I must paint now upon a to the of this most night in the history of the Earth, Venus and Mars.
From that point in the of Greater New York, near the southern of Manhattan Island, the light-beam up. It with its voice for an hour, so a that it was with the ears as away as Philadelphia. A voice it was, as if with triumph. There were millions of people by it this night; and with a of at this its note of danger. The subsided; it to its a minutes of the of the light, and an hour it had ceased.
But the light remained. Those who it closely have a clear of its aspect; but to this day its nature has been determined.
It was a of about a ten-foot diameter. In color it was opalescent, more at night than in the day. With the of the sun it did not fade, but visible, with a when the it so that it had the of a titanic, rainbow.
From that point with our Earth, the upward. It ate a like a up through all the city levels, through the and into the sky. It had a heat, by so that it melted the city above it with a clean hole. But the was non-radiant.
I was fifty of the of the beam. There had been an explosion, so that Molo's metal room was gone; but from where I there was only a to be from the light.[41]
Halsey's men me an hour. I was but not injured. I think now that the and not the light me. I presently consciousness; for another hour I was and deaf, but that off. They me through the of the city to the Tappan Headquarters. Grantline was there, but not Snap. I sent them when once I was conscious. They all the at the of the light. Snap, alive or dead, was not to be found.
Anita and Venza were gone. I had Molo and Meka away with them as the light-beam forth. They were gone, and Snap was gone.
There was, by now, a all the area. The light-beam itself had done little damage, but its chaos. Within a of five miles of its base, the city was into darkness. All power was cut off. Every vehicle, the overhead, and, the stopped. Audiphones were wrecked; it an hour, though, and after that, lights and into the area were not affected.
But that hour, south Manhattan was in panic. A of people in the night to and that sound. The and and traffic were with and killing one another in their to escape.
This was in the area; but else the panic was spreading. Transportation were almost all out of commission. The panic spread until by there was a wild of the and and tunnels, from all the city exits.
This was Greater New York. But from Venus and Mars came reports. In Grebhar and in Ferrok-Shahn, almost with Greater New York, light-beams appeared.
"But what can it be?" I of Grantline. "Something Molo there? He did it. That was what he was for, and he his purpose. But what will the do to us?"
"It's doing plenty," said Grantline grimly.
"He didn't that. There was something else."[42]
But what? As yet, no one knew. I had already told the what I had seen. I was the only eye-witness to Molo's activities; and I had but a brief, glimpse.
The remained; it from the rock. They thought, this night, that Molo's had set up a of the atoms, and that from them were into space.
The light-beam to attack. Within a hours the were its with but without success.
From where Grantline and I sat, we saw the coming. But the radiance-beam unaffected. "Gregg, look there at Venus!"
To the east of us there was a line of metal the mid-Westchester hills; above them, in the sky of dawn, Venus was just rising. Mars had already set at our longitude. Venus, close to the Earth now, was the "Morning Star."; it now above that line of metal in the distance.
And as Grantline gestured, I saw from Venus the same sword-like off almost to our own.
Grantline and I, with a thought, ran around the and to where Mars had set. A narrow was up among the off there.
Three of light in the sky! With the of the planets, they the firmament. The enemy had planted them—but why? What was next?
And as though to answer us, from to the south, over mid-Jersey, came a new manifestation. We saw a rising, a of something dark, with of from it.
"A spaceship, Gregg."
It so. It came slowly from above the of structures, speed, and in a moment was gone.
But others, equipped, had it. It was a projectile, with stream-fluorescence it upward, an of spaceship. Telescopically it was until well after dawn. Speeding out in the direction of the Moon.
Molo and his had escaped, I thought. With[43] their work done here on Earth, they were off to the enemy ship 200,000 miles out.
I Grantline on that balcony, and with heart. Were Anita and Venza on that ship? And Snap: I prayed he was there with the girls to them the protection I had failed to give.
"Haljan and Grantline wanted below."
The voice of a on the us us from our thoughts. We through the building.
The of Tappan Interplanetary Headquarters had for hours been with activity. The Cometara rested upon her stage outside, with a score of her. Newly-installed additional was aboard, to be assembled after the start. The men to it were embarked. My dozen officers and the ten members of the I had already met. They were waiting for me.
"On we go, Gregg. Let's wish ourselves luck." From grim, abstraction, Grantline had now into his familiar self.
There was a group of officers and a hundred or so here; they stopped their labors now to watch the Cometara away, of Earth's ships into space to this enemy. Grantline and I past them with and good-bys. I saw the of Brayley. He an arm for a to us.
We the to the Cometara. She rested upon her stage, a great, ship, low and rakish, with pointed ends and a flattened, turtle-back of the and the from to stern. She quiescent, in the of the beacons; but there was an of power upon her.
My ship! My command! As we through the opened port of the and I touched upon the deck, I prayed that I might the in me.
