OCR Text |
Show When When Worlds yVorls Collide CHAPTER X-Continued X Continued X--Continued X - - - Continued XContinued17 -17- 17 --17-- - - - 17Tony 17Tony IT - - - Tony looked loohed at the breech of ot thetube the thetube thetube tube and nodded . . . "Journeying Journeying IIJourneylng " through space we w1l1 will w1l1be willbe willbe be a rocket that can cnn be Ored fired tired tromboth fromboth trom from fromboth both ends and nnd from trom nil aU all around the thesides thesides thesides sides of both ends endsl ? " "Exactly Exactly " , although the side tiring firing Is Isor Isof Isof or of leaser lesser Intensity . , We have ha\e ha e base \ twcnty twenty twcntystern twentystern twentyetern stern vents and nnd twenty t"enty tenty " forward tor"ard torard " , you yousee ) vousee OU OUsee see , , and Rnd t\H t H \ twelve lve around the circum circum- circumference circumference circumference - - ference at each end " Hendron smiled smiled"It smiled"It smiledIt .It It "It " . la Js Is very beautiful , our slilp ship ; and andaccording andaccording andaccording according to the laws of at ph physics , ) sics , , by bythe bythe bythe the release of ot more power . , It wllJ will wllJnavigate willnavigate willnavigate navigate space slhace as surely as It bopped hopped boppedfrom hoppedfrom hoppedfrom from the ground , , when we required it itto Itto Itto to to . . We'll Well ' leave this world . , Tony ; ; and and,1 and1 , I believe bel1eve , , we'll well ' ' land upon Bronson BronsonBetn BronsonBeta BronsonBeta Betn Beta . . , " Tony atarcd stAred at him hJm . : ' "And And IfAnd If " And we well welllive welllive 11 11JIve JIve live attern afterward nrd 1 ? " "Wii Wii "Why Why "Wh1 Wh1 " not 1 ? " Hendron returned returnedI returnedagain returnedagain returnedagain I again . "We We " can count upon vegeta vegetatlOD vegetatlon vegetatlon tlOD tlon on 00 Bronson Beta , almost surely surely.No surelyNo . No , surely , I should say . Higher formsof forms formsot formsof ot of life lite must have been annihilated by bythe bythe bythe the cold ; but the tho spores of ot vegeta vegetatlon vegetation vegetatlon tlon tion could survive . . . "We We "Wt Wt " : know too lOO little httlt httic : about the low lov low- lower lower , . - er temperatures temperntures ; but what we have havediscovered havediscovered havediscovered discovered Indicates that tlie the germi germi- germinating germinating germinating - - nating power of ot micro organisms and andepores andspores andepores epores spores should be preserved at lower lowertemperatures lowertemperatures lowertemperatures temperatures for tor much longer perIods perIodsthan periodsthan periodsthan than at our ordinary temperatures " "At At " " 'At At ' least 1 I ! " Tony caught up hiswords his his'Words hiswords 'Words Words ' "You You " will wUl not deny , then , , that thatthere thatthere thatthere there may be a possibility of ot higher higherJlte higherlife higherlife Jlte life surviving or capable of ot being re re- re'Ivedtoo revived revivedtoo - - \'Ived-too 'Ived Ived too vived-too vived ' \ vived - - tool 1 ? " Hendron shook his head . . . " "I I " ' 1 haveBeen have have8een haveseen 8een seen too many Incredible things OCt oc- oc OCtcur occur oc occur - cur , Tony Tons , " he replied , I ' Ito 'to to to deny any anyposslbUltparticularly anypossibility anypossibilitypartlcularly posslbUlt-particularly posslbUlt particularly possibility-partlcularly possibility partlcularly ) - - particularly under condl condltloDs condlttons condltlons tloDs ttons of which no one on this t11s [ world worldbas worldhas worldhas bas has had any experience But I do not notexpect notexpect notexpect expect It It . . I do expect vegetation vegetationespecially , , especially vegetation that grows from tront trontspores fromspores spores . . "In In " the early days on this "arId arId world " worldthe , , the great majority of plants did not notreproduce notreproduce notreproduce reproduce