Landell Bartlett

“ Instantly two doors flew out, making an opening about four feet wide and six feet high into the projectile. Stooping, Oomlag entered, and I followed close behind him. Without a sound, the doors shut behind us. At last I was actually inside the wonderful space flyer that had brought this vanguard of horrible, super-intelligent beings to conquer our helpless earth! With hardly controlled excitement and curiosity I gazed around.
We were standing in a brilliantly lighted octagonal chamber some twenty-five feet across, with a metallic ceiling about twelve feet from the floor. ”

“ Oomlag had buttoned up his jacket and was regarding me with an expression, as it seemed, of amused contempt.
“You people think you are wonderfully civilized!” he rasped, rolling his loose, ochre lips back into a revolting grimace. “Yet you are at the mercy of any number of tiny germs. You kill each other, at the slightest provocation. What forces you know about, you do not yet know how to handle adequately. What wonderful, dumb slaves you will make for us!” ”

“ That someone, or something, was coming toward me in absolute darkness, apparently moving at a steady pace in spite of that fact, made my bravery dissolve into thin air. After all, what is fear? We can steel ourselves to meet known dangers philosophically, or even unknown ones if they are not totally unexpected; but when we are suddenly confronted with the unknown, with all its potentialities of horror aggravated by the awful cloak of inky darkness, or any equally terrifying circumstance, we become as frightened children. It is only natural. ”

“ I took a few slow, shuffling steps into the darkness, hands held before my face.
“Walk naturally!” Oomlag whispered, and there was nothing to do but obey. The floor of the cave sloped gently down, and I expected momentarily to go hurtling into some chasm. I was wholly at the mercy of this strange being, and tried to steel myself for whatever might happen. I imagine that walking the plank would be a similar sensation, the only difference being the certainty of destruction.
AFTER I had taken about a hundred steps, the floor seemed to become level. Oomlag was right behind me. ”

“ Do you think for an instant that we would come here, and then be unable to return to Venus or defend ourselves? Why, we have sufficient ‘Venusite’ to do our work here for twenty years more, destroy any feeble resistance you might offer, and send the projectile back to Venus with the alloy needed to construct hundreds more. What a fool you are, you poor earth creature! ”

“ And his rock camouflage—that was wonderfully clever. Yes, I would rather deal with an intelligent man obsessed on one subject than with a rambling, mumbling idiot. Could there be any truth about others working with him? Hardly. Later he would probably point out an imaginary series of tunnels and what not, firmly believing everything was there. If I was diplomatic enough I might get him to show me the entrance through which he had brought me, and then make a break for freedom. . . .
My face must have betrayed my growing interest and lack of fear, for Oomlag’s next remark indicated as much. ”

“ In the exact center of this mammoth cavern rested a huge, octagonal contraption with a rounded top that I knew must be the interplanetary projectile itself.
Oomlag tapped me on the shoulder.
“Stan-lee,” he said, grinning horribly, “you are now privileged to inspect the masterpiece of our civilization—the space flyer in which we came from Venus to your earth. Much of what I will show you will baffle your intelligence, but it will give you an idea of how powerful we are. This machine serves now as our central power plant. See those tubes projecting from the sides? ”

“ I had been captured by some lunatic, and brought to this underground cavern for a terrible purpose. My only chance was to humor the creature, to use my wits and watch for a chance to overpower him. He was evidently endowed with a sort of sixth sense, and I would have to bide my time. Then, his voice—it was not the voice of a normal human being.
“I see that you do not believe my statement,” went on that drawling, peculiar voice. “You think that it is not possible for anyone to see in the dark. You not only think I am lying, but you think I am crazy. ”

“ I said, casually. “She is too pale, for one thing. Tell me, Oomlag, what is this dinner you have ordered for me? How do you grow anything fit to eat down here? What is this soup made of?”
Before me, in hollow stone dishes, was a repast of hot soup, vegetables and bread. The only utensil was a large spoon made of some sort of fibre.
“While you eat,” said Oomlag, stretching his long legs and adjusting his jacket, “I shall endeavor to explain things to you. Before I can answer your questions, it is necessary to trace out certain other things. Take your soup and tell me what you think of it.” ”

“ Oomlag’s ochre face came close to mine.
“Goodbye, earth creature. You go out the way you came!”
Again I felt myself blindfolded and gagged, rapidly losing consciousness under the influence of the sweetish drug . . .
The rest can be told in a few words. I regained consciousness not far from the camp-site. The sun was high in the heavens. I staggered to where I had seen the rock camouflage. ”

“ Down one of these tunnels Oomlag now bade me walk, himself striding along beside me, like some over-fantastic figure in a parade of mummers. We had only gone a short distance from where the tunnel branched from the Executive Chamber when I noticed that on both sides appeared, at regular intervals, large curtains or hangings of material resembling the jackets these people wore, both in color and material.
“These hangings,” said Oomlag, in the same way a guide would point out and explain objects of interest to a tourist, “conceal doors to our apartment houses. ”

“ Though I weigh several pounds more here on your Earth than I would on Venus, its only effect is to give a corresponding feeling of well-being. Those who have come here direct, as my parents, say it is like a man under weight getting his full quota of flesh; he feels stronger, and he is stronger. ”

“ Anyone resisting will be instantly destroyed by ‘Venusite’ guns. Nothing in the world can withstand us, and the way will be paved for our complete mastery of your earth. Slaves you will be, among other things preparing for us a certain alloy of metals common here, scarce on Venus. In a little while we shall have sent enough of this back to Venus to bring thousands here. It is only a matter of time before your race will be entirely supplanted by ours. It is the law of Nature. ”

