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Show . : j . Hite-i1 Hite i1 Afler After Hitei1i - i : Worlds Worldsj WorldsA w : Collide Collidew Collideft A I . . lP ft ftBy . ' " 1 " ' : By Edwin Balmer Balmerand . and Philip Wylie WylieCopyright . Copyright . . , 1934 . , by byEdv byEdv . Edv Ed " , . In 1n Balmer&PhllIp BalmerPhllIp Baimer&Philip BaimerPhilip BaJmer & Philip TVyllo WylIe TVylloSYNOPSIS wr"U wrU thtr . " Centre CentreSYNOPSIS crvfce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SYNOPSISUnder SYNOPSIS SYNOPSISUnder Under the leadership of Cole ColeHendronnoted Hendron , noted American scientist BclenUst , over 300 per- per persona peraons por-BOns por BOns - sona aons escape In two Space Ships Just be- be betore before be before - fore tore a 11 cosmic collision coUlslon coillaton wiped out the theearth theearth earth ! srtb , and land Jand on Bronson Beta Beta.Gl&nt Beta.Glnt BetaGlnt . . Giant & meteors , , fragments fragmonts of or the tbe earth's earths eartb'a eartba earth'smooD eartb'amoon earth'smoon earthsmoon ' mooD moon , fall tall In their vicinity , but none noneof noneo noneof of ( Hondr Hondron Hendron n a s colonists Is hurt . . . A rlvor river rlvorbottom riverbottom riverbottom bottom green greon with viith ' " Itb vegetation Is Isfound isfound Isfound found , . and great forests of dead trees treespreserved , presorved preserved for a million years rears by the theabsoluto thesbsolute theabsolute absoluto sbsolute cold of space An airplane , which disappears dtsappeare almost ImmedIately immediatelyflies , tUos flies over tho the camp , making mahlnS ' no attempt attemptto attemptto attemptto to communicate with Its people , v.horealize vhorealize 'rho rho 'rhorealise ' ' " . ho horealize realize realise that they are not alone on the thenew thenew thenew new planet p1nnet . , and that their visitors may maybe maybe mayba be enemies . . Toni Tony Ton ) Drake and 1lIot Cllot 1lIot.James : EliotJames CllotJames .James James . , In an exploration airplane airplanetJlght airplaneflight airplanelight tJlght light , come upon a ' " wondrous ondrous tsondrous city , en- en enclosed en enclosed . - closed under what whnt seems like halt haIt half an anIrIdescent anIridescent anlrdescent IrIdescent ( glass bubble six : miles wide wideADd widetad wideAnd ADd tad halfa half haIt a mile mUe info high hlS'h hlSh ' at Its center . CHAPTER IV-Continued IV Continued IV - Continued Continued"They IVContinued6 -6- 6 - 6"Thcy - 6"They - " "They They "Thcy Thcy " swept sssept sn ept It before they lefc-or lefc or left-or left leftordied lefcordIed lefc - - ordied dIed In here , , " Eliot ClIot L'llot Lllot ' replied 'l'hey lhey "They They "Theydrew ' " 'l'heydrew ' . Tlieydrew ' drew their gates and nnd shut out the thewInd thewind thewind wInd . After Alter they left-or left or left - - or died-what died what diedwhatelse diedwhatelse died - whatelse else could disturb dJsturb It ? But . , my G-d G d - G - dthey , they were neat near . . . No rubbish , no Utter ! Ut It Itter , ter : . " ' . "And And 'And " ' everything locked , " Tony said saidhaving , bavJng having baited haIted halted to try a door . The order orderof orderof orderof of everything , , and the utter stlIlness stillness stillnesswas , , was getting his nerves againEliot againEliot again againEliot Eliot James bad had run ahead "Tables Tables " 1 I " " he called "Tables Tables " and nnd chairs I 1 ! ThIs ThIswas Thiswas Thiswas was a restaurant 1 ! ! " _ His Bls nose was pressed against tbe the tbeglass theglass theglass glass , , , and nnd Tony swiftly Joined hIm hImWithIn himwithin him"Within himWithin WithIn " stood ro rofts rows , > s of metal tables and andwhat andwhat andwhat what were , unquestionably , chairs cllalrs of ofmetaL ofmetal ofmetal metaL . , All bare ; ; and aad nil all , of course courseempty , empty . It resembled nothing so much muchas muchas muchas as a restaurant rcstnurnnt ; and nnd looking In , , noone noonefrom no