The Lost Warship Part 5

He did not believe his eyes.

The carrier was gone.

The cruisers and destroyers that had been cutting foaming circles around the carrier and the battles.h.i.+p--were gone.

The surface of the sea was empty. There weren't even any puffs of exploding sh.e.l.ls in the sky.

The Idaho plunged forward through strange seas. From horizon to horizon there was nothing to be seen. The task force to which the s.h.i.+p belonged and the attacking j.a.p planes had both vanished. The group of officers responsible for the s.h.i.+p were dazed. Then, little by little, their long training a.s.serted itself and they fought off the panic threatening them.

Captain Higgins ordered the s.h.i.+p slowed until she was barely moving.

This was to protect them from the possibility of hitting submerged reefs or shoals. The first question was--what had happened? Captain Higgins ordered radio silence broken. The s.h.i.+p carried powerful wireless equipment, strong enough to reach to the mainland of America, and farther.

The radio calls brought no response. The radio men reported all they could get on their receivers was static. No commercial and no radio signals were on the air. This was impossible.

In growing bewilderment, Captain Higgins ordered a plane catapulted into the air, to search the surrounding sea. Meanwhile routine reports from all parts of the s.h.i.+p showed that the Idaho had suffered no damage of any kind from the bombing. She was in first-cla.s.s shape. The only thing wrong with her was the men who manned her. They were bewildered. Defeat in battle they would have faced. They would not have flinched if the s.h.i.+p had gone down before superior gun power. They would have fought her fearlessly, dying, if need be, in the traditions of their service.

Craig was still on the bridge with Captain Higgins and the other officers. Although he did not show it, he was scared. Right down to the bottoms of his bare feet, he was scared. He watched the scouting plane catapulted into the air, and the grim thought came into his mind that Noah, sending forth the dove from the ark, must have been in a similar position. Like Noah, Captain Higgins was sending forth a dove to search the waste of waters.

Besides Craig, there was another civilian on the bridge, Michaelson.

n.o.body was paying any attention to him. Normally, if he had intruded without invitation to this sacred spot, he would have been bounced off so fast it would have made his head swim. But the officers had other things to think about besides a stray civilian who had popped out of nowhere. Michaelson, after fluttering vainly from officer to officer and getting no attention, turned at last to Craig. Michaelson was waving his note book.

"These men will pay no attention to me," Michaelson complained, nodding toward the officers.

"They got troubles," Craig said. "They've run into a problem that is driving them nuts."

"But I could help them solve their problem!" Michaelson said, irritation in his voice.

"Aw, beat it--Huh? What did you say?" Craig demanded.

"I can tell them what happened, if they will only listen. I was trying to warn them, before it happened, but I was unable to reach the bridge in time."

"You--_you know what happened_?" Craig choked.

"Certainly!" Michaelson said emphatically.

Craig stared at the little man. Michaelson did not look like he had much on the ball but he spoke excellent English, and even if he was a queer duck, he seemed to be intelligent. Craig remembered that Michaelson had been trying to reach the bridge just before the bombers struck, also that the man had been trying to get in touch with the captain just before the warning sounded that the bombers were approaching. Craig turned to the officers.

"Captain Higgins," he said.

"Don't bother me now, Craig," the captain snapped.

"There's a man here who wants to talk to you," Craig said.

"I have no time--" For the first time, the captain saw Michaelson. "Who the devil are you?" he snapped. "What are you doing on my bridge?"

"He's the man who wants to talk to you," Craig explained. "His name is Michaelson."

Michaelson smiled shyly. "You may have heard of me," he said.

"Are you Michaelson the scientist, the man who is called the second Einstein?" Higgins demanded.

Michaelson blushed. "I am a scientist," he said. "As for being a second Einstein, no. There is only one Einstein. There can be only one. But it may be that I can help you with your problem."

Craig saw the att.i.tude of the officers change. They had heard of Michaelson. It was a great name. Until then they had not known that he was on their bridge. They became respectful.

"If you can help us, shoot," Higgins said bluntly.

"I will try," the scientist said. He pursed his lips and looked thoughtful. "If you are familiar with geology you unquestionably know something about 'faults'. 'Faults' are unstable areas on the surface of the earth, places where, due to joints or cracks in the underlying strata of rocks, slippage is likely to take place. There is, for instance, the great San Andreas Rift, in California, which is a 'fault'."

"Sorry, Mr. Michaelson," Higgins interrupted. "If you've got something to say, say it, but don't start giving us a lecture on geology."

"In explaining the unknown, it is best to start with what is known," the scientist answered. "Earth faults are known. When I talk about them, you will understand me. However, there is another kind of fault that is as yet unknown, or known only to a few scientists who suspected its existence--" He paused. "I am referring to the s.p.a.ce-time fault."

The faces of the officers registered nothing. Craig frowned, but listened with quickened interest. A s.p.a.ce-time fault! What was Michaelson talking about?

"You will not find a s.p.a.ce-time fault mentioned in any scientific treatise," Michaelson continued. "There is no literature on the subject, as yet. Certain erratic phenomena, of which the apparent slowing of the speed of light in certain earth areas was the most important, led a few scientists to speculate on the existence of some strange condition of s.p.a.ce and time that would account for the observed phenomena. The speed of light is regarded as being constant, yet in certain places on earth, for no apparent reason, light seemed to move slower than it did elsewhere. What was the reason for this strange slow-down? Investigation revealed the existence of what I have called a s.p.a.ce-time fault."

"Please, Mr. Michaelson," Captain Higgins spoke. "We are not scientists.

With all respect to your ability, I must request you to come directly to the point."

"Very well," the scientist said. "We have fallen into a s.p.a.ce-time fault. I have been conducting certain researches in and near this area in an effort to locate the boundaries of what I had hoped would be called--since I discovered it--the Michaelson Fault. Under ordinary circ.u.mstances the s.h.i.+p would, in all probability, have pa.s.sed directly through the fault, though I suspect, from certain data of s.h.i.+ps that have disappeared mysteriously, that _all_ s.h.i.+ps have not always pa.s.sed through the fault. In our case, the explosion of the bombs was sufficient to cause a momentary dislodgment of the s.p.a.ce-time balance in this area, with the result that we were precipitated through the fault."

He paused and looked expectantly at his audience. It was his impression that he had made a complete explanation of what had happened. He expected the officers to understand. They didn't understand.

Craig, watching in silence, caught a vague glimpse of what the scientist was saying. He felt a cold chill run up and down his spine. If he understood Michaelson correctly--

"We were precipitated through the fault?" a lieutenant spoke. "I don't follow. What do you mean, sir?"

"Mean?" Michaelson answered. "I mean we pa.s.sed through the fault."

"But what does that mean?"

"That we have pa.s.sed through time!"

Craig was aware of a mounting tension when he heard the words. Then he had understood Michaelson correctly! He had been afraid of that. He saw from the faces of the officers that they either did not comprehend what the scientist had said, or comprehending, were refusing to believe.

"Pa.s.sed through time!" somebody said. "But that is ridiculous."

Michaelson shrugged. "You are thinking with your emotions," he said.

"You are thinking wishfully. You hope we have not pa.s.sed through time.

Therefore you say it is not true."

"But," Captain Higgins spoke, "if we have pa.s.sed through time, how far have we gone, and in what direction?"