Nelson S. Bond

“ For, viewing their surroundings through the vision plate, it seemed as if they swam through a sea of radiant light where every star was a beacon, each planet a steadfast buoy of glowing color. And in this gleaming pattern was a regularity, an orthodoxy as painstaking as if some master craftsman had allocated each glowing sphere with precise care.
Regularly discernible against the omnipresent back-drop of space were the solar galaxies, each a complete entity, aloof, removed from its fellows and confined to its own definite segment of space. Some galaxies were younger than others. ”

“ But a victor can afford to be magnanimous. And now, in this moment of triumph, Gary found it in his heart to feel commiseration for one who, though he fought to distorted ends, had seen his empire fall before a braver, cleverer force.
He turned to Borisu, and in a quiet voice he said, "Well done, Borisu. You have my pledge, with that of Dr. Kang, that you shall not regret this move. There shall be no vindictiveness in the peace terms we offer. Only justice and equality for all. No more warring between our worlds." ”

“ As if to solve this question, Lark O'Day pressed the stud which opened the vision plate to the outer hull. And what appeared thereon finally dissolved all doubts. It was not what they saw but what they did not see which offered clinching evidence of the fourth dimensional drive's effectiveness.
Because it was no spaceport over which they looked, nor jet space spangled with the colorful burning of a myriad stars. Instead, there reflected on the vision plate before them a blank, gray, writhing nothingness. Just that. The soul of an emptiness beyond space and time, beyond color and form and life. ”

“ O'Day's face turned brick red. His lean jowls mottled with rage. In stifled tones he choked, "Surrender! That slimy rat! All right, Skipper. We know where we stand now. Let's unhinge the guns and give them—"
"They are a dozen," reminded MacDonald nervously, "to our one."
"All right! So what?" blazed O'Day. "Our weapons will more than match theirs. And we're protected by Dr. Kang's force-shield. Come on!"
He took three quick strides toward the nearest gun embrazure, and was in the act of whipping the tarpaulin from the rotor port when Borisu's voice sheered through again. ”

“ Earth, and Earth alone, knows the secret of the construction of hypatomic motors which make spaceflight possible. It is a secret we guard jealously. That is why there exists no Venusian fleet, no Martian fleet, Jovian fleet. Only an Earth fleet which—and perhaps with reason—the denizens of all the other planets fear as an aggressive force.
"Earth, too, has the only merchant fleet. And while it is no doubt true that other planets profit somewhat by the interchange of commerce our merchantmen make possible, it is into Earth's coffers pours the wealth of the universe." ”

“ If we do not, then according to your own calculations, there will be no Hugh Warren to stand trial, nor court to sit in judgment upon his sins."
Thus sped the Liberty through space at a rate of speed attained by no other spaceship before her. Each passing hour found Earth dwindling smaller and dimmer behind them; each hour saw Earth's sister planet looming ever larger and brighter before. ”

“ Why have you come to Venus? What would you have of us?"
"One of the four things," answered Gary, "requisite to our escaping our own solar galaxy that we may seek the cause which threatens to bring about our doom. We need from you—fuel. Sufficient stores of precious neurotrope, which only your planet produces. It is the only fuel with great enough power in small enough quantity to serve our purposes." ”

“ Earth, an already dwindling ball of glowing green, lay a multitude of miles beneath and behind them. Their journey was begun.
When eons of agony later it seemed his laboring lungs could no longer supply his wracked body with precious oxygen, when it seemed but a matter of seconds before his very veins must burst beneath the crushing of that horrid acceleration, there descended upon Gary Lane a brief moment of vertigo. ”

“ And turning once more to the screen, all witnessed the dreadful climax ... the end of the planet Mercury.
For how long a time it had been tugging at its cosmic bonds none knew, but suddenly a critical point of balance was reached. With a great, impulsive leap the tiny planet burst free of its solar gyves. Like a gleaming stone hurled from some gigantic catapult it flashed outward from its orbit, writhing, shimmering, shaking. ”

“ There sounded through the ship not even that dim, familiar, whining undertone which was its usual accompaniment of generating speed. There was no sensation of flight, no hurtling shock of acceleration, no grip of suddenly intensified gravity. No intraspatial weightlessness. Nothing.
For a moment the wayfarers stared at each other with speculative eyes. Could it be the Jovian invention was, after all, a failure. Did they still lie in their cradle on Pangré spaceport. ”

“ So you want our cherished secret, eh, Earthman? The secret of achieving speed greater than that of light?"
"I not only want it," said Gary earnestly, "but must have it. Time is growing perilously short."
"And how do we know that this message is not a trick of your Earth government to save your spying hides? We have no reason to trust Earth." ”

