Robert William Cole

“ Nearly every house was in mourning for a father, son, or friend who would return no more. Those who had lost no one were groaning at the fate that probably awaited themselves, for no quarter was asked for or given by these terrible metal-clad fighting machines and their scientist officers. Thousands watched the sky night and day, expecting every minute to see the victorious Sirian fleets come dashing down through the air, and dreading to be burnt up by the rays of the terrible force Ednogen. ”

“ Exulting in their might, the gray-haired scientists steered their vessels through the dark depths of space, while they ransacked worlds for treasures and luxuries; some even towed great masses of valuable rock or precious metal behind their ships. Rare and beautiful plants were uprooted, and strange animals were captured and stowed away in the interior of the ships, and finally deposited in London or the other great cities of the world. Whole families would band together and buy an interstellar ship, and rush out into space to seek for themselves a new country and more splendid fortunes. ”

“ While all this gentle love play was going on at Neptune, the surrounding space was echoing with the crash of battle. Sometimes the stillness of the air and the peacefulness of some quiet country scenery would be rudely interrupted by a frightful shriek as a flaming mass of metal crashed down on trees, rocks, and buildings and made the ground quiver with the shock for miles around. As soon as the mass of twisted and scoriated metal was cool enough, the inhabitants crowded round it with feelings of reverential awe. ”

“ The damage done to Jupiter was immense. For hours a perfect tempest of half-melted rocks, jagged hills, and lumps of liquid metal fell on to it, committing frightful havoc. The great cloud of luminous vapour slowly rotated round it, withering the foliage of the trees, drying up the rivers, and scorching the face of the land. Men and women perished by thousands. They lay panting on the ground or hiding in cellars and caves while the great fire-cloud moved slowly over their heads, burning, killing, and destroying. ”

“ An advanced squadron was sent on some hundreds of thousands of miles in front to explore the way, while the rest of the fleet was spread over a vast area in the form of a square. Alec looked out of the windows of the Lightning, and could see the lights of the other vessels shining like specks in the distance. A vast loneliness sometimes almost overpowered him as he gazed upon the dark depths of those silent solitudes of space, where no sounds could be heard and there was nothing to see but the unchangeable face of the star-strewn heavens. ”

“ There was no moon visible, so the sky was dotted with innumerable stars, among which Jupiter and Mars were shining brightly, and in the far distance was Sirius gleaming angrily amidst a crowd of lesser lights. Flora shuddered somewhat when she noticed his threatening glare, and the slight tremor that passed over her limbs attracted the notice of Alec Brandon, and he, following the direction of her gaze, divined the cause of her alarm.
'Our only rival to universal dominion,' he said somewhat anxiously, and then he put her into an air-ship and returned with her to her father's house. ”

“ Many disabled ships, with their antigravitation apparatus broken, sank lower and lower, until they, with their helpless crew and magazine of explosives, fell crashing down into the atmosphere of Neptune, and blew up with an explosion that desolated the ground for a mile around. Dismounted guns, pieces of metal wrenched off battleships, and wandering projectiles fell down on to the planet like thunderbolts, crashing through the trees and houses as if they had been made of paper. ”

“ The 10th of June in the year 2236 was a day that will long be remembered in the annals of the Anglo-Saxon race, for on that day began a series of disasters that brought the proud inhabitants of the earth to the brink of ruin. Far off in the abysses of space the offspring of the two great races of humanity met, and flung defiance in one another's faces. ”

“ Fleets were hidden in the craters of volcanoes, and suddenly sprang out and consumed unwary vessels. Ships chased one another round mountains, thirsting for destruction. They pursued one another deep down into clefts and caverns. Often the clouds of smoke and sheets of flame pouring out of the ground told of some deadly combat taking place far down in the bowels of the moon. Sometimes the combatants were shut in by the rocks their firing had precipitated, and they all perished together of slow starvation in the dark rocky depths. ”

“ What would the men of the nineteenth or twentieth centuries think if they could rise from the dead and see us now? They boasted of their civilization, but what would they think of ours? Their brick-and-mortar London, with its fog and dirt and crowds of narrow, unwholesome streets, has been changed into a splendid city built of the most beautiful granite and marble. It extends for miles far out into the provinces, covering hills and valleys with its imposing squares and winding streets diversified by colossal public buildings and places of amusement. ”

“ Hundreds of thousands of human beings were crushed to death beneath their homes. Clouds of dust and smoke rose into the air and hovered over the city like a funeral pall. The gardens and parks were ploughed up by the shot, and the flowers scorched by the terrible rays of Ednogen ”

“ Now there were thousands of Bonapartes endowed with colossal intellect, vast energy, and boundless ambition, each burning to wrest for himself a world from the great Unknown. Provinces and countries were not even thought of; they desired to rule over a planet, a system, a universe. There was present everywhere an intense fever for acquisition; men burned with a desire to plunder in these new regions. Vast expeditions were fitted out and started off for the regions of space. ”

“ Many secretly wished that the national ambition had been more restrained, and that they had been contented with their own planet, and not crossed the oceans of space in search of fresh lands and fresh enemies. But everyone assumed an air of confidence, so the public spirit rose from day to day. The dockyards continued to work day and night, making another fleet that was to be despatched to invade Kairet as soon as it was ready. The workshops resounded with the thumping of hammers, the crunch of rolling-mills, and the hissing of metal as it was liquefied under the new process. ”

“ The earth lay stretched out behind like a great fiery ball that filled up a good part of the sky, but the individual objects on it were now indistinguishable. The sun was gradually approaching to the edge of the earth's disc, so that in a short time there would be complete darkness. In front and around, as far as the eye could reach, were the other ships, which appeared to lie quite motionless and silent in the ocean of space. ”

