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Horizons, v. 2, issue 1, whole no. 5, October 1940
Page 13
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Jerdac's huge muscles bulged as he slowly, painstakingly drew back the lever that would start the plant working. In a strangely jocund fashion for one virtually condemned he completed the final connections with a short whistled tune. Then he sprang quickly backward as the powerful gears began their throbbing motion. All eyes turned now toward the ocean as a gigantic steel cone swung out from the superstructure and buried itself with a splash into the watery depths. The there came a swooshing sound and a mad whirlpool of water formed as millions and millions of gallons of water were drawn into the cone broken down into their basic elements and hurled into space toward Mars. Men condemned, thousands, stood about and watched the life fluid of their existence swiftly sucked away and thrown out into space. Suddenly there came a shout. It was Jerdac, who was advancing toward the Martian menacingly. "Stand back, earth fool," commanded a particular ugly specimen of Martian life. "Stand back, or your useless life will end sooner than you had anticipated." "You needn't worry," chimed in another sarcastically. "Your life is safe. For services rendered we plan to keep you in cage and display you to students as an example of base earth life." They all laughed. A crude, rasping laugh. Jerdac did not fall back. He continued to advance. "The man is mad!" fearfully put in one Martian. "Let him have a blast of the heat-ray." The dread orange beam shot out, and played about the form of Jerdac. His skin turned black, blistered and peeled, his clothes melted away and his hair singed leaving the odor of burning flesh. Then he was upon them. His mighty back arched. A shrill scream rent the air, followed by a dry snapping and a throaty gurgle. the heat ray was in Jerdac's hands, and a Martian lay grotesquely limp upon the ground. The other martians threw down their weapons ina sign of surrender. "Man, man!" one said. "You know what will be the fate of the entire human race for this deed. They'll be wiped out. Not a living thing shall exist to show that earth once was green, bore life, built cities." "It takes then minutes for the water to reach Mars," cracked Jerdac thorugh burnt lips. "And it will take about six more for light from Mars to reach earth. We have then approximately three minutes before light should carry us back a strange scene. An utterly strange scene." The minutes ticked maddening by. Three minutes, four minutes, five. A smile of triumph started to cross the features of one Martians. Suddenly the twilight in which only a few of the brightest stars were visible displayed a bright flash. It might have been a nova except that the star that had mysteriously brightened was the one at which the superstructure pointed - Mars. "You forgot," shouted Jerdac, "that the surface of Mars has, for incalculable eons, been devoid of the slightest moisture whatsoever, except for a few miles at the pole where ice formed in the winter and melted in the summer to provide water. Through the centuries the last trace of moisture has disappeared from the desert regions of Mars, and slowly, ever so slowly, the composition of the planet has undergone a peculiar chemical change. water, once a necessity, is now a destroyer. Chemicals in earth, which will ignite when they come in contact with water, are not unknown. But nature, through the years, has created an infinitely more potent chemical on Mars. Water, unknown for so long, touched it off, as a match would ignite dried brush. There is no Mars! Nothing, perhaps, but a few asteroids which now pursue the orbit which once belonged to Mars!" Horror flashed across the features of the Martians. "What is to become of us?" they chorused. Ironically Jerdac replied: "well, we'll keep you in a cage, I guess, show the world what Martians looked like." THE END &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
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Jerdac's huge muscles bulged as he slowly, painstakingly drew back the lever that would start the plant working. In a strangely jocund fashion for one virtually condemned he completed the final connections with a short whistled tune. Then he sprang quickly backward as the powerful gears began their throbbing motion. All eyes turned now toward the ocean as a gigantic steel cone swung out from the superstructure and buried itself with a splash into the watery depths. The there came a swooshing sound and a mad whirlpool of water formed as millions and millions of gallons of water were drawn into the cone broken down into their basic elements and hurled into space toward Mars. Men condemned, thousands, stood about and watched the life fluid of their existence swiftly sucked away and thrown out into space. Suddenly there came a shout. It was Jerdac, who was advancing toward the Martian menacingly. "Stand back, earth fool," commanded a particular ugly specimen of Martian life. "Stand back, or your useless life will end sooner than you had anticipated." "You needn't worry," chimed in another sarcastically. "Your life is safe. For services rendered we plan to keep you in cage and display you to students as an example of base earth life." They all laughed. A crude, rasping laugh. Jerdac did not fall back. He continued to advance. "The man is mad!" fearfully put in one Martian. "Let him have a blast of the heat-ray." The dread orange beam shot out, and played about the form of Jerdac. His skin turned black, blistered and peeled, his clothes melted away and his hair singed leaving the odor of burning flesh. Then he was upon them. His mighty back arched. A shrill scream rent the air, followed by a dry snapping and a throaty gurgle. the heat ray was in Jerdac's hands, and a Martian lay grotesquely limp upon the ground. The other martians threw down their weapons ina sign of surrender. "Man, man!" one said. "You know what will be the fate of the entire human race for this deed. They'll be wiped out. Not a living thing shall exist to show that earth once was green, bore life, built cities." "It takes then minutes for the water to reach Mars," cracked Jerdac thorugh burnt lips. "And it will take about six more for light from Mars to reach earth. We have then approximately three minutes before light should carry us back a strange scene. An utterly strange scene." The minutes ticked maddening by. Three minutes, four minutes, five. A smile of triumph started to cross the features of one Martians. Suddenly the twilight in which only a few of the brightest stars were visible displayed a bright flash. It might have been a nova except that the star that had mysteriously brightened was the one at which the superstructure pointed - Mars. "You forgot," shouted Jerdac, "that the surface of Mars has, for incalculable eons, been devoid of the slightest moisture whatsoever, except for a few miles at the pole where ice formed in the winter and melted in the summer to provide water. Through the centuries the last trace of moisture has disappeared from the desert regions of Mars, and slowly, ever so slowly, the composition of the planet has undergone a peculiar chemical change. water, once a necessity, is now a destroyer. Chemicals in earth, which will ignite when they come in contact with water, are not unknown. But nature, through the years, has created an infinitely more potent chemical on Mars. Water, unknown for so long, touched it off, as a match would ignite dried brush. There is no Mars! Nothing, perhaps, but a few asteroids which now pursue the orbit which once belonged to Mars!" Horror flashed across the features of the Martians. "What is to become of us?" they chorused. Ironically Jerdac replied: "well, we'll keep you in a cage, I guess, show the world what Martians looked like." THE END &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
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