“ Gary saw two Earth mariners go down, Robinson and Mulasky, parched to cinders by the lethal flame of the universally employed needle-gun. He saw Bill Smikes, who had wielded the traal, literally torn to pieces by the vengeful hands of blue-skinned foemen. And another fell also; one innocent of any attack. Chief Engineer Sebold, whose only crime had been attempting to hurry his men to safety. A ray gun caught him, burning his legs out from under him as if they had been tinder. ”

“ From the early Nineteenth Century to this day, one riddle which has amazed and confounded scientists is the apparent movement of our universe. According to all evidence, our universe is composed of a multitude of galaxies—each of which is running away from all others at unbelievable speed.
"This we know because of the 'red shift'—which one might call the 'Doppler effect' applied to light, rather than to sound. When one star, comet or galaxy approaches another, pressing its light waves upon its neighbor, the cosmic body's light waves are shortened. ”

“ We'll show them—"
"O.Q., Gary," said Muldoon. "I'll get at it immediately. 'Scuse me, folks!"
Dr. Anjers said, "Please, no! Don't do this just to convince me, gentlemen. I did not mean to imply doubt. I am skeptical, yes; what man of science would not be? But there is no hurry—"
Gary grinned at him mirthlessly.
"That's where you're wrong, Doctor. There is a need for haste. Every day is precious; perhaps every hour, every minute. We're not doing this merely to dispel your doubts. We're doing it because it has to be done, and as swiftly as humanly possible. ”

“ Kang one night after Lark O'Day had reported an argument in the crew's quarters which had almost resulted in a free-for-all between the blasters and the mariners, "we number no Venusians or Jovians among our corps. It has been my observation that the members of these two races mingle poorly with the children of your world and mine. Of the four races, our two are the more easy-going, theirs the more emotional. Perhaps the early history of your Earth might have been less bloody had not your continent embraced such a diversity of planetary colonists." ”

“ But if they had hoped to attain so far without challenge, they were bitterly disappointed. For they had penetrated scarcely a third of the way when a sudden clamor aroused them from their furtive study of the city. Voices cried out, whether in surprise, alarm or joy was hard to tell, and the milling throng which but a moment ago had rubbed shoulders with them too closely for comfort began to clear from the thoroughfare and huddle fearfully against the walls of the street.
Gary glanced at Dr. Kang, his eyebrows asking the question his lips barely muttered. ”

“ Have the men of Earth gone mad?
"This message says," he read aloud, "'If Liberty and crew, including group of Earth scientists, arrive on your planet, in the name of all humanity offer them every possible assistance. Investigation proves their theories are absolutely correct. Sun is dwindling rapidly to dwarf-star stage. Planet Mercury tottering in its course; may plunge into Sun hourly. Entire solar system hovering on brink of dreadful disaster.'"
"Thank God!"
The grateful cry ripped itself unbidden from Gary Lane's throat. ”

“ Its vents and fans had no cool air with which to bathe their bodies. From its spouts gushed blasts of withering heat, scarcely less endurable than the thickly stagnant air of unventilated corridors. One by one the travelers shed layers of useless clothing. At their point of nearest proximity to Sol, the men on duty labored in sweat-soaked shorts, while those off duty—and Nora Powell—for modesty's sake sought the sanctuary of stripped relaxation in their private quarters.
To Gary Lane's unspacetrained eye it appeared that save for this raw discomfort the period passed without incident. ”

“ Bryant cried, "A planet! But which, Warren? One of our own universe, or—?"
Warren grinned mirthlessly. "Not on your life. The only place to lick an enemy is in his own back yard. Thank heavens, those Jovian engineers taught me how to use their tricky drive! I warped us clean around that space fleet into the night side of their home planet. The world you see beneath us is Magog itself!
"And now for our landing—" His fingers flickered over the studs. The Liberty dropped slowly, smoothly, speed dwindling as Warren searched for a likely landing place—and found it. ”

“ Dr. Kang roused suddenly from an attitude of thought. "There is one thing which puzzles me, Tsalnor. Your knowledge of the language of our universe. You addressed us not only in modern Jovian tongue but in Universal and English as well. How knew you these languages?"
Tsalnor answered proudly, "By long study and careful translation, uff course. For many of your centuries we haff been listening to the speech transmitted via etherwaves by what you call your radio. Our people have long studied your three most-used languages against the ever-hoped-for day when our empire should be resurrected." ”