“ Our scientists have spent centuries in perfecting a machine for interplanetary flight. We have long had the necessary power. The problem was to determine the relative position of the two planets, the pull of gravity of the sun, Venus and your earth, the time necessary to make the flight, the provisioning and ventilating of the projectile, the perfecting of a device to detect and repel meteorites, and countless other problems, all vitally important. ”

“ Countless thousands of my fellow Venusians were crowded as close as they could get to obtain a last glimpse of the travelers. At exactly the right moment, the big projectile soared slowly into the sky, gradually gaining momentum as it left the stratosphere and entered outer space. Faster and faster it went, with its meteorite detector busily at work spotting and repelling these menaces, and its tubes taking larger and larger quantities of the precious elements. ”

“ As the light became brighter by imperceptible degrees, I could see that it emanated from a multitude of octagonal crystals set in the walls of the cavern at regular intervals. Before me rose up a sort of throne built into a large niche in the cavern wall, and on this throne, apparently hewn from the living rock, sat one of the most preposterous-looking beings the imagination of man could conceive. ”

“ But at least try to follow me, and when you do see us at work, you will be less apt to think it is all a dream or that you have lost your reason.
“As I said before, we are from the planet you call Venus. For many hundreds of years past we have been in a high state of civilization, one as far superior to yours as yours is to that of the crudest cave-man. We have developed certain scientific instruments and discovered forces that enable us to do things scarcely dreamed of by your scientists. ”

“ Our mode of life is practically the same as yours; we breathe, we take food through our mouth, we require shelter, we mate, we are gregarious. The apartments proper I am not permitted to show you, but this I can say: they are hewn from the solid rock, as are all these tunnels, by our own machine brought from Venus. ”

“ We know no difference between light and dark, such as you dwellers on the Earth. Light is used by us only to intensify that which we already see—it is similar to what magnification would be to you. Light makes a reaction on certain nerves of ours, corresponding to your optic nerves, that simply intensifies the image. ”

“ I think I can stand about any shock now.”
“You stood the darkness test better than most,” remarked Oomlag, dryly. “Usually we must speak long before we get near enough to touch. The fluid you drank was water with a mild drug to make your mind more active. Since you are ready, I will give the signal.”
Again his garments rustled. About a minute passed, but nothing happened to break the impenetrable darkness or my keyed-up sense of suspense.
“The Field General says to bring you in. Stand up, Stan-lee!” Oomlag ordered, at the same time grasping my right elbow with his lean, powerful fingers. ”

“ After we have consolidated our position here, we intend to make an expedition to the ruddy planet you call Mars. We do not intend to settle, as conditions are not at all favorable for prolonged life there for us; but we do intend to see that the Martian civilization is broken and we ourselves secure from their menace. Though we cannot live comfortably on their planet, they can on yours, so it is wise to crush them as soon as possible, as they have a rather advanced civilization and might outdo us later. ”

“ In all my experiences in out-of-the-way, God-forsaken places, I have never known fear. I have been shot at by Mexicans, held up by thugs, even bitten by a rattlesnake—but nothing has ever made me afraid. ”

“ Oomlag grinned horribly, his yellow lips baring his sharp teeth. “Strange how you creatures allow your imagination to dictate your likes and dislikes. If I had not told you the ingredients of that soup, you would have enjoyed it thoroughly. Now, having told you, you find it disagreeable, though you just finished saying it was good. You might as well learn to like it, for you will have it every day. The vegetables are—but I must begin at the beginning. Not such bad bread, is it?”
“TO begin with, we are, as I told you before, from Venus. ”

“ Do you care for food or drink? It is only a short distance to the dining room of our involuntary visitors, and I shall be glad to take you there before we go further. What do you say?”
EVER since my introduction to the Executive Chamber, I had wondered, in the back of my mind, where my fellow prisoners might be. I had seen no living thing save these monstrous men of Venus, and this sounded like a chance to see some of the other unfortunate human beings held captive here.
“Yes, I am very hungry, Oomlag,” I lied, “and I was just about to ask you if I could have something to eat.” ”

“ You suppose that only human beings can talk, which is correct as far as it applies to inhabitants of this planet. My parents came from the planet you know as Venus about one hundred of your years ago, and I myself was born here, in this cavern! ”

“ It is well that we have made the wonderful advance that we have, for it has given us the secret of interplanetary flight, and in time to relieve the pressure of our population. Fortunately, your earth is only a little larger than ours, some 10%, and though almost half again as far away from the sun, your atmosphere is even better suited to us than our own. ”

“ We thus succeeded in exploring the surface of your earth thoroughly, proving to our own satisfaction that we could not only live on your planet, but live better than on our own. We saw that this region was practically uninhabited, and had the advantage of possessing enormous caverns suitable for housing us. ”

“ You already know the power of ‘Venusite’ when you realize that it brought us from our planet to yours; you can imagine, then, what very minute quantities are needed to supply power.
“These tubes leading from the base of these generators carry the concentrated power impulses to the tubes you saw on the outside of the flyer. These in turn bombard the round objects you saw placed near the walls of the room, which operate to diffuse the power beam in various directions through the workings.
“The wall of this chamber is an inner partition, giving a vacuum protection against the cold of outer space. ”

“ The reason is, we have an element about half-way in the atomic scale between bismuth and radium which gives us unlimited power by the breaking up of its atoms. We know that this element does exist on this earth, and the Field General thought perhaps you knew of its discovery. That, however, is only incidental, and not the reason for bringing you here.
“Having found out how to harness this element, we were well supplied with light and power on our planet. ”