Roger Sherman Hoar

“ The aged scientist explained, “Since space is now reversed by the relativity effect, it is the star in front of us rather than the one behind that disappears and then reappears in front of us as we catch up with its light. ”

“ Dos-Tev objected.
The forgotten workman stirred and sat up groggily.
“Sire,” he gasped, “Ay-Artz sets forth tonight to conquer the planets which circle the nearest star. I have been trying to tell you, Sire.”
“By Tor, he shall not! Not if Dos-Tev can stop him!” exclaimed the young Emperor. “Mea-Quin, our space-ship is nearly completed. We must fly to Risbo. Once there, it will be a simple matter to adapt the light-ray transmitters of the Risboyans so as to increase their range and flash a warning to the solar system.” ”

“ Why do you suppose that Ay-Artz is permitting us to continue the construction of our space ship, although he won’t let us build light-ray transmitters?”
The young Emperor laughed. “You are unexcelled as a scientist Mea-Quin; but you are completely out of your field when you try to fathom the motives of men. Ay-Artz and his misguided revolutionists stole the improved space ship which we completed just before my enforced abdication. ”

“ They have built twenty more just like it. But they suspect – and rightly so – that you get better and better with practice. So they are letting us build another and better, although much smaller, ship; then they will steal the ideas from that. As for their denying us the use of light-ray transmitters and receivers: they don’t want us listening-in on any devilment they may be up to; and they don’t want us signalling the Risboyans for aid.”
“But what does Ay-Artz need of better space-ships than the ones he already has?”
“Looking for more world to conquer,” suggested Dos Tev. ”

“ The total absence of one expected phenomenon puzzled the old man greatly, namely that the stars directly behind them, and especially the twin star, Alpha Centauri, from whose system they had come, did not turn gradually red and then disappear as the gradually increasing speed of the space-ship slowed down the apparent rate of vibration of light from the rear. ”

“ For convenience of the reader, all Lemnisian measures of time, distance, velocity, and acceleration have been converted into earth units. The length of day on Lemnis, her size, and the radius of her orbit happen to be practically the same as with us.
“Fools rush in – and win – where scientists fear to tread, “ quoted the young Emperor.
A Lemnisian workman approached them down the beach.
Without waiting to ascertain his identity or purpose, Dos-Tev grimaced and drily remarked, “My error! Let’s take our daily exercise.” ”

“ And, as Dos-Tev led the way up the spiral stairs, Bullo staggered erect and followed him, muttering, “When I wake up, I hope that it will be back on Lemnis again.”
But Mea-Quin called after them, “I have it! It’s the relativity effect. Relative to us, as observers, all of space is traveling backward with speed now slightly faster than light. ”

“ But finally, as they approximated the speed of light, the young leader Dos-Tev was fascinated and the workman Bullo was filled with superstitious awe at the evanishment of all stars to the rear of them and the gradual foreshortening of the remaining constellations.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” announced Mea-Quin. “Just wait until we exceed 186,000 miles per second. Then we shall begin to catch up with the light from the stars behind us which has preceded us through space. ”

“ With great difficulty they forced their doubly-weighted bodies erect. Then switching the screen to rear-vision, they saw the rapidly diminishing blobs of light which represented the rocket discharge of the survivors of the enemy fleet.
Dos-Tev closed the nose of his space-ship again. Then he and Bullo laboriously climbed back down the spiral stairs to the room where Mea-Quin was driving the ship upward with an acceleration equal to twice that of gravity. ”

“ But we’ll give them a taste of our new gun, which the fools have thought was merely another atomic impulse-projector.”
“Guns, Sire?” exclaimed Bullo. “Can this ship stand the recoil?”
“There will be no recoil,” the young Emperor explained, “for this gun has a blast-deflector which neutralizes the recoil. Come on, Bullo, follow me; there’s no time to lose.”
So saying, he unlashed himself from his spring seat and dashed up the spiral staircase, followed by the big workman. Up past the twin gyros they rushed, to the floor above, which was equipped as a living-room, with bunks along its sides. ”

“ As the speed of the space-ship became faster and faster, it compounded with the velocity of the light from the distant stars, thus causing their apparent position to shift gradually forward. By measuring the angle of the displacement, particularly in the stars which ought to have appeared directly amidships, Mea-Quin had an accurate gauge on the speed of the ship. ”

“ However, as the three space travelers gazed they were gradually able to make out the great dipper, Orion, and a few other of the more familiar star-groups; but now completely reversed, Alpha Centauri, from which they had come, was now directly ahead. ”

“ Mea-Quin glanced at the dials. “For Tor’s sake, slow it down, Sire! It’s going at a rate of nearly three times gravity already and no man can stand more than twice gravity without practice.”
Dos-Tev slammed back the lever and the bowl slowed down. Mea-Quin got up from his seat and bent over the prostrate workman. ”

“ To an observer, a body traveling with the speed of light appears to have contracted to zero dimension in the direction of travel. Accordingly, at speed faster than light, this dimension would be minus, that is to say, reversed.”
“But why didn’t we notice this change gradually coming on?” objected Dos-Tev.
“Because most stars are practically at an infinite distance away,” Mea-Quin explained, “and so the steady contraction of space in the direction of travel would not be noticeable until it almost reached zero.”
Bullo again made the sign of Tor. ”