Collected Tales (Jerry eBooks)

by Leslie F Stone

  “ ‘What? Would you have me killed by the moving machinery?’ he questioned and there was a twinkle in his eyes.

  “I could say nothing, and then all conversation was cut short. Rollins had pulled the lever, without taking into consideration the fact that his friend was within. The shock of the explosion was terrific and we were both thrown off our feet. I had been thrown to the floor in a corner and a great pressure seemed pushing down upon me, so that I felt I should be crushed. It was almost impossible to take a breath, so tightly were my lungs compressed, and my ribs seemed strained to a breaking point—then a darkness swept over me. It was several minutes before I came to, feeling bruised and sore in all my body. Painfully I tried to sit up. I had known that something of this sort would happen, caused by the great shock of shooting the rocket, but I had not been prepared for anything as bad as this.

  “LOOKING about I saw Dorr quite close to me. He was coming out of his stupor. I managed to sit up and he did likewise. Later he admitted that he had believed all the oxygen in the chamber had been forced out leaving us without air to breathe. Everything was working smoothly, however.

  “As we left earth we had both slipped to the rear of the chamber as Earth’s gravity tried to retain its hold upon us. That, too, passed; and we knew that strange sense of having practically no weight. We both started to our feet, and were unprepared for what followed. We were suddenly plunging toward the ceiling as easily as feathers. By putting out a hand against the ceiling we pushed ourselves downward to the floor and so gained our feet. Grasping one of the hand-rails we managed to keep there. Then by planting our feet firmly and using a swaying motion we were able to walk upright. I could foresee funny experiences to come.

  “ ‘Well,’ I observed quite superfluously, ‘we are on our way, out of Earth’s orbit.’

  “Dorr shrugged his broad shoulders, and going into the bathroom, returned with a bottle of iodine and quietly painted a slight scratch on his hand.

  “ ‘How did you fare?’ he questioned, holding out the bottle.

  “Impatiently I brushed it aside. ‘Now, tell me why have you come?’ I demanded.

  “ ‘And if my reason does not suit, will you open the door and ask me to step “out” ?’ he queried with a grin.

  “I could not help but laugh at such an idea, but I waited for my answer.

  “ ‘Oh, I merely figured that two heads’ll be better than one, Dana Gleason,’ he answered.

  “ ‘And the true reason? Surely had Professor Rollins known of your aspiration, he would not have had to seek me out. Kindly explain!’

  “He lifted his eyes to mine. They were hard looking eyes. ‘Less than six days ago I had no thought of this. I was heartily contented with my corner of the world. I did not then, nor do I now, approve of you or anyone else making this hazardous trip. One can die much more easily at home. However, that is neither here nor there. Professor Rollins is a friend of mine, one of the finest of men, with one of the finest brains in this world. I admire his courage just as I admire your courage, and it is in the interest of Rollins that I decided at the last moment to accompany you!’

  “I was still not satisfied, for I knew that Dorr was not speaking the truth, and I could not be content until I was sure of his real purpose. ‘Had Professor Rollins felt that it would take two men to make this trip, we would have recruited another,’ I stated.

  “He answered in a resigned tone. ‘I have told you why, but since you require more . . . let us suppose that you do reach Mars. You are certain to find strange conditions there, perhaps wild beasts, wild men or . . . a dead world of nothing! True, you have considered all that, prepared for it, but you have forgotten one thing in your enthusiasm, Dana Gleason . . . Are you able to cope with these adversities? Are you . . . are you . . .?’

  “ ‘Man enough?’ I put in.

  “ ‘That’s just it . . . are you man enough, Dana Gleason?’

  “It dawned upon me what Dorr was driving at. Somehow he, like Howard Courtland, had learned the truth. He knew me to be a woman! He nodded as he saw that realization in my eyes. ‘Just that. Oh, yes, I know your records . . . I know all your courageous deeds, your researches, your ‘science, your war experiences, your bravery. Yes, I know all that, but with it all . . .

  you are a woman. You are brave, strong, great willed, yet you arc at a disadvantage, and you are attempting a tremendous thing. How stupendous neither of us can guess. So I came, you see, with no ulterior motive. I simply came in the interest of my friend, Professor Rollins. . . .’