one onefrom onefrom from earth could doubt that that was waswlnt waswriit waswhit wlnt wriit It had beenThe beenThe been beenThe The place plnce looked loohed Immaculate , , as If Ifput ifput itput put In order an nn hour ago-and ago and ago - - and then thendeserted thendeserted thendeserted thendeserted"Where deserted deserted"Where "Where Where " are theyi they ! ? ' Eliot l1ot James ap- ap appealed appealed ap appealed - - pealed again "Ob Ob "Oh Oh " , , Tony , where dldthey didthey dld did didthey they go ? ' ' "What What " \ nere were ere they ? ' Tony countered countered"That's countered"That's countered"That's counteredThats "That's Thats " ' what I 1 , > want ant to know hnow . Were Werethey Werethey Werethey they huge ants ? Were they human humanbraIned humanbrained humanbrained braIned reptiles rept1les ? Were " they-tO they tO they- theytO"The they"They they - "The The "They They " sat In chairs , , " said Eliot EliotJames EliotJames llot llotJames James "The The " } ) ate at tables They ran rana rana rana a car that steered by pedals pednls and a a"heeL awheeL awheek "heeL heeL wheeL " Their equipment would "ould ould " fit us ; their theJr floors and steps are on our ourscale ourseal scalp scale " . Let's Lets ' breik bre1k break In here . . " He tried the door , w \ which hich was fitted fittedwith fittedwith fittedwith with a handle ; but this did not turn or orbUdge orbudge orbudge pressedThere bUdge , . however pulled or pressed There was no keJ kcibole keyhole hole ; no locking lochlng de- de device de- de device de device - - vice was an anywhere ) where apparent ; but the thedoor thedoor thedoor door was to be mo\ mo mo\ed mo ed moed mosed \ ed no more than thanthose thanthose thanthose those that they had tried before . . . Tony looked loohed about . . . A shudder con con- convulsed convulsed convulsed - vulsed him A thousand wmdows windows wmdowsJooked windowslooked windowslooked Jooked looked do\\ do dottn don down \ n on this stretch of ot the thesilent thesilent thesilent silent street ; a thousand thous.md thousmd . pairs of eyes eyesonce eyesonce eyesonce once had looked down don do\\ do \ n It seemed to toTony toTony toTony Tony that they must-they must they must - they must do It ItagaIn itagain Itagain agaIn Eyes of what ? Huge , , sentlent sentient sentientIntelligent , , Intelligent insects ? Reptiles of some somestrange somestrange someBtrange strange , semi human sort ? What lay illy dead by the tens of thou thou- thousands thousands - . sands In those silent rooms overhead ? Tony was pulling pUU1ng at his pistok pIstoL . Some Some- Somehow Somehow - . how , it reassured him to hold bold It in his hishand hishand hisband hand . . He reversed It , , and beat the thebutt thebutt thebutt butt on the great glass pane p.me pme . behInd behIndwhich behindwhich behindwhich which stood the strange metal tables tablesnnd tablesand tablesand nnd and chairs chnIrs . . The glass did not give way . It Ittwanged Ittwanged Ittwanged twanged , not like IIhe glass but like Hke sheet sheetmetal sheetmetalmetal metal-metal metal - metal utterly transparent transparentTony . . Tony caught the butt burt In his bls palm palmand palmand and pulled the trigger trtgger . . The shot shotroared shotroared shotroared roared and re echoed But the metal metalpane metalpane metalpane pane was not pierced The bullet he hehad hehad hehad had fired tired lay at Tony's Tonys ' feet . Hyster Hyster- - - Hysterically Hysterieally ically ieally , , tie lIe emptied his bls pistolWith pistolWith pistol pistolWith With the last shot , he jerked Jerhed about aboutagaIn aboutagain aboutagain agaIn and stared st.ned stned . up at the rows ro\\s ro s \ of ofwindows ofwindows windows \ Indows Did something up there therestir therestir thereetir stir ? Eliot CHot James Jnmes jumped and pointed ; end and Tony stiffened stUl'ened stUlened ' as he lie staredSomething staredSomething stared staredSomething Something lurlered t1uttered fluttered ( a bundred