Part 20 (1/2)

Still, for all his swiftness of mind and accuracy of thought, he had to correct two mistakes in all his work. It was nearly an hour before the thing was finished. Then, two hundred feet long, a hundred wide, and fifty in height, the great mechanism was completed, the tall columns rising from four corners of the greater framework that supported it.

Then, into it, Arcot turned the powers of the cosmos. The stars in the airless s.p.a.ce wavered and danced as though seen through a thick atmosphere. Tingling power ran through them as it flowed into the tremendous coils. For thirty seconds--then the heavens were as before.

At last Arcot spoke. Through the radio communicators, and through the thought-channels, his ideas came as he took off the headpiece. ”It's done now, and we can rest.” There was a tremendous crash from within the apparatus. The heavens reeled before them, and s.h.i.+fted, then were still, but the stars were changed. The sun shone weirdly, and the stars were altered.

”That is a time s.h.i.+fting apparatus on a slightly larger scale,” replied Arcot to Torlos' question, ”and is designed to give us a chance to work.

Come on, let's sleep. A week here should be a few minutes of Earthtime.”

”You sleep, Arcot. I'll prepare the materials for you,” suggested Morey.

So Arcot and Wade went to sleep, while Morey and the Talsonian and Torlos worked. First Morey bound the _Ancient Mariner_ to the frame of the time apparatus, safely away from the four luminous b.a.l.l.s, broadcasters of the time field. Then he shut off the attractive ray, and bound himself in the operator's seat of the apparatus of the artificial matter machine.

A plane of artificial matter formed, and a stretch of rock rose under its lift as it cleft the rock apart. A great cleared, level s.p.a.ce resulted. Other artificial matter enclosed the rock, and the fragments cut free were treated under tremendous pressure. In a few moments a second enormous ma.s.s of cosmium was formed.

For three hours Morey worked steadily, building a tremendous reserve of materials. Lux metal he did not make, but relux, the infusible, perfect conductor, and cosmium in tremendous ma.s.ses, he did make. And he made some great blocks of oxygen from the rock, trans.m.u.ting the atoms, and stored it frozen on the plane, with liquid hydrogen in huge tanks, and some metals that would be needed. Then he slept while they waited for Arcot.

Eight hours after he had lain down, Arcot was up, and ate his breakfast.

He set to work at once with the machine. It didn't suit him, it seemed, and first he made a new tool, a small s.h.i.+p that could move about, propelled by a piece of artificial matter, and the entire s.h.i.+p was a tremendously greater artificial matter machine, with a greater power than before!

His thoughts, far faster than hands could move, built up the gigantic hull of the new s.h.i.+p, and put in the rooms, and the brace members in less than twelve hours. A t.i.tanic sh.e.l.l of eight-inch cosmium, a s.p.a.ce, with braces of the same nonconductor of heat, cosmium, and a two inch inner hull. A tiny s.p.a.ce in the gigantic hull, a s.p.a.ce less than one thousand cubic feet in dimension was the control and living quarters.

It was held now on great cosmium springs, but Arcot was not by any means through. One man must do all the work, for one brain must design it, and though he received the constant advice and help of Morey and the others, it was his brain that pictured the thing that was built.

At last the hull was completed. A single, glistening tube, of enormous bulk, a mile in length, a thousand feet in diameter. Yet nearly all of that great bulk would be used immediately. Some room would be left for additional apparatus they might care to install. Spare parts they did not have to carry--they could make their own from the energy abounding in s.p.a.ce.

The enormous, s.h.i.+ning hull was a thing of beauty through stark grandeur now, but obviously incomplete. The ray projectors were not mounted, but they were to be ray projectors of a type never before possible. s.p.a.ce is the transmitter of all rays, and it is in s.p.a.ce that those energy forms exist. Arcot had merely to transfer the enormously high energy level of the s.p.a.ce-curvature to any form of energy he wanted, and now, with the complete statistics on it, he was able to do that directly. No tubes, no generators, only fields that changed the energy already there--the immeasurable energy available!

The next period of work he started the s.p.a.ce distortion apparatus. That must go at the exact center of the s.h.i.+p. One tremendous coil, big enough for the _Ancient Mariner_ to lie in easily! Minutes, and flying thoughts had made it--then came thousands of the individual coils, by thinking of one, and picturing it many times! In ranks, rows, and columns they were piled into a great block, for power must be stored for use of this tremendous machine, while in the artificial s.p.a.ce when its normal power was not available, and that power source must be tremendous.

Then the time apparatus, and after that the driving apparatus. Not the molecular drive now, but an attraction ray focused on their own s.h.i.+p, with projectors scattered about the s.h.i.+p that it might move effortlessly in every direction. And provision was made for a force-drive by means of artificial matter, planes of it pus.h.i.+ng the s.h.i.+p where it was wanted.

But with the attraction-drive they would be able to land safely, without fear of being crushed by their own weight on Thett, for all its enormous gravity.

The control was now suspended finally, with a series of attraction drives about it, locking it immovably in place, while smaller attraction devices stimulated gravity for the occupants.

Then finally the main apparatus--the power plant--was installed. The enormous coils which handled, or better, caused s.p.a.ce to handle as they directed, powers so great that whole suns could be blasted instantaneously, were put in place, and the field generators that would make and direct their rays, their ray screen if need be, and handle their artificial matter. Everything was installed, and all but a rather small s.p.a.ce was occupied.

It had been six weeks of continuous work for them, for the mind of each was aiding in this work, indirectly or directly, and it neared completion now.

”But, we need one more thing, Arcot. That could never land on any planet smaller than Jupiter. What is its ma.s.s?” suggested Morey.

”Don't know, I'm sure, but it is of the order of a billion tons. I know you are right. What are we going to do?”

”Put on a tender.”

”Why not the _Ancient Mariner_?” asked Wade.

”It isn't fitting. It was designed for individual use anyway,” replied Morey. ”I suggest something more like this on a small scale. We won't have much work on that, merely think of every detail of the big s.h.i.+p on a small scale, with the exception of the control cube furnis.h.i.+ngs.

Instead of the numerous decks, swimming pool and so forth, have a large, single room.”