by seeds , , but by the farmore tar far tarmore farmore more resistant BIJ spores { > reS , which have havesurvIved havesurvived haveeurvlved survIved as the method of reproduc reproduc- reprodthc- reprodthc reprodthction reproduction reproduction - - tion of or many varieties So we w1ll will w1llcount willcount willcount count upon a native flora which , , un an undoubtedl.Y andoubtedly andoubtedly doubtedl.Y doubtedlY . , will w11l appear very strange strangeto strangeto to us Of Ot course , as you know , we wenre wenre wewe nre taking across " with "ith ith wltb us our own ownBeeds ownaeeds ownaceds Beeds aeeds and our own spores . . . " "I I " know , " said saM Tony Ton ) , "and and " even our ourown ourown ourown own Insects , too " "Exactly Exactly Itnxllctly " . , You've Youve ' been talking tnlklng with wltb withKeppler wltbIleppler withKeppler Keppler Ileppler , , I see I put that problem probiem en- en entIrely entlrely en entirely - tirely tlrely up to KeppJer Keppler . . ' 'Our Our "Our ' " Our first flrst and mo most , > t necessary unit unittor unitfor unitfor tor for self sell preservation proved to be the thecommon thecommon thecommon common honey bee , , to secure pollina pollina- polllna- polllna pollination pollination polllnation - - tion of ot flowering plants , trees and so soon soon soon on Keppler says that of some twenty twentythousand twentythousand twentythousand thousand nectar Insects , this one spe spedes specles spedes des pollinates more than all the rest restput restput restput put together . The honey bee wouldtake would wouldtake wouldtake take care of practically practicllllv all of or this thisMork thiswork this/work this work Mork work ( / , , as his range Is i8 tremendous tremendousThere tremendousThere tremendousThere There are a few plants-Keppler plants Keppler plants - Keppler tells tellsmesuch tellsmesuch tellsme me-such me such - - such as red cIo clover closer , er , which he .can can ran- ran ranhot . can.not cannot - . not hot work on ; but bis hie his ; cousin the thebumblebee thebumblebee thebumblebee bumblebee , w with with th his longer proboscis probosciscould , , could attend to them So , first and andforemost andforemost andforemost foremost among living HVlDg things , , we webring webring webring bring bees"We bees"We bees bees"We "We We " also take ln1.e ln1e . ants , , " Hendron went wenton wenton wenton on , "especially especially "epeclally epeclally " ; : , the common littlebrown Utlle little Utllebrown littlebrown brown varlet variety ) } , to ventilate , drain and and'Work andwork andwork 'Work Work ' the soil ; : and , as you hive hwe observed ob erved served , Tony , angle\\OlmS angle OlmS angleworms \ \ also Since 'Since ' we are going to take with withus withus withQS us fish eggs to hatch ho.tch hotch . Into fish overthere over overthere overthere there , we have hae bate ha\ ha \ e to take tal.e tale . ma mayflies ; ) flies TheIr TheIrlarva Theirlarvae Theirlarvae larva larvae . , In addition to pro\ pro providing proIdlng \ Idlng food foodfor foodfor foodfor for the fish , are necessiry necess'lry necesslry necessary ' to keep the theInlnnd theinland theInland Inlnnd inland waters from tram becoming chokedwith choked'with choked chokedwith with 'with ' algae and the lower water plants"rn plants"In plants plants"In "In In "rn rn " the whole of the Lepidoptera Lepidopterathere Lepidopterathere Lepldopterathere there Is not not . , Kepler says so.ys soys . , , one neces necesEary necessary necescary Eary sary or e\ e even een esen \ en useful species spec1es ; but tor for torBheer forsheer forBheer Bheer sheer beauty's beautys ' sal.e-and sal.eand sal.e sale and sake-and sake sake . - - and because becausethe becausethey becausethci the they ) take small space-we space we space - - we will "lll lll w " I11 ta1.e ta1e take ta1.eelx takesix takeelx . elx six butterflies and at least the Lunamoth Lunamoth"And Luna Lunamoth Lunamoth moth moth"And " "And And " we must take one of the re- re reputed re- re reputed re reputed - - puted scourges of the earth " "What What " 1 ? " said T'On1 TOn1 Tony T'On1liThe Tony"The Tony"The TonyThe ' liThe "The The " grasshopper grasshopper-the grasshopper the - - the locust . . . Such0.0 Such00 Such Suchan Suchan i an . . Insect will wlll be vitally necessary to tokeep tokeep tokeep > keep the greenery from trom choking cho1.lng cho1lng . our ournew ournew ournew new earth ; : and the one best suited for forthis forthis forthis this job 30b Is , paradoxically pnrndoxlcnlly enough , one oneot oneof oneof ot of mankinds mankind s oldest scourges , the thegrasshopper thegrasshopper thegrasshopper grasshopper . He Is la an nn omnivorous omnivorousfeeder omnivorousfeeder omnivorousfeeder greenery1n greeneryto feeder and would keep the greenery greener ; In 1n to check-atter check atter check-after after check - after he got his start . . Our Ourfirst Ou Ourfirst Ouifirst first problem may be that he will wlll nol not notmultiply no nomultiply t multiply fast and then he be keephim 1.eep111m will wlll multiply too fast . So to 1.eep 1eep keep . 111m him In check , , and al also o the butterfly butterflyund butterflyand butterflyand und and the tbe moth , , we will wlll take para parasitetiles parasite parasitetiles < ; 1te 1tetIles tIles . . . We will have to have haH hale these- these thesetwo thesetwo these thesetwo - - two or three of or the dozen common commonTachlnld'1.e commonTachlnldie commonTachinlte Tachlnld'1.e Tachlnld1.e Tachlnld1e Tachinlte ' . have been chosen'We chosen 'We We ' We IVe are arc bringing brmglng along vials of ofmushroom ofmushroom ofmushroom mushroom and othci othel other fungi tungi spores sporesOther Other\\ Other OtherIse Otheresise sporesOtherwise sporesOtheresise \ \ Ise vegetnU vegetation n would fall down down downnever , , , I ne\er ne er never \ disintegrate , and pile plle up till tilleverything tilleverything tilleverything everything was choked A vial thesize the thesize thesize size of your ) our thumb holds several se\eral se eral \ blllion b1l bil b1llIon bilnon lIon non spores of assorted fungi-In fungi In fungi - in case casethe casethe casethe the spores of the fungi of Bronson BronsonDeta BronsonBeta BronsonBeta Deta Beta have bave not Sur\ Sur Surl survived \ l\ l \ led ed . , , They areabsolutely are areabsolutely areabsolutely absolutely essential'Also essentialAlso essential 'Also Also ' Also , we are taking bottles ofstagnant ot of otstagnllnt ofstagnant ' stagnllnt stagnant pond v . water ater and another of ofbeRwater ofbeawnter ofl eawater beRwater beawnter > containing our micro organ Isms organIsms such Buch as diatoms . , plankton , , unl unt unlcellular untcellular unlcellular cellular plants and animals whichform which whichform whichform i form the basis of ot our own biotic econ econ- econI economv economy economy - I omy omv and would \ ould supplement sUPlIlemLnt , , . or replace replacesuch , , such life on the other globe"About globe globe"About I I"About "About About " anlmals- anlmals anlmalsHendron animals = - ' Hendron IIendron halted"Yes halted halted"Yes halted"Yes haltedYes "Yes Yes " urgedIt urged"there urgedthere urged"lhcre about animals , , " Tony urged It " "lhcre lhcre 1 hLre Is , naturally , still sUU dlSt discussionOur discussion usslon . , , Our space sp.1ce sp1ce . Is so limited and there tbere ismost I Is Ismost ; most tremendous competition competltton Birds Bird BirdsolTer Birdoffer BirdofTer s ! olTer offer . a some\\ some somcnhdt someh.1t somesshat \ h.1t h1t . blinpler blmllier bimpler problem . . "llie llie "Ihe Ihe " .1 1 . " he matter wlltter of dOJs dohs do s and cats Is to the th thdun thniDii e ( 11111 dun > , > t ( dlllkiilt dlllkult dlilicult , . , " " Hendruii Hendron sild s'lld slld said ' closln coosin coosinthe closintin . ; , ? . the ; subj subJI ( ct Air pumps murmun.d murmund murmurs murmurscnuheubere inurruuru.iiinpv inurruuruiiinpv . d .111111\\ .111111 .111111.Iprl cnuheubere < . ' . ' \ hpn- hpn .Iprl Iprl hpnwithin ! . : ' - within th the ( ' ship Rhlp 'vhf vhf ' 'vhid vhid 'Vhlc.b Vhlc.b Vhlcb ' ' ch . < ! > By EDWIN BALM BALMER BALMERandPHILIP ER ERand and andPHILIP andFlIIilLl andPHILIP PHILIP FlIIilLl WYLIECopyright WYL5E WYLIE WYL5ECopyrlebt Copyrlebt Copyrhht Copyright ; by Edrin Edwin B Balnrr Balmer .lmer lmer . 