THE PEOPLE OF THE COMET
18
we calculated the depths of Space that it had traversed it seemed to us as coming from beyond the bounds of the Universe itself. It was not only large but it was wicked; its red light winking and dripping an unholy radiance. To the people of Sansar it was the harbinger of Fate and Terror.
“ 'But to me it was a thing of destiny. I watched the comet through the long nights as it approached the Earth, and as it began to throw out its tail I marveled at its beauty, like all the rest of Sansar. For it was the most marvelous and, for all that, the weirdest and most terrible sight ever beheld. In the full of the night it was as large as the moon itself, blood red, like a vast wound in the heavens, driving a trail of light across the night exactly like a train of blood. Behind the head followed the dazzling nucleus, shooting jets and concentric rings of light into the coma, which in its turn passed on the light to the long and terrible train that reddened the darkness.
“ 'It was enough to frighten even an astronomer; to the ignorant it was the omen of death itself. When I say that the whole polar world went into panic I am not exaggerating.
“ 'It fascinated. I had always been interested in comets; but now, when I gazed into its terrible face, I was hypnotized. I could see the thing coming out of the Infinite and proving every bit of my theory. If I could but reach the comet I was sure that I would establish ‘one of the great laws of the Universe.
“ 'The astronomers worked with me, and night upon night we studied the spectrum, took photographs, and piled up data. We went into each detail with mathematical exactness. For it was my theory that this super-comet was but an ion of cohesion. We made ready for the time when it would cross the Earth’s orbit. It was planned to ascend in the ether ship forty-eight hours ahead of the moment when it would come the nearest to the Earth. With the atomic engines and the electric propeller-controls, the trip could be made in that length of time. I was to approach the comet just as closely as possible; and I was to carry instruments with me for the gathering of scientific data.
“ 'The day of my departure was a great one in Sansar. The whole of the Polar population crowded in or about the metropolis, waiting for the departure of the ether ship. It had been proclaimed that I, and one companion, would make the cometary attempt on a night appointed. The roads were packed with thousands, and for a week people slept in the streets. In all the territory about there was not a spot that was not held by a shuddering, terrified inhabitant of Sansar.
“ 'I planned to leave in the evening when the comet was brightest and when I had its light to guide me. By this time it had grown so immense and its redness was so intense that the whole night was bathed in a mist of unhallowed crimson.
“ 'I shall never forget that night—the stillness of the air—the red sky—the throngs of people packed back from the edges of the Ether field as far as the eye could reach—the bands playing—and the solicitude of my friends and the wise men, That day was a high point in the history of Sansar. It was an epoch of the Alvas; and had I succeeded I would have surpassed by all odds any achievements of my scientific ancestors. I was not afraid. I was as confident as any youth who had ever stood upon the threshold of adventure. I had the courage of my training. If the ether could be crossed there was no doubt of my ability to approach the comet. I was not afraid of the ether.
“ 'I had just forty-eight hours, I knew that with the terrific speed that the ether ship maintained through its atomic propulsion that I could reach it.
“ 'My plans were mostly to sail along with the comet, once I was near it, observe the head or coma, as it is called, and, if possible, get a good glimpse of the nucleus. If it were feasible, and I could do it without destruction, I intended to land on the comet. That is, granting that it had enough of solidity and substance to guarantee a landing. For I knew that there was a possibility that I might find the comet to be merely a matter of light and electrical glory.
“ 'If I could not land I would return to the Earth at one sailing. That would mean, possibly, five days. There was no telling what I might encounter; and there were a thousand dangers that I had to bear in mind. For instance, meteor storms, I might find myself in the midst of a cloud of immense pounding meteors, or I might get tangled up in some strange cometary force, unknown currents, electrical storms—what not. Any number of things might happen. If the comet’s head, for instance, were composed of material matter, such as shooting particles, there was a good chance for my destruction. It were necessary that I have good control of the ether ship; for, well constructed as it was, there would be little chance, if I ventured too close, of its surviving a bombardment of bowlders traveling at the speed of cannon balls.
“ 'I had to chance it. But while I was takingthe chance, I had, to a certain degree, the confidence of my calculations. I did not fear the head of the comet. I was sure that, no matter how dazzling and terrible it might be, it could not hurt me. It was the nucleus that I had to look out for. The head I took to be the effect of radiation, light—an immense coma thrown off from the parent nucleus. The nucleus is the heart of the comet, the one part that had ever defied all our calculations. The real danger was there—likewise the secret. It might be anything, and was so much of a mystery that I would wait until I could see it before I would venture an opinion. It might be fire, a great knot of electrical force, atomic explosion, radiation—anything. Perhaps in its heart I would discover the secret of cohesion.
“ 'At the last moment, just before I made off, I met with my first disapointment.
“ 'The ether ship had been built for the accommodation of two persons. I had expected to carry along a companion to serve as an assistant during the stress of the journey. There were long hard hours ahead. The man whom I had chosen was a noted astronomer of about my own age, a young man very eager to engage in the adventure. At the last moment I lost him.
“ 'After the apparatus (scientific and otherwise) had been stored away, it was discovered that there was very little accommodation for even one person. The space was too limited. I had, therefore, the alternative of abandoning the trip altogether, or undertaking it alone. It was a sad moment, and I was not a little appalled at the prospect before me.
“ 'Just before the start I stopped to take a last look at Sansar; for I knew that it might be my last moment on the Earth. Then I entered the ship, closed it, and rang the signal to my men. The next instant I was shooting like a bullet straight into the zenith.
“ 'For the first few moments I staid with the controls. I had to take great care at the start because the hardest part of an ether ship's flight is through the atmosphere. Once I was beyond it I would be free from the terrible menace of atmospheric friction. For a while I was very busy.
“ 'To those in Sansar my departure must have been like that of a gigantic projectile, whose whizz and momentum made any definite sight impossible. The craft arose at u right angle; and though the bottom of the ship thus automatically became the side, I experienced not a bit of inconvenience. This was because of the atomic anti-gravitational current that circulated under the floor. By the simple means of a button I had released the force that gave me the control over
