Triplanetary

e

hundred feet of space at the rocket-plane which, keel ports fiercely aflame, was

Lyman Cleveland crouched tensely above his ultra-cameras, his sensitive fingers touching lightly their micrometric dials. His body was rigid, his face was set and drawn. Only his eyes moved: flashing back and forth betwe

of Triplanetary into an unknown fluid, and finally of the dissolution of the gigantic planetoid itself. Then furiously Cleveland drove his beams against the crimsonly opaque obscurity into which the peculiar, viscous stream of substance was disappearing. Time after time he applied his every watt of power, with no result. A vast volume of space, roughly el

he Chicago's captain bro

ere seems to be a lot of wreckage out there yet, that we can't photograph in detail at this distance. A close study of it might help us a lot in understanding what they did and

surprising answer. "My orders are th

eckage," Cleveland replied, and the cruiser--sole survivor of Triplanetary's suppo

planetoid. Space was full of machine parts, structural members, furniture, flotsam of all kinds; and everywhere were the bodies of men. Some were encased in space-suits, and it was to these that the rescuers turned first--space-ha

he suits, and the generators and the other apparatus are all shot. Something funny about it, too--none

e. I've got an idea of what might have happened, but it's so dizzy that I'll have to have a lot of reenforcement before I'll believe it myself. But you might have them bring in a few of the arm

to Tellus a

us, as fast as we ca

ll, none of them had ever seen anything like the material before them. For every part and instrument was weirdly and meaninglessly disintegrated. There were no breaks, no marks of violence, and

long and silent study of the objects. "If you have any t

visiray expert replied. "But don't look fo

away as his eyes raced over the collection. "Why, everything that was made of wood, bakelite, copper aluminum, silver, bronze

space-suit reverently, revealing the face; a face calm and peaceful, but utterly, sickeningly white. Stil

hecks up. Someway, somehow, every particle--probably every atom--of f

e all, why?" from the am

way, whoever they were, they carried enough power so that our armament didn't bother them at all. They simply took the metal they wanted and went away with it--so fast that I couldn't trace them with an ultra-beam. There's only one thing plain;

lled the Terrestrial headquarters of the T. S

ll, Virgil,"

too, so I think I had better shoot the pictures in on the ultra-wave and save a few days. Fred has

the feed-rolls. This time, however, their varying magnetic charges were modulating an ultra-wave so that every detail of that cal

provements to be made in his comparatively crude first ultra-camera. Then, too, there were long conferences with Samms, and particularly with Rodebush, the mathematical physicist, w

en watching that officer closely for minutes, admiring the delicacy and precision with wh

even at that we saved a lot of time. You can save quite a bit more, though, by having a rocket-plane come out to meet us somewhere around fifteen or twe

ative called his chief, only to learn that

t there now, looping to match your course, acceleration, and veloc

master's ex-clerk went to his qu

rocket-plane which, keel ports fiercely aflame, was braking her terrific speed to match the slower pace of the gigantic ship of war. Shaped like a toothpick, needle-pointed fore and aft, with ultra-stubby wings and vanes, with flush-set rocket ports everywhere, built of a lustrous silvery alloy of noble and almost infusible metals--such was

ntil her slender length lay level with the airlock door. Then her blasting disch

a three-second call!" snapped fr

f the Chicago replied. "Sec

ss, but he was not needed. As the flaring exhausts ceased Cleveland swung out his heavy bag and stepped lightly off into space, and in a right line he floated directly into the open doorway of the rocke

exchanged. "How do the various reports dovetail together? I know that you could

full set of ultra-screens around there now. There's a couple of other good reasons, too--it would be better for both of us to go over the whole thing with Virgil, from the ground up; and we can't do a

ed, snapping about his body the heavy spring-straps of his deeply cushioned seat, "but

rth, but with constantly diminishing speed. Finally a measurable atmospheric pressure was encountered, the needle prow dipped downward, and the Silver Sliver shot forward upon her tiny wings and vanes, nose-rockets now drumming in staccato thunder. Her metal grew hot: dull red, bright red yellow, blinding white; but it neither melted nor burned. The pilot's calculations had been sound, and though the limiting point of safety of temperature was reached and steadily held, it was not exceeded. As the density of the air increased s

surface of the truncated cone was a continuation of the same immensely thick sheet of metal. No known vehicle could climb that smooth, hard, forbidding slope of steel; no known projectile could mar that armor; no known craft could

ched that transparent, brilliantly violet wall of destruction, a violet light fill

" Cleveland asked. "That is s

turned. "The light is simply a warning, which can be ca

red upon the television screen. "I don't suppose Fred thought to mention it, but this is one of his inventions of the last

s, the plug of armor drove solidly back into its place in the metal pavement of the mountain's lofty summit. The cradle-elevator dropped rapidly, coming to rest many levels down in the heart of the Hill, and Cleveland and Rodebush leaped lightly out of their transport, through her still hot outer walls. A door opened before them and they found themselves in a large room of full

of the Chief's private secretary; but even before he had spok

nounced," the attractive youn

gerly, shaking hands particul

t of things we want to talk over. Your pictures carried most of the story, but they would have left us pretty much at sea without Costigan's reports. But

Cleveland was almost af

I'm hoping it's only that those creatures, whatever they

each them." Rodenbush volunteered. "We can't ev

it truly, to the last, least detail. Take all this stuff, for instance; especially their ability to transform iron into a fluid allotrope, and in that form to use its intra-atomic energy as power. Something brand new--unheard of except in the ravings of imaginative fiction--and yet he des

hemoglobin, and that would be quite a feat," Cleveland agreed. "Then, too, our most vital electrical machinery is built around iron c

but they were wrongly applied. However, things look quite promising now. We have that transformation of iron all worked out in theory, and as soon as we get a generator going we can straighten out everything else in sho

attribute of matter, and surely cannot be done away with without destroying the matter

er is, fundamentally, I may agree with you.... No? Well, then, don't be surprised at anythin

nd discussion went on, to be interr

doing it. Milton has finally reported from Venus, after being out of touch for five days. He trailed the Wintons into Thalleron swamp. They crashed him there, but he won out and has what he we

face hardened in ruthless decision as the horny, misshapen face of the Martian lieutenan

N

a few gangsters should disappear in space tha

er their rays come in." He then turned to his guests. "We've covered the ground quite thoroughly.

he two scientists walked along a corridor toward an elevat

as fairly--but he's welcome to it, as far as I'm concerned. I'd have the pink fantods for a

ndymion? What e

trial would probably mean killing half the people of Morseca; but at the same time it's

hile inarticulate, manlike, concerning their deepest emotions, in both men was ingrained the code of th

mense bulk of the Boise--the sinister space-ship which, although never flown, had already lined with black so many pages of Triplanetary's roster. She was now, however

entists separated to go to their respective laboratories. "If it is