Air Wonder Stories, May 1930 — page 52: what you’re looking at

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

_ The torty-sixth to the forty-eighth is heat. Light 3 is the result of the forty-ninth. The-fiftieth, vibrating at the enormous speed of 1,125,899,906,842,624 vibrations per second, is chemical -Tays. The rays kmown as X-rays cover the scale from the ‘fifty-eighth | to the sixty-first octave. Beyond. that, modern sciencé knows nothing, You have merely scratched the surface. “T've confined my- efforts to those-vibrations that have been Tabeled ‘unknown, From the. fifteenth. to: the twenty-fourth; _ from the. thirty-sixth to the forty-fifth; from the fifty-first to ___ the fifty-seventh; and from the sixty-second on up the scale— that hasbeen my field of labor. I've accomplished things so Baas astounding and revolutionary, that it would-be a waste of breath to try to explain to you who know so little, “Gravity loses its power before my rays; I can either increase “or nullify its force. I’ve mastered light—I can vanish at will, That thunderous yoice in the Capitol, and above the island a short time ago—merely the result of my control over vibration, IT could enumerate one thing after another that I can accom- o plish with vibration, but I could gain nothing by so doing, lpr. “Tn a short time, I’ni going back and take charge of things, __and with the help of vibrations, make a new and better world.” a The Russian paused a moment, his forehead creased by a P thoughtful frown, Then he spoke again. “T suppose you're wondering what I meant when I said I was going back, I'll tell you. - Lost! HAT I'm going to say, by the: way, involves-a differ- ent phase of vibration from that of which I’ve spoken. To begin—you know that all elements can exist in three forms: solid, liquid, and gaseous, For example—ice, water and steam. Or, consider metals. Normally, they are solid—heat them, and they melt and become liquid—increase the heat, and they go- off in a vapor or gas, like steam, _ “What is the cause of this? Heat, of course. And heat is— vibration! The heat starts the electrons in the metal whirling at such a furious pace, that they become separated to such an extent that they form a liquid. At a higher rate of vibration, the electrons: separate still farther, and the liquid becomes a gas, “Now consider the whirling of .an airplane propeller. Its blades turn so rapidly that they make no impression on the retina of the eye. Visually, at least, they aren't there; Of course, any..attempt to place anything in. the space the blades occupy, would be a failure, But suppose that, like the action of heat on metal, something would cause the electrons of the propeller to vibrate at increased speed*while it was spinning, without changing its form. Wouldn’t-it, to all intents: and purposes, become nonexistent? Yet it would still be. there. “Under the latter condition, wouldn't it be possible to place something in the path of the propeller, perhaps even walk through it, unscathed? “At any frute, this is what I’m trying to impress upon you: it is possible by accelerated vibration to throw something into an entirely new dimension. Therefore another world exists simultaneously with ours, “Countless worlds in fact are occupying the same space as countless other worlds, Each world, vibrating in an octave peculiar to itself, exists in space in which there ate. other worlds of other vibratory periods, and of entirely different natures, “Not only did I learn that:this was a fact; but, with the aid of that cone, which: I built during the last five years, ze traveled from one vibratory. world. to another. “When I say Pm_going back, I mean I'm returning to ‘the world with which you are familiar. At the-time when-my rays covered the island, and you thought the ships and planes had vanished, it was the island itself that actually disappeared, ear- tied into the world of another vibration. And here you will remaitr while I remake the world of our plane, “Tt may interest you to know that this world is barren, and AIR WONDER STORIES . as utterly devoid of life. Because of that, I hope you have enough food to last a long, long time, for it may be years before I per- mit your return, if I ever. do, “But P’ve-wasted enough time; I don't see why I went to the trouble of explaining, anyway. I suppose it was my pride in what _I had accomplished. “And now I am going; it will be a long time: before you see me again. I shall be very busy.” Still keeping that paralyzing little cone trained upon us, Demetriovich in some way’started the action of the blue force- rays, and rose-into the air. Before’ entering the cone, he re- leased us; then the door slid into place behind him, A faint, almost inaudible hum made itself heard. It was a soft, soothing hum that grew louder with the passing moments. Slowly. the cone lost its sharpness of outline, grew less distinct. A great, mocking laugh came from the disappearing cone; it hovered there a moment—then was gone! If what the Russian had said was true, we were marooned in a barren, alien world, with practically no chance-to escape. And our own world was left without rulers, at the mercy of Demetriovich and his vibrations, CHAPTER IV At the Russian’s Mercy! EMETRIOVICH'S explanation of his means of accom- D plishing what he had, -and the realization of the import of our present: position, momentarily dazed us, His revelations were so stupendous, so incredible, that they stunned the reason. Vachell was the first to recover. Facing the group of: scien- tists and world executives, a thoughtful, serious expression on his face, he'said solemnly ; “Gentlemen, our world is face to face with a crisis that may meat the destruction of civilization. I know. Demetriovich bet- ter, probably, than any other. living individual; and I believe that:all -he said is true! He is not given to vain boasting; and, besides, the things that have just taken place are such over- whelming proofs that there is no room for doubt, ‘ “This problem, the greatest in the history of the world, in- volving, a5 it does, every. man, woman and child on the globe, can only. be solved by clear, cold reasoning. Indeed, we may never be able to solve it, and so, may never get back, “Tf we fail, gentlemen, may God have pity on mankind!” And: with head bent in thought, Vachell led the way into the ~Unior: ‘Hall. When we had resumed the positions we had had in the Con- ference Room before the Russian’s interruption, except that the place of the four Presidents was now occupied by Vachell, the latter continued his remarks, “Do you realize what our disappearance must mean to the world? Briefly, it-means this: The nations have lost their rulers, and the greatest scientists of earth, the only ones at all capable of fighting against Demetriovich. Gentlemen, the world is at the mercy of the Russian! “There -is, however, a remote possibility that we are still back where we belong, that the ships and planes were in some way destroyed, and that our position isn’t as hopeless as it seems. Understand, the possibility is very remote, but it is worth considering, So, I suggest that we first of all learn whether or not we're. still where-we should be.” President Harwood arose, “That's an excellent suggestion,” he smiled, “but I can’t see how it: can be followed out. It seems to me that we're very. thoroughly imprisoned on. this island.” “We have the means of escape at our disposal,” Vachell re- turned. “If it was Demetriovich’s intention to keep us here, he has'-slipped up, for there’s a three-passenger plane in one of the hangars. I happen to know it’s there, because Taylor and T visited: the island with it two days ago, and left it here, re- turning to the United States on one of the transoceanic liners,