CHAPTER XI
Flight Through the Fourth
As in a dream, Gary Lane heard those solemn words fall from the lips of his Jovian judges. Execution! Immediate execution! This, then, was to be the end of their adventure; this their recompense for having fought single-handed to stay the doom which threatened the entire system of worlds circling the tiny star called Sol!
With what happened next, the dream became a nightmare. Blue-skinned stalwarts of the Jovian guard closed about him and his companions, prodded them toward a grim, arched opening which Gary intuitively knew must be the portal of their execution chamber.
He was conscious of Nora Powell weeping softly at his side, of Dr. Bryant muttering in mute and babbled protest, of the subtle strengthening of Lark O'Day's broad shoulders as the ex-pirate tensed himself, despite the overwhelming odds against them, to hurl one last and gallant defiance at their murderers. And because there was now no other path, he sought O'Day's eye ... in that glance grimly arraigning himself on the corsair's side for whatever desperate attempt O'Day should choose to lead.
Then, as the entire corps of Earthmen readied themselves to go out fighting rather than as sheep herded to the slaughter, there came a sudden interruption from an unexpected source.
Through an entrance at the rear of the Council Hall rushed a wildly excited figure, a Jovian bearing in his hand a scrap of paper. This he waved wildly above his head, crying as he hurried forward, "My Lords! My Lords and Councillors—wait!Stay the execution! A message from the planet Earth!"
The Chief Councillor frowned. "It is useless. We will entertain no bids for extradition. It is the law of our homeland these Earthmen have transgressed. They must pay the penalty."
"But," panted the messenger, "it is no plea for clemency, but something else ... something more important...."
All eyes were riveted on the curious tableau. O'Day's whisper grated softly in Gary's ear.
"O.Q., Gary, now's the time. Their attention is divided. We'll never have a better chance."
But Lane grasped his companion's wrist tightly, hopefully.
"No, Lark, no! Not now. There's more here than meets the eye. Look—the Chief Councillor's face—"
And indeed, a sudden and striking change had overswept the countenance of the Jovian judge as he scanned the message thrust into his hand by the excited messenger. His brows drew together. He turned to his associates and growled, "But what is this? Have the men of Earth gone mad?
"This message says," he read aloud, "'If Liberty and crew, including group of Earth scientists, arrive on your planet, in the name of all humanity offer them every possible assistance. Investigation proves their theories are absolutely correct. Sun is dwindling rapidly to dwarf-star stage. Planet Mercury tottering in its course; may plunge into Sun hourly. Entire solar system hovering on brink of dreadful disaster.'"
"Thank God!"
The grateful cry ripped itself unbidden from Gary Lane's throat. His tightened nerves relaxed in a warmth of justification, and his eyes were bright with happiness.
"Thank God, they've seen the truth at last! Now, if it is only not too late!"
The Jovian councillor turned to him, puzzled.
"Too late, Earthman? Too late for what? What does this mean?"
And so, at last, Lane was given an opportunity to explain that which he had not been permitted to tell before. He told the true and only reason for their journeying hither, and pointed out the vital importance of theLiberty'smission.
The Council heard him through. Before the earnestness of his eyes, the burning ardor of his voice, their doubts seemed to melt away. Save for one member of the court who grumbled dourly, "This is all very well, and a pretty tale, but to me it has the smell of a prefabricated plot. So you want our cherished secret, eh, Earthman? The secret of achieving speed greater than that of light?"
"I not only want it," said Gary earnestly, "but must have it. Time is growing perilously short."
"And how do we know that this message is not a trick of your Earth government to save your spying hides? We have no reason to trust Earth."
Lane bit his lip. There it was again, the old, oft-told story of Earth's greed and selfishness now working against the better interests of all the planets.
"No, maybe not," he acknowledged, "but—"
"But—" interrupted Flick Muldoon, always to be depended upon in an emergency for clear and logical reasoning—"All our talk ain't worth a tinker's dam. The proof lies in the sky above us. Tell your astronomers to turn their 'scopes on Mercury. What's happening there should prove or disprove that radiogram's honesty."
The Chief Councillor nodded judicially.
"The Earthman is right. The truth or falsity of this message is beyond Earth's power to dissemble. We shall see and judge for ourselves. You leaders of the Earth party, come with us. Your crew shall remain here." He addressed his own warriors. "Show them every comfort—but guard them well. For if this message turns out to be a hoax—"
He let his words dwindle into silence, but the silence was pregnant with meaning.
Thus it was that the members of the Jovian Supreme Council and the arbiters of theLiberty'scourse convened presently within Pangré's magnificent observatory. Here, awed, they saw proof of the great and learned culture which was Jupiter's. For not even upon Earth nor sage Mars had ever been erected an edifice so complete and so impressive as this.
The size of the reflecting telescope to which a hurriedly summoned Chief Astronomer led them was one to stagger the imagination. It was greater by half again than the monstrous tube constructed by Kang's people on the desert planet. So huge was it that a 200 inch 'scope, equal in size to the proud but primitive instrument used by Earthmen at Mount Palomar in the Twentieth Century, was here employed simply as a spotter for the larger telescope.
But that, Gary Lane knew, was as it must be, since Jupiter was so far removed from its primary. And that this instrument sighted by infra-red radiation he also knew. In no other way could its vision pierce the murky pall of cloud banks enswaddling the planet.