hundred bundredyards hundredyards hundredyards yards , ovcrh overhead d and farther down the thestreet thestreet thestreet street ; something light Hght , . like Uhe a cloth clothor clothor clothor or a paper . One way wny \ ny , , now another . , It Itfluttered fluttered as It fell feU on the still stIlI air all ' ot of otthat ofthat that ofthat arrange strange sealed seated city , . It renched reached reachedthe renchedthe the street and lay there"We'll there"We'll there there"We'll TonyBald Tonyeald Tonysaid "We'll Well " ' go see \ what hat [ } that lat 18 is Is . , , " Tony eald said dryUpa dryUps drylips to Ellol CnOl Eliot Jamesettmg James , . \ netting \\ettmg ettmg wetting his dry Ups lips so he could spea speak . . But before tlicy they gained the tbe object , objectthey they evidentlythe Identlythe etidentlythe forgot It 1t . A window , c\ c cIdently etidently \ Idently the vltrlne vitrine of a gallery nllery of art art . , , con fronted confronted them \ within Ithln the ; glass was Ii a Iiportrait aportrait aportrait aportraitSimultaneously portrait . . Simultaneously , Tony and Eliot Ellot l < not sa saV saw \V V \ it it sawIt Vit . . They stopped as If they wer were werestruck werestruck struch struck : ; and nnd their rheir breith brc'lth brclth breath ' , left them themBreith themDre'lth themBreath Dre'lth Drelth Breath ' of relief , . and wonder vvonrler 1They I 1 IIhey Ihey They .1 1 ' . hey looked loohed at the likeness IIheness ofwoman of a awomnn awoman womnn woman 1She 1 ! 1She SheVas She \ was \Vas Vas a ) ioung young nung \ womun woman \ olllan strange strangennd strangeand strangeand nnd and fascinating ' Slie She he "US US eas ft " as not fairnur fiilr fulr fair ; nur nul ' " wus "IlS IlS its bhe she dark durk darkof of . skin .In In . ! Her Hu Hcr II h tnirand III ti r ' r rbrow and brl\\ brl brow brows brlS ( \ \ S \ were Here \ ere bit\ bit Mar blink bit1 \ ! k 1 . li II h Ilr itr > lr nrr.lrI"ed nrr.lrIed nrrlrIed nrr.ine nrrine nrr.inewith nrrjiiedZvlth . " ? , , d with \ Ith an nn aIr lr tl / tli t/I t I ; . . : niLlit rnl"ht rnlht might " he be h ( > inrlliiQua inrlliiQuabut Inrlh Imlhldinilbut Itl II II I t Ibut but " , which hl .h h < . tliKe tliice thf < ; e .11(0\ .110 .11(0 110 .11(0If'rs rli.cnrters rlicnrters < . lls " . ( < .nniprs nniprs . \ % ( If'rs Ifrs ' of her herfelt he hefelt herfelt r felt . , v-as v as v . ' - .us us . us rlUlll mutt rlUlllAnn muttAnn nul it itAnn Ann of wti wh whit it r race rncf ( ( > t ' Nor Not the Caucasian C1lucncdllI : , not th the Mon Mongollan Monsollan ton gollan ollan ; : not the Ethiopian , , surely ; not notthe notthe notthe I the Indian . She was "as as " of ot no race nlee uponcnrth uponearth upon ! earth cnrth ; but she was haman It.lman Itlman . . . "So So 'So So "So " ' , " , " slid s'lid said ' bllot hUot I.llot Illot . James Jnmes , , who first firstsucceeded firstsucceeded firstsucceeded succeeded In spciklog spc'l.hlng spcl.hlng spclhlng spe'iking speiking ' ' . . , 'so so * ' so they here herehuman ' \ werehuman ere erehuman human I ! By G-d G d G - d , 30U you ) ou fel tleI feel f < -el el - youd you d m.e me life m.eto lifeto liketo . to know her . ' Ton Toni ) } relaxed relu'tcd relutcd rela'ed relaed ' bis his linnds hnnds hands . , which hadclenched had hadcJenlhed hadclenched cJenlhed clenched "Where Where " did slie she 11\ 11 Ihe 11e Ike \ e , . do you yousuppose } ) ou ousuppose ousuppose suppose . , Eliot r.Uot rUot . ? Did elie she live Il\"e Il "e e \ " up be- be behind be behind behind - - hind one of these windows wlndows7 ? I.ct's I.cts Icts I.et's I.ets Iets I.ct'sgo I.et'sgo Let'sgo Letsgo . ' " " go on "Why Why " go on ? " demanded r.Uot rUot Eliot EliotJames r.UotJ'lmes . EliotJimes J'lmes Jlmes James ' . . "We\ "We We " "We\e "We We e "Wee "we're were " ' \ e got to get Into one ne ot of ofthese otthese ofthese these buildings some\\ some somewhere somehere \ here We might mightas mightas mightas as v\ v w " vell "ell ell \ ell eli begin beln : here . . * ' So together they ' ' itfhcked 'ltfnched ltfnched 'ttfacked ttfacked the door door.which doorwhich . , which , like m.e me . those thosp they had pushed nnd and andpulled nndpulled andpulled pulled at before , , shan showed ed no lock loch . , ye yet yetwas yetwas . ! was secureThe secureThe secure secureThe The door evidently was designed to tolIft toflit tolift lIft flit ; It should rise and slip sUp Into the themerol themetal themetal merol metal wall wan overhanging It ; but no nopusblng nopushing nopushing pusblng pushing or straining at nt It no hammer hammer- hammerIng hammering hammering - ing and nnd pounding , , could cause It to tobudge tobudge tobudge budge . . And the glass In It-the It the It - the panel panelof panelof panelof of transparent trnnsparent metal-was metal was metal - was not to be bebroken bebroken bebroken bebrokenWeary broken brokenWeary Weary and aDd sweating from their theirstraining theirstraining theirstraining straining at It It . . , Tony and r.Uot rUot Eliot r.Uotstepped Eliotstepped . Eliotstepped stepped back . Repeatedly , , " while "hlle hlle chile they tbey had worked at atthe atthe atthe the door , each of at them had spun about abouttor aboutfor aboulfor tor for a glance over orer big his shoulder . The Themetal Themetal Themetal metal scenied seemed so new-some new some new - - some one mustbe must mustbe musibe be about this city standing all In such suchorder suchorder suchorder order . Now , , ns as the two men from E'lrth Elrth Earth E'lrthstood Eirthstood Earthstood ' stood side bJ by 03 side slle ( staring about them themthe , the slightest of sounds reiched re\C'hed re C'hed Ched retched ' \ ' them ; and a door-not door not door - not the door at which whichthey whichthey wlilchthey they hnd had pushed and pounded pOllnr/cd pOllnr cd / but a adoor adoor adoor door some twenty tenty t\\ t \ enty steps bey be beyond onl1beg'ln onl1-be onl1 be and-be and andbegin - begin g'ln gln gin ' rIsingTony risingTony rising risingTony Tony and [ rilot rllot ' 1101 shrank shranI . closer to- to together together to together - gether . They pulled out tl'pir tlpir tllPlr hair ' pistolswhich pIstols pIstolswhich pistolswhich which they had reloaded Up , upsteadily upsteadily up steadily , , slo\\ slo slowly sloJy \ Jy , the metal metaL door was liftedCounterbalanced lifted Counterbalinced Counterbnl'lnced Counterbnllnced Counterbalanced ' I t ' ' exclaimed Tony Tonyto Tonyto Tonyto to his companion ; but his hlS hisolcc \olcc olcc solce \ olce vtshusky tsas tsashusky \ , as ashusky ! husky . 'Itas ' 'It It ' It \ was \\as as counterbilanced counlerh'llanced counlerhllanced counlerhnlanced ' , of ofcourse ofcourse ofcourse course I ! lOur Our pounding affected alTected some somemechanIsm somemechanism somemechanism mechanIsm Inside 1 I I " "They're Theyre " ' human , anyway , " whIsperedEliot whisperedEliot whispered Eliot James"Yes James James"Yes . "Yes Yes 'Yes " ' , " , " said Tony , his eyes fastened fastenedon on the aperture under the rising door , ' See--nnythlng See nnythlng See--anything anything See - - - anything ? " "There's Theres " ' nobody there , . , " " argued arguedDUot arguedEliot arguedEliot DUot Eliot . , , with himself hlmseJt as much as withhis wIth wIthhIs withhis hIs comrade . . "They They " all died-they died they diedtheyall died - - theyall all died a million yeirs ye'lrs yelrs years ' a ago o " " . "Yes Yes 'Yes " ' , . , " agreed Tony . . The door was wasceasing wasceasing wasceasing . ceasing to rise ; It had reached Its Us limit I | ( I theI slopped , leaving the tbe way Into the thegreat thegreat thegreat great metal building ' openI openThey open openThey I , doorwaytogether They approached the open doorway adI together ; : and together , neither In ad advance advance advance I vance or In the reir re'lr relr rear ' of the other ; ; they theyentered theyentered theyentered entered it If It , , pistols In hands That.IS That \\.IS .IS was |