powers to good advantage, never fear. Ever since we have gotten into direct intercourse with him, we have accomplished much. We know that Venus will present a formidable front to the legions of the traitor.”
Dos-Tev nodded. “They will, that,” he acknowledged. “I wish I could know the same of Planet Three. ”

“ These creatures (and incidentally all surface races too) are descendants of the "abandondero" who were those unfortunates who could not be evacuated from the planet when the original races who built the underground cities left this planet because they had discovered that the sun was throwing out radiations that caused aging, and death at approximately 70 years of age. (It was more in those days, because beneficial rays and machines could combat the age poisons to a certain extent.) ”

“ And then, in the darkness I could not see.”
“The first ship, welcomed by Bullo, was the ship of the planet of females.” Dos-Tev chuckled. “He was certainly impressed by the beauty of the twelve who came from the ship. And they with him. But they were led by a male, Parcele by name, who seems to have gained some sort of advantage over the females.”
“I am glad of that,” interposed Mea-Quin. “I had feared the outcome of an attempt to reason with females. They are wont to place their own problems before the problems of all.” ”

“ Shaver, have themselves created these superstitions to conceal their real existence, and thus obviate any real attempt to find them. Who would look for something he does not believe to exist? That is why the caves remain secret, he says. Even if we do see a dero, we call him a ghost and pull up the bedsheets. ”

“ There is much strife on the ringed planet, and upon Planet Four. The planetoid of the females seems seething with curiosity, and something of discord, but they will come, I know, for their curiosity drives them. I have heard nothing from Neptune. They must be strange beings indeed, who can live on such a planet. ”

“ These creatures who found their way back into the underground cities, or who were left there, guarded their havens jealously from those who did not have access to them, and this secrecy has been maintained for thousands of years. ”

“ The existence in far space of the Titans and Atlans living inside dark planets. The existence of giants of incredible size; of "micro-men" living within the microcosm; of "ghost-like" creatures, who are not human in appearance, yet are intelligent, and do not die—the Titans themselves do not die so long as they avoid the deadly suns.
THE science expounded by Mr. Shaver, and that he has learned from the "caves," such as the age poisons; the exd which is the push of gravity; the nature of matter and its formation and disintegration ”

“ And think not that we will have no opposition until Ay-Artz arrives. The arch-traitor has a powerful ally who is present inside this very satellite. He it was who menaced the ships of Callisto, Mars, and Saturn as you arrived. ”

“ Certain galleys mysteriously disappeared, and yet the numbers were correct, and did not show a missing galley where one really was. The sense of particular passages was subtly changed by minor errors which were hard to catch by any proofreader not entirely familiar with the Mystery because they seemed to make proper sense and continuity. Thus, all proofreading had to be done by your editor himself, and by Mr. Hamling, the only other man in this office who could detect such a subtle change. ”

“ Tarvish smiled thru the quartz of his space-helmet. “I have equipped my radio with a translator. It is one of the inventions of the Automatons. As you know, space radio waves, different from ordinary radio, utilize the same wave bands used by the brain in its mental functions. You must have known it, for you utilized the space-radio in communicating with me. ”