“ One night the inhabitants of Neptune were standing out in the open air watching the distant flashes in the sky, when suddenly there was a blinding glare of light somewhere in the orbit of Jupiter's moons. Columns of incandescent vapour shot out into space, enveloping Jupiter and his moons, and covering a large portion of the sky. So bright was the light that it cast cold, dark shadows all over the part of Neptune that was turned towards it. ”

“ The former cruised over every square mile of land and sea, and searched out and beat to death every enemy's ship they could find. Cordons of torpedo-boats hung in space outside the earth's atmosphere ready to destroy every ship that attempted to escape, and there were several exciting chases that lasted as far as the moon, but hardly a ship got away. The blood of the Anglo-Saxons was up, and they destroyed their enemies without remorse. Soon the earth was literally strewn with wrecks and many vessels that were unable to make any way against the terrible vessels that destroyed them. ”

“ The human race, in its greediness, ate up the earth, appropriating every acre of ground, and then it inundated the planetary system. The same was the case with the intellectual giants of the age; their curiosity was insatiable, their ambition boundless, and their greed all-devouring. The planetary world which had been opened to their researches did not content them for long. Larger and improved interstellar ships were constructed and fitted with enormous motive power, and the reckless scientists, accompanied by numerous adventurers, plunged once more into the unknown abysses of space. ”

“ Sometimes the flaming meteorite would emit terrific explosions all the time that it was falling, and after it had touched the ground, as shell after shell exploded, and the air around it would be filled with clouds of smoke and steam. At other times there would be long flashes of green and purple light and distant detonations as wandering projectiles struck the air and blew up. Sometimes on clear nights thousands of inhabitants would turn out and gaze upwards in awe at the silent flashes and sheets of flame that darted about in the sky. ”

“ Alec sat for a long time moving the levers backwards and forwards, and keeping a steady look out ahead. Far in front was their goal, the planet Neptune, shining faintly among numberless stars. Meanwhile, the sun's disc was gradually getting closer to the earth, and in a few more minutes it was quite hidden behind it. An intensely black darkness immediately succeeded to the brilliant light of the sun, a darkness so thick that it could almost be felt. The blackness of space was in front, around, everywhere. Alec pulled a handle in front of him, and then pressed a button. ”

“ He loved Flora the best of all the women he had ever known, and she returned his love; for the girls of the twenty-third century were too practical to pass all their lives in sighing for a worthless man. Their nuptials were celebrated at London with unheard-of splendour, and were attended by all the chief dignitaries of the Anglo-Saxon Empire. Later on they departed for his planet, accompanied by a guard of honour of war-ships, and now Flora reigns with him as Princess of Kairet. ”

“ Thereupon the fleet sailed away and began to wreck the other cities. The Government was powerless to do anything to save the planet, for its fleets were all destroyed, and its energies and resources prostrated by the incredible exertions it had been making during the war. The forts kept up a desultory fire, but they could do little damage to the fleets that floated in the air far above their heads. Almost invisible, the ships went hither and thither, and, whenever they saw a group of inhabitants or buildings, a shell was hurled down into the midst of them. ”

“ Higher and higher they ascended, shaking the air with the beating of their propellers, plunging upward into the awful abysses of space, rejoicing in the pride of their strength. The upper-decks were covered with officers in full uniform, and with sailors clustering like bees along the railings, taking what would be to many of them a last breath of the air of the earth. ”

“ They writhed on the floor like snakes, they clutched at the guns and levers, and then they fell back dead, the blood streaming from their mouths and nostrils. Sometimes these terrible invisible forces that could pass through metal like air would clash together inside a ship, and then the compartments would be filled with sheets of flame that burnt the inmates to death. ”

“ Some of the largest ships carried as many as three captains under the orders of a chief-captain, so vast was the machine which had to be controlled.
The aspect presented by the whole fleet was magnificent in the extreme. The great shining hulls bristling with guns and covered with men, moving about like ants, glittered in the sun. Here and there towered the largest vessels, which had as many as seven or eight decks, and carried over 400 guns. ”

“ When the hundred and twentieth hour of the battle struck, the Anglo-Saxons were virtually defeated, for they were hopelessly outnumbered. All around lay fragments of mighty vessels, masses of machinery, and thousands of human bodies torn and mangled in the most horrible manner. ”

“ But although the nets were gone, the torpedo-men carried their lives in their hands. Directly they approached a hostile vessel the guns were levelled at them, and several boats were blown to pieces before they had time to fire a single torpedo. But some did good work before they perished. Vast columns of smoke belched forth from the side of some mighty war-ship, and when they had drifted away showed a gigantic rent where the honey-combed air-tight compartments and dismounted guns were clearly visible, while showers of blood and masses of metal fell on the surrounding ships. ”

“ The gardens and parks are filled with the most luxurious tropical plants, while birds of brilliant plumage flit about in the air or rest on the undulating masses of foliage. Gigantic trees of a species before unknown are seen on every side, here grouped into shady avenues, there dotted about in the parks and gardens, and surrounded by smaller but not less beautiful masses of vegetation. In some places the ground is coloured like a rainbow by the infinite variety of tropical plants, while the boughs of the trees are loaded down to the ground by the most luscious fruits. ”

“ Everything in and around the city is contrived on the most colossal and elegant style.
London is now the capital of the world, not, as formerly, from a commercial point of view, but in very fact; for the Anglo-Saxon race long ago absorbed the whole of the globe. The great European war, for which preparations were being made during the latter part of the nineteenth century, broke out with tremendous fury early in the twentieth. England, Germany, and the United States stood arrayed against France, Russia, Austria, Turkey, Italy, and a number of minor States. ”