Time Travel Omnibus, page 130
“What is the use of all this?” I asked Brown. “With the exception of the astronomers no one here ever sees the stars. Why, then, all this trouble to map the heavens day after day, when the race is dying off?”
“The will to live, probably,” said Brown. “Even though they know the race is dying off, they still remain men, proud to the last. But they have one hope—they have a means to continue the race, if only they can lay hands on—or rather, if they can get enough of—a radioactive substance of unusual properties—a substance of which I never heard before.”
“How can they use this to reproduce?”
“Well, as I see it,” answered Brown, “their females are too old and too sterile—through long habit—to be of any use in that respect; and as you saw, the men themselves are entirely too aged. But for centuries they used ectogenesis[2]—and this substance will either fertilize the females, unattractive as they are, or else it will react on, let us say, a uterus which has been separated from the body. In either case the result will be the same.”
“I heard something about that back in our own time,” I answered thoughtfully, “but as a physician I could never understand how the offspring could develop away from the mother’s body—without the necessary blood stream to nourish it.”
“Apparently things have developed in medicine since your time,” said Brown. “But the important thing—as far as we are concerned—is something else, something only remotely connected with this method of producing life. What I have discovered is that this radioactive element is used to manufacture the food capsules, and that only a certain amount of it is allowed for food and for use in the ray treatments.”
“What do you mean by ‘allowed’ ?” I queried. “Who can say how much or how little shall be taken?”
“Have you forgotten the other race I told you of?” asked Brown, with his irritating smile. “It appears that this radioactive deposit, while very large, and consisting of something I never heard of—Something indeed discovered only a thousand centuries ago—is the last of its kind in the earth. The Plutonic regions have been pretty well searched, and this is the last source of life. Well, the hostile race is afraid that if our old friends get an oversupply of this element, they will fertilize their females, or produce offspring in the other way I mentioned, and that will be directly contrary to their interest. You see, like all inferior races, the one I am speaking of fears an increase in the superior race. They are afraid—needlessly, perhaps,—that with an increase in the population, the greater race will fall upon them and exterminate them, taking for itself the radioactive deposits which are vital to both races. Even here the law of the primitive holds good. Self-preservation is said to be the first law of nature. Apparently, it is also the last.”
“And you say this alien race outnumbers the greater at least ten to one?”
Brown nodded.
“Then it requires ten times the amount of the element that this one requires?”
“Your reasoning,” said Brown, “would do credit to a Newton. “Such, indeed, is the case.”
“Then why doesn’t this lower species exterminate the higher and keep all the mineral for itself?”
“Ah,” said Brown, “there you have it. Our friends run the earth—what is left of it. Without their science, I doubt whether the other race would survive very long. Our guide has informed me that we are going to see something more wonderful still. I imagine that the scientific work done here keeps their enemies from falling on them. As far as I can judge, the matter was fought out not very long ago—only a few centuries ago—and both sides realize the futility of further loss of life. The superior weapons of this side just about balance the superior number on the other. A sort of armed neutrality exists. An increase in the population here would mean war, and the final destruction of one side or the other. And so the circle goes, one point leading to another, and all leading back to the beginning.”
“But where do we come in to act as hostages, as you said?”
“That,” said Brown, “I haven’t thought out yet, but I have a pretty good idea. I’ll know it before long.”
CHAPTER IV.
Hostages!
ON our way down in the elevator I thought it prudent to change the subject. Wherever I went, I felt the cold eyes of my guide upon me. It was as though he were looking through me into my inmost being.
“Did you notice the two planets with rings around them?” I asked Brown, as we shot earthward.
“Yes,” he answered, “and one of them is the earth! At this moment the earth has a ring like Saturn, and the moon has vanished from the heavens. You probably know that the moon receded from the earth, and then approached it, and that at a critical point the gravity of the earth and the gravity of the sun, acting upon it, split it apart, and its fragments formed an orbit around this planet. Shapley was right, after all.”
The elevator had reached the underworld; but instead of stopping, it continued downward, until the heat became almost unbearable. And there, perhaps, was the ultimate achievement of man, the tapping of the incalculable supply of heat still remaining in the depths of the earthcore. What had been a great dream in my own day was an everyday reality here. In an enormous cavern illuminated with cold light—a cavern beyond the black confines of which red tongues of flame writhed and roared as they had in the imagination of Dante—gigantic, polished, engines throbbed to the terrific power pulsing, even then, through the center of the icy planet. What a contrast!
What purpose the power generated was put to, I did not imagine at the moment, unless it was for driving the vast air pumps and for assisting in the manufacture of the artificial, moistened, atmosphere. But I noted that whatever work was necessary was performed by robots of superbly ingenious construction, working in heat which no human being could long endure. And then we were shown one of the most amazing feats of engineering in the entire underground world. It seemed incredible that Brown could be talking of his own unimportant affairs when he viewed the magnificence of the achievements of the last men.
