Islands of Space

hastily put into the briefcases, and the four men

e rest of you can just leave yours h

slid into the driver's se

d solidly by steel decks which were used as public landing fields and ground car routes. Around them loomed titanic structures of glistening colored tile

darting shadows that wove a flickering pattern over the city. The long lines of ships coming in from Chicago, London, Buenos Aires and San Franc

accelerator. He held to the traffic pattern for two hundred and fifty miles, until he was well

little mountain lake that offered them a place for seclusion. Gently, he let the ship glide smoot

in order before we start work on this ship. We can begin tomorrow

ght, out of the way, then, little one, and let a man g

ches taller and weighed a good fifty pounds more. His arms and chest were built on t

ormed, and weighed only a few pounds more than A

ly increasing for several centuries. Only Wade would have been considered a

ot only built like a gorilla but muscled like one; but Arcot proved that skill was not without merit several times, for he had found th

ce battle of chess, with Fuller as an interested spectat

nd glared at the board. "Now why'd I make that move? I intended to

at's what I wanted you to do. I ha

miled q

then it was Wade who remarked that some

m glad I didn't, though; I think th

the queen trade. You surprised me, too; you usually go

n every attack Morey made; the attack crumbled disastrously a

seemed to know exactly why you made every

iced," said Mo

game," said Fuller, sliding i

n went down to disastrous defeat in an amazingly short time

said, rising from the table. "Com

ed chess as extensively as the others, he proc

complicated formation working out, a formation he knew was far better tha

and smiled. "That'

What-what's the

efore. I have-no, not under him, but a more experienced tea

more astonished as Arcot's

t him and Morey in wide-eyed wonder. And this ti

a long pause, during which Arcot stared at Wade with such i

e trick so thoroughly, try it out. Let's

oughts! He hasn't said a word to you!" Then he looked at Arcot. "As a matter of fact, you've said so

f their foremost telepathists. Actually, most of that time was spent on theory

animals possess it to a greater degree than do humans. When Man developed language, it gave his thoughts more concrete

if we meet a strange race. By projecting pictures and concepts, yo

but watch yourself! Too much practice can give you the gre

evening teaching them the

shortly thereafter. He had brought a large Tesla coil into the bedroom from the lab and succeeded

d heat-treat a few eggs for us. We have work ahead today! Rise and shine!" He didn't shut off

Shut it off! I want to get my

room. Here they had two different types of integraph calculators and ple

like to point out that a sphere is the strongest, a cube easiest to build, and a torpedo

e as a home than as a ship durin

terjected. "It came in mighty handy on Venus. They're d

about some engines to run it? Let's get those, too. I'll nam

se cosmic rays to warm it, and drive the individual power units that way, or we can have a ma

depend on any one plant, but had each as separate a

Fuller. "How do these

y, while the outer one will be of polished relux to keep the radiation inside. Between the two we'll run a flow of helium at two tons

ith this new space strain drive, why do w

t is lower in its presence. Our drive tries to warp or strain space in the opposite manner. The two would simply cancel each other out and we'd waste a lot of power going nowhere

hey were controlled from one electrical power source, and just as reliable. Anyway, the molecular motion

an have the main power unit and the main verticals, which will be the largest, controlled by individual cosmi

the next problem is weapons. I suggest we use a separate control panel and a separat

air because all the random motion of its molecules becomes concentrated in one direction, it becomes a difficult projectile to fight. Or touch the bow of a ship with the beam; the bow drops to absolut

n molecules, twisted by its own strength, and cr

it. That way, if one breaks down, we can switch to the other. We can even use both at once on the drive, if necessary; the molecular motion machines wil

Since we'll have several projectors, the power needed to operate the sh

t we mount some he

r beams are instantly irresistible, while the heat beams take time to heat up the t

ay will accomplish as much as actual destruction. Besides, the heat beams are more local in effect. If we want to

you guys think you ought to explain a little bit to the poor goon w

lic filter. Beyond that is a lux metal lens. The relux heats up tremendously, and since there is no polis

. "But stop springing new

supply it with energy to store. Just forming the drive field alone will require two times ten to the twenty-seventh ergs, or the energy of about two and a half tons of matter. That me

gure out later. How abo

," said Morey, and

can use the standard spacecraft apparatus, Fulle

ith plenty of spare parts-everything we can possibly think

about the invisibility apparatus? It may prove usef

aused vibrations approaching light frequency to be set up in the molecules of the ship. As a re

easily be detected by a directional radio. However, if the secret were unknown, it was a very effective m

you need?"

thick lux metal and line it on the inside with relux wherever we want it to be opaque. And we want relux shutt

ux! Good Lord, Arcot! This ship would weigh a

hurting the hull. We'll make the relux inner wall about an inch thick, with a vacuum between them for protection in a w

gh. I figure a length of about two hundred feet and a diameter of around thirty feet. The i

" Wade suggested. "We'll mount o

he bow, of course,

ll work the thing out and give y

us will work out our little exhibition to impress Mr. M