Part 4 (1/2)

”But wait,” Alan whispered. ”Tell us--”

”The drug to make you large. Large enough to fight these men. I had planned to do that myself, until I saw you held captive. That girl of your world the doctor just now steal, she is friend of yours?”

”Yes! But--” A thousand questions were springing in my mind, but this was no time to ask them. I amended, ”Go on! Hurry! Give us the drug when you can.”

The little figure moved away from us and disappeared. Alan and I lay as we had before. But now we could whisper. We tried to antic.i.p.ate what would happen; tried to plan, but that was futile. The thing was too strange, too astoundingly fantastic.

How long Glora was gone I don't know. I think, not over three or four minutes. She came from her hiding place, crouching this time, and joined us. She was, probably, of normal Earth size--a small, frail-looking girl something over five feet tall. We saw now that she was quite young, still in her teens. We lay staring at her, amazed at her beauty. Her small oval face was pale, with the flush of pink upon her cheeks--a face queerly, transcendingly beautiful. It was wholly human, yet somehow unearthly, as though unmarked by even the heritage of our Earthly strifes.

”Now! I am ready.” She was fumbling at her robe. ”I will give you each the same.”

Her gestures were rapid. She flung a quick glance at the distant men.

Alan and I were tense. We could easily be discovered now, but we had to chance it. We were sitting erect. Alan murmured:

”But what do we do? What happens? What--”

On the palm of her hand were two pink-white pellets. ”Take these--one for each of you. Quickly!”

Involuntarily we drew back. The thing abruptly was gruesome, frightening. Horribly frightening.

”Quickly,” she urged. ”The drug is what you call highly radioactive. And volatile. Exposed to the air, it is gone very soon. You are afraid? No, I a.s.sure you it is not harmful.”

With a muttered curse at his own reluctance, Alan seized the small pellet. I stopped him.

”Wait!”

The men momentarily were engaged in a low-voiced, earnest discussion. I dared to hesitate a moment longer.

”Glora, where will you be?”

”Here. Right here. I will hide.”

”We want to go after Mr. Polter,” I gestured. ”Into the little piece of golden rock. That's where he went with the Earth girl, isn't it?”

”Yes. My world is there--within an atom there in that rock.”

”Will you take us?”

”Yes! But later.”

Alan whispered vehemently, ”Why not now? We could get smaller, now.”

But she shook her head. ”That is not possible. We would be seen as we climbed the platform and crossed the white slab.”

”No,” I protested, ”not if we get very small, hiding here first.”

She was smiling, but urgently fearful of this delay. ”Should we get that small, then it would be, from here”--she gestured toward the microscope--”to there, a journey of very many miles. Don't you understand?”

This thing so strange!