Invaders from the Infinite

by Jr. John W. Campbell

  Chapter XVI

  HOME AGAIN

  They were getting very near their own time, Arcot felt. Indeed, theymust already exist on Earth. "One thing that puzzles me," he commented,"is what would happen if we were to go down now, and see ourselves."

  "Either we can't or we don't want to do it," pointed out Morey, "becausewe didn't."

  "I think the answer is that nothing can exist two times at the sametime-rate," said Arcot. "As long as we were in a different time-rate wecould exist at two times. When we tried to exist simultaneously, wecould not, and we were forced to slip through time to a time wherein weeither did not exist or wherein we had not yet been. Since we werenearer the time when we last existed in normal time, than we were to thetime of our birth, we went to the time we left. I suspect that we willfind we have just left Earth. Shall we investigate?"

  "Absolutely, Arcot, and here's hoping we didn't overshoot the mark bymuch." As Morey intimated, had they gone much beyond the time they leftEarth, they might find conditions very serious, indeed. But now theywent at once toward Earth on the time control. As they neared, theylooked anxiously for signs of the invasion. Arcot spotted the onlyevident signs, however; two large spheres, tiny points in appearance onthe telectroscope screen, were circling Earth, one at about 1,000 miles,moving from east to west, the other about 1,200 miles moving from northto south.

  "It seems the enemy have retreated to space to do their fighting. Iwonder how long we were away."

  As they swept down at a speed greater than light, they were invisibletill Arcot slowed down near the atmosphere. Instantly half a dozen fastships darted toward them, but the ship was very evidently unlike theThessian ships, and no attack was made. First the occupants would havean opportunity to prove their friendliness.

  "Terrestrians Arcot, Morey and Wade reporting back from exploration inspace, with two friends. All have been on Earth with us previously,"said Arcot into the radio vision apparatus.

  "Very well, Dr. Arcot. You are going to New York or Vermont?" asked thePatrol commander.

  "Vermont."

  "Yes, Sir. I'll see that you aren't stopped again."

  And, thanks to the message thus sent ahead, they were not, and in lessthan half an hour they landed once more in Vermont, on the field fromwhich they had started.

  The group of scientists who had been here on their last call had gone,which seemed natural enough to them, who had been working for threemonths in the interval of their trip, but to Dr. Arcot senior, as he sawthem, it was a misfortune.

  "Now I never will get straight all you'll have ready, and I didn'texpect you back till next week. The men have all gone back to theirlaboratories, since that permits of better work on the part of each, butwe can call them here in half an hour. I'm sure they'll want to come.What did you learn, Son, or haven't you done any calculating on yourdata as yet?"

  "We learned plenty, and I feel quite sure that a hint of what we havewould bring all those learning-hounds around us pretty quickly, Dad,"laughed Arcot junior, "and believe it or not, we've been calculating onthis stuff for three months since we left yesterday!"

  "What!"

  "Yes, it's true! We were on our time field, and turned on the spacecontrol--and a Thessian ship picked that moment to run into us. We cutthe ship in half as neatly as you please, but it threw us eightythousand years into the past. We have been coasting through time onretarded rate while Earth caught up with itself, so to speak. In themeantime--three months in a day!

  "But don't call those men. Let them come to the appointment, while we dosome work, and we have plenty of work to do, I assure you. We have alist of things to order from the standard supply houses, and I think youbetter get them for us, Dad." Arcot's manner became serious now. "Wehaven't gotten our Government Expense Research Cards yet, and you have.Order the stuff, and get it out here, while we get ready for it.Honestly, I believe that a few ships such as this apparatus will permit,will be enough in themselves to do the job. It really is a pity that theother men didn't have the opportunity we had for crowding much work intolittle time!

  "But then, I wouldn't want to take that road to concentration againmyself!

  "Have the enemy amused you in my absence? Come on, let's sit down in thehouse instead of standing here in the sun."

  They started toward the house, as Arcot senior explained what hadhappened in the short time they had been away.

  "There is a friend of yours here, whom you haven't seen in some time,Son. He came with some allies."

  As they entered the house, they could hear the boards creak under someheavy weight that moved across the floor, soundlessly and light ofmotion in itself. A shadow fell across the hall floor, and in thedoorway a tremendously powerfully-built figure stood.

  He seemed to overflow the doorway, nearly six and a half feet tall, andfully as wide as the door. His rugged, bronzed face was smilingpleasantly, and his deep-set eyes seemed to flash; a living force flowedfrom them.

