The Fire People

by Ray Cummings

  CHAPTER XI.

  TO SAVE THE WORLD.

  Two days later Alan and Miela were quietly married in Bay Head. She stillwore the long cloak, and no one could have suspected she was other than abeautiful stranger in the little community. When we got back home Alanimmediately made her take off the cloak. He wanted us to admire herwings--to note their long, soft red feathers as she extended them, thesymbol and the tangible evidence of her freedom from male dominance.

  She was as sweet about it all as she could be, blushing, as though toexpose the wings, now that she was married, were immodest. And by the wayshe regarded Alan, by the gentleness and love in her eyes, I could see shewould never be above the guidance, the dominance, of one man, at least.

  The day before their marriage Alan had taken me up the bayou to see thelittle silver car in which Miela had come. I was intensely curious tolearn the workings of this strange vehicle. As soon as we were inside Idemanded that Alan explain it all to me in detail.

  He smiled.

  "That's the remarkable part of it, Bob," he answered. "Miela herselfdidn't thoroughly understand either the basic principle or the mechanismitself when she started down here."

  "Good Lord! And she ventured--"

  "Tao was already on the point of leaving when she conceived the idea. Hehad already made one trip almost to the edge of the earth's atmosphere,you know, and now was ready to start again."

  "That first trip was last November," I said. "Tell me about that. Whatwere those first light-meteors for?"

  "As far as I can gather from what Miela says," Alan answered, "Tao wantedto make perfectly sure the light-ray would act in our atmosphere. Hecame--there were several vehicles they had ready even then--without otherapparatus than those meteors, as we called them. Those he dropped to earthwith the light-ray stored in them. They did discharge it properly--theyseemed effective. The thing was merely a test. Tao was satisfied, and wentback to arrange for this second preliminary venture in which he is engagednow."

  "I understand," I said. "Go on about Miela."

  "Well, she and her mother went before the Scientific Society, she callsit--the men who own and control these vehicles in the Light Country. Theycalled it suicide. No one could be found to come with her. Lua, hermother, wanted to, but Miela would not let her take the risk, saying shewas needed more there in her own world.

  "As a matter of fact, the thing, while difficult perhaps to understand inprinciple, in operation works very simply. Miela knew that, and merelyasked them to show her how to operate it practically. This they did. Shespent two days with them--she learns things rather easily, you know--andthen she was ready."

  I waited in amazement.

  "For practical purposes all she had to understand was the operation ofthese keys. The pressure of the light-ray in these coils"--he was standingbeside a row of wire coils which in the semidarkness I had not noticedbefore--"is controlled by the key-switches." He indicated the latter as hespoke. "They send a current to the outer metal plates of the car whichmakes them repel or attract other masses of matter, as desired.

  "All that Miela had to understand then was how to operate these keys so asto keep the base of the vehicle headed toward the earth. They took her tothe outer edge of the atmosphere of Mercury over the Dark Country andshowed her the earth. They have used terrestrial telescopes forgenerations, and since the invention of this vehicle telescopes forcelestial observation have been greatly improved.

  "All Miela had to do was keep the air in here purified. That is a simplechemical operation. By using this attractive and repellent force sheallowed the earth's gravity and the repelling power of the sun and Mercuryto drive her here."

  He paused.

  "But, doesn't she--don't you understand the thing in detail?" I askedfinally.

  "I think father and I understand it now better than she does," heanswered. "We have studied it out here and questioned her as closely aspossible. We understand its workings pretty thoroughly. But the exactnature of the light-ray we do not understand, any more than we understandelectricity. Nor do we understand this metallic substance which whencharged with the current becomes attractive or repellent in varyingdegrees."

  "Yes," I said. "That I can appreciate."

  "Father has a theory about the light-ray," he went on, "which seems ratherreasonable from what we can gather from Miela. The thing seems more likeelectricity than anything else, and father thinks now that it is generatedby dynamos on Mercury, similar to those we use here for electricity."