All these were but vagrant thoughts flickering through his brain as the gigantic tube was brought to bear upon the desired image. And then, as all took seats before a huge reflecting screen upon which the enmirrored vision was projected, he gaped in wonderment to see the heart of their solar system brought so near that it seemed scarce more than a day's journey.
Gigantic was the sun, its space-filtered radiance a blinding sheen which covered almost half the screen before them. Large, too, and visible plainly to the naked eyes was the gleaming, innermost planet Mercury.
When first Gary looked, Mercury seemed and acted in all ways natural. But then....
A cry escaped his lips. Because, contrary to all sound common sense and experience, the glittering orb of Mercury could be actually seen to move! And that movement was not the steady, normal hurtling of a planet in steadfast course about its primary. Mercury was bobbing, weaving, twisting, shaking itself like a gigantic silver terrier tugging to break free of an invisible leash!
For breathless minutes the assemblage watched the staggering spectacle being enacted before them. Then the Jovian Supreme Councillor spoke, his voice sincere in apology.
"Gentlemen of Earth, forgive us. We have wronged you. We did not, could not, comprehend the magnitude—"
But his words were interrupted by a hoarse cry bursting simultaneously from the throats of Jovians and Earthmen alike.
"Look!"
And turning once more to the screen, all witnessed the dreadful climax ... the end of the planet Mercury.
For how long a time it had been tugging at its cosmic bonds none knew, but suddenly a critical point of balance was reached. With a great, impulsive leap the tiny planet burst free of its solar gyves. Like a gleaming stone hurled from some gigantic catapult it flashed outward from its orbit, writhing, shimmering, shaking. Then its flight altered. For the space of a long-drawn, tremulous breath it seemed to hang motionless in the void, ungoverned by any gravitational force or power of natural law ... then the immutable order of nature asserted itself.
The laws of Mass-and-Distance asserted their claim. Like a fluttering moth drawn irresistibly to a flame, the fleeing world fell backward into its luminary. Faster and faster it raced, now dropping plummetlike toward the blazing prominences of Sol. As it fell it was squeezed and hammered out of shape by the tremendous forces playing upon it. For a moment it looked like a lengthening sphere ... then a teardrop ... then the pear-shape split into an infinitude of crushed and shapeless fragments which streaked like falling pebbles into the beckoning heart of Sol.
For the briefest instant a faintly brighter flame seemed to flicker upon Sol's surface as the parent sun hungrily swallowed its infant. Then ... that was all.
Muldoon turned away, shuddering. He said in a dull, dazed voice, "There—there were men on that planet. Posts, mines, laboratories...."
"Johnny Cosgrave," said Hugh Warren. "He would have finished his three years of foreign service next month. He was going back to Earth to get married."
Gary said tightly, "What happened to Mercury will happen toallthe planets if we are not successful. That or something equally horrible. As the sun dwindles, its weight per volume will increase; all the inner planets will be devoured as was Mercury.
"You—" He turned to the Jovian Councillor—"Your planet may not suffer that fate. You are too far away. But the sun's heat will fail, and when that happens cold will sweep down upon you ... such devastating cold as cannot be imagined. If your orbit widens, you may whirl away from the sun and be lost in the never-ending depths of space."
The Councillor said gravely, "You need say no more, Earthman. I understand perfectly. We of Jupiter are sometimes hasty, but never fools. Say now, what do you need of us? How can we cooperate with you to stay this impending doom?"
"Speed," said Lane. "The knowledge of that which your race alone knows: the secret of achieving speed faster than that of light."
The Jovian nodded gravely. "You shall have it. The requisite apparatus shall be installed in your spaceship immediately. But you must help us. Tell us your destination, that we may calculate the co-ordinates, and bring you to your objective."
"We must go," said Gary, "to the galaxy of the star known as Sirius."
"Sirius! Outside our solar system?" The Councillor frowned. "That is difficult and perilous. There are dangers even to our method."
"We must risk them. As it is, we have no way of telling if we are going to the proper place. Nor, indeed, whether when we get there we will find ways to do that which we must.
"Tell me, what is the limiting velocity of this new method you have devised? How fast will we be able to travel?"
The Jovian smiled faintly. "Upon that score, Earthman, you need have no apprehension. You will reach your destination in plenty of time—if you reach there at all. Because, you see, there isnolimiting velocity to our method."
"No limiting—?"
"None at all. Your translation from one spot to another will be practically instantaneous."
"Instantaneous!" cried Dr. Anjers. "But that is impossible. Only by warping space itself could an object be transferred instantaneously from one spot to another!"
"And that," acknowledged the Jovian, "is identically the principle upon which our secret is based. Our instruments do not enable an object tomoveat a speed greater than that of the limiting velocity of light. Such a thing is, by definition and natural law, quite impossible. No, the principle we employ is utterly different. The object itself does not move at all. It merely stands still ... for a brief time cast into a state of infinite entropy...."
"And then—?" asked Dr. Bryant.
"Space warps itself about the object, unfolding to place it in an entirely new sector. Thus, you see, our speed-heightening device does not depend upon velocity at all, but on the unchangeable mechanics of Space and Time. It is, in brief, a method of flight through the Fourth Dimension!"