The Black Star Passes Part 21

"Say--that's some building material!" Arcot indicated the transparent sheet. "Just look at that granite rock--smashed into sand! Yet the window isn't even scratched! Look how the frame that held it is torn--just torn, not broken. I wonder if we can tear it loose altogether?" He stepped forward, raising his pistol. There was a thud as his metal bar crashed down when the ray was shut off. Then, as the others got out of the way, he stepped toward the window and directed his beam toward it. Gradually he increased the power, till suddenly there was a rending crash, and they saw only a leaping column of earth and sand and broken granite flying up through the hole in the steel sh.e.l.l.

There was a sudden violent crash, then a moment later a second equally violent crash as the window, having flown up to the ceiling, came thumping back to the floor.

After the dust had settled they came forward, looking for the window.

They found it, somewhat buried by the rubbish, lying off to one side.

Arcot bent down to tilt it and sweep off the dirt; he grasped it with one hand, and pulled. The window remained where it was. He grasped it with both hands and pulled harder. The window remained where it was.

"Uh--say, lend a hand will you, Wade." Together the two men pulled, but without results. That window was about three feet by two feet by one inch, making the total volume about one-half a cubic foot, but it certainly was heavy. They could not begin to move it. An equal volume of lead would have weighed about four hundred pounds, but this was decidedly more than four hundred pounds. Indeed, the combined strength of the three men did not do more than rock it.

"Well--it certainly is no kind of matter we know of!" observed Morey.

"Osmium, the heaviest known metal, has a density of twenty-two and a half, which would weigh about 730 pounds. I think we could lift that, so this is heavier than anything we know. At least that's proof of a new system. Between Venus and Earth we have found every element that occurs in the sun. These people must have come from another star!"

"Either that," returned Arcot, "or proof of an amazing degree of technological advancement. It's only a guess, of course--but I have an idea where this kind of matter exists in the solar system. I think you have already seen it--in the gaseous state. You remember, of course, that the Kaxorians had great reservoirs for storing light-energy in a bound state in their giant planes. They had bound light, light held by the gravitational attraction for itself, after condensing it in their apparatus, but they had what amounted to a gas--gaseous light. Now suppose that someone makes a light condenser even more powerful than the one the Kaxorians used, a condenser that forces the light so close to itself, increases its density, till the photons hold each other permanently, and the substance becomes solid. It will be matter, matter made of light--light matter--and let us call it a metal. You know that ordinary matter is electricity matter, and electricity matter metals conduct electricity readily. Now why shouldn't our 'light matter' metal conduct light? It would be a wonderful substance for windows."

"But now comes the question of moving it," Wade interposed. "We can't lift it, and we certainly want to examine it. That means we must take it to the laboratory. I believe we're about through here--the place is clearly quite permanently demolished. I think we had better return to the s.h.i.+p and start to that other machine we saw that didn't appear to be so badly damaged. But--how can we move this?"

"I think a ray may do the trick." Arcot drew his ray pistol, and stepped back a bit, holding the weapon so the ray would direct the plate straight up. Slowly he applied the power, and as he gradually increased it, the plate stirred, then moved into the air.

"It works! Now you can use your pistol, Morey, and direct it toward the corridor. I'll send it up, and let it fall outside, where we can pick it up later." Morey stepped forward, and while Arcot held it in the air with his ray, Morey propelled it slowly with his, till it was directly under the corridor leading upward. Then Arcot gave a sudden increase in power, and the plate moved swiftly upward, sailing out of sight. Arcot shut off his ray, and there came to their ears a sudden crash as the plate fell to the floor above.

The three men regained their ropes and "double action parachutes" as Arcot called them, and floated up to the next floor. Again they started the process of moving the plate. All went well till they came to the little car itself. They could not use the ray on the car, for fear of damaging the machinery. They had to use some purely mechanical method of hoisting it in.

Finally they solved the problem by using the molecular director ray to swing a heavy beam into the air, then one man pulled on the far end of it with a rope, and swung it till it was resting on the door of the s.h.i.+p on one end, and the other rested in a hole they had torn in the lining of the tube.

