Air Wonder Stories, May 1930 — page 53: what you’re looking at

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

“I propose that you, Harwood, and Taylor and I take the plane and fly to the North American continent, Even though we are in a different vibratory world, the general geographical conditions will be the same. If, as Demetriovich said, he has taken us to a lifeless world, we had better find out-at- once, oe and if we're still on our own plane, we had better get help immediately, In any case, the first thing to do is to learn the “exact condition of things.” -AMFTER a rather lengthy discussion, the officials and scien- tists agreed to Vachell’s plan, and we proceeded toward the airplane hangars, I-was included as one of the three, be- cause I was an expert pilot, having served three years in the International. Air Patrol. om The plane, a small, Wenger-helicopter type, a very late model with four motors, we filled with gas, and loaded with provisions and water, After seeing that everything was in perfect con- dition, we rofled it out of the hangar. Finally, all was ready, and Harwood, Vachell and I stepped into the machine, The motors were started, and the helicopter propellers lifted-the plane high into the air, Straightening out, we started across the ocean with constantly. accelerating speed. In a few moments the Union Island had dwindled to a minute "star; then it was gone. Only one thing worthy of note occurred during the. five un- eventful hours of the trip across the ocean, About midway y' between the island and our destination, we saw what seemed to be a flashing, silver meteor darting across the sky. It was moving in the same direction that we were, or we would not 2 have seen it; as it was, it soon outdistanced us and was lost to our: sight. Of_one thing we felt sure: that flashing. object, whatever it = might be, was not.of our world. Our hearts’ sank. Finally, we arrived: at our destination, I had pointed the nos¢ of the plane toward what, tinder normal conditions, would 34 have been. New York City. But these-were anything but nor- - mal conditions, for instead of the familiar skyline of sky- scrapers, we saw.a vast expanse of white, translucent glass. As far as the eye:could reach, south, west and north, that monoto- nous, level sheet of glass continued. so Our own world? Obviously, it wasn’t, But, as Vachell pointed out, neither was it a desert-world, “Perhaps Demietriovich made a mistake,” the scientist sug- gested, “and took us too far along the vibratory scale, or not far enough, to answer his purpose. If, as he said, there are countless worlds existing on the surface of the earth, that could easily be possible,” . That, in all probability, is what occurred. The Russian had made a mistake! = Hour after hour, we coritinued flying, searching for an open- < ing in the continent's roof, That there-was such an opening, we were certain, for, we reasoned, the projectile we had seen flying in this direction must have gone through the glass some- where, It certainly hadn’t remained on the surface. At last we saw that for which we were searching. Some dis- tance ahead, over what must have corresponded with our Mis- sissippi. Valley, there was a great, circular, well-like opening in the glass, fully a mile in diameter. A New World! N 2 moment the plane had flashed over the glass to the open= ing. My ‘haste almost proved to be our undoing: As we flew out over the opening, a great, gleaming projectile, scream- ing shrilly, so great was its velocity, flashed almost straight up into the air, The plane took a ferrifying dip, turning end over end. Caught in a whirling. vortex: of -airthat resulted from the projectile’s flight, we pitched and spun like a leaf in a-gale, That we were not cast to the bottom of the shaft, a broken wreck, is no credit £ to me, for I had completely lost control of the machine, How- = THE INVISIBLE DESTROYER 1011 ever, we escaped, We were-close to the bottom of the shaft when I righted the plane; a-moment later, I brought it to earth, With hearts beat- ing more rapidly, we left the machine and stared around. What manner of creatures or things might we see? Not for long did we wonder. An oval doorway in the nearby glass wall of the shaft slid back, and a strange little creature appeared. In a general way he looked like a man, but stich aman! He was only about four fect tall, and painfully thin. And that apparently emaciated, undernourished. body supported a huge, hairless head that was more than twice the size of mine. The features of his face were even, regular, built on the same scale as ‘his head, but any niceness that his-face might have had was destroyed by his lack of teeth, Apparently, he hadn’t-a tooth in his mouth; his lips were drawn in over his gums like those of a toothless hag. When we first saw him, he had an expression of consternation and unbelief on his. face, “Well,-old' top,” Vachell exclaimed facetiously, “this is an unexpected pleasure.” We are yery glad to see you; we hope you feel the same toward us,” And the little man replied! Although no words: passed his lips, we received the distinct impression that he had given a tental answer. Somewhat harshly, it seemed, he had asked us what we wanted, and from whence we had come, Ignoring the means of communication this big-headed being had employed, Vachell explained, ‘You see, it’s this way,’ he said, “we've been brought to this world against our wills, and we wish to return to our own vibratory plane. It is our hope that your world can aid us.” I thought Vachell had taken Jeave of his senses when I heard his explanation. What would this creature know about vibra- tory worlds! But strangely, the big-head seemed to under- stand. He nodded. Then the silent communication came: “Follow mel” Bending low in order to escape contact with the top of the little opening, we followed the strange being into his: glass- roofed world. — HEN I try to describe the wonders of that astounding. land,-I realize the utter futility of words. Or, perhaps the stupendous things we saw were beyond my powers of com- prehension. Be that as it may, according to all appearances,’ we had come into a world that was fully fifteen thousand years ahead-of our own in progress. Indeed, by comparison with the beings of that. world, we were- about as low. on the scale of eyolution as the pygmies of—Australia are when compared with us. Glass, white, translucent glass, was everywhere. We learned later that the entire North Ametican continent was one huge glass house, and that all people lived, and all industry took place under one roof. There were-no streets-as we know them; great: lifts and overland cats, propelled by a type of vibratory force, connected all parts of the. land, And everywhere were those disproportionate figures, scurrying here and there like so many busy little ants. We followed our host or captor, whichever he was, through fhe throng of big-heads that had gathered around us, into one of the numerous litts.. With breath-taking speed we were borne upward. When the elevator came to a halt, we left it, and moved along a glass hall past rows of oval doorways. They were exactly alike, with nothing to identify them so far as I could see. = : The little big-head seemed to know his destination, though, for he paused before one of the ovals, and pressing a little but- ton, led us through the doorway into: the room, This seemed to be some sort of work-room, for it was filled with intricate machinery, and, to us, utterly meaningless de- vices, What the purpose of it all was, we fever learned, Every- thing, by: the way, was’ constructed of the same white glass.” Our guide stopped to confer. with one of the workers for a . comicbho at nt