  “I couldn’t speak for several moments, and when I did it was in a trembling voice. ‘And knowing this . . . you didn’t go to the Professor and tell him the truth? He would not have let me go, then . . .

  “ ‘And break his heart? No, I saw that you were really going through with his plans and were the person for it. Henceforth, you may look upon me as your bodyguard!’

  “ ‘How heroic’, I said with a curl of my lip.

  “ ‘No, rather like a fool, I should say,’ I liked his easy manner.

  “ ‘Then, you count us both fools?’

  “A smile came to his bronzed face. Impulsively I held out my hand and we gave a hearty hand-clasp. Together we would see our foolishness through.

  “The room was quiet but for the hum of the electric motors and our voices. We are in a perfectly sealed chamber, where no sound can penetrate. We hear nothing of the timed explosions that are now taking place according to schedule, shooting us onward across space. I examined the various meters that showed our rate of velocity and our mileage. The oxygen gauge, the water gauge, and the electrical instruments showed everything to be working in proper order.

  Viewing the Void

  I WAS now prepared to visit the lookouts, and invited Dorr to accompany me. We crept down the short passage and faced the windows. At first we could see nothing. We were in an inky blackness, for since there is nothing to reflect the rays of the sun, they travel onward to more distant bodies. Then far off we began to distinguish the things we call stars. Their brilliancy was almost blinding, for here there is nothing to affect their rays. Overhead the milky way glistened, and we saw the light of more stars than we had ever seen upon Earth. Directly behind us lay the Sun, a great flaming ball that was blinding. A little to the left, appearing as large though not as bright as old Sol, was Mother Earth. Near her hovered the good old moon, now only a darker blot against the dark side of the planet. In several directions, above and below, we could see the brilliant stars. They did not twinkle, but looked clearly back at us.

  “After about an hour of this we returned to our quarters and I proceeded to take Dorr on a tour of inspection of our quarters. Then finding we were hungry we sought food. There were enough fresh foods to last perhaps three weeks—if the refrigeration held out. And there was a quantity of perishable foods that would hold without refrigeration for awhile. We dined on a young fried broiler that I knew thoughtful little Elsie Rollins had prepared for me. I found a number of jars of jam just as thoughtfully placed there for me. What wonder would be reflected in her brown eyes if she knew that the ‘hero’ she has been worshiping all these months was of her own sex. Had I been of different stuff I would have confided in her all my hopes and desires, my joys and disappointments, but I am not womanish or mannish enough either, to indulge in such a pastime. Never having had a confidant, I should not know how to confide. Only this little book knows me for what I am. How the devotees of the daily papers would revel if they could read this volume! How anxiously they used to seek ‘copy’ from Dad and me. I only trust that Mars knows nothing of yellow journalism.”

  So ended that entry. The next was made three days later.

  “Seventy-two hours have passed. I can’t count by days, for day and night are all one to us. Even in our lookout there is no change in that darkness about us. We eat, sleep, and awake by the clock. Several meteorites passed a few hours ago—great masses falling, ever falling. Do they ever reach ‘bottom’ ? In the loo
k-out I feel as if I were trespassing upon the domain of the One who controls this great illimitable sameness.

  “Dick and I share alike in all the chores aboard our ‘ship.’ We have arranged to take turns at arranging meals, each vying to make his or her meal the most appetizing, and at the same time conserving the fresh foods. Of dish-washing we make a great ado, jealously attempting to prove our individual superiority in the feat. We are both reading the heavy books with which Professor Rollins so thoroughly stocked the cupboards—books that teach us even more about what we are to expect on Mars. When the hour grows late and we are weary, the pillows and coverlets are brought from their places. We lie down after first removing our boots and loosing our belts and collars. We sleep thus fully clothed, for as Dick says, ‘One can never tell what pranks the Void might play upon us, and we want at least to be dressed and ready.’ Then, smoking our last cigarets, we toss a coin to see who is to turn out the light. We leave only a small light burning in a shaded reading lamp for an emergency.

