Omega, the Man
Page 5
with hopeless eyes about over thedesolation.
Thalma rose and touched his arm. A smile of faith and confidence shoneon her face. He looked at her in wonder.
"Nay, death is not everywhere," she reproved gently. "Remember Alpha,our son. In him life does and will live again."
"Forgive me, Thalma," said Omega, taking her in his arms. "You speaktruly. With your loyalty and courage I know we will win."
And so as it had always been from the beginning of time, even so inthese last days it took woman's love and devotion to sustain man.
Now Omega gazed around on the abode of death with an expression ofdisdain. He challenged it and dared it to do its worst. Life stilltriumphed, for he had Thalma and Alpha was coming soon. He would notsurrender. He would fight the dark forces of death--even that horriblemonster down there in the lake--and conquer them all. He would again'gardenize' the world. The stubborn power of hope, that heritage fromhis atavistic ancestors, was surging through his blood.
"We will change all this," he went on, waving his hand toward the farrim of the sky. "We are still masters of life. But now let us descend,"he added in answer to her approving smile.
So saying again hand in hand they stepped off into space and floatedeasily down toward their last home.
Omega knew that his first important task was to get rid of the beast.The fear-haunted expression in Thalma's eyes brooked no delay.Accordingly they went to the ship, and each taking a small sack theyfilled them with depth bombs. Thus armed they floated out over the lakein quest of their enemy. But although quite shallow the water was opaquefor the most part being discolored by vegetable matter stirred up by themonster, and the transparent portions were too deep for them to seebottom. Long and carefully they searched at a safe distance above thewater, but no sight of the beast could be seen. Then hoping that achance shot might reach and destroy him they passed to and fro over thelake's center and dropped their bombs. Great columns of water were senthigh in air deluging them with spray. That was all. Still, they had noway of knowing whether a bomb had struck home. In spots the water was soviolently agitated as to suggest that the monster writhed in a deathstruggle. But at last all became as quiet as before.
* * * * *
It now occurred to Omega to surround the lake with an invisible wall ofelectricity of such power as to electrocute the beast should he attemptto go over or through it. This was accomplished by increasing the powerof his motors and by automatic controls projecting a high voltagepotential through the air around the lake. And then in addition to otherprotective appliances already installed Omega put a similar wall aboutthe cottage, much to Thalma's relief and delight.
One night they had retired early, Thalma being weary and her time but afew weeks away. To the sweet strain of music which had been in the airfor ages, they soon fell asleep. How long he had slept Omega could neverguess, but he was awakened suddenly. He sat up bewildered and staredinto the darkness, because for some reason all lamps were out. And thenhe became aware of a peculiar sound coming from afar. It was a queernoise combining the roar of the surf upon a rock-bound coast, the sighof the night wind through a forest and the rumble of thunder. Suddenlyit seemed to him that earth and cottage were trembling, and the walls ofthe room swayed and buckled as though smitten by a great wind.
Frantically he rubbed his eyes, convinced that it was all a dream. Butthe noise drew nearer, thundered in his ears. In terror he got to hisfeet, tried to cry out. The words froze on his lips, for just then thewall before him crashed in as though struck by an avalanche. Then came agrinding, splitting jumble of sounds, the solid ground shook under thepassage of some mighty force which increased for a moment followed by apiercing scream.
Frozen with horror Omega stared around the wrecked room whose totteringwalls seemed about to fall upon him. Where was Thalma? In a frenzy hestared into the darkness, felt over the couch. She was gone!
In some way he got outside and there in the direction of the lake he sawthe monster, its great bulk looming high above the ground, its headswaying with the swing of its legs as it lumbered along. And, mercifulGod--held in the grip of the monster's jaws was Thalma!