Men the narrow, deck. I saw the space-guns at the pressure-ports, assembled. My officer, a named Drac Davidson, who with his[44] had been in the Interplanetary Freight Service, up to me.
"We're ready, sir."
"Very good, Drac."
He me to the room. Grantline had into of the weapons.
"Her are all closed," said Drac. He spoke calmly, but his thin was and his dark with excitement. "The pressure is set at fifteen pounds. You can ring us up at once."
No to this departure! With I entered the small and its stairs to the upper room. But as I touched the levers, came to me with these familiar at which I was skilled.
I a central-hull gravity-plate. It smoothly, perfectly by the magnets. The trembled, lifted; the I see the dawn-light of the sky and of the stage. Figures of men out there, of farewell, slowly our as we lifted.
The gravity-plates into the repulsive-force positions. The lifted. The Cometara smoothly. We up, at a forty-five angle. I saw the on the stage with their to traffic in the lanes.
"Light our bow-beacon, Drac."
We through the thousand and two thousand-foot lanes. The lights of Tappen were us. The of the Cometara was with the of its and air-receivers, with the of air pressure pumps. At three thousand I started the air-rocket engines. They came on with a purring. The from them along our and past the stern, like tails.
With speed we through the traffic lanes, out of the atmosphere, through the and into space.
Leaving the stratosphere, I cut off the air-rocket engines, the gravity-plates for the Earth's and the plates for the of the Moon and Sun. The[45] swung, in a slow arc, and with the Earth us and the Sun and Moon in of our bow. We were on our course, through space with toward the unknown enemy ship two hundred thousand miles ahead of us. My orders were to the ship and us close to it; and Grantline's orders were to it.
I at the North Atlantic with the of North America spread like a map.
What was the nature of this enemy we sought? That from Greater New York with its into the dome-like starfield; the one from Venus and the other from Mars overhead the stars.
Three the sky! What did they mean?
"Will you east or west of the Moon?"
"We haven't decided."
Drac Davidson and I were alone in the Cometara's turret.
We were some ten hours out from Earth. Over such it was to any great velocity. When once we were clear of the Earth's envelope, the rocket-stream were useless. The Cometara was also with tail-streamers of nature. They a pressure, useful for and turning; but they had only upon the main of the vehicle.
I used the of the Earth upon our gravity-plates; and with those of the to the positive reaction, we were by the Sun and the Moon.
For three or four hours I to this with acceleration; but then I had to retard. In close such as this, the must be calculated with a many hours in advance.
We now, very nearly poised, some thousand miles of the surface of the Moon. Bleak and cold, black and white, it in a in of our bow. The Sun, I had using some hours back, was visible to one now.[46] Its great of up into the of the firmament. The the with a white glare, and left the black with shadow; moonlight and the painted our bow. Behind our the great of Earth and glowing.
And else was the great black firmament. The with a new white through the of an atmosphere. Like a little world in the of this void, we poised.
Grantline came into the turret. "I've got ready, Gregg. By the gods, once you can upon that enemy ship, I'm to open fire on it."
"Good," I said.
But the of our at this enemy ship had terror into my for hours past. I was that the three who in all the world were to me—Anita, Venza, and Snap—were upon that enemy vessel.
Grantline asked, "Are you going closer to the Moon?"
"No."
"The ship couldn't be us and the Moon. Waters and I have been in the room for the past hour, with the 'scope there. Nothing doing, Gregg. Not a sign."
"I know. Our here that."
"There might be a way of them," Drac put in.
"I'll try the Zed-ray," I suggested. "Drac and I have it corrected. But I if it would the of this enemy would use."
Grantline nodded. "Or the Benson curve-light. You think the ship the Moon? Or on the Moon?"
"It have done either. Has Waters still got with the Earth? Have they it?"
"No."
I a decision. It would take us two hours at least to make a with the Zed-ray; and to take an series of spectro-heliographs of the Moon's surface, which might the enemy if it had there, was a process.
After thought, I the idea. "We'll go to the room," I told Grantline. "I'm going to try the Benson curve-light."[47]
Grantline and I left the turret, along the under the toward the where the rotund, middle-aged Waters was in charge. It my to think of the room. Snap should have been there.
We the catwalk. The was under us. Farther down, the narrow with Grantline's men at the ports, where his were and ready. As I saw those men on the deck, waiting for me to give them a sighting, I prayed I do so; and yet there was the that the blast would death to Anita.
Waters met us at the door of his cubby. His was red; he the from his head. "I'm so you came! Will you want the Benson-light? I say, I've with the Earth. I had the Washington transmitter. Five minutes ago they sent me a of the Mars and Venus news. They sent ships, out."
He for breath, then added in a rush: "Both the Mars and Venus ships were and the enemy escaped!"
Grantline and I with horror.
"Destroyed?" I said. "How?"
Waters did not know. The news came; then, after, the Washington its and he connection.
