Air Wonder Stories, May 1930 — page 55: what you’re looking at

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

o os *J’m in a sort of daze, that’s all, The utterly astounding things that have occurred since we've come here, have thrown me_a little off balance.” He smiled ruefully. “Flarwood,” Vachell counseled earnestly, “don’t Jet these . things affect you. I know, even better than you, how incredible they-are; they contradict all known laws of science. I cannot explain what occurred, so I do not try. And I’ve seen things that neither of you:are aware of.” SHALL record little of what took place during the three weeks that followed, while, for some unaccountable reason we heatd no more about our return to our own world. 28L, who, by the way, was one of the most important: individuals in their world, conducted-us, by means-of the timnel of sound, to some of the most interesting spots-on the continent, Those trips, and the countless: mechanical and architectural marvels we saw, have been-recorded in detail in the joint work. of Vachell, Harwood and myself, “The World of Another Octave.” At last-those three weeks of impatient waiting passed, -and one morning shortly after we had. arisen, 28L came to us with the news that we were to return to the island that day. Impatiently we followed -him through a Jabyrinth of passages and lifts to the well-like opening in the glass roof. As we passed through the oval door into the open air, we saw a long, comparatively slender cylinder, constructed of the same white material as everything else in- that strange land. A series of oval doors ran- along one side of the machine; 28L led us through one of these, I make no attempt-to give more than.a general description of the wonders we saw in that white projectile, Their amaz- ingly complex: nature gave them an-air of unreality. Tower- ing «masses of whirling machinery—great, spinning fly-wheels— devices whose strangeness beggars description—the vehicle was filled with these, In the center of the floor of the projectile, running its entire length? was a yard-wide strip of pale blue-glass, 28L bade us stand on this, mentally explaining that it was the machine's center of gravity, keeping us fast to the floor regardless of what position the projectile assumed. When we had followed his directions, and were standing on the strip of blue, which held our feet in a vise-like grip, there was a sudden lurch, a breath-taking burst of speed, and the projectile- settled down-to an even, forward motion. Our flight by plane from the island to the opening in the glass had: taken eight hours; the return in the projectile’ was accomplished. in little more than one, We did not know our journey had ended wntil 28L opened one of the doors, and indi- cated that-we should step out, for we had no way of determining how fast we had been traveling. Just beforé we leit the yehicle, two big-heads came forward with the metal rods that would-be our weapons, and the glass bands that were to form our ray-repelling‘ auras. After we had divided them among ourselves, Vachell addressed: 28L, “Ts the cylinder going back with us?” he asked, “No,” came the silent reply. “Our bodies are too frail to bear the strain of the-journey. All of us who haye attempted it, have failed to return. And now, if you'll leaye—” A moment later we ‘stood outside the projectile; the door was Closed; -and the great, white cylinder rose into the air. Standing among the. world executives and scientists who had gathered arotnd us with words of greeting and inquiry on their lips, we followed the projectile’s fight with our eyes, ‘Tt shot straight up into the air for about four thousand feet, then stopped short and tung stationary, its end pointing toward the island, A moment. later a blinding beam of radiance streamed from that end, and spread over the Union Star. For a second time we felt that torturing tingling. More and more unbearable became the vibration of the atoms ofour beings— then there was a sharp snap—and the projectile had-vanished. We had returned safely to our own world! THE INVISIBLE DESTROYER 1013 CHAPTER V ~ A Strategio Plan OR almost an hour after our return Vachell talked, re- Poasce all ‘that had transpired since the time we left the island. “And finally, gentlemen,” he concluded, “those men of that other world, using a method- somewhat similar to that of Demetriovich, sent us back to our own plane.” The scientist was. silent fora moment; then, holding one of the glass bands and slender, metal rods in his hands, he ps again. “Now, gentlemen, before we-do anything else, I think we had better. prepare, for our defence, Each of us will place-one of these bands around his waist, and arm himself with these little rods, for we don’t know when we'll need their protection,” ‘ Harwood and‘I distributed the bands and rods. while Vachell demonstrated how they were to be used, Then, while the rest were engaged. in placing their bands in. position, I inspected mine with greater care than I had been able to exercise before. The band, I saw, was a simple affair, slightly oval in shape, and just large enough to fit snuggly around the average waist. About four inches high it was, and about half that “in thick- ness. It reminded me of a great, glass wedding ring, with its surface-smooth and unbroken save. for a-knob on one side, When this knob was turned, the band began its work, surround- ing its wearer with a protective aura; . - A few minutes after the bands had been distributed, we pre- sented a strange appearance, Each of us was standing in the heart.of a wraithlike, transparent cloud that extended about six inches from all sides of our bodies, We seemed to be radiant, glowing. One of: the executives raised the question as to what was’to be done next, In:a moment, the members of the group were bugily discussing what would be the best plan to follow. Some suggested that we wait for the Russian to make the initial move; others were in-favor of sending out a plea for help over the radio transmitter that was on the island. We had debated this question: for some minutes without re- sult, when a sudden exclamation: from one .of the scientists caused us to look around, We followed his pointing finger with our eyes. High in the eastern sky, we saw a tiny, blac speck, rapidly growing larger. As we watched, it resolved itself into a small, one-man helicopter. It was. over us; was going past—then it _ seemed to hesitate, and in a long, slanting drop, flashed down toward the island. Tt landed on the opposite side of the Union Hall. With one accord we. raced around the huge structure, We turned a corner, and came. face to face with—Kieth! the astronomer who had been the fourth member of our party” in the Alleghenies, E greeted us with an expansive smile and an outstretched H hand, Such relief-I had never seen written in a man’s countenance, “Gad, but I'm glad to see you!” he exclaimed. “You can’t realize how much the nations have missed you. The Russian told the world that you-had all been annihilated; utterly wiped ~ out, And we did see you disappear—but you're here again! But—but—you look strange—as though—” his voice traifed off into siletice, and he stepped--back and-stared at us wonderingly, “Tt’s a long story, Kieth,” Vachell-told fim, “too long, in fact, to relate in detail now. We did disappear, and so far as this world is concerned, we were annihilated, blotted (ut, T'll tell you in a general way what occurred, without trying to explain its causes, You'll have’to accept my story, “By the way, you needn't stare at 1s like that; we're not ghosts, This aura that surrounds us is there for a purpose!” (Continued on page 1038) Sane cComicboo Allen Kieth; —