Now they maneuvered the heavy plate till it was resting on that beam; then they released the plate, and watched it slide down the incline, shooting through the open doorway of the car. In moments the job was done. The plate at last safely stowed, the three men climbed into the car, and prepared to leave.

The little machine glided swiftly down the tube through the mighty s.h.i.+p, finally coming out through the opening that had admitted them. They rose quickly into the air, and headed for the headquarters of the government s.h.i.+ps.

II

A great number of scientists and military men were already gathered about the headquarters s.h.i.+p. As Arcot's party arrived, they learned that each of the wrecks was being a.s.signed to one group. They further learned that because of their scientific importance, they were to go to the nearly perfect s.h.i.+p lying off to the west. Two Air Patrolmen were to accompany them.

"Lieutenant Wright and Lieutenant Greer will go with you," said the Colonel. "In the event of trouble from possible--though unlikely--survivors, they may be able to help. Is there anything further we can do?"

"These men are armed with the standard sidearms, aren't they?" Arcot asked. "I think we'll all be better off if I arm them with some of the new director-ray pistols. I have several in my boat. It will be all right, I suppose?"

"Certainly, Dr. Arcot. They are under your command."

The party, increased to five now, returned to the s.h.i.+p, where Arcot showed the men the details of the ray pistols, and how to use them. The control for direction of operation was rather intricate in these early models, and required considerable explanation. The theoretical range of even these small hand weapons was infinity in s.p.a.ce, but in the atmosphere the energy was rather rapidly absorbed by ionization of the air, and the dispersion of the beam made it ineffective in s.p.a.ce over a range of more than thirty-five miles.

Again entering the little molecular motion car, they went at once to the great hull of the fallen s.h.i.+p. They inspected it cautiously from overhead before going too close, for the dreadnought, obviously, had landed without the terrific concussion that the others had experienced, and there was a possibility that some of the crew had survived the crash. The entire stern of the huge vessel had been torn off, and evidently the s.h.i.+p was unable to rise, but there were lights glowing through the portholes on the side, indicating that power had not failed completely.

"I think we'd better treat that monster with respect," remarked Wade, looking down at the lighted windows. "They have power, and the hull is scarcely dented except where the stern was caught by a beam. It's lucky we had those ray projector s.h.i.+ps! They've been in service only about four months, haven't they, Lieutenant?"

"Just about that, sir," the Air Patrolman replied. "They hadn't gotten the hand weapons out in sufficient quant.i.ties to be issued to us as yet."

Morey scowled at the invader. "I don't like this at all. I wonder why they didn't greet us with some of their beams," he said in worried tones. It did seem that there should be some of the rays in action now.

They were less than a mile from the fallen giant, and moving rather slowly.

"I've been puzzled about that myself," commented Arcot, "and I've come to the conclusion that either the ray projectors are fed by a separate system of power distribution, which has been destroyed, or that the creatures from s.p.a.ce are all dead."

They were to learn later, in their exploration of the s.h.i.+p, that the invaders' ray projectors were fed from a separate generator, which produced a special form of alternating current wave for them. This generator had been damaged beyond use.

The little machine was well toward the stern of the giant now, and they lowered it till it was on a level with the torn metal. It was plain that the s.h.i.+p had been subjected to some terrific tension. The great girders were stretched and broken, and the huge ribs were bent and twisted. The central tube, which ran the length of the s.h.i.+p, had been drawn down to about three quarters of its original diameter, making it necessary for them to use their ray to enter. In moments their speedster glided into the dark tunnel. The searchlight reaching ahead filled the metal tunnel with a myriad deceptive reflections. The tube was lighted up far ahead of them, and seemed empty. Cautiously they advanced, with Arcot at the controls.

"Wade--Morey--where will we stop first?" he asked. "The engines? They'll probably be of prime importance. We know their location. What do you say?"

"I agree," replied Wade, and Morey nodded his approval.

