Air Wonder Stories, May 1930 — page 41: what you’re looking at

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

Sm? i yh Ore YT : — as as i rae Na = ai = re wa TS = Py an Soe a= = Pee = == Me ee ee oe 5 rae = = WOMEN WITH WINGS 999 they obtain their food, and it is upon-the water that they breed their young, for the Zoldans are an egg-bearing race, and their eggs have to be incubated in the water. It takes three months - for the young to hatch, and much care is given them in specially built vats in sheltered coves along the seashores, “The strangest feature of the Zoldans isthat from the very beginning ‘of time the female has always been the dominent sex, the male being accepted by~-them only as a biological necessity, As.an intelligent being he-is practically nil. He is physically a weakling, so that all labor falls upon the shoulders of the . women, And now for many ages man has. been slowly dying out, for although the women have done all they could to save the ‘sex, there seems nothing to save him, and his birth-rate is yery. low—only one male to every 50 females born.: There is also a disease that attacks the grown males, for which there seems no cure. The Zoldans, therefore, are faced with a problem that equals that of our own planet, and the raid they made upon us was simply a means to save their race. They had visited Mer- cury for this purpose -before they tried the Earth, but there was no-life upon that little planet. Of course; they were elated on discovering ‘not only that Earth was inhabitated, but also that its peoples were winged like themselves, “We captives have had a difficult time in striving to prove to them that Man can be the equal of Woman, and they are now grudgingly admitting that this is so, Your- feat today m besting them has proved to them that they are not superior to us, ‘ “When their ships met you out in-the void they were-as- tounded to Jearn that you had succeeded in conquering space, but they believed that once you arrived on their planet they could paralyze all your ships and capture you easily. They them- selves were bound for Earth to make a second and larger cap- ture, for they had now completed their experiments and dis- covered that they could successfully breed with us. Naturally enough, when they found that you were arriving with thousands of men, they were content that you were bringing yourselves to them and saving them the journey to Earth! Consequently they were wholly mprepared for your attack. on them. "But since you have proved yourselyes worthy of their mettle, and since you, like themselves, have a scarcity of the opposite sex, they are willing to capitulate and make a fair exchange with you—to send to Earth just as many of their women as Earth will give of men! The Truce + E, who have been captured, have agreed that this is a solution-to- our- problems, Zolda, or Venus: as we call her, has much to give to Earth besides her women, and Earth can fairly exchange with her. The planet has wonderful re- sources, many of which still remain untapped, There are metals and jewels that ‘will be invaluable to Earth, metals of such hardness and lightness that they would indeed be of a value that now seems incredible! And in return Earth has.much to offer Venus. In several branches of science the Zoldaris- have been backward because they lack some of the necessary equip- ment. But if our peoples would be-willing to make exchanges, the inhabitants of both planets could progress along lines that in the past would-haye seemed like-miracles ! “You will find the women of Venus a happy, pleasant populace who for all their science ‘are almost childlike: in some matters. They, are anxious now for our two: worlds to become friends, and they. will do all they can to bring this about.. And they ptead that the Earthlings forgive their temerity in having dared to capture what Earthlings they did, for it was done through sheer ignorance upon their part. They believed the men of ‘our world to be the same weak creatures.that men_are on their wyorld, and did not dream to find them as intelligent and as-ad- vanced:as themselves!” When Kiter had concluded his narrative, the Earthlings were camined the wings which they thought were poor substitutes “of our women in our midst when we were captured. The-mother silent. The story they had heard was indeed a strange one, They: knew, not what to answer Queen Waltia True, here was a solution to their own problem ready to hand, but would the people of Earth be willing to accept these strange amphibians in their midst? And would the intermingling of these. bloods be: practical? Would not such an interchange cause a strange tace to come into being upon their own fair globe? Would it not mean that the habits of the Earthlings must be changed? Would it not ‘affect-their whole manner of living? Would they continue to be the great fair-minded race that they were at the present time? It was indeed a momentous decision that the Earthlings were called upon to-make! Quietly the four men discussed these questions. among them- selves, Kiter had explained that the Matriarch would not ob- ject to their conversing together apart. He was listening quietly himself, ‘but after a few minutes he addressed a question to Waltia. She nodded: at what he had-to say, and gave an order: to one of the attendants. standing in the doorway. A minute Jater-the- woman: came back carrying what turned out to be a yom Zoldan, or rather a child that was of both Zoldan and Earthly parentage T was a child of about two months but.it had the appearance of a year-old youngster. Its. face was that-of an Earthly child with fair skin, but its eyes were abnormally large while its body was covered..with the tiny fish scales that caught the light and reflected it like:a prism, Its hands had no webs, but its wings resembled those of its maternal race, shorter and slenderer’ with: none of the power of the Earthling wings. The wings were almost wholly covered with scales, except where they joined the body, where there-was a suggestion of soft down that would-grow into feathers as it grew older, The four men examined the child carefully. It was a pleasant baby, and showed great interest in the strange men, They ex- for: their-own wings, but D’Arcy was certain that were they, developed properly they could’be made to grow stronger. Per- haps the Earth's scientists could increase them: with their glands and formulas, as Mentor had first evolyed wings upon a wing- léss people. Still, to the Earthlings, the baby was a queer little thing: and its-appearance was somewhat distasteful to their fastidious minds. The queen, who had been watching their de- ception of the child and. their examination, turned again to her attendant, who went away. to do her bidding, She returned with a second child. They saw that this one was entirely free from scales on the trunk and limbs, but that his round head was capped with them instead of hair, and that the wings, though larger than the first baby’s, were completely covered with them, “This child,” explained Kiter, “is born of-an Earth mother and “a Zoldan father, for you know. that there were a number died when the baby was born, for unlike the other child he was born from the mother instead of from an egg.” “Hm...” meditated-D’Arcy, “It would be more interesting to see what several generations of these: offspring would bring!” Kiter spoke several moments to the queen-and then addressed his fellow-men. “Her majesty can not ‘quite understand your hesitancy in accepting these children, but she agrees that it would be well first for the matter to be brought up before the planet ruler. She would suggest, therefore, that you return to Earth with a dozen or so of her women and their offspring to be taken before the Mentor. In the meantime, however, she insists that she Jeep on Zolda the men she has captured. If the Earthlings. decide against the importation of the Zoldan women, she- will return all the Earthlings who.wish to return to their awn planet! The decision will rest with you-who are the vic- tors, and if you do not wish to breed with her people she still hopes that the Earthlings will-be willing to accept -her people as friends and allow commerce to be_cartied on between the two worlds! She has Jearned already that her people need us, and