The awful sight galvanized Omega to action. With a hoarse scream helaunched himself at the beast, passed rapidly through the air above themonster and reached out for his wife. Scream after scream rent the stillair as he pressed forward and the beast lurched on in its haste to reachthe lake with its prey. But now Omega was close to his beloved, and hereached out to grasp her as once more he screamed right into the ears ofhis enemy. Then perhaps in sheer terror at the audacity of man, thegreat jaws of the monster relaxed and Thalma fell limp and unconsciousto the ground.
As the beast lumbered on Omega knelt by her side.
"Thank God," he breathed, "she lives!"
Then he took her in his arms and turned back to the ruined home just asa great splash informed him that once more the monster had entered hiselement to challenge them for its possession.
* * * * *
Thalma soon revived, but she clung to Omega and gazed about fearfully.How she had wandered out of doors and had been snapped up by the beastshe could not tell, but Omega said that she must have been walking inher sleep. They went at once to the ship and there spent the remainderof the night.
Every light, including those about the Mirror, had been extinguished bythe beast breaking the circuit. Yet it appeared that the latter'spassage through the electric wall had caused no harm. Omega explainedthat likely its bony scales had acted as an insulator against the actionof the invisible wall.
While the cottage was being repaired they remained on the ship. Butdespite their recent harrowing experience, they went back to the cottagewhen the repairs were complete. It was more home-like than the ship, andThalma had learned to love it, for it was to be the cradle of a newrace. But before they again took up their residence there Omega haderected a high fence around the cottage yard. This fence was built ofheavy cables securely fastened to huge posts, and each cable carried anelectric charge of 75,000 volts. Omega was confident that the beastcould never break through. His confidence was shared by Thalma, but asan additional precaution she suggested that Omega place a similar fenceabout the lake. He did so, and when the last cable was in place theystood back and surveyed the work with satisfaction.
"We have him now," exulted Omega. "He can never leave the lake alive,much less reach the cottage. Despite his tough armor of scales this highpotential will penetrate to his vitals."
"It is well," said Thalma as they turned away.
As they neared the cottage they knew that a crisis was at hand.Forgetting the dead world about them and subduing the fears thatsometimes clutched their hearts, they lived in the joy of anticipationand made ready for the advent of a new soul.
Night came down moonless and dark save for the light of the stars. Inthe recesses of the rocks and in the bottoms of the valleys intensedarkness held sway. But the grounds and the home of Omega and Thalmawere ablaze with a thousand lamps, and on the near-by hillsides giantsearchlights, which seemed to have no basis, which were born in thebosom of the air and blazed without visible cause, shot their rays intothe sky for miles. Yet the powerful lights about the cottage were sotinted as to be restful to the eye. Thus silent and with clock-likeregularity the agents of Omega performed their functions. Man hadmastered all the elements of life. All were his friends and servants,and none was his master save one--death.
In a perfect setting and exactly at the time set for the event Alphacame into the world, the child thrived from its first intake of earth'sair.
Three weeks from birth Alpha partook of solid food in tablet form drawnchiefly from gaseous sources. At two months his speech was perfect, andat six months his education began. By glandular control Omega nurturedboth his body and his mind and developed them rapidly. Small wonder thatthis child--the last to grace and bless the world--became his parent'sonly joy and hope. They guarded him from all dangers, instructed
him inthe great part he was to play in the world's future and set about toconserve that element on which all depended--the waters of the lake.
* * * * *
But during all these long, hot days and frigid nights, the closeproximity of the monster cast a shadow over their souls, marred theirhappiness by day and terrorized their dreams by night. Often, when thesun beat down upon the lake, they saw his hideous head rise high abovethe water and regard them with baleful eyes. Twice while at play Alphahad seen him and had run screaming to the protection of his mother, whohad great difficulty in persuading him that there was no danger. Thisseemed to be true, for the monster made no attempt to force the fence.Endowed with more than the cunning of its remote progenitors, it seemedto realize that it was trapped. Many nights Omega and Thalma, armed withtheir ray guns and other implements of destruction, watched for thebeast to attempt to come on