“ You of the white-skinned race are the only true race of Earth."
"We are?"
"Why, surely! Just as all the true children of Venus are dark-skinned, and we of Mars amber-fleshed. Oh, there is a certain fundamental root-stock common to us all, I suppose. But any medical man can assure you our differences lie not only in the color of our skins. Our races show many physiological variations. Blood plasma, hair structure, distribution of sinews, skeletal articulation—"
Nora Powell asked, "Then the yellow races of Earth—the Chinese, Eskimos, Amerindians—were originally natives of your planet?" ”

“ It was a strikingly different group of beings whom Gary now spoke to than those to whom he had addressed his plea on Earth three short days ago. The Venusians were human. Upon his conquest of space, man had discovered—somewhat to his surprise and more than a little to the chagrin of the ethnologists who had predicted otherwise—that nowhere (in the solar galaxy at least) had risen to planetary supremacy any race of creatures other than that represented by Homo sapiens. ”

“ Gary, haltered shoulder to shoulder beside his friend and comrade, felt Lark O'Day's body stiffen with suppressed rage at this form of address. But like himself, O'Day remained hunched, with head hanging stupidly low, as if both were the witless serfs they pretended to be.
The elderly Kang spoke, as had been agreed, for their group.
"Greetings, O warriors of strength and valor. I am the freedman, Kengu. These are my daughters and their mates. We come from the Twilight Zone to seek employment in the city of Khundru."
"Twilight Zone?" demanded the warrior captain suspiciously. ”

“ Anjers' half-mad laughter rang shrill in the tense control turret. "You surpass yourself, Dr. Lane. Sometimes your swift intuition amazes me. Yes, you have guessed the truth. A truth forgotten by man for countless centuries. There are two worlds—two worlds which one time warred. The name of one is Magog. That is the planet whereon I was born, from which I came to Earth. The name of the other was Gog. It was the solar globe which one time circled your sun between Mars and Jupiter. Long ages ago our two great empires strove in bitter conflict. ”

“ But none, not even the skipper Hugh Warren himself, wore sidearms, so desirous was Gary of proving to the Jovians his good will. With calm assurance the venturers moved toward the azure-fleshed assembly awaiting them, taking care, however, not to step beyond that imaginary line which Dr. Kang had said was the limit of the force-shield protection.
Gary raised both arms aloft in the universal token of greeting.
"Peace, men of Jupiter!" he cried. "We come from Earth in friendship and goodwill on a mission of vital importance, and we beg an audience with your leaders." ”

“ Gary stared at the little man curiously. "People greater than us, Dr. Anjers? Now, that's a peculiar thought. Whatever makes you say—"
Anjers wriggled in sudden defiant embarrassment. "It was not my idea, Dr. Lane, but your own. It was you who advanced the theory that our universe is dwindling. It follows as a natural corollary that any race existing outside our universe—"
Gary nodded. "Why, yes, I suppose you're right. But I'd never stopped to think of it in quite that way. A race of giants—"
But the little man's words had had an even more striking effect upon the Jovian engineer. ”

“ There was but one thing for Gary Lane to do. He spun toward the ship, shouted, "The force-shield, Dr. Kang! Turn it on!"
Then, with a sigh of assurance that they were safe from their attackers, to his comrades he said mournfully, "Well, we might as well go back to the ship. They don't seem to believe us. Guess we'll have to talk to them by radio until we can make them understand—"
Then the shrill cry of Nora Powell brought his words to an abrupt end.
"The barrier, Gary! It's not working! Look! They're breaking through!" ”

“ Tell us your destination, that we may calculate the co-ordinates, and bring you to your objective."
"We must go," said Gary, "to the galaxy of the star known as Sirius."
"Sirius! Outside our solar system?" The Councillor frowned. "That is difficult and perilous. There are dangers even to our method."
"We must risk them. As it is, we have no way of telling if we are going to the proper place. Nor, indeed, whether when we get there we will find ways to do that which we must.
"Tell me, what is the limiting velocity of this new method you have devised? How fast will we be able to travel?" ”

“ It is not the yardstick which moves; it is the observers! We of this dwindling galaxy which, alone in all the vastness of the Greater Universe, is becoming ever smaller!"
"But—but why, Gary? Why?"
"That," confessed Lane, "I do not know. But it is a problem we must solve. And quickly. Or—"
"Or—?" prompted Nora Powell as he hesitated.
"Or—" concluded Gary grimly—"oblivion! Unless I erred seriously in my first computations, there is a limit to the amount of shrinkage matter can withstand. And that limit is rapidly drawing near. Matter cannot contract forever. ”