Part 40 (1/2)
”Join me, Dent. I'm a G.o.d in Atlantis--a G.o.d, I tell you. The lesser races fear me as a supernatural being. Only the city remains uncaptured, but it is mine whenever I choose to take it. A G.o.d--a G.o.d--a G.o.d!”
Jim saw now what he had not realized before, that Tode was insane. It would, indeed, have been a miracle if he had been able to retain his sanity under such circ.u.mstances as he had described. His voice rose into a wild scream. Yes, Tode was mad--just such a madman as any of the old Roman emperors, drunk with power, each in his turn the sole ruler of the world.
”The Earth is mine!” Tode screamed. ”Before the modern world was dreamed of, before the nations were created, Atlantis was the sole power that held dominion over the scattered tribes of mankind. And she is in my hand whenever I strike.
”Wealth incalculable, treasures such as man has never since seen, marvels of scientific discovery, flying machines that would make ours look foolish, paintings grander than have since been executed--all these things exist in the proud city that will shortly be at my command. And I have my Drilgoes, the inferior race, to serve me. They wors.h.i.+p me because they know I am a G.o.d. Join me, Dent, and taste the joys of being one of the supreme rulers of the world.”
In spite of his undoubted madness, there was such power in Tode's voice that Jim could not help believe what he had said.
”Well,” snarled Tode. ”You hesitate to give me your answer, Dent?”
”Lucille and I are engaged to be married,” answered Jim, and the words were drawn from his lips almost against his will. ”We love each other.
I am not going to lie to you and then betray you, Tode.”
The expression on Tode's face was demoniacal. He s.n.a.t.c.hed up the deadly tube that contained the violet fire and turned it upon Jim.
Again Jim felt that repulsive force pus.h.i.+ng him back. He gasped for breath, and tensed his whole body in supreme resistance, while he tried to grapple with Tode in vain.
But suddenly Tode dropped the tube, and a roar of laughter broke from his lips.
”You fool!” he shouted. ”I tell you I am a G.o.d, the one G.o.d, supreme above all. Do you think to match your puny will against my own? I tell you Lucille is mine. And for ever, Dent. Whenever we two have reached old age, all that will be necessary for us to do will be to turn this screw a hair's breadth back into the past, and we are both young again. By holding this vessel steady in four-dimensional s.p.a.ce, I can achieve immortality.”
”Yes, Tode,” answered Jim, ”but, you see, that's the one thing that you haven't been able to work out yet.”
The words seemed to come automatically from Jim's lips. It was only after he had spoken them that he realized they were true. For a moment Tode glared at him; then suddenly, with a shriek of insane rage, he leaped from the instrument board and swung the ray tube with all his might.
Jim felt the blow descend with stunning force upon his head. He reeled, flung out his arms, and toppled forward, unconscious....
CHAPTER IV
_Escape_
An intolerably bright light that seemed to sear his eyeb.a.l.l.s was the first thing of which Jim was conscious. Then he became aware of his aching head, of a sense of utter la.s.situde, as if he had been bruised all over in some machine that had caught him up and held him in its grip for endless aeons.
At last, despite the pain in his eyes, he managed to get his eyelids open. He tried to struggle to his feet, only to discover that he was firmly bound with what appeared to be tough creepers, pliant as ropes.
After the lapse of a few minutes, during which he struggled with the receding waves of unconsciousness, he came to a realization of his surroundings. That light that had so distressed him--though the effects were now beginning to pa.s.s off--was a pillar of smoke and flame, shooting out of the crater of a volcano about a mile away, across a valley.
He was lying in the entrance to a cave, pegged out on his back, and bound by the tough creepers to the stakes driven into the ground. Up to the mouth of the cave grew huge tree-ferns, cattails, cycads, and such growths as existed in earlier ages in the warm, moist regions of the world.
Beneath the level of the cave a heavy white fog completely shrouded the valley, extending up to within a short distance of the volcano opposite. But on the upper slopes of the volcano the sunlight played, making its crater a sheen of gla.s.sy lava, intolerably bright.
Beyond the volcano Jim could see what looked like an expanse of ocean.
He groaned, and at the sound a creature came shambling forward, carrying what looked like a huge melon in either hand. Jim recognized the Drilgo, Cain.