"But this is the secret: the ship attains the speed only by going out of s.p.a.ce. _Nothing in s.p.a.ce can attain the speed of light, save radiation._ Nothing in normal s.p.a.ce. But, we alter s.p.a.ce, make s.p.a.ce along patterns we choose, and so distort it that the natural speed of radiation is enormously greater. In fact, we so change s.p.a.ce that nothing can go _slower_ than a speed we fix.
"Morey--show Afthen the coils, and explain it all to him. I"ve got to stay here."
Morey rose, and diving through the weightless ship, went down to the power room, Zezdon Afthen following. Here, giant pots five feet high were in close packed rows. The "pots" contained specially designed coils storing tremendous energy, the energy of four tons of disintegrated lead, in the only form that energy may be stored, as a strain, or distortion in s.p.a.ce. These charged coils distorted only the s.p.a.ce within themselves, making a closed field entirely within themselves. But in the exact gravitational center of the quarter of a million ton ship was a single high coil of different design that distorted s.p.a.ce around it as well as the s.p.a.ce within it. This, as Morey explained, was the control that altered the constants of s.p.a.ce to suit. The coils were charged, and the energy stored. Their energy could be pumped into the big coil, and then, when the ship slowed to normal s.p.a.ce, could be pumped back to them. The pumping energy, as well as any further energy needed for recharging the coils could be supplied by three huge power generators.
"These energy-producers," Morey explained, "work on a principle known for hundreds of years on Earth. Lead, when reduced to a temperature approaching absolute zero as closely as, for instance, liquid helium, has _no_ electrical resistance. In other words, no matter how great a current is sent through it, there is no resistance, and no heat is produced to raise the temperature. What we do is to send a powerful current through a lead wire. The wire has a current density so huge that the atoms are destroyed, and the protons and electrons coalesce into pure radiant energy. Relux, under the influence of a magnetic field, converts this directly into electrical potential. Electricity we can convert to the spatial strain in the power coils, and thus the ship is driven." Morey pointed out the huge molecular power cylinder overhead, where the main power drive was located in the inertial center of the ship, or as near as the great s.p.a.ce coil would permit.
The smaller power units for vertical lift, and for steering, were in the side walls, hidden under heavy walls of relux.
"The projectors for throwing molecular and heat rays are on the outside of course. Both of these projectors are protected. The walls of the ship are made of an outer wall of heavy lux metal, a vacuum between, and an inner wall of heavy relux. The lux is stronger than relux, and is therefore used for an outer sh.e.l.l. The inner sh.e.l.l of relux will reflect any dangerous rays and serve to hold the heat in the ship, since a perfect reflector is a perfect non-radiator. The vacuum wall is to protect the occupants of the ship against any undue heat. If we should get within the atmosphere of a sun, it would be disastrous if the physical conduction of heat were permitted, for though the relux will turn out any radiated heat, it is a conductor of heat, and we would roast almost instantly. These artificial metals are both absolutely infusible and non-volatile. The ship has actually been in the limb of a star tremendously hotter than your sun or mine.
"Now you see why it is we need not fear a collision with a small sun, meteor or such like. Since we are in our own, artificial s.p.a.ce, we are alone, and there is nothing in s.p.a.ce to run into. But, if we enter a huge sun, the terrific gravitational field of the ma.s.s of matter would be enough to pull the energy of our coil away from us. That actually happened the time we made our first intergalactic exploration. But it is almost impossible to fall into a large star--they are too brilliant. We won"t be worrying about it," grinned Morey.
"But how did the ship we captured operate?" asked Zezdon Afthen.
"It was a very ingenious system, very closely related to ours, really.
"We distort s.p.a.ce and change the velocity characteristics; in other words, we distort the rate of motion through distance characteristics of normal s.p.a.ce. The Thessian ships work on the principle of distorting the rate of progress through time instead of through s.p.a.ce.
"_Velocity_ is really "units of travel through s.p.a.ce per unit of travel through time." Now if we make the time unit twice as great, and the units traveled through s.p.a.ce are not changed, the _velocity_ is twice as great. That is, if we are moving five light years per second, make the second twice as long and we are moving ten light years per double-second. Make it ten thousand times as long, and we are traveling fifty thousand light years per ten-thousand-seconds. This is the principle--but there is a drawback. We might increase the velocity by slowing time pa.s.sage, that is, if it takes me a year for one heartbeat, two years to raise my arm thus, and six months to turn, my head, if all my body processes are slowed down in this way, I will be able to live a tremendous length of time, and though it takes me two hundred years to go from one star to another, so low is my time rate that the two hundred years will seem but a few minutes. I can then make a trip to a distant star--one five light years distant, let us say, in three minutes to me.