  “How thankful I am that Richard Dorr elected to join me. How drear the hours would have been alone. And it is surprising how much fun can be had in our tight quarters. How surprised our friends, with whom we have gained reputations for being staid and serious, would be. Yet it is through the means of play that we forget the vastness outside and the meagerness of our chance to live!

  “Our instruments show that we are now traveling at the rate of fifty thousand miles per hour! We are already seven million and two hundred thousand miles from earth. In another twenty-four hours we shall be traveling several thousand miles faster, for as each magazine of powder is shot and its gas ejected we gain velocity. Sitting down with a paper and pencil I calculated that we should average sixty thousand miles per hour throughout the entire trip of thirty-four million miles, which is the present distance of Mars from Earth. It will, therefore, take us exactly twenty-three days thirteen hours and a fraction to reach the red planet. Professor Rollins had computed that it would take us at least thirty-five days, but of course he was not able to judge just how swiftly the rocket could travel!”

  The next entry was made ten days later.

  IN approximately nine days more we shall land upon Mars, if we do land. Never have we allowed ourselves to forget that word ‘if’ These days have been pleasant in the company of Richard Dorr. He has proven himself a perfect companion. He is a well-versed man with a fine working knowledge of people. His love for his work helping the natives of Africa was sincere. What a pity that it is all over and that such a man is lost to Earth. I, who have led such a worthless indolent life, seeking only my own pleasure, pitting my own strength and mind against that of man, proving to myself that nothing is impossible to me, am a poor sort of a person beside this man, who has always given himself in behalf of his fellow-men. I see now that I have shirked my duty as a woman in the guise of a hater of that sex. And what crude stuff I am made of compared to this man who gave up his life work in the interest of a friend.

  “One has much time out here in the Void to think of the past. God! Are we to live? Shall we ever see grass and trees again? Shall we ever see sun on the water? Shall we ever know the glory of a storm again? Shall I be allowed to begin a new life? I can only feel the appalling minuteness of man who tries to place himself on the level of a God who can create this bigness. How scornful He must be of us! Have I been right in hating my mother as my father taught me to do? Is it not possible that he was at fault also? Are they somewhere watching?

  “Now we see due ahead the red eye of Mars. In size he has become as large as the sun appears to us from Earth and glows with a copperish light that is strange and awesome out here in the blackness. Hourly Earth has dwindled, a dark brownish globe (we see only its dark side) with its one moon. Beyond lies the sun, red and fiery, with never a setting. Far below and above, all about us are the lights of distant constellations, some appearing blue to us, others green, and so for all the colors of the spectrum. One star glows with a beautiful violet light! How strange it must be to have a green sun lighting one’s world! We passed a number of meteorites today, and we feared that one particularly large one would surely hit us. We passed by ere it reached our path.

  “What God, what Mind could have conceived this terrible greatness? Is He laughing at us here in our tiny atom traversing this God-place? Does He pity us in our fall? Does He look with wonder and amazement at His creatures who so boldly dare? Or did He plan this eons ago, and is He merely watching intently now as we go our fated way?

  “Dick and I were discussing this, but he knows no answer. His belief in a God, a true God who sees the sparrow fall, can not be shaken, and I, who have been taught to laugh at men’s belief in God-things, am shaken. Can one look on these vastnesses, these great worlds, and doubt?

  “We are now traveling much faster than I ever believed possible. At every well-timed explosion we gain velocity, and with each discharge of the magazine and the lightening of ton after ton, the rocket shoots ahead—like a hound from hell (Dick said that). At this rate we shall reach Mars earlier than my schedule. Even as I write the red planet comes closer. It lies above us, or so it seems, but I am sure we head directly for it.” Twenty-four hours later:

  EARTH is behind while before us Mars looms hugely. Its strange spots and markings are very clearly defined. The lines that are believed to be canals pass black and wide across its face. We wait breathlessly as we draw near, leaving the look-out chambers only long enough to eat. Today we ate the last piece of meat, rashers of bacon.”