"But why, in heaven's name, man, didn't you ring and tell us?" Grantline demanded. "Destroyed—only that! Just destroyed."
"I was to my instruments," Waters said. "How I tell? I might be able to with Washington any minute. Come on in. Do you want to try the Benson curve-light, Mr. Haljan?"
"Yes," I said. "I do." We entered the cubby. "See here, Waters, what about the that from Earth last night? Did the Washington report what to it?"
"No, not a word. They it, evidently."
Our 'scopes on the Cometara had not been able to the projectile. The large of Earth had it. Was that because, with velocity, it had directly for the new out Mars?
Or, with some of invisibility, might it be close to us[48] now, just as the ship might be around here?
From the little cubby, here under the like an eagle's nest, I see all the length of the ship, and out the of the to the firmament. The Sun, Moon and Earth and all the were as Drac us upon our new course.
Waters over the of the Benson curve-light, making connections. The was and dim, with only a where Waters was working, and a upon his table where his from Earth were filed. Grantline and I at them.
Panic in Greater New York, Grebhar, and Ferrok-Shahn. The three which the enemy had planted on Earth, Venus and Mars still unchanged. I see them now from the windows, great of the firmament.
Waters from his task. "That will do it, Mr. Haljan." He met me in the center of the cubby. "When you the enemy, do you think they'll us as they did those other ships?"
Grantline laughed grimly. "Maybe so, Waters. But let's not."
Fat little Waters was anything but a coward, but being closed up here all these hours with a of from Earth had him.
"What I mean, Mr. Grantline, is that is sometimes than valor. The Cometara is no warship. If Earth had sent an vessel...."
Grantline did not answer. He joined me at the Benson projector. "Can we it from here, Gregg, or will you it in the bow?"
"From here. Drac's swinging. When he's on the I gave him, I can the Benson-ray through the dome-port. Waters, you're all done in. Go and sleep awhile."
But he his ground. "No, sir; I don't want to sleep."
"We've had ours," said Grantline. "We'll call you if anything up."
We sent Waters away. "Ready, Gregg?"[49]
"Yes. I've got the range."
The and with the current, and in a moment the Benson curve-beam from the projector.
The Benson curve-light was to an ordinary white beam, that its path, of being be at will into curves—hyperbola, parabola, and for its curve, the of an ellipse—gradually as it left its source. It was for police work, with hand for around obstructions. It had also another advantage, when used at long range: the enemy, when at its source, would under normal it to be a and thus be as to the of its source. Or it to be curved, one had no means of the of the curve.
A narrow white of light, it through our window-oval, under the and through the bullseye, into space. I saw the men on the into with the we were using it. The on the at his 'scope-finder to help us search.
From the came an buzz, and Drac's voice: "Am I right? The is almost completed."
"Finish the job and don't me now."
I over the field-mirror of the projector. On its ten-inch the shifting image of my range was visible, a curving, of the Moon, with the on the peaks; else was the black and the of stars.
Grantline me. "I'll work the amplifiers. Going to spread it much, Gregg?"
"Yes. A full spread first. We're in no mood for a narrow search."
I the light. Three here at its source, it spread in a great arc. With the we see its white radiance, fan-shaped as an of it upon the Moon. And though it was not apparent, the of it was the Moon, the to our instruments.[50]
"Nothing yet?" I murmured.
"No."
"I'll try a spread and less curve."
Grantline was the images on the series of grids. There was nothing. For an hour we worked; then Grantline cried: "Gregg! Wait! Hold it!"
I tensed, stricken. I the and the spread of light steady.
"Two of arc, east; try that. The thing is shifting." He me. "It's at the of the field; it shifts off. It must be in motion."
Then I saw it, a moving of black; but it clarified. I saw a which I was a shape with along its edge, moving with high velocity. Grantline was shifting our to it.
"Got it, Gregg. By God, that's it! Now we'll see."
Then presently we saw that from its a very was streaming. Beside me I Grantline gasp, "Gregg, am I or is that like the light-beam planted in Greater New York?"
There did to be a similarity, but of it was from my mind. Our was alive with signals. Both the and the saw the enemy ship now with their 'scopes directly along our Benson-light. And Drac was calling, "I've got the of its velocity. Doubling every ten seconds. God, what acceleration!"
I off the Benson-light. The enemy ship had come from the of the Moon; our straight-light it clearly. It was in our direction.
Drac was pleading, "We need velocity! Are you to the turret?"
"Yes."
Grantline and I out upon the catwalk. Waters was the from the deck. "Into your cubby," I shouted. "Call Earth. Keep calling until you them."
Grantline for the deck. I the turret, Drac, with his thin white and set, met me at the door. "We need velocity."
I nodded. "We'll it, Drac; have no of that."
I set the gravity-plates for the possible acceleration[51] and added the for narrow-angle maneuvering.
With speed we directly for the enemy ship.
