Larry Sternig

“ Suddenly Wayne stopped working and his eyes lit up with excitement. The word "instruments" stirred something in his memory, something that might be important.
He had it! Dr. Felder—it seemed like ages ago but it had been last night—had said, "... one of my instruments has noted a slight electrical disturbance of a peculiar nature." And that had been before the confirmation of the soporific effect of the comet's tail. And Dr. Felder's guinea pigs—
Even as his mind whirled with this new thought, Wayne was running out of the building into the street. ”

“ Wayne nodded agreement.
"Many lower animals, of course, don't sleep. Their glands secrete into the blood something which renews cells of the vasomotor mechanism. Forms of life which got the habit of hibernating during certain hours of the day or night gradually became more and more torpid during those periods. The dendrites learned to contract in an ameboid manner, shutting off the mind from nerve impulses. The gland became vestigial or was lost through lack of use, because the cells formed the habit of using this period of torpor for refreshment and—"
He broke off with a grin. ”

“ The editor nodded, his facial muscles twitching uncontrollably.
"He said, 'Conscious co-operation of mind and body depends on neighboring nerve units being in contact with one another so nerve impulses can pass from neuron to neuron to reach the brain. In sleep the dendrites retract and separate, and the result is unconsciousness. Some influence whose nature we do not yet understand is causing the nerve dendrites of earth's mammalian life to retract, bringing sleep. The action is not chemical, as air is normal. ”

“ Wayne ran past him and up the stairs. He'd been here before, as a visitor, and knew where the laboratory and workshop were located.
A haggard, red-eyed man in overalls that had been pulled on over pajamas met him at the open doorway of the lab.
"Thought I heard someone coming. You a research man? I'm Grayson. Look"—he waved a hand that pointed first to one part of the spacious laboratory and then another—"all asleep. I'm holding out on caffeine citrate. ”

“ Grayson lighted a cigaret with trembling fingers.
"We can't even prove there is one. None of our instruments show a thing. It's only living tissue that shows any effect. We deduce a field just because it can't be chemical. Good old Chicago air. Checked fifty ways. Qualitative and quantitative tests."
Wayne bent over the chassis of a small transmitter that was already plugged into operation, tubes glowing brightly. ”

“ Even sweet, radiant Marcia, whom he had just found.
Resolutely, he thrust the thought away. He must keep his mind clear, until he was certain there was nothing he could do. There would be time for demoralization, madness. Plenty of time.
He must think coldly, logically. The air was normal. It was suspected the influence possessed electrical properties. A field, perhaps? Some sort of electro-magnetic field that affected neurons? Why not? What man didn't know about electrobiology would fill volumes.
Even in radio, his own field, there was plenty of scope for research. ”

“ But now it was happening exactly coincidental with the fact that Earth was entering the tail of Rackam's comet.
Suddenly the night editor galvanized into action.
"Hey, you guys, we're getting out a paper here. An extra at that! Get busy. Stop moping! You, Callahan, write—"
Quietly, Wayne Randall slipped through to the corridor and went down to the deserted street. ”

“ Wayne gripped the edge of the desk and leaned forward, his body tense.
"Listen, this is important. Everybody—in Chicago at least—is abnormally sleepy tonight. Every night club in town is closed for lack of customers. Even the regulars went home to bed. And you should see the people who have to be out whether they want to or not."
The man's eyes opened wider.
"You sure? Say, that would mean—"
"The comet," snapped Wayne tersely. "The astrophysicists said it wouldn't have any effect, but they could have been wrong. We're in the fringe, and—"
The editor, with a visible effort, straightened up. ”

“ Burkewell super-microscope. Living nerve-tissue in a nutrient solution in focus. There's the projection. See those curly little things, retracted? Rogers, the biologist, set it up for us before he passed out. ”