Эрл Гарднер - The Human Zero. The Science Fiction Stories of Erle Stanley Gardner

The man on the floor raised his voice.

“I don’t know what she’s telling you, but I know it’s false. I’m merely an innocent stowaway, searching for a thrill. I demand that I be given my liberty.”

The girl paid no attention to him.

“You have no idea what this invention means commercially. Father is interested in it purely from a standpoint of scientific investigations. Commercially it’s worth millions and millions.

“You saw the three men who tried to kidnap me. When they knew Father had achieved success they would have stopped at nothing. They planned to hold me captive, and force Father to ransom me by giving them a share of the profits, or else to force Father to divulge his secret to them.

“I tell you, there’s so much potential wealth in this thing that murder becomes a mere nothing to the men who want to solve the secret.”

Click turned her words over in his mind.

“What’ll you do with this chap? Drop down and turn him loose?”

“Certainly not! He knows too much now. He had an opportunity to study the mechanism. He’d ask for nothing better than to be put out. By the time we returned he’d have the whole invention exploited for all it was worth.”

“Well, what, then? Will your father call off his trip of interstellar exploration?”

“You should know Dad better than that. He warned me not to give him an opiate, but I did it just the same. He’ll sleep a few hours. When he awakes, no power on earth can keep him from starting on his journey. You understand that money and glory mean but little to him. He’s after scientific data.”

“But,” protested Click, “this man Badger will be a menace to him when your father returns.”

“We’ll handle that when the time comes. But you must remember the chances are about a hundred to one against our returning. And if we do not, we aren’t going to leave our secret behind us, in the hands of an unscrupulous scoundrel.”

Click Kendall rubbed his chin.

“Well, then, how about me?”

“Why, you’re going, too, of course. We couldn’t leave you behind to publish what you’ve found out.”

“And I’m not to be allowed back on earth, not even to send messages?”

She smiled, and shook her head.

“Of course not, silly! That’s just what we don’t want you to do — send messages.”

Badger stirred, attempted to sit up.

“You’ll pay for this,” he croaked.

The girl paid no attention whatever to him, but glanced at the terrain below.

“This is a good place,” she remarked, and manipulated the lever and slide. Instantly the car slowed to a stop, wobbled back and forth like a gob of wax on the end of some invisible string.

Then it slowly settled.

Below was a wild, wooded country. There was no sign of habitation. The level rays of the setting sun showed dark green foliage, winding rivers, occasional meadows. There was no sign of any road, no house, no fence.

Dorothy Wagner flung open the door, thrust out her head.

“Come and look at it. It’s delightful. We’re only about a thousand feet up. You can even smell the pines.”

Click joined her at the door. The balmy air was soothing to his nostrils. Over the country lay the calm hush of a warm twilight.

“What do we do now?”

“Wait.”

“For what?”

“For Father to wake up.”

“And then?”

She did not answer in words, but pointed her finger up at the darkening sky.

Badger struggled with his cords, flung himself about on the floor, but was unable to gain his freedom. At length he subsided, muttering rumbled threats.

The last rays of the sun were swallowed up by the golden horizon. Dusk gave place to darkness. In wordless silence the two in the doorway drank in the scenery.

Each engrossed with thoughts, they watched the stars silently appear, swing upward. Below, the world lay black and mysterious. Once there was the flicker of a light. Far to the north a camper built a small camp fire which sent its red light flickering over the tree tops. Away to the east a glow in the sky marked the location of a city.

After an hour the eastern horizon glowed, lighted, and the rim of a moon climbed into dazzling sight. Within a few minutes it hung suspended, clear of the mountain rims.

There was the sound of a door opening. Abruptly, lights came on, flooding the place with eye-aching brilliance. Professor Wagner stood in the doorway of the cone, his eyes glittering with hectic intensity.

“Dot, you gave me an opiate.”

She met his accusing gaze.

“I did what I thought was best, Father.”

He pointed toward the circle of the moon.

“Do you want us to get tangled up in the gravitational field of that moon?”

“What would it do, Father?”

“Do? It would delay us hours, days, perhaps trap us in the cold clutch of a dead satellite! No moons for me! I want to get out and see something of the solar system. I want planets, life, atmosphere. Quick! Let’s go!”

Badger again flopped about in struggling panic.

“It’s kidnaping, murder!” he cried.

“Close that door, hold everything!” snapped Professor Wagner, and placed his thumb upon the sliding button.

The lights clicked off. There was a sensation of sudden motion, and then the scientist’s exulting voice pealed forth a cry of triumph.

“We’re off!”

Click looked through the window in the floor, then recoiled in surprise.

The shell was hurtling upward with such terrific speed the earth seemed to contract upon itself, wither into a shriveled shell. The boundaries of the forest were not apparent. Clusters of lights showed as bordering villages. Those pin-points of lights crowded closer together, became merged in a single blob of brilliance. The larger cities appeared, swept below in an ever narrowing circle.

“What’s that in the west?” he exclaimed.

Before his question could be answered an arched tip appeared over the western circle of earth, grew in size and became a flaming ball of fire. Yet around it was no glow of blue heaven. There was a ribbon of radiance, then black sky. And the ball of fire speedily welled to white, eye-blistering heat.

The sun was rising in the west!

Dorothy Wagner was at his side, watching the spectacle in silence.

Higher and higher came the flaming ball. The earth showed as an arc now, and on the side nearest the sun was a growing ribbon of light.

Click tore his gaze away, turned to her.

“How come?” he asked.

“The sun,” she exclaimed. “It seems to be rising in the west because we’re ascending above the rim of the world. You can see the motion of the earth below us. Look at that range of mountains. See them glittering in the sun. And the earth seems to be slowly revolving. That’s because we’re overcoming some of the momentum with which we were thrown to one side by the envelope of air and the centrifugal force.”

Click could see the earth, showing now as a suggestion of a great ball, outlined against a black void, slowly turning.

“But why is the sky black?”

“The air acts as a light diffuser. If it wasn’t for our atmosphere, the sun would be a ball of fire in a black sky. There would be dazzling light on one side of an object set in its rays, and intense blackness on the other side. You get something of that same effect on the high mountains where the atmosphere is more rare. Ever notice how much blacker the shadows seem, how much more dazzling the light?”

Click nodded. It was just occurring to him that there were a good many physical phenomena he had been taking for granted.

“What’s the strip of sunlight to the west?”

“That’s late afternoon on the Pacific Coast. The sun is just setting there. Later on we’ll be able to see the Pacific Ocean. Then the motion of the earth in its revolution will become more apparent as we get farther away and gradually overcome the force of our outthrust from the rim of the wheel. You see our anti-gravitational force is acting as a centrifugal force resistant.”