I had long known that the earth, as it rushed through space, generated millions of volts of electrical power, and that this power flowed around it in a great stream. To harness this intangible and yet tremendous force would have seemed out of the question; and yet, as their supreme achievement, the last men had done just that.
Brown and I were shown seven immense helices of tightly wound wire that extended upward, it seemed, for an infinite distance. These were the bases of seven mighty hills that, in happier days, had been wrapped in the copper coils—wires of a nature to excite the magnetic fields induced by the fields of the sun. That immense and perfect dynamo, the earth, the nearest approximation to perpetual motion, had been harnessed to keep alive the men who had vanished from its surface. The incalculable electrical energy derived from the rotation of the earth was put to working the machines that tapped the earth’s heat, and these, in turn, giving power to so many other devices, in reality made life possible. And so at the very end, man had cheated the earth which had cheated him of life on its surface my making its very vitals serve his needs. One thing alone he could not do—and that was reproduce his own kind. The most elementary function of nature he could not perform!
When Brown and I returned to the council chamber, we were informed that our education was not yet complete; that we were to take a journey to the people on the other side of the world, and that we would remain there for some time. Brown winked at me. I began to get the drift of the arrangement.
As I understood from what Brown translated for me, we were to be shot through a long, straight tunnel in a magnetic car drawn forward with incredible rapidity, by powerful electric currents. Although the world under ground had been pretty well hollowed out, making it possible for one race to attack another in deadly combat, rapid transportation was still carried on through tunnels. I understood that one tunnel led directly to the deposit of radioactive material, and that at regular intervals both races sent out cars for supplies. These times were agreed upon in advance; and as an evidence of the absolute trust the last two races of men reposed in each other, the deposit was protected by an array of photoelectric cells and television devices, making it impossible for one party to carry away the element without the other knowing of it. This, then, was what prevented my hosts from stealing enough of the mineral to cause reproduction. But something told me that was not enough.
“I see it all now,” said Brown, “and I must say it’s devilishly clever. Our old people here must send two of their members every period as hostages, with the understanding that if they try to abstract any of the stuff, the hostages will be put to death. The old Roman idea all over again. The only reason they don’t go back on these two victims is that human life here is so terribly precious, it isn’t worth the risk to cause the death of a great scientist simply to bring about the birth of a lot of potential scientists.”
“Then that means . . . I began. “Exactly,” said Brown. “With these robes, and with the benefit of the ray treatments, we resemble them to an amazing degree. These enemies of theirs will never know the difference. Our good friends can steal all the stuff they want, and you and I will pay the price! Capital! I wonder whether that was why they welcomed us so eagerly!”
“This is what comes,” I said bitterly, “of trying to put your wits against creatures millions of years in advance of you. What are we to do now? We can’t escape to the time machine because we don’t know where it is; and even if we did know, I doubt whether we could get away. I never dreamed that I was to die seven million years after my time!”
“Oh, I’ll find a way out,” said Brown easily, with superb self-confidence. “It would be easy enough if we had our weapons, but this adds a little more fun to the adventure. Imagine escaping from the future and returning to the past!”
“You’re only saying this to keep up my spirits,” I answered, gloomily. “You don’t believe it yourself.”
“I don’t, eh?” asked Brown, with his contemptuous smile. “Then look at this!” From beneath the folds of his toga he drew a long sliver of crystal, strong as steel and sharp as a needle. “You don’t think I myself go unprepared, do you?” he sneered. “Those who accompany us are going to get the surprise of their lives. I can’t suppose anyone has been stabbed down here for ages, but I intend to introduce an innovation.”
“Put it away,” I ordered, looking hastily around. “You won’t get anywhere with that. You haven’t a chance in the world.”
“Now you listen to me,” said Brown, “and listen closely. “When we get in that car we’re as good as dead, unless we can convince the people at the other end of the earth who we are, and what sort of a trick is being played on them. I have an idea that they’re not such a bad sort after all. But I don’t want to do that. I’ve seen as much of the last men as I want to, and I’m satisfied. I don’t mind not seeing the other race—I can imagine what it’s like. My only desire is to get back to our own century, and I’ll get back there if I have to kill off every man in Ultima!”
Already our diplomatic hosts were approaching us, laden with curious objects. “Timeo Danaos et dona jorentes,” chuckled Brown.
“What?” I asked.
“Don’t you remember your Latin?” asked Brown, in amusement. “I fear the Greeks—even when they come bearing gifts. If these fellows don’t look like Greeks bearing gifts, then I don’t know anything. If they were besieging a town, I would expect to see a wooden horse!”
Our ancient friends led us to the mouth of a large tunnel, and indicated to us a curiously shaped car, completely enclosed on top by a covering of crystal, which reminded me faintly of the torpedo-shaped racing cars favored by Barney Oldfield, of revered memory. The car stood on a shining metal track, like a monorail affair. It was apparent that a large wheel beneath the center of the vehicle was the only means of propelling it; and while I sought for a rocket attachment, I saw none.