They ran their craft down the long tube till they reached the door they knew must be the engine room landing, and stepped out, each wearing an alt.i.tude suit. This s.h.i.+p had landed level, and progress would be much easier than in the other one. They waited a moment before opening the door into the engine room, for this led into a narrow corridor where only one could pa.s.s. Caution was definitely in order. The Air Patrolmen insisted on leading the way. They had been sent along for the express purpose of protecting the scientists, and it was their duty to lead.

After a brief argument Arcot agreed.

The two officers stepped to the door, and standing off to one side, tore it open with a ray from their pistols. It fell with a clatter to the rounded metal floor of the tube, and lay there vibrating noisily, but no rays of death lanced out from beyond it. Cautiously they peered around the corner of the long corridor, then seeing nothing, entered. Wade came next, then Arcot, followed by Morey.

The corridor was approximately thirty feet long, opening into the great engine room. Already the men could hear the smooth hum of powerful machines, and could see the rounded backs of vast mechanisms. But there was no sign of life, human or otherwise. They halted finally at the threshold of the engine room.

"Well," Arcot said softly. "We haven't seen anyone so far, and I hope no one has seen us. The invaders may be behind one of those big engines, quite unaware of us. _If_ they're there, and they see us, they'll be ready to fight. Now remember, those weapons you have will tear loose anything they hit, so take it easy. You know something about the power of those engines, so don't put them out of commission, and have them splash us all over the landscape.

"But look out for the crew, and get them if they try to get you!"

Cautiously but quickly they stepped out into the great room, forming a rough half circle, pistols ready for action. They walked forward stealthily, glancing about them--and simultaneously the enemies caught sight of each other. There were six of the invaders, each about seven feet tall, and surprisingly humanoid. They somewhat resembled Venerians, but they weren't Venerians, for their skin was a strange gray-white, suggesting raw dough. It seemed to Arcot that these strange, pale creatures were advancing at a slow walk, and that he stood still watching them as they slowly raised strange hand weapons. He seemed to notice every detail: their short, tight-fitting suits of some elastic material that didn't hamper their movements, and their strange flesh, which just seemed to escape being transparent. Their eyes were strangely large, and the black spot of the pupil in their white corneas created an unnatural effect.

Then abruptly their weapons came up--and Arcot responded with a sudden flick of his ray, as he flung himself to one side. Simultaneously his four companions let their beams fly toward the invaders. They glowed strangely red here, but they were still effective. The six beings were suddenly gone--but not before they had released their own beams. And they had taken toll. Lieutenant Wright lay motionless upon the floor.

The Terrestrians scarcely had a chance to notice this, for immediately there was a terrific rending crash, and clean daylight came pouring in through a wide opening in the wall of the s.h.i.+p. The five rays had not stopped on contact with the enemy, but had touched the wall behind them.

An irregular opening now gaped in the smooth metal.

Suddenly there came a second jarring thud, a dull explosion; then a great sheet of flame filled the hole--a wall of ruddy flame swept rapidly in. Arcot swung up his ray pistol, pointing it at the ma.s.s of flaming gas. A mighty column of air came through the narrow corridor from the tube, rus.h.i.+ng toward the outside, and taking the flame with it.

A roaring ma.s.s of gas hovered outside of the s.h.i.+p.

"Lieutenant," said Arcot, swiftly, "turn your ray on that hole, and keep it there, blowing that flame outside with it. You'll find you can't put the fire out, but if you keep it outside the s.h.i.+p, I believe we'll be reasonably safe." The Patrolman obeyed instantly, relieving Arcot.

Wade and Morey were already bending over the fallen man.

"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for him," the latter said grimly, "and every moment here is dangerous. Let's continue our investigation and carry him back to the s.h.i.+p when we leave." Arcot nodded silently.

Solemnly they turned away from the motionless figure on the floor and set out on their investigation.

"Arcot," began Morey after a moment, "why is that gas burning like that?

Can't we put it out?"

"Let's get through with this job first," replied Arcot somewhat tersely.

"The discussion comes after."

The bodies of the invaders were gone, so they could not examine them now. That was a matter for the doctors and biologists, anyway. The engines were their main interest, huge things which overshadowed everything about them.