Amazing Stories, Vol. 2, No. 2 — page 81: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE SINGING WEAPON sockets from hard work and loss of sleep, Josef entered the temporary offices of the Secretary of War. He passed through an outer office to a smaller one. He wanted to go direct to Secretary Bates. He.thought the Vibranon would be welcomed with open arms. In the office, sitting behind a desk, was a middle aged man, short, bald and with whiskers. From pictures he had merely glanced at, Josef thought he must be facing the Secretary of War. He started presenting his message without further ado. “T have come, Sir,” he said respectfully, “to show you a way to bring this war to a close. With your help I can perfect this instrument to the point where it will be the most powerful agent of warfare ever known.” He laid his long thin black case on the desk. The man he had addressed looked up sharply from some papers. At first he looked annoyed, then an indulgent smile spread unpleasantly over his features. “Mister,” he said finally, ‘“You’re only one of hundreds. They all know how to stop the war—or think they do. We’re far too busy around here to listen to any more twaddle.” “Are you Secretary of War Bates?” Josef de- manded. “Are you Thomas Edison reincarnated?” the man snapped. “Come now. Go along with you before I have to call the guard.” A sudden shock of anger swept Josef’s whole body. The man was laughing at him, had called him an impostor. The guard would come and throw him out of the office.+ Very well then, he would go. He would take his idea to the enemy where it would be appreciated. Unreasoning anger blinded him, but only for a moment. He was thinking he would leave and try again later when suddenly a buzzer sounded. “Come on—hurry and get out. The Secretary is calling.” Josef’s nemesis suddenly revealed his ser- vility, and Josef determined to wait and see the secretary. “T came to see Mr. Bates,” Josef said. He sat down opposite the desk. “By God, you won’t stay. buzzer rang again. The doorman ducked nervously into the inner office. With the discovery he had only been talking to an outer office man, Josef planned to recourse to strenuous means to get through the door barring him from success. He quickly snapped open the ease containing his Vibranon. A second he sur- veyed the section of plate glass dividing the two offices. Then he made an adjustment and took up his bow. At the first piercing stroke the window shattered in its frame and the fragments clattered to the floor. secretary Bates himself came to see what was the matter. His officeman followed, anger written over his every feature. Josef was still holding the Vibranon in his hands when they stepped out. “Say, you, are you crazy, or what? Haven’t we trouble enough around here without your... .” T’ll call. ...” The 185 The irate watchdog stopped suddenly as the Sec- retary of War placed a hand on his shoulder. “Just a minute, John.” The voice was full of tolerance. “This fellow seems to have something to say, and I think I’ll listen.” Josef followed the tall figure of the cabinet mem- ber into the inner sanctum. He remained closeted with the official three hours, while the office was besieged with dispatch officers, generals, and statesmen who fumed in the outer office while Josef unfolded his plan. When he came out he was smiling. Josef was obliged to give one more demonstra- tion before the War Office was finally convinced. It took place before Secretary Bates and a grizzled old West Point general, something cf an inventor himself. Plates of glass were broken at will, and the Vibranon theory explained. When the test was over, the general involuntarily took Josef’s hand. “Young man,” he said, ‘the country is at your feet.” And Josef knew his goal was almost reached. Everything Josef could possibly need to perfect his device with the greatest possible speed was placed at his disposal: money, machines, men. He and his father took charge, and a few men whose interest in science qualified them, were detailed to be Josef’s personal assistants. : The first object was to build a Vibranon large enough to test its fitness as a weapon. In less than three weeks the model was completed and ready for trial. The Vibranon was taken to a deserted artillery range which had been placed under guard. Aside from a few men to shift the targets, the only per- sons present with Josef were his father, Secretary Bates and the old general. As they reached the field, Josef noticed an old suspension foot-bridge over a stream half a mile from their station. He pointed it out. “Tf I can destroy that bridge, we will all know that the Vibranon is a success.” With the first few notes of the weapon there was no apparent effect on the bridge. Then the sup- porting cables began to sway gently as if caught by a breeze. Coaxing the swinging motion with vibrations of increased length, Josef finally pro- duced such a movement in the cables that they broke away from their foundations and the bridge col- lapsed. HE nation had been terrorized by its invaders about six months when six Vibranons were pronounced ready for action. Their manufacture had been clothed with the utmost secrecy. Aside from a very select few, no one knew what they were or what they were for. The first use of them, it was decided, would be on the Atlantic. The instrument would be carried on one of the new electric motored airplanes which could move almost as noiselessly as a bird through the air, land either on sea or earth, complete their mission, and be off again. The planes had been made possible by the invention of a new type of storage battery combining the virtues of lightness and compactness with a charging capacity which enabled it to cover hundreds of miles without re- charging. One of these planes, a Vibranon mounted on the Eomichooks (E(0)