Dwellers in Darkness: The Golden Amazon Saga, Book Fourteen. John Russell Fearn

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ dimmer? They seem more green than they were. Normally they’re blue-white.”

      The Amazon, Abna, and Mexone all gazed around them, then after a moment they looked at each other. They were convinced of one thing: there was nothing wrong with Viona’s eyesight. The lights were changing color, altering even as they watched from green to a pale shade of yellow

      “The light spectrum’s altering,” the Amazon said at last “If the next apparent color is orange, then we can be pretty sure that light is sliding down the scale to extinction! But—why?”

      Nobody answered her, for the simple reason that there did not seem to be an answer—not yet. And sure enough, with the passage of moments, the lights became a dull orange glow.

      “Something, somewhere, is producing a spatial warp,” Abna said deliberately. “That causes the normal wavelength of light to be either extended or contracted, to such an extent that light as such has no meaning to our eyes. And we’re steadily flying to the source of the trouble, which is why our lights are dying. If we keep on going, we may fly beyond the center of the disturbance and find light gradually resuming.…”

      He stopped abruptly. The lights gradually dimmed, faded some more, and left the four in the control room like spectral presences. Then even this faded, and darkness came. Absolute. Complete. The overwhelming darkness of outer space.

      Complete silence. None of the four moved, nor did they panic. Their nerves were too hardened to break down—but each one of them was sorely, desperately puzzled. They began to assess the position. Hurtling through utter blackness at half the speed of light, unable to read instruments, unable to produce light in any form, they had nothing left to rely on now but the utmost ingenuity and level-headedness.

      “You there, Abna?” came the Amazon’s voice presently.

      “Still here,” he responded. “Stay where you are and I’ll come to you.”

      He moved, lunging into the utter darkness, and abruptly he found the Amazon next to him.

      The Amazon felt Abna draw away from her, and for a while there was the sound of his movements and a sound like glass being tapped. After a while he came back to her side.

      “Testing the thermometer,” he explained. “Fortunately the degree numbers are raised, so I’ve been able to feel their outlines, and the mercury level actuates a sliding pointer which I’ve also been able to feel.” Pause. “We were at sixty-five Fahrenheit: now we’re at sixty-three. So we’re already beginning to lose heat. Neither heat nor light is being conducted anywhere in the ship. From somewhere, something is being generated which causes space to fail in its function of carrying light and heat—and we’re in the midst of it.”

      “We know the normal vibrations of light, and of space itself,” the Amazon mused. “Suppose we find out, if possible, what the present spatial vibration is?”

      “Not so easy in this utter dark, but I’m willing.”

      The Amazon moved, feeling her way around carefully. Abna did not attempt to help her: she was better left with unhampered movement. Out of the void the voices of Vionu and Mexone spoke occasionally, mainly to inquire as to what was being done.

      “I’m finding out the vibration of the space outside the ship,” the Amazon replied, amidst a clinking of instruments. “I obviously can’t see these interior readings, so I’ll have to grope my way outside and take a reading on portable equipment. It works on the raised slide method and has raised figure readings, so I’ll be able to ‘feel’ the answer. That’s better; I was having a bit of struggle getting into my spacesuit.… Back soon,” she finished, and there was the sound of her shambling out of the control room to the emergency lock in the main corridor.

      It seemed to the others, left in the dreadful darkness, that hours passed before the Amazon at length returned.

      “I’ve taken a spatial reading, and judging by all normal standards it’s completely haywire. That bears out your theory, Abna, that something is causing a warp. But it also suggests something else: a warp can be straightened. We know the exact figure for normal space, the figure necessary for it to carry light, heat, and so forth. We have only two chances—one, to fly on in the hope that we’ll eventually draw away from this strange region: the other is to try and build the necessary equipment to straighten out the trouble, at least within the immediate vicinity of the Ultra.”

      “The last suggestion is obviously impossible,” Viona remarked. “We can’t do a thing with this utter darkness.”

      “We might feel our way to constructing some small, local neutralizer,” the Amazon mused. “If we could do that, we could see our way to making a bigger one. No doubt about being able to construct the thing: we’ve all the necessary knowledge and machine tools.”

      “I think Viona is right,” came the voice of Abna. “It’s too complicated, Vi. Give it a while, and see what happens.”

      “Look!” Mexone cried suddenly. “The lights! I believe they’re appearing again!”

      Instantly Abna and the Amazon turned, looking upwards. They both felt a tremendous sense of relief, of gratitude even, at a dim vision of numberless dull red points glowing in the void. Without doubt they were the ceiling lights, and those of the switchboard.

      Motionless, the four watched, and sure enough the colors began to reappear, in reverse order, merging from the red into orange, and then from orange into pale yellow, green, and finally the normal whiteness. At the same time gentle waves of warmth from the restored heaters began to make themselves felt.

      “Well, thank heaven for that!” the Amazon exclaimed; she looked abruptly through the window. There was still nothing to be seen. Either there were no stars in the area, or else the spatial warp was still affecting them.

      “Time we got some action on this,” Abna said, picking up the Amazon’s discarded space suit and putting it in the locker. “We shall have to go back through this dark area, evidently, so we’ll be prepared for it. We’d better get busy with that neutralizer you suggested, Vi.”

      He turned to the control board and switched on the power, gradually increasing to maximum strength on the forward jets.

      “What’s the idea?” the Amazon asked.

      “Slowing us down to a standstill—which will take a considerable time. We want to see what really lies in the dark area we’ve passed. There may be something intriguing, particularly if the dark area has been created artificially.”

      “While you two geniuses work out the details I’ll fix a meal,” Viona said. “Come on, Mexone—give me a hand.”

      They hurried from the control room, and after a moment Abna came and joined the Amazon where she sat at the console bench.

      “This neutralization business is the least of our troubles, Vi,” he said, glancing toward the power plant. “My main worry is fuel. If we don’t get copper soon, we’re done for. I haven’t advertised the fact too much to Viona and Mexone, but I can’t conceal it from you. I’m using up power with every moment we slow down, too.”

      “I’m aware of it, Abna. That’s why I want to get the space warp sorted out. I refuse to believe that a space can exist where there are no planets or suns whatever. It isn’t natural law. So, if we can only get light, we might be able to spot something worth tackling—for copper, СКАЧАТЬ