  Sixty-hours later:

  GOD has answered! We are passing Mars! For many breathless hours we were uncertain, but now Mars lies not in our path, but away thousands of miles to our left. I can not think. I can not talk. Only by putting down these little black words can I remain calm. Dick has nothing to say. He sits with me here before the window smoking his pipe. This is the end. We have shot our bow and we failed. Could there still be a possibility that Mars will reach out and draw us into his orbit? Therein lies our hope. Still, he is senile, his strength has left him.

  “For hours we watched Mars draw closer until we thought we saw grass and trees. We put everything in readiness. One pull of the lever and the gauge that controls the powder charges would have closed. Proudly we would have swung in line with the great planet. We inspected everything, saw that nothing was forgotten from rifles to pick-axes. I gathered together all my data, the blue prints for the giant radio set and for the loading of our rocket. We stuffed our pockets with chocolate and cigarets. But Mars disdains us. There is no welcoming pull of gravity, the instruments show no change. Is there still a chance that we might land on Mars. Perhaps a slim bare chance.

  Two days later:

  IT is true we have completely passed Mars. He lies there slowly swinging in Space. How long we can travel we do not know, perhaps a year, or even two. It will be all the same, ever falling, falling. We will be caught like rats in a trap. There was but one chance in a thousand, a million, and that chance failed us. Yet, there remains one last hope. Another planet may accept us. But what will be our fate?

  “Jupiter? He is yet too young. Saturn is older, but could he sustain us? Neptune? He is so poorly warmed by the sun. And there is distant Uranus. Beyond that, what?

  “Still, why should I complain? Did I, in losing a world, not gain something else, something more precious? Who could have said that Dana Gleason should be happy in discovering her womanhood? Oh, the irony of it! On Earth I was not ready to recognize the chance. Now. . . .

  END OF PART I

  Out of the Void

  Concluding Our New Interplanetary Serial

  Part II

  What Went Before

  ON his way to a week-end shack in the woods near a fishing stream, the narrator of this story is arrested by the gleam of glass, which shines through the trees. On entering the shack, he finds his camp clothes are gone and that a ruby of astonishing beauty has been left, apparently to replace it. He goes out to investigate
, remembers the gleam of glass, and follows that trail.

  He reaches an open glade in the woods, where a giant construction of torpedo design is reposing. Close inspection and careful investigation fail to disclose what it is. Chagrined, he starts toward the village for help, but is halted by an unearthly shriek and is captured and dragged into this strange structure, almost before he can recover from his astonishment. During the process of capture he suffers a broken collar bone and all becomes oblivion. When he regains consciousness, he sees a giant man of silver skin and lavender eyes bending over him. He learns he is a captive in the Yodverl, a ship from Abrui, a planet beyond the Void, come to earth to deliver a message to Professor Ezra Rollins, a scientist, who had many years before sent Dana Gleason, supposed by the world to be a brave and adventure-loving young man, on an experimental trip to Mars, in a rocket ship of his own construction.

  Only Richard Dorr, an engineer and friend of the professor, and his daughter, Elsie, know that Dana Gleason was a woman and was in love with her. Just as the rocket ship was ready to clear its moorings and shoot off into space, Dorr made his way in, unnoticed. It was too late to put him out when Dana discovers him.

  And now Sa-Dak, the silver visitor from Abrui, a planetoid many thousand miles beyond Mars, goes to Africa with the Yodverl and tells the professor, when they arrive at his home there, of his mission. He tells of the almost disastrous landing of the rocket ship on Abrui and hands the professor a diary in which Dana Gleason has recorded faithfully her experiences of the trip into and through the Void, practically to the time of the landing.

  Elsie Rollins is reading the contents of the diary aloud.

  An Awakening

  WHEN we knew at last that Mars was not for us, that the hoary old fellow was laughing at us, something seemed to break within me. I experienced dizziness, a faintness, a blackness, and a desire to cry.