Smith, E E 'Doc' - Skylark 1 - Skylark of Space

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-1-

THE SKYLARK OF SPACE

By Edward E. Smith, Ph.D.

1946, 1947, 1950, 1958, by Edward E. Smith, Ph.D.

Chapter One

Petrified with astonishment, Richard Seaton stared after the copper steam-bath upon

which, a moment before, he had been electrolyzing his solution of `X,' the unknown

metal. As soon as he had removed the beaker with its precious contents the heavy bath

had jumped endwise from under his hand as though it were alive. It had flown with terrific

speed over the table, smashing a dozen Reagent-bottles on its way, raid straight o:, out

through the open window. Hastily setting the beaker down, he seized his binoculars and

focused them upon the flying bath, which now, to the unaided vision, was merely a speck

in the distance. Through the glass he saw that it did not fall to the ground, but continued

on in a straight line, its rapidly diminishing size alone showing the enormous velocity at

which it was moving. It grew smaller and smaller. In a few seconds it disappeared.

Slowly lowering the binoculars to his side, Seaton turned like a man in a trance. He

stared dazedly, first at the litter of broken bottles covering the table, and then at the

empty space under the hood whore the bath had stood for so many years.

Aroused by the entrance of his laboratory helper, he silently motioned him to clean up the

wreckage.

`What happened, doctor?'

`Search me, Dan ... wish I knew, myself,' Seaton replied, absently, lost in wonder at

what he had just seen.

Ferdinand Scott, a chemist from an adjoining laboratory, entered breezily.

'Hello, Dicky, thought I heard a rack - Good Lord! What you been celebrating? Had an

explosion?'

`Uh-uh.' Seaton shook his head. `Something funny - darned funny. I can tell you what

happened, but that's all.'

-2-

He did so, and while he talked he prowled about the big room, examining minutely every

instrument, dial, meter, gauge, and indicator in the place.

Scott's face showed in turn interest, surprise, and pitying alarm. `Dick, boy, I don't know

why you wrecked the joint, and I don't know whether that yarn came out of a bottle or a

needle, but believe me, it stinks. It's an honest-to-God, bottled-in-bond stinkeroo if I ever

heard one. You'd better lay off the stuff, whatever it is.'

Seeing that Seaton was paying no attention to him, Scott left the room, shaking his head.

Seaton walked slowly to his desk, picked up his blackened and battered briar pipe, and

sat down. What could possibly have happened to result in such shattering of all the

natural laws he knew? An inert mass of metal couldn't fly off into space without the

application of a force - in this case an enormous, a really tremendous force - a force

probably of the order of magnitude of atomic energy. But it hadn't been atomic energy.

That was out. Definitely. No hard radiation ... His instruments would have indicated and

recorded a hundredth of a millimicrocurie, and every one of them had sat placidly on

deadcenter zero through the whole show. What was that force?

And where? In the cell? The solution? The bath? Those three places were . . . all the

places there were.

Concentrating all the power of his mind - deaf, dumb, and blind to every external thing -

he sat motionless, with his forgotten pipe clenched between his teeth.

He sat there while most of his fellow chemists finished the day's work and went home;

sat there while the room slowly darkened with the coming of night.

Finally he stood up and turned on the lights. Tapping the stem of his pipe against his

palm, he spoke aloud. `Absolutely the only unusual incidents in this whole job were a

slight slopping over of the solution onto the copper and the short-circuiting of the wires

when I grabbed the beaker ... wonder if it will repeat ....'

He took a piece of copper wire and dipped it into the solution of the mysterious metal.

Upon withdrawing it he saw that the wire had changed its appearance, the X having

apparently replaced a layer of the original metal. Standing well clear of the table, he

touched the wire with the conductors. There was a slight spark, a snap, and it

disappeared. Simultaneously there was a sharp sound, like that made by the impact of a

rifle bullet, and Seaton saw with amazement a small round hole where the wire had gone

completely through the heavy brick wall. There was power - and how! - but whatever it

was, it was a fact. A demonstrable fact.

Suddenly he realized that he was hungry; and, glancing at his watch, saw that it was ten

-3-

o'clock. And he had had a date for dinner at seven with his fiancee at her home, their first

dinner since their engagement! Cursing himself for an idiot, he hastily left the laboratory.

Going down the corridor, he saw that Marc DuQuesne, a fellow research man, was also

working late. He left the building, mounted his motorcycle, and was soon tearing up

Connecticut Avenue toward his sweetheart's home.

On the way, an idea struck him like a blow of a fist. He forgot even his motorcycle, and

only the instinct of the trained rider saved him from disaster during the next few blocks.

As he drew near his destination, however, he made a determined effort to pull himself

together.

`What a stunt!' he muttered ruefully to himself as he considered what he had done. `What

a stupid jerk! If she doesn't give me the bum's rush for this I'll never do it again if I live to

be a million years old.’

-4-

Chapter Two

As evening came on and the fireflies began flashing over the grounds of her luxurious

Chevy Chase home, Dorothy Vaneman went upstairs to dress. Mrs. Vaneman's eyes

followed her daughter's tall, trim figure more than a little apprehensively. She was

wondering about this engagement. True, Richard was a fine chap and might make a

name for himself, but at present he was a nobody and, socially, he would always be a

nobody . . . and men of wealth, of distinction, of impeccable social status, had paid court

... but Dorothy - no, `stubborn' was not too strong a term - when Dorothy made up her

mind . . .

Unaware of her mother's look, Dorothy went happily up the stairs. She glanced at the

clock, saw that it was only a little after six, and sat down at her dressing table, upon

which there stood a picture of Richard. A strong, not unhandsome face, with keen, wide-

set gray eyes; the wide brow of the thinker, surmounted by thick, unruly, dark hair; the

firm, square jaw of the born fighter - such was the man whose vivid personality, fierce

impetuosity, and indomitable perseverance had set him apart from all other men ever

since their first meeting, and who had rapidly cleared the field of all other aspirants for

her favor. Her breath came faster and her cheeks showed a lovelier color as she sat

there, the lights playing in her heavy auburn hair and a tender smile upon her lips.

Dorothy dressed with unusual care and, the last touches deftly made, went downstairs

and out upon the porch to wait for her guest.

Half an hour passed. Mrs. Vaneman came to the door and said anxiously, `I wonder if

anything could have happened to him? 9

`Of course there hasn't' Dorothy tried to keep all concern out of her voice. `Traffic jams -

or perhaps he has been picked up again for speeding. Can Alice keep dinner a little

longer?'

`To be sure,' her mother answered, and disappeared.

But when another half hour had passed Dorothy went in, holding her head somewhat

higher than usual and wearing a say-something-if-you-dare expression.

The meal was eaten in polite disregard of the unused plate. The family left the table. For

Dorothy the evening was endless; but at the usual time it was ten o'clock, and then ten-

thirty, and then Seaton appeared.

Dorothy opened the door, but Seaton did not come in. He stood close to her, but did not

touch her. His eyes searched her face anxiously. Upon his face was a look of indecision,

almost of fright - a look so foreign to his usual expression that the girl smiled in spite of

herself.

`I'm awfully sorry, sweetheart, but I couldn't help it. You've got a right to be sore and I

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-1-THESKYLARKOFSPACEByEdwardE.Smith,Ph.D.Copyrightp1928byExperimenterPublishingCo;1946,1947,1950,1958,byEdwardE.Smith,Ph.D.ChapterOnePetrifiedwithastonishment,RichardSeatonstaredafterthecoppersteam-bathuponwhich,amomentbefore,hehadbeenelectrolyzinghissolutionof`X,'theunknownmetal.Assoonashehadremove...

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