I then will say, looking at my chronometer (which has been similarly slowed) "I have gone five light years in three minutes, or five thirds light years per minute. I have exceeded the speed of light."
"But people back on Earth would say, he has taken two hundred years to go five light years, therefore he has gone at a speed one fortieth of that of light, which would be true--for their time rate.
"But suppose I can also speed up time. That is, I can live a year in a minute or two. Then everyone else will be exceedingly slow. The ideal thing would be to combine these two effects, arranging that s.p.a.ce about your ship will have a very rapid time rate, ten thousand times that of normal s.p.a.ce. Then the speed of radiation through that s.p.a.ce will be 1,860,000,000 miles per second, and a speed of 1,000,000,000 miles per second would be possible, but still you, too, will be affected, so that though the people back home will say you are going far faster than light, you will say "No, I am going only 100,000 miles per second."
"But now imagine that your ship and surrounding s.p.a.ce for one mile is at a time rate 10,000 times normal, and you, in a s.p.a.ce of one hundred feet within your ship, are affected by a time rate 1/10,000 that, or normal, due to a second, reversing field. The two fields will not fight, or be mutually antagonistic; they will merely compound their effects. Result: you will agree that you are exceeding the speed of light!
"Do you understand? That is the principle on which your ship operated.
There were two time-fields, overlapping time-fields. Remember the terrible speed with which your ship landed, and yet there was no appreciable jar according to the men? The answer of course was, that their time rate had been speeded enough, due to the fact that one field had been completely shut off, the other had not.
"That is the principle. The system is so complex, naturally, that we have not yet learned the actual method of working the process. We must do a great deal of mathematical and physical research.
"Wish we had it done--we could use it now," mused the terrestrian.
"We have some other weapons, none as important, of course, as the molecular ray and the heat ray. Or none that have been. But, if the enemy have ray shields, then perhaps these others also will be important. There are molecular motion guns, metal tubes, with molecular director apparatus at one end. A metal sh.e.l.l is pulling the power turned on, and the sh.e.l.l leaps out at a speed of about ten miles per second--since it has been super-heated--and is very accurately aimed, as there is no terrific shock of recoil to be taken up by the gun.
"But a more effective weapon, if these men are as I expect them to be, will be a peculiarly effective magnetic field concentrator device, which will project a magnetic field as a beam for a mile or more. How useful it will be--I don"t know. We don"t know what the enemy will turn against _us_!"
Chapter V
ORTOL
After Morey"s explanation of the ship was completed, Wade took Arcot"s place at the controls, while Morey and Arcot retired to the calculating room to do some of the needed mathematics on the time-field investigation.
Their work continued here, while the Ortolians prepared a meal and brought it to them, and to Wade. When at last the sun of Ortol was growing before them, Arcot took over controls from Wade once more.
Slowing their speed to less than fifty times that of light, they drove on. The attraction of the giant sun was draining the energy from the coils so rapidly now, that at last Arcot was forced to get into normal s.p.a.ce, while the planet was still close to a million miles from them.
Morey was showing the Ortolians the operation of the telectroscope and had it trained now on the rapidly approaching planet. The planet was easily enlarged to a point where the features of continents were visible. The magnification was increased till cities were no longer blurs, but truly cities.
Suddenly, as city after city was brought under the action of the machine, the Ortolians recognizing them with glad exclamations, one swept into view--and as they watched, it leapt into the air, a vast column of dust, then twisting, whirling, it fell back in utter, chaotic ruin.
Zezdon Fentes staggered back from the screen in horror.
"Arcot--drive down--increase your speed--the Thessians are there already and have destroyed one city," called Morey sharply. The men secured themselves with heavy belts, as the deep toned hum of the warning echoed through the ship. A moment later they staggered under an acceleration of four gravities. s.p.a.ce was dark for the barest instant of time, and then there was the scream of atmosphere as the ship rocketed through the air of the planet at nearly fifteen hundred miles per second. The outer wall was blazing in incandescence in a moment, and the heavy relux screens seemed to leap into place over the windows as the blasting heat, radiated from the incandescent walls flooded in. The millions of tons pressure of the air on the nose of the ship would have brought it to a stop in an instant, and had it not been that the molecular drive was on at full power, driving the ship against the air resistance, and still losing. The ship slowed swiftly, but was shrieking toward the destroyed city at terrific speed.
"Hesthis--to the--right and ahead. That would be their next attack,"
said the Ortolian. Arcot altered the ship"s course, and they shot toward the distance city of Hesthis. They were slowing perceptibly, and yet, though the city was half around the world, they reached it in half a minute. Now Arcot"s wizardry at the controls came into play, for by altering his s.p.a.ce field constants, he succeeded in reaching a condition that slowed the ship almost instantly to a speed of but a mile a second, yet without apparent deceleration.
