DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Spaceways, v. 3, issue 6, whole no. 22, August 1941

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Spaceways, v. 3, issue 6, whole no. 22, August 1941

10                   S P A C E W A Y S 

THE INSIGNIFICANT INVASION

live any more anywhere. And then--a flashing light on one of the buildings caught my eye. It was an odd-looking building: small, plain metal, bullet-shaped; it contrasted vividly with the graceful buildings on either side. Interested, I walked toward it. As I approached, a door in its side slid conveniently open. I entered, the door closed, and air hissed into the room. 
Then the second door opened, and before my startled gaze stood a large bug-eyed monster. It waved a tentacle at me. "Don't do that," I murmured feebly. "Be still, my stomach."
"Righto," the thought burned into my brain. "I say, where are you from?" Mental telepathy, I guessed, and concentrating, answered. "From earth, the third planet in a system of nine, the sixth of which has rings around it."
"I'll check up the records," came the burning thought. The creature slithered in a slimy, nauseating sort of way over to a slot in the wall and peered into it with two or three eyes. "Here it is: Sun no. 128495 1-4--in sector 783862B--nine planets. The second, third, and fourth possess life; the only known system to possess natural life on three planets. The third planet has the least amount of oxygen, less than 2% at the surface; otherwise almost identical with this planet."
"I'm afraid you're mistaken," I thought, looking in the other direction. "Earth has the most oxygen, almost 20%."
"You're not pulling my leg, what?" The creature seemed excited.
"Certainly not," I replied weakly, "don't even suggest it."
"Oh, I say, this is jolly," came the creature's thought. "Now we can stop looking, you know. For thousands of years we've been searching for another planet capable of supporting the people of Sharb. Twenty thousand years ago a bit of a runaway sun blundered into our system and hooked two of our four planets. Not only that, but Sharb was drawn so close to our sun that out atmosphere was scorched away when this old girl got to cutting up a bit. Inconvenient, what? We had to build this dome in a hurry, and get what was left of our population inside. But that wasn't the last of it, you see, because our supply of oxygen was rather limited; and finally we were forced to put the whole bloody population under suspended animation in this spaceship, leaving only one chap at a time to search the heavens for another planet to migrate to. Now we can get started, you know. In a few hours we'll be setting off for the planet you call--what was it?--oh, yes, earth."
"OH, NO, YOU WON'T!" I shouted, forgetting all about telepathy. Swiftly I leveled my trust atomatic; five shots blended together in a continuous roar. To my surprise, the pellets flattened out soggily in mid-air as through they had hit an invisible wall. I stood for a few seconds staring with more than my usual stupidity at the misshapen pellets lying on the floor. Then a rapidly approaching clatter from the corridor to the left aroused me. I glanced up to see a glass-headed, seven-foot, badly-oiled metal monstrosity with four legs clump into the room. "Sorry, old boy," thought the Sharbian to me, and waved a tentacle or two in my direction. The machine moved forward, its many-jointed arms outstretched to catch me. For a moment I was at a loss; but only for a moment. Then the fighting blood of the Pooksniffle Snergs came to my rescue; quickly I stepped backward and fired at the conveniently fragile glass head of the monster. The glass shattered and the robot pitched to the floor, junk. "Oh, I say," came the reproachful thought, but when I looked up the Sharbian had disappeared. Quickly, but with dignity, I walked over to the airlock door. It did not open. From one of the corridors I heard the squeaky clatter of more robots. With instant presence of mind, I dived into the opposite corridor and ran like hell. 
The inside of the spaceship was a veritable labyrinth, with cross corridors every ten yards or so. I took advantage of this, and turned and twisted as much as possible; but still the clatter of the robots could be heard coming nearer and nearer. At the next intersection I turned the corner, reloaded my atom-gun, and waited for the robots. At once I saw how they had followed me so easily.

Saving...

10 S P A C E W A Y S THE INSIGNIFICANT INVASION live any more anywhere. And then--a flashing light on one of the buildings caught my eye. It was an odd-looking building: small, plain metal, bullet-shaped; it contrasted vividly with the graceful buildings on either side. Interested, I walked toward it. As I approached, a door in its side slid conveniently open. I entered, the door closed, and air hissed into the room. Then the second door opened, and before my startled gaze stood a large bug-eyed monster. It waved a tentacle at me. "Don't do that," I murmured feebly. "Be still, my stomach." "Righto," the thought burned into my brain. "I say, where are you from?" Mental telepathy, I guessed, and concentrating, answered. "From earth, the third planet in a system of nine, the sixth of which has rings around it." "I'll check up the records," came the burning thought. The creature slithered in a slimy, nauseating sort of way over to a slot in the wall and peered into it with two or three eyes. "Here it is: Sun no. 128495 1-4--in sector 783862B--nine planets. The second, third, and fourth possess life; the only known system to possess natural life on three planets. The third planet has the least amount of oxygen, less than 2% at the surface; otherwise almost identical with this planet." "I'm afraid you're mistaken," I thought, looking in the other direction. "Earth has the most oxygen, almost 20%." "You're not pulling my leg, what?" The creature seemed excited. "Certainly not," I replied weakly, "don't even suggest it." "Oh, I say, this is jolly," came the creature's thought. "Now we can stop looking, you know. For thousands of years we've been searching for another planet capable of supporting the people of Sharb. Twenty thousand years ago a bit of a runaway sun blundered into our system and hooked two of our four planets. Not only that, but Sharb was drawn so close to our sun that out atmosphere was scorched away when this old girl got to cutting up a bit. Inconvenient, what? We had to build this dome in a hurry, and get what was left of our population inside. But that wasn't the last of it, you see, because our supply of oxygen was rather limited; and finally we were forced to put the whole bloody population under suspended animation in this spaceship, leaving only one chap at a time to search the heavens for another planet to migrate to. Now we can get started, you know. In a few hours we'll be setting off for the planet you call--what was it?--oh, yes, earth." "OH, NO, YOU WON'T!" I shouted, forgetting all about telepathy. Swiftly I leveled my trust atomatic; five shots blended together in a continuous roar. To my surprise, the pellets flattened out soggily in mid-air as through they had hit an invisible wall. I stood for a few seconds staring with more than my usual stupidity at the misshapen pellets lying on the floor. Then a rapidly approaching clatter from the corridor to the left aroused me. I glanced up to see a glass-headed, seven-foot, badly-oiled metal monstrosity with four legs clump into the room. "Sorry, old boy," thought the Sharbian to me, and waved a tentacle or two in my direction. The machine moved forward, its many-jointed arms outstretched to catch me. For a moment I was at a loss; but only for a moment. Then the fighting blood of the Pooksniffle Snergs came to my rescue; quickly I stepped backward and fired at the conveniently fragile glass head of the monster. The glass shattered and the robot pitched to the floor, junk. "Oh, I say," came the reproachful thought, but when I looked up the Sharbian had disappeared. Quickly, but with dignity, I walked over to the airlock door. It did not open. From one of the corridors I heard the squeaky clatter of more robots. With instant presence of mind, I dived into the opposite corridor and ran like hell. The inside of the spaceship was a veritable labyrinth, with cross corridors every ten yards or so. I took advantage of this, and turned and twisted as much as possible; but still the clatter of the robots could be heard coming nearer and nearer. At the next intersection I turned the corner, reloaded my atom-gun, and waited for the robots. At once I saw how they had followed me so easily.