Air Wonder Stories, May 1930 — page 44: what you’re looking at

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

ae WONDER STORIES ~ chip it. To- ascertain that the work had been done correctly the queen examined it herself, “Shortly after the Earthlings had arrived on the beach, the winged women had-returned from their bath. Kiter lead his party into the palace and in the room where they had been . teceiyed the day before they were served their breakfast: This consisted of a sweetish bread made from sea-weeds and a drink _ that was of a white color and tasted like milk, Kiter explained that it was indeed the milk of a sea-mammal that resembled ~ an Earthly whale. Large herds of these creatures were kept by the Zoldans, ~ Ready to Return T was after the meal that Ware recalled the women whom the Earthlings had been holding: captive within the spheres, He was apologetic about having held them thus long. Directions for their release were sent to one of the officers of the fleet, and "the women were set free, D’Arcy looked for the girdled woman who had intrigued his fancy, and learned that she ranked: only below Queen Waltia, She appeared to hold no animosity toward her captors, and after she had returned from her morning bath in the-sea, she presented herself to the queen and her guests. It was she who elected to accompany the Earthlings with Kiter on a tour of inspection-around the island. Kiter gave her name as Kal, On meeting her late captors, she had greeted them with a smile and:a single word upon her lips—“Hello!” It turned out that one of the guards who had been left in the _ sphere with the women had painstakingly taught her this! ae) ; Her voice was melodious, the 1's liquid, and she had managed to give the word a wealth of tone. She appeared to be on good a terms with Kilter, and several times she laughed at something x he told her in their odd humming sounds, inf That day was spent in visiting. many buildings that ‘housed various kinds of factories, On:the far end of the island, which 5 was approximately fifteen miles long, were large smelting vats where the raw ore of the cetiuta was turned into liquid and-then Es 3 into small blocks which could be liquified again when it was 7 _ needed. They saw the mills that turned: out many of the neces- ¢ sities used by the Zoldans and the sheds where the Zoldan eggs . were hatched. Here were the incubators for those of common 3s birth, where thousands of the eggs were placed in a foot of 2S water that was kept ata proper temperature. The eggs were ee soft, and measured but three inches when first put in the in- : cubators, but they grew until-they reached eighteen inches in length, Then the shell grew hard until the time when the youngster was ready to be hatched. There were many varieties of incubators for the offspring of the various ranks among the ss women. Only those of the queens were kept wholly apart. and < were known to their own mothers, In-all other cases the mother, f on depositing an’egg in the vats, was given a card that entitled ; her-to a child when hatching time came. HAT afternoon the Zoldan world was treated to the first public broadcasting of the new radio station on the planet. Amplifiers had been set up in various parts of the cities, at the most strategic points. To the Earthlings much of what went on was unintelligible, agit was in the Zoldan language, but they did enjoy a short sas of singing, or rather humming, in which a dozen Zoldans ‘took part. Their harmony was strange to the Earthly ears, but, as Kiter said, it was_a big step for the Zoldans, and it had taken several months for Howard Rath, who had been a musical instructor in the Florida Conservatory, to teach the women to “sing” together in tune. One more night the Earthlings spent pon Zolda. The next Owe 4 PON a Se throne room seated upon the chair that was cut from a single = jewel. The assembly chamber was filled to overflowing, and | outside in the square were crowded the thousands that could not find room in the chamber. The announcement of the terms of treaty that Had been accepted by Commander Ware was re- VP Perey « morning after the “swim” the Matriarch received them in the: peated in the Zoldan language, and the names of the two dozen women who were fo go to Earth were announced. A half dozen of the Earthlings that had lived for the past eight months on the planet: were to.accompany their fellows to explain just what they had discovered about the Zoldans and to demonstrate to the planet ruler the uses of the varieties of strange-metals that were being shipped on the spheres to-Earth, Waltia was also sending a large assortment of jewels asa tribute to the Earth- She made a long speech that was translated by Kiter, to the effect that she was anxiously looking forward to a brotherhood with the Earthlings and trusted that in the future both worlds would receive benefit from: such a union. Then: they left. the council chamber to go into the square. The crews and fighting battalions were waiting at attention for the order to embark into the spheres. A salute was given the Zoldans, and ‘then quietly and in orderly fashion they filed into the space-flyers. The band of Zoldan wonten with the-children that were to accompany them were taken into _The Mentor. With them went the six Earthlings who were to act as inter- preters. D’Arcy: was first to: note that the girdle-wearer Kal was among the women. He-turned to Kiter. “Why don’t you come with us, too?” he inquired. The Long Journey \ ITER saw fit to blush, then he stammered. “Sorry, but there’s a great deal for me to do here, Besides, you-see, her majesty has taken rather a liking to me... and we're great friends. I think I-can do more. here than upon Earth. Soon, we'll have our radios and Tele-Visual perfected so that communication between Earth and Venus will be a fact. — “Well, good luck and bon voyage... as they used to say ° Almost with regret D’Arcy saw the island of Xora fade through the mists as they took their course upward again. He was. sorry they had not spent more time upon the planet, for he felt that he-had really learned: very little-about it. However, he promised himself that he would return with-the next ex- pedition, and'perhaps: he could arrange to stay on the world for several years. There was something for the astronomers to learn-here ‘about lens grinding } Soon the swirling cloud-banks. of Venus, or Zolda rather, faded'away. To the right of them glowedthe great sun. Earth lay ‘ahead, a beautiful shining planet that to the Earth men far surpassed the beauty of its fellow-worlds, even that: strangely lovely planet of Mars, whose brilliant color out in the void was that of blood. The trip home was made more quickly than the outcoming one had been,and was wholly uneventful. : Upon -The Mentor. the only diversion came from their guests. The women had been given the entire run of the ship, and their interpreters were never idle as the women inquired into every- thing. Kal had set. about to learn moré about the controls of the sphere than she had discovered on -her first trip therem. And she seemed determined to learn -the Earthly tongtie, con- tinually demanding the names of every-object-in sight to which she pointed with her-webbed fingers, D’Arcy, who had been so taken withthe woman, resolved that just as soon as it could be possibly arranged he intended to ask for permission to adopt her, if she would be-agreeable to such-an arrangement. He had never married and was without a single tie. Kal, he thought, would be a daughter who. would be a never ending source of enjoyment, She too-seemed to have taken’a-great liking tothe astronomer, and appeared to derive some comfort when in his presefice among these_men of a strange world. HE children the women had brought gave a great deal of pleastire to the crew of The Mentor, for they were lively little things. Onein particular-was already attempting to crawl, and his farge bright eyes were always questing for something to hold his attention. Jestingly they called him Venus. How- ae Pie ee) aye a ? cote pte. 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