  "Torlos! By the Nine Planets! Torlos of Nansal! Say, I didn't expect youhere, and I will not put my hand in that meatgrinder of yours," grinnedArcot happily, as Torlos stretched forth a friendly, but quite toopowerful hand.

  Torlos of Nansal, that planet Arcot had discovered on his first voyageacross space, far in another Island of Space, another Island Universe,was not constructed as are human beings of Earth, nor of Venus, Talso,or Ortol, but most nearly resembled, save in size, the Thessians. Theirframework, instead of being stone, as is ours, was iron, their boneswere pure metallic iron, far stronger than bone. On these far strongerbones were great muscles of an entirely different sort, a muscle thatused heat of the body as its fuel, a muscle that was utterly tireless,and unbelievably powerful. Not a chemical engine, but a molecular motionengine, it had no chemical fatigue-products that would tire it, andneeded only the constant heat supply the body sucked from the air towork indefinitely. Unlimited by waste-carrying considerations, thestrength was enormous.

  It was one of the commercial space freighters plying between Nansal,Sator, Earth and Venus that had brought the news of this war to him,Torlos explained, and he, as the new Trade Coordinator and Fourth of theFour who now ruled Nansal, had suggested that they go to the aid of theman who had so aided them in their great war with Sator. It was Arcot'sgift of the secret of the molecular ray and the molecular ship that hadenabled them to overcome their enemy of centuries, and force upon theman unwelcome peace.

  Now, with a fleet of fifty interstellar, or better, intergalacticbattleships, Nansal was coming to Earth's aid.

  The battleships were now on patrol with all of Earth's and Venus' fleet.But the Nansalian ships were all equipped with the enormously rapidspace distortion system of travel, of course, and were a shock troop inthe patrol. The Terrestrian and Venerian patrols were not so equipped infull.

  "And Arcot, from what I have learned from your father, it seems that Ican be of real assistance," finished Torlos.

  "But now, I think, I should know what the enemy has done. I see theybuilt some forts."

  "Yes," replied Arcot senior, "they did. They decided that the systemused on the forts of North and South poles was too effective. They movedto space, and cut off slices of Luna, pulled it over on their molecularrays, and used some of the most magnificent apparatus you ever dreamedof. I have just started working on the mathematics of it.

  "We sent out a fleet to do some investigating, but they attacked, andstopped work in the meantime. Whatever the ray is that can destroymatter at a distance, they are afraid that we could find its secret tooeasily, and block it, for they don't think it is a weapon, and it isevidently slow in action."

  "Then it isn't what I thought it was," muttered Arcot.

  "What did you think it was?" asked his father.

  "Er--tell you later. Go on with the account."

  "Well, to continue. We have not been idle. Following your suggestion, webuilt up a large ray screen apparatus, in fact, several of them, andcarried them in ships to different parts of the world. Also some of thep
lanets, lest they start dropping worlds on us. They are already inoperation, sending their defensive waves against the Heaviside layer.Radio is poor, over any distance, and we can't call Venus from insidethe layer now. However, we tested the protection, and it works--far moreefficiently than we calculated, due to the amazing conductivity of thelayer.

  "If they intend to attack in that way, I suspect that it will be soon,for they are ready now, as we discovered. An attack on their fort wasmet with a ray screen from the fort.

  "They fight with a wild viciousness now. They won't let a ship get nearthem. They destroy everything on sight. They seem tremendously afraid ofthat apparatus of yours. Too bad we had no more."

  "We will have--if you will let me get to work."

  They went to the ship, and entered it. Arcot senior did not follow, butthe others waited, while the ship left Earth once more, and floated inspace. Immediately they went into the time-field.

  They worked steadily, sleeping when necessary, and the giant strength ofTorlos was frequently as great an asset as his indefatigable work. Hewas learning rapidly, and was able to do a great deal of the workwithout direction. He was not a scientist, and the thing was new to him,but his position as one of the best of the secret intelligence force ofNansal had proven his brains, and he did his share.

  The others, scientists all, found the operations difficult, for work hadbeen allotted to each according to his utmost capabilities.

  It was still nearly a week of their time before the apparatus wascompleted to the extent possible, less than a minute of normal timepassing.

  Finally the unassembled, but completed apparatus, was carried to thelaboratory of the cottage, and word was sent to all the men of Earththat Arcot was going to give a demonstration of the apparatus he hopedwould save them. The scientists from all over Earth and Venus wereinterested, and those of Earth came, for there was no time for the menof Venus to arrive to inspect the results.