Amazing Stories — page 83: what you’re looking at

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

I could feel nothing, no more than one feels the ‘‘X-ray,”’ of which this was evidently motionless. a glorified example. In a few minutes the plane had passed completely through me, exposing every fiber and nerve of my body in its progress to the scrutiny of the watchers. At the end I was asked to step down and the operator went to the rear of the screen, reappearing with a number of sheets on which I caught a glimpse of my figure as it had appeared on the screen. For a few moments some of these, which had been singled out by the group, were subjected to a careful scrutiny and discussion, then one of them turned to me and asked if I would like to have corrected the various parts of my body which were not functioning properly. I finally un- derstood his suggestion after several repetitions. On ascertaining that it would not take very long, I assented and was then put into the hands of two others who entered at some signal. The sheets were given them and, after a brief discussion of my case, I was led away into an adjoining room. Here I was laid on a long white table, whose surface was cov- ered with some soft smooth material and a metal clamp was attached to each ankle and wrist. All at once there seemed to be a snap in my brain and my consciousness reeled for a moment—at least so it seemed—the bands were removed and I was di- rected to arise. As I did so, I was astonished to find that my leg, which had troubled me ever since I was unfortunate enough to run foul of a “five- nine” at Vimy Ridge, was as well as the other, and at the same time I realized that my glasses had been removed and that I could see far better than I ever could see with them. I was conducted back to where Smythe and my wife were waiting. “T thought you were never coming,” said my wife. “What have they been doing with you?’ I told her, adding that I had not been gone for more than ten minutes. “Ten minutes! Look at your watch!” she re- torted. I looked at my wrist watch, which I had strapped outside the suit I wore. I had been gone nearly an hour and a half! That night, in our own apartments, I found several marks ‘that looked like old scratches on my body. Yet I had never felt the slightest sensation of the operations that had been performed on me. But from that time on, several distressing symptoms that I had had for some time before, never bothered me again. What surgery! I had been stripped, operated upon in no less than six places and seeceed, all in the short time that I had been on the table. After a few minutes Hargraves appeared and was equally surprised to find how long he had been under that wonderful anesthetic. He, too, had “un- dergone repairs,” as he called it. We now returned to the flyer, to find that it was under the control of another pilot, the President having had an important call during our visit to . the laboratories. Our new pilot was one-of the many __who had volunteered to instruct and entertain us dur- ing our visit. We were more than an hour in re- turning, for our guide took us all over the city, explaining and pointing things out to us. On the morrow, he promised us, he would show us some- - thing of the great Martian irrigation system; he, . having been a high official in the engineering depart- _ ment, was assigned as our instructor in that subject. That evening we watched the sunset from our and awataned: the rising of Phobos, the inner moon of Mars. To an observer from the earth, the moons of Mars present surprising sights, for, poets _ and non-scientific authors to the contrary, no heav- enly bodies rise in the west to the inhabitants of the earth. Yet here on Mars we watched the rising of Phobos in the west, for, moving around its pri- mary as it does, in about 7h. 39m., it moves faster around the planet than the planet turns on its axis. Rising in the west, it remains above the horizon for about five and one-half hours; setting in the east to reappear in a like interval in the west, running through all its phases in eleven hours. Deimos, the outer moon, was overhead at sundown. Here is an- other strange sight. The period of Deimos is 30h. 18m., hence he rises in the east, but remains above the horizon for over two days. Phobos, the larger of the two moons, appears to have but one-fifth “of the diameter of the moon as seen from the earth, while Deimos appears to be but one-twentieth. While we sat there watching the shades of eve- ning sweep over the city, there came an alarm from the annunciator and we heard the President’s voice asking to see us. He entered through the air-lock a minute later and seated himself at the window where we were grouped. He said: “T was called away this afternoon to witness a new discovery that has just been made. Discoveries are now few and far between with us, and this latest has been stimulated by the news of your intended _ visit some weeks ago, It is a medical discovery and the result of it is that we will now be able to visit your earth with impunity. The discoverer has found that we can strengthen our bodies so that they will be able to withstand many times the pull of gravi- tation to which they are subjected here; moreover the drug so increases the resisting power of the body that no disease will affect it, as has been shown : by a subject who volunteered to try it on himself. He has been proved to be immune from the most virulent germs, cultures of which were injected into him long enough ago to show definitely if they af- fected him or not. We have decided to accompany you back to the earth to assist you in your task of developing a system similar to ours, modified where necessary to conform to your special requirements. “A report from your examiners this afternoon tells me that you are not adapted to use the chemical foods that we use. As perhaps you have noticed, we eat no foods such as you consume; all our nour- ishment is taken in the concentrated form, in which there is no waste matter. This is one of the main Teasons for our longevity. You will have to make the change gradually. “T'rom now until the end of your stay, you will be shown all that we can show you of this planet, and ample facilities will be given you for each to study that part which interests him most. On your return, you will be accompanied by four other machines— the vanguard of our second invasion.” - = The President smiled that friendly smile, typical of all the Martians, as he concluded. I wondered, as I gazed out over the city, which was now lit as * brightly as day, how long it would be before we would become as truly great as the Martians had become, how long it would be before we would all be able to treat creatures which were as inferior to ag us as we must be to the Martians with such kindness and with an apparent lack of condescension and no exhibition of superiority; truly the Martians - great and more Be wou of emulation, soo!