Уильям Макгиверн: Collected Fiction: 1940-1963

The effectiveness of Zoru’s gun, in comparison to the depth bomb, is perhaps twenty-five times that of the explosive charge contained in the Navy’s potent “cans.”

Operated as it was, from the ocean floor, directly beneath the submarines, its effectiveness was hideously thorough. Once the bubble, flashing up to the surface, reached the proximity of the overhead submarine, it was set off, and the submarine was crushed like an eggshell by countless tons of pressure against its hull as dense water was hurled irresistibly away from the “bomb.”

Even on the surface, four-hundred feet above, according to accounts later made by Navy officials, giant ships were tossed about like corks, and in one instance, a destroyer was sunk when its bottom was stove in.

Perhaps Von Herrman, at that moment, was the only man in the Nazi regime who knew that the fate of the Reich was sealed, that Germany had lost the Battle of the Atlantic, and the war itself. For from that day on, the tide turned against Germany, and with the flood of arms pouring to Britain, and to embattled Russia, the offensive changed sides.

With the destruction of the Atlantis submarine base, America’s navy took over the Azores, Dakar, and joined forces with Britain at Singapore.

Within four months, Africa was in Allied hands, and Hitler had been driven from Iran. Harassed by furious Russian armies, released from the Eastern front with the submission of Japan, who never intended to fight, his army of the east disintegrated, and fell apart, a victim of Russia’s vastness, coupled with her new armed might.

American Expeditionary Forces, and a British army, landing in Portugal, stormed through Spain and drove deep into France, aided by revived sons of the tricolor. Revolt flared all over Europe, and the war came to a sudden, stunning, abrupt halt with the assassination of Hitler at Berchtesgaden by Goebbels, and that worthy’s suicide when trapped by members of Hitler’s personal guard.

History will show, when all the facts are known, that the mightiest conqueror of all times met his end because of a grim battle four-hundred feet beneath the tossing Atlantic. After American aid was assured, unhindered, Hitler’s power expended itself on the impossible task of waging a three-front war.

Science has made things invisible, by means of reflected light rays, bending them around an object until no light is reflected back to a certain point, where the observer is stationed. Thus, an object may be made invisible. However, in this instance, it is obvious that the reflective properties of the surface of the lamp were such that all light was bent around the lamp and not reflected back at all. Thus, with no light turned more than momentarily from its course, no object could have been visible.

When Albert Addin dropped the lamp, this perfect, non-reflecting, light-bending surface was dented enough to totally destroy the delicate balance of curving surface and reflecting angle. Thus, the lamp snapped into visibility. In photographing with an infra-red light filter, it seems that Albert unwittingly captured the only rays which were not by-passed around the lamp, which in normal color range, are invisible to the eye.

Tipecs — worth approximately five Earth dollars.

The exact nature of the “electrical hypnosis” is, of course, unknown, but it was probably not hypnosis at all, but a form of nervous shock that rendered the nervous system incapable of conveying messages for a period of hours, with a resulting apparent state of unconsciousness. Obviously, however, subconscious nervous functioning was not impaired, or death would have resulted. The victim would have “forgotten” to breathe.

Squeelah — a potent drink fermented from the carnivorous plant forms that exist in great abundance on the dank planet of Saturn. It is green in color, bittersweet in taste and TNT if imbibed in quantity.

This means simply that a set speed of 460 miles per minute was indicated for direct intership contact in space; each ship cutting down to exactly that speed while traveling in a parallel direction, and then cutting in toward each other until contact was established. The signal “460/460” was used to indicate a wish to board a vessel in space.

Cosmic Punch. While Lefty and Micky Flynn have arrived at their conclusion in a very naive fashion, it is possible that their reasoning has a sound basis of scientific fact behind it. The aurora borealis is one of Nature’s most perplexing mysteries. Opinions regarding it vary greatly, but it is definitely agreed that the brilliant rays of light which accompany this beautiful phenomenon originate from outer space, from some remote area of the great dark depths of the universe. Cosmic storms in space might produce such disturbances, and if this is true, it is not terribly far-fetched to suppose that these powerful emanations from space might be absorbed by a human body on Earth. As the body absorbs the sun’s rays, so it might absorb the mighty cosmic space-rays. Something like this might have happened to Lefty O’Rourke. Something like this might also have happened to Lou Nova, but evidently a very good antidote for such “cosmic” punches are a couple of Brown Bombs, taken externally.

The Leanhaun Shee is a legendary Irish enchantress, who lives on love. Her very life and existence depend on love, and being loved. It is said that any man who loves her becomes her slave, and finally pays with his life for loving her — because she uses the life force that makes him live to sustain her own body! Thus, she steals, vampirelike, the life from her lovers and goes on living eternally. However, she too has a restriction, one that has never (say the legends) caused her any trouble: namely a curse placed on her by her own father that any man who could resist her charms would turn the tables on her, and she would become his slave.

According to all accepted vampire authorities, these creatures in human form cannot emerge into the daylight, being in a comatose slate during the hours between sunrise and sunset; they cannot face a mirror, or allow themselves to be near one when others are present because no image is reflected, and to do so would be a dead giveaway as to their true identity.

It is a well-known fact that the strong, bitter odor of garlic is one of the few things that render a vampire practically helpless. Since the earliest days, when the existence of vampires was just becoming known, this method has been employed to immunize homes against the nightly marauding of vampires.

Schizophrenia — A mental disease resulting from a split personality. The victim has two natures, generally diametrically opposed to. each other.

Anyone who has read Freud will understand the manner by which Colegrave built up the terrific, though artificial frustration in his mind. Since he was a schizophrenic, with two separate personalities, he created a tremendous repression in his subconscious by willing one out of existence.

A physical example of what Colegrave did would be in the case of a man who, with an extreme effort of will, denied himself even the thought of food or drink. In that case, if this were carried to its conclusion, the man would certainly die. Colegrave “killed” his secondary nature by denying its existence absolutely.

This “death” was in the form of a mighty repression which built up pressure day by day, just as a hot water boiler might. Then when the ultimate repression was reached something had to give. In Colegrave’s case, by the aid of strange drugs, a physical manifestation of his subconscious was created. The drugs might possibly be those of Indian origin which are responsible for schizoid transformation in small animals. It was from a base of this type that the fictional transformation of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde was supposed to have been effected.