Air Wonder Stories, August 1929 — page 9: what you’re looking at

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

THE SILENT DESTROYER 103 CHAPTER I A Visitor From the Past WAPTAIN BURKE GAUTHIER stared over the wilderness about him with unsee- mem) ing eyes, Among the new crop of saplings My a herd of deer grazed quietly, their shadows at) lengthened by the setting sun. Nearby, two cub bears rolled and tumbled about in a fierce sham battle; while in the trees, the birds twittered contentedly as they snuggled down for the night. High in the air ” huge cigar-shaped monsters flashed ‘silently by with a momentary glistening of soft evening colors from their silvery envelopes. One separated itself from the orange glow of. the sun, zipped by close overhead and vanished behind the hills to the. west. “T see that the New York-Shanghai Limited is on time,” said a voice behind the brooding captain. It was a soft, cultured voice that fitted strangely into the atmosphere of quiet, purposeful activity in the sky. The captain’ turned slowly to see his chief officer, Lieutenant Evenrude. “Yes,” he said in the same well modulated tones. “Evidently our forces are successful in holding the ground they have taken-in eastern Orienta.” Lieutenant Evenrude regarded his quiet, thoughtful superior for a moment as though hesitating. “Any- thing new from:G-2 staff meeting this afternoon?” “Ves, “We-think that we know where the Orienta forces are making their-anti-nullifiers. That is where Ghorski will be stationed. We have instructions to stand by at midnight for action orders—you know what danger that means when I explain that G-2 thinks that if we can capture Ghorski we may stop the war. They base their reasoning upon the assump- tion that the traitor has taken no one into his con- fidence, but is keeping the anti-nullifier a secret to elevate himself to power among the Orientals. It’s strange that the Occidental Government should. be so careless as to permit one such as he is to share their most carefully guarded secrets, But to capture Ghorski!” “He was alright when his aura was photographed upon his admission to the service. He must have changed almost completely since then,” suggested Evenrude. “There are rare cases: where this has happened,” he added. . “Yes, I know. They. should check up on those in high confidence every “Nol” said the man.in.a voice com- paratively harsh as compared to the .. soft tones of the Ais two officers. “I just Mm changed dimen- | sional conscious- hess and happened to land in this woods. Where am 1?” The two officers looked at the man’s y face and then stared more intently with a flicker of amaze- ment in their eyes. “Haven't I seen you before—or per- haps your: picture?” asked the captain, “Yes, I recall now—in our fifth grade history covering the twentieth century there is an account of Theodore A. Addison. You are the living image of him!” “The same,” the man answered with a wrinkle of amusement about his eyes, “I have been living in the fourth and fifth dimensions and during my experiments discovered a means of changing consciousness and clothing myself with three-dimensional matter. But where am [?” “You are but a short distance west of New York City and happen tobe on ground closed. to all except those of a character trustworthy enough to be en- trusted with some of the most cherished: secrets of the Military Department. On which side are you?” “Which side? What do you: mean?” “Pardon me, I did not think about your having: lived in-other dimensions, but. we are at war so you under- stand that my. question is natural.” “I see. Of course I aman American and my sympathies are naturally with the United States.” “You.are slightly behind the times, if you will excuse my way of putting it, You are trying to cramp your- self into terms of the twentieth century while this is the twenty-eighth century. And times. have. changed slightly. All of the white people have combined to form one nation called Occidenta and the colored nations have united to few months as some psy- chologists have been ad- —_ vocating. Perhaps-all this trouble could have been avoided. But since it is done and the war is flam- ing, it is our duty to stamp it out as best we can,” This conversation was interrupted by a crack- ling in the underbrush and presently a man emerged from the wilder- ness, The captain stepped toward him ‘arid arrest- ed his: progress, “My friend, don’t you know that you are on forbidden ground. Have you. a pass?” TT presenting this extraordinary story to our readers, we make a prediction and state, that tt is without a shadow of a doubt scheduled to becomea classic in aviation fiction. There ts enough science contained in this single story to provide’ sufficient ammunition for a dozen others, which will give the reader an idea of the tremendous wealth of science contained in it. Five hundred years hence, the conditions and instrumentalities used by the author in-this story will-peobably become pact of our world. In any event, the story gives us as accurate a prelude to the future as it is possible for a trained scientist to give. And with-the skill of a magician, he weaves the incidents-so that. the final climax of the story is so subtle, that it leaves one chuckling. Particularly is this story recommended to those of us who are used to, and must live among, irtitating noises during their entire lives. form Orienta. But we cannot accept your state- ments; you shall have to go.to the classifying lab- oratory for a pass. Lieu- tenant Evenrude will accompany you,” When the two were gone, Captain Gauthier walked toa huge boulder into which he disap- peared through a door in the side, A Visitor Enlightened APTAIN Gauthier was sitting at his desk in the underground laboratories and hangars when Lieutenant Even- tude, accompanied by 1 a ‘a Ber ass Oe Ce a ein, be