81 & Philip PhlUp Phtitp Wylta WyltaWNU Wyll Writ . WNTT WNU STTlc service Servlcs Servlcsseemed seemed half halt alive nllre Electric IJIectrlc generators generatorshummed generatorshummed generatorshummed hummed , and from somewhere came camethe camethe camethe the high hlgb note of ot one of the electronIc electronIcengines electronicengines electronicengines engines Tony left Hendron and wentfrom went wentfrom wentfrom from the shipThat shipThat ship shipThat That night the emigrants from the theearth theearth theearth earth gathered again In to tlie the dIning dIningh'llL diningli diningh h'llL hllL h ' < ilL 11L Hendron addressed them , , out- out outlining out outlining - . lining the general final preparatIons preparationswhich , , which \ hlch were augmented by specific specificprinted , , printed Instructions to meet such con contlngencles contingencles contingeneles tlngencles tingencles as could bb ba foreseen . After the meeting , , the crowd moved movedoutdoors movedoutdoors movedoutdoors outdoors and stood awhile , , looking at atthe atthe atthe the Bronson Bodies . . As In their for for- former former ( or - . mer approach their size had Increased IncreasedIn In diametric proportion during the thelast thelast thelast last few tew days and nights , and nnd theynow they theynow theynow now dominated the heavens , , Alpha Alphaeclipsed Alphaeclipsed Alphaeclipsed eclipsed by Beta , \ which hlch rushed to toward toward toward ward the earth ahead of ot It , , In thetame the thesame tame ame position as that held by a 21 planetIn planet planetIn In transit translt across the face of ot the sun sunThe sunThe sunThe The spectacle was one of weird beau beauty beauty beauty ty , , and one calculated to strike terror terrorIn terrorto terrorIn In to the tbe bravest Bronson Alpha lookedlike loohed looked loohedlike lookedlike like the rising moon , except that It Itwas itwas itwas was much larger than any moon had hadever hadever hadever ever seemed to beAlready beAlready be beAlready Already the desolate and wounded woundedsurface woundedsurface woundedsurface surface of ot man's mans ' world was stirringto stlrrmgto stlrrmg stirring to their approach npproach Slight earthquahe earthquake earthquaheshoc1.s earthquakeshocks earthquakeshocks shoc1.s shoc1s shocks . were felt from time to time timeand , , and the very \ winds inds seemed to be mov moving movlag movIng ing lag In a n consciousness of ot the awful awfulcataclsm awfulcataclysm awfulcataclvsm cataclsm cataclysm ) that was drawing near . . All Allover Allover Allover over the world , the tides-unnatural tides unnatural tidesunnaturally tides - unnaturally ly absent since the shattering of the themoonrose themoonrose themoon moon-rose moon rose - rose again and licked up the thesides thesides thesides sides of ot the fresh , , raw shores ; the thepeople thepeople thepeople people who ssho \ ho huddled on mountains and andpraIrIe andprairie andprairie praIrIe plateaus ptateaus that night knew 1.ncw 1ncw . instinctively instinctlvely In Instlnctlvely stlnctlvely stinctively that this was Indeed theend theend the end Tony sought out EveI EveCome Eve I ' Come walk walkwith walkwith walkwith with me , " he saidI saidI'd said said'I'd I ' 'I'd Id I'd Id ' ' ' like IJke to It's Its ' ' ' so 80 strange towait to towalt towait walt wait , , with everything done that mat mat- matters matters matters - ters For It's Its ' all done , Tony ; e1 every ; ery- ery , - thing everything erythIng that we're were ' to take with wltb us has hasbeen hasbeen hasbeen been prepared and put In placeIt |