  "Along that line," I said, "can you explain why this light-ray, which willimmediately set anything on fire that is combustible, and which actsthrough metal, like those artillery shells, for instance, does not seem toraise the temperature of the ground it strikes to any extent?"

  "Because, like electricity, it is dissipated the instant it strikes theground. The earth is an inexhaustible storehouse and receptacle for such aforce. That is why the broken country around the Shoshone River protectedGarland and Mantua from its direct rays."

  "Tell me about the details of this mechanism," I said, reverting to ouroriginal subject. "You say you understand its workings pretty thoroughlynow."

  "Yes, I do," he admitted, "and so does father. But I cannot go into it nowwith you. You see," he added hastily, as though he feared to hurt myfeelings, "the scientific men of Mercury--some of them--objected toMiela's coming, on the ground that the inhabitants of the earth, obtainingfrom her a knowledge that would enable them to voyage through space, mighttake advantage of that knowledge to undertake an invasion of Mercury.

  "As a matter of fact, that was a remote possibility. I could explain toyou all I know about this mechanism without much danger of your ever beingable to build such a car. But Miela promised them that she would use allpossible precautions, in the event of her having any choice in the matter,to prevent the earth people learning anything about it.

  "Father and I have examined everything here closely. But no one elsehas--and I am sure Miela would prefer no one else did. You understand,Bob?"

  I did understand; and of course I had to be satisfied with that.

  "It seems to me," I said when, later in the day, we were discussingaffairs in Wyoming, "that with things in Mercury as we now know they are,it would help the situation tremendously if Tao and these Twilight Peoplewith him were prevented from ever returning."

  "That's my idea exactly," Professor Newland agreed.

  I could see by the look on his face he was holding on to this thought as apossibility that might make Alan's plan unnecessary.

  "I've thought about it constantly," the professor said, "ever since thesefacts first came to us through Miela. It would be important. With hisexpedition here a total failure, I think we might assume that nothing morewould be done up there in attempting to conquer the earth. I've tried tomake Alan see that we should give the authorities all the information wehave. It might help--something might be accomplished--"

  "Nothing would, father," Alan interrupted. "There wouldn't be time. Andeven if this expedition of Tao's were destroyed, I don't see why that'sany guarantee another attempt would not be made. Miela doesn't, either,and she ought to know.

  "Besides, don't you see, Bob"--he turned to me earnestly--"I can't havethe eyes of the world turned on Miela and her affairs? Why, think ofit--this little woman sent to Washington, questioned, photographed,written about, made sport of, perhaps, in the newspapers! And all fornothing. It is unthinkable."

  "You may be right, my boy," said the professor sadly. "I am giving in toyou, but I still--"

  "The thing has come to me," said Alan. "A duty--a responsibility putsquarely up to me. I've accepted it. I'll do my best all the way."

  A week after Alan and Miela were married the report came that theMercutians had suddenly departed, abandoning, after partly destroying,their apparatus. The world for a few days was in trepidation, fearing areport that they had landed somewhere else, but no such report came.

  Three days later Alan and Miela followed them int
o space.

  Professor Newland, Beth and I went up the bayou with them that morningthey left. We were a solemn little party, none of us seemingly wishing tovoice the thoughts that possessed us all.

  Professor Newland never spoke once during the trip. When the moment offinal parting came he kissed Miela quietly, and, pressing Alan's hand,said simply: "Good luck, my boy. We appreciate what you are doing for us.Come back, some day, if you can."

  Then he faced about abruptly and trudged back to the launch alone, aspathetic a figure as I have ever seen. We all exchanged our last good-bys,little Beth in tears clinging to Alan, and then kissing Miela and makingher promise some day to come back with Alan when he had accomplished hismission.

  Then they entered the vehicle. Its heavy door closed. A moment later itrose silently--slowly at first, then with increasing velocity until wecould see it only as a little speck in the air above us. And then it wasgone.