Sewell Peaslee Wright

“ We turned a bend in the long ramp we had been climbing, and came out upon the vast, level top of the building.
Thousands of the unreal creatures of this world were crowded around a vast, hideous image that rose from the center of the space; a monster so terrible that Hope cried out at the sight, and Vic exclaimed under his breath. ”

“ Then, suddenly, there was a terrific crash of sound, and my senses returned.
I looked around. It seemed that an instant before I had been standing there in Vic’s laboratory, slowly turning the second of the two dials, while the four lights beat down upon my body. And now ... and now I was standing in the open, on another world. A nightmare world that words seem inadequate to describe. ”

“ I leaned forward, butting with my head, both doubled fists working like pistons to clear a way to my companions.
“Nice work, Pete!” shouted Vic, as I joined them, breathless but triumphant. “Now for a break! Gun loaded?”
I snapped open the action and dropped in six cartridges.
“It is now. I’ll go ahead; you bring up the rear with Hope in the middle. Ready?”
“Let’s go!”
I plunged on, Hope’s fingers gripping my belt. Fresh multitudes were pouring up the ramp, brushing aside the five or six priests that had hurried there in an effort to stem the tide. ”

“ One of the priests saw us, and cried out shrilly to his companions. With one accord they came toward us, obviously intent upon blocking our way. I have never seen in any other eyes such anger and hatred as blazed in the eyes of those strange beings.
“Watch them, Pete!” roared Vic. “We can’t take chances!” His gun roared twice from behind me, and two of the priests fell writhing, to be instantly trampled into pulp. ”

“ I could hardly support my own weight; my legs were trembling with the burden; sweat broke out over my whole body; the rays of light beat down upon me fiercely, overpoweringly....
Desperately, I quickly turned the dial until the two red marks coincided. A great weight, soft and enveloping, seemed to drop upon me. The senses of sight and hearing and feeling all left me. ”

“ I hurried by Perrin and through the cool, quiet hall to the broad door that opened into the big room at the back of the house, which was Vic’s laboratory.
Vic! Hope!” I pounded as hard as I could, shouting their names. There was no response.
“Is there another key, Perrin?” I snapped.
“No, sir; none that I know of. The master was mighty fussy about his workroom.”
“Can we get in through the windows?”
“No. They’re barred, if you remember rightly, and fitted with this frosted glass, so you can’t see in, even.”
“Then get me an ax!” I commanded. “Quick!”
“An ax?” hesitated Perrin. ”

“ Whatever it is, it certainly does the work. And what do you suppose they want us to do now?”
The three priests were coming toward us, smiling. I didn’t like their smiles; they were meant to be benign, but there was a cruel and vindictive twist to their lips which chilled me through and through.
“Keep your hand on your gun,” said Vic swiftly. “I don’t like the looks of these chaps.”
The priests stopped before us and their leader began a long harangue in a screechy voice which set my nerves on edge. When he had finished he held out his hands toward me, and motioned toward the waiting idol. ”

“ As our party appeared, an aisle opened, and we were marched through the assembled crowd, directly toward the idol. A high-pitched, sibilant chant arose from the multitude, and a procession of very ancient beings, whom I took to be the priests of this god, came in single file from behind the black god, directing the chanting with movements of their arms. They were lighter in color than the others, and much more intelligent, to judge by their faces. ”

“ Our old world is matter, true enough, but for the rest, you’re wrong, Pete, old son. You’re not matter, any more. You’re something else. In terms of our own being, you do not exist in your present form. This world does not exist. ”

“ One of the priests spoke sharply, commandingly, to Ee-pay, and the latter nodded—not agreeably it seemed to me.
“The old boy doesn’t like these other chaps; priests, I take it,” whispered Vic. “I think they’ve been messing up his plans. See; he’s motioning us to watch.”
The priests led the old man back to the idol. Eagerly, he clambered upon the outstretched hands, and stood there facing the grinning face, stroking the polished cheeks with beseeching fingers. The priests sank to the floor, bending themselves in mockery of the image. ”

“ You know that there’s sound above the frequencies to which the human ear will respond. You know there are light rays that the human eyes can’t perceive. Some work I’ve been doing the last five or six months indicates that there’s a form of life about us, all around us, which isn’t perceptible to our senses—which doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.
Well, I’m going to do a little exploring. I’m going to take a whirl at what I’ll call the Infra-Median existence. What I’ll find there, I don’t know. Life of some kind, however, for my experiments prove that. ”

“ Naturally, I didn’t understand Vic’s jargon about frequencies and light-rays, for I thought more about football than physics in college, but two things were clear to me. One was that Vic had plunged into some sort of wild experiment, and the other was that Hope had followed him. The rest didn’t matter very much.
“Perrin! Mr. Butler and Miss Hope are safe. Everything is explained in this note. You and Mrs. Perrin are to leave me here, and not disturb anything. Do nothing at all for at least a week. If we aren’t all back here before that time ... take any action you see fit. Understand?” ”

“ Sit down, Pete, and let’s talk. It may be that there’s no time to lose in making some plans.”
First of all,” I insisted, “tell me where we are; what’s happened to us. Do you know?”
“Where we are? Surely. Looking at it in one way, we’re less than a mile from my laboratory.”
“But, Vic!” I protested. “Do you really mean that we’re less than a mile from your laboratory; from our own world? If we were, we could see it; we’d bump into our own trees and houses and people; we’d be knocked down by automobiles, and—”
“Two bodies cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Old law of simple physics. ”

“ Before he could complete the sentence the door was flung open, and five of the older men, led by a sixth with a larger jewel at his throat, filed solemnly into the room and motioned that we were to leave.
At the doorway, a double file of creatures closed in about us, and we were led, by long corridors and mighty winding ramps, toward the top of the building.
“Now what?” I whispered to Vic.
“I don’t know. That chap with the big stone at his throat seems to be the head man of the city. I think his name is Ee-pay; the others seem to call him that. Maybe it’s just a title. ”

“ My theory is that these people live in a dreary world in which there is no pleasure. Their faces seem to show that. Apparently they live a very long time, and have no means of shortening that life. They are not intelligent. ”

“ Vic was whispering excitedly in my ear. “Listen, Pete, I think I see through this. These priests have heard about us and our death-dealing ability. They’re jealous; they want a corner on that. Old Ee-pay figures maybe we could do him a favor in that line, and that’s why he’s arguing. The priests want to honor us for the good we’ve done—by giving us the reward we’ve just seen. ”

“ Should you wish to take a flier after me, stand in the center of the square outlined by the four uprights of the device beside which this little table stands. Be sure your weapon—I told you to bring a gat—is on your person.
There’s a small instrument board set on one of the posts. Turn the upper of the two dials until the hand of the meter beside it moves up to 2700 exactly. Wait a moment, until you’re sure you have the exact reading. Then turn the second dial until the two red lines coincide, and as you do so, mark the time. ”

“ I had only one box of cartridges, besides those in the cylinder of my gun. I didn’t know what might be in store for me, and I took no chances.
My first shot sent one of the creatures spinning to the ground. Two more were almost upon me before I could level the weapon and pull the trigger again. I got them both. ”