ALREADY two of the Ultimates had taken their places in the machine. Brown and I, in the face of a score of ancients, who looked remarkably vigorous for their age, and who undoubtedly had weapons concealed under their flowing robes, thought it the part of wisdom to enter also. Into our hands they thrust curious vessels of a metal like beaten gold—probably peace offerings to distinguish the hostages from their conductors.
Brown, sitting next to one of the guides, watched intently as his companion pressed down a lever. The car seemed to spring forward. There was none of the backward pull of inertia, in spite of the fact that the pull of gravity was greater, because we were closer to the center of the earth than are the trains of my own generation. I could not realize the speed at which we were traveling; first, because there was no noise, second because there was no vibration, and third because, whenever I looked through the windows, the blackness outside remained uniform—I could see nothing rushing past. The car, I judged, was balanced by gyroscopic control which derived its power from the track.
I began speaking to Brown in the most natural way in the world, taking care not to touch my guide, and hoping I would not be understood.
“Suppose we overpower these two birds and make them take our places?” I asked. “Then we could bring the car back ourselves with some sort of story.”
“I thought of that,” said Brown, “but I have a better plan. I don’t think I can get the other people to attack our friends; they wouldn’t believe me, and they would only imagine I was drawing them into a trap. With men of superior intellect it doesn’t pay to attempt ordinary means. I want to get hold of some of the weapons our hosts have hidden, and I think I know a way to do it. This isn’t Atlantis, don’t forget; here it’s brain against brain, and mine is the second best, by a long shot.”
I remained silent, and Brown engaged his companion in conversation, pressing one line of questions. The other stooped and drew from beneath the seat two peculiar objects. I had never seen their like before, except in museums. They resembled nothing so much as the corselets the knights used to wear when they went forth to kill dragons and to knock their opponents from their horses. But I knew very well that these devices were something different. Brown seemed to be intensely interested; he toyed with it, examined it, and finally tried it on. It covered him from throat to waist.
“This is used to ward off the peculiar bullets they use down here,” he explained to me. “It will be handy to have around when things start popping. I understand that our not-so-distant enemies have weapons like pistols from which they can shoot devastating rays—some sort of concentrated cathode ray, I imagine. These rays are effective at a distance, and when they don’t kill they exert a paralyzing effect. These protectors turn the rays aside. They neutralize them. My guide tells me that the rays of our enemies are not as deadly as the explosive bullets of those we thought were our friends. I must get hold of the latter weapons—they’ll be very important to us.
“Meanwhile, I must say I am terribly disappointed—I really expected something unusual in the way of a deadly device. Why, even in our own backward day men had learned to kill each other on the mass production principle! I really don’t know what the world is coming to!”
On Brown’s face was his most cynical smile. He seemed to enjoy his grim jest. I took heart at his attitude; it always presaged that he had found a way out of our difficulties.
How long we were traveling I do not know; it may have been an hour, or it may have been two, or three; but the car halted as suddenly as it had started, as we roiled into an illuminated open space. A group of men, looking more vigorous and a great deal younger than our late hosts, stood awaiting our arrival. I noted that they were all armed—another graceful tribute to international amity—and that in their midst were two men of the race I had just visited. Evidently these were the hostages that were to be returned—in exchange for us.
Brown turned to me with a smile. “Be ready to leap into this car at any moment,” he said, in the most matter-of-fact way. “This is the most exciting game of chess I was ever in.”
CHAPTER V.
Cornered
WE alighted from the vehicle and approached the group of soldiers, who in turn advanced to us. Our guides addressed them in their own language; Brown handed over the gold vessels; and the two former hostages prepared to take our places in the car. As I stood on one side, I was amazed to see one soldier and then another crumple silently to the ground and lie still!
It was all over before I could realize what had happened. They fell like ninepins, tumbling over each other in grotesque heaps, and I could swear I detected a look of astonishment on their faces! The last man standing faced Brown and reached for his ray pistol. Brown laughed as the man’s hand closed over an empty holster. The next moment he, too, lay on the ground, and before our astounded friends could say a word, they, also, had joined the platoon of the silent and the prostrate.
Brown surveyed his achievement with evident pleasure—nay, with relish. He played with the ray pistol he had abstracted from the soldier’s belt as the gifts were handed over. “Well,” he asked, with his quizzical smile, “how does it strike you?”
“Speechless,” I answered. “Are they all dead?”
“I hope not,” he answered, “but if they are, their blood is on their own heads. Well, we’re going back.”
“What?” I exclaimed. “Back where we came from?”
“Certainly. Do you want to remain here and get caught? Hop in.”
We climbed into the car, after we had provided ourselves with a holster and pistol apiece. Brown ordered me to don one of the protective garments, as he did; and rumaging under the seat he found head-protectors, like close-fitting helmets, which we saved for emergency.
