The Black Star Passes

mmet-like from the depths of space, the rush of the air about the hull, a long scream that mounted from a half-heard sound in the outer limits of the Earth's atmosphere, to a ro

ackson," Fuller called, "get the field doctor-Arcot had a little accident out there in space!" In moments the man desig

e doctor revealed that there appeared to be no serious injury. He had been knocked

the doctor as he bathed the

e rocket tubes shot the car out of the way. We both went tumbling head over heels and Arcot landed on his ear. I was luckier, and was able to break my fall with my hands, but it was a mean fall-at our speed we had about double weight, so, though it was only about se

eel the sore spot. In ten minutes he was conversing with his friends, apparently none the worse except for a ve

res had to be carried aboard in the meantime. Care had to be exercised in this work, lest the cargo slip free under varying acceleration of the Solarite, and batter i

e little ship that Arcot had first built, piloted by the father of the inventor. With him rode the elder Morey and a dozen newsmen. The little ship was ba

hung there while the Solarite went a few miles higher; then slowly,

back of the seats-8-9-still it rose as the hum of the generator became a low snarl-10-11-12-they were rocketing at twelve

ul; they were falling toward the fiery sphere, away from the Earth. A microphone recessed in the

ng to lose all wei

had carried air to the generator switched off, transferring to solar heat as a source of power. They seemed to be falling with terrific and ever-increasing speed. They loo

o it now, as they looked at the mighty sea of flame through smoked glasses. The vast arms of the corona reached out like the tentacles of some fiery octopus through thousands of miles of space-huge arms of flaming gas that writhed out as though to reach an

that gave that continued sense of an unending fall, aiding h

illions of miles of space and land it on Venus with unerring certainty. The photo-electric telescopic eye watched the planet consta

as existed. The lack of atmosphere made it possible to use a power of magnification that no terrestrial telescope may use. The blurred outlines produced by the shifting air prohibits magnifications of more than a few hundred diameters,

hey wasted no physical energy. Their weightlessness eliminated fatigue. However, they determined that during the twelve hours before reaching Venus they must be thoroughly alert, so they tried to sleep in pairs. Arcot and Morey were the first to seek slumber-bu

There was little to be done. The silver globe before them seemed unchanging, for they

of the mild drug to wear off, and for Wa

I wonder if it might not be interesting to observe the reactions of a man waking suddenly from sleep to find himself alo

hat do you say we try it?" Arcot turned the little switch-an

is eyes-with a sudden start sat upright-then, with an excellent imitation of an Indian on the warpath, he leaped from his bed, and started to run wildly across the floor. His eyes were raised to the place where the ceiling should have been-he cal

tting the weightlessness, jumped and hit the ceiling. Then the cries were gone, like the snuffing of a candle. From the contr

eavily and sh

had covered a million miles, for now they were falling toward the planet under its attr

er than shoot around it and back into space. Their velocity had been over a hundred miles a second part of the way, but now it had been redu

though. We'll circle around it, entering its atmosphere on the daylight side, and shoot into the upper limits of its atmosphere. There the power units can fin

ld, and held on tightly. An instant later there was a terrific wre

s from Earth. Venus and Earth and all the planets act like giant vacuum cleaners of space, pulling into

from a disc to a globe, and now, as the molten silver of its surface seemed swiftly clouding,

second, far more than enough to carry them away from the planet

now!" He depressed a small lever-there was a sudden shock, and all the s

an even keel. Then suddenly there came to the ears of the men a long drawn whine, faint-almost inaudible-and the ship began slo

urning the ship to the planet-driving it into the atmosphere. Now they coul

ost-Morey-control board there-hang on, for

their posts-literally diving, for

ts were again operating, and now as they sucked a plentitude of power from the surrounding air, they produced a force that made the men cling to their holds with almost frantic force. Around them the rapidly increasing densit

, it had fallen 8-7-6-5-4. Now they were well below orbital speed, falling under the influence of the planet. The struggle was over-the men relaxed. The ship ran q