High in the white Ortolian sky was a shining point bearing down on the now-visible city. Arcot slanted toward it, and the approaching ship grew like an expanding rubber balloon.
A ray of intense, blindingly brilliant light flashed out, and a gout of light appeared in the center of the city. A huge flame, bright blue, shot heavenward in roaring heat.
Seeing that a strange ship had arrived was enough for the Thessians, and they turned, and drove at Arcot instantly. The Thessian ship was built for a heavy world, and for heavy acceleration in consequence, and, as they had found from the captured ship, it was stronger than the _Ancient Mariner_. Now the Thessians were driving at Arcot with an acceleration and speed that convinced him dodging was useless. Suddenly s.p.a.ce was black around them, the sunlit world was gone.
"Wonder what they thought of _that_!" grinned Arcot. Wade smiled grimly.
"It"s not what they thought, but what they"ll do, that counts."
Arcot came back to normal s.p.a.ce, just in time to see the Thessian ship spin in a quick turn, under an acceleration that would have crushed a human to a pulp. Again the pilot dived at the terrestrian ship. Again it vanished. Twice more he tried these fruitless tactics, seeing the ship loom before him--bracing for the crash--then it was gone instantaneously, and though he sailed through the spot he knew it to have occupied, it was not there. Yet an instant later, as he turned, it was floating, unharmed, exactly where his ship had pa.s.sed!
Rushing was useless. He stood, and prepared to give battle. A molecular ray reached out--and disappeared in flaring ions on a shield utterly impenetrable in the ionizing atmosphere.
Arcot meanwhile watched the instrument of his shield. The Thessian shield would have been impenetrable, but his shield, fed by less efficient tubes, was not, and he knew it. Already the terrific energy of the Thessian ray was noticeably heating the copper plates of the tube.
The seal would break soon.
Another ray reached out, a ray of flaring light. Arcot, watching through the "eyes" of his telectroscope viewplates, saw it for but an instant, then the "eyes" were blasted, and the screen went blank.
"He won"t do anything with that but burn out eyes," muttered the terrestrian. He pushed a small b.u.t.ton when his instruments told him the rays were off. Another scanner came into action, and the viewplate was alive again.
Arcot shot out a cosmic ray himself, and swept the Thessian with it thoroughly. For the instant he needed the enemy ship was blinded.
Immediately the _Ancient Mariner_ dove, and the automatic ray-finders could no longer hold the rays on his ship. As soon as he was out of the deadly molecular ray he shut off his screen, and turned on all his molecular rays. The Thessian ship, their own ray on, had been unable to put up their screen, as Arcot was unable to use his ray with the enemy"s ray forcing him to cover with a shield.
Almost at once the relux covering of the Thessian ship shone with characteristic iridescence as it changed swiftly to lux metal. The molecular ray blinked out, and a ray screen flashed out instead. The Thessians were covering up. Their own rays were useless now. Though Arcot could not hope to destroy their ray shield, they could no longer attack his, for their rays were useless, and already they had lost so much of the protective relux, that they would not be so foolhardy as to risk a second attack of the ray.
Arcot continued to bathe the ship in energy, keeping their "eyes"
closed. As long as he could hold his barrage on them, they would not damage him.
"Morey--get into the power room, strap onto the board. Throw all the power-coil banks into the magnets. I may burn them out, but I have hopes--" Arcot already had the generators going full power, charging the power coils.
Morey dived. Almost simultaneously the Thessians succeeded in the maneuver they had been attempting for some time. There were a dozen rays flaring wildly from the ship, searching blindly over the sky and ground, hoping to stumble on the enemy ship, while their own ship dived and twisted. Arcot was busily dodging the sweeping rays, but finally one hit his viewplates, and his own ship was blind. Instantly he threw the ray screen out, cutting off his own molecular ray. His own cosmics he set rotating in cones that covered the three dimensions--save below, where the city lay. Immediately the Thessian had retreated to this one segment where Arcot did not dare throw his own rays. The Thessian cosmics continued to make his relux screens necessary, and his ship remained blind.
His ray screen was showing signs of weakening. The Thessians got a third ray into position for operation, and opened up. Almost at once the tubes heated terrifically. In an instant they would give way. Arcot threw his ship into s.p.a.ce, and let the tubes cool under the water jacket. Morey reported the coils ready as soon as he came out of s.p.a.ce.
Arcot cut in the new set of eyes, and put up his molecular ray screen again. Then he cut the energy back to the coils.