The Shadow People. John Russell Fearn

Then before opening the outer lock he suddenly bethought himself and consulted the exterior gauges over the switchboard. Not that he need have worried: the readings were quite reassuring, giving a temperature and humidity similar to that of Earth, and a breathable atmosphere. And, from the feel of things, gravity, too, was about normal, though with the change in size it was difficult to assess correctly.

      “Talk about war paint!” Viona murmured, watching through the window. “Take a look at this lot!”

      The others were already looking, and once Abna had the main airlock open he, too, crossed over to the window—to observe a quartet of resplendent individuals coming from the monorail ear. All of them were tall, but not abnormally so, with exceptionally wide shoulders. Every one of them was totally bald and clean-shaven, and their attire was magnificent to the last detail. Their robes seemed to be all in one piece and were of a delightful royal blue, with a deep sash of purple thrown over the left shoulder. They looked exactly like Scriptural dignitaries of extreme wealth. Nowhere did they appear to carry arms of any sort.

      Abna raised a powerful arm in the universal greeting of goodwill as they came forward.

      “Greetings!” Abna exclaimed, to break the tension. “We come as friends and to bring you good tidings.”

      For the first time the men smiled, not so much at the quartet as at each other. It seemed as though they had found the answer to a question that had puzzled them. Perhaps it was whether or not the quartet would prove hostile. Now they had their answer.

      In response, one of the four men answered, but as had been anticipated, his language was completely incomprehensible. Finally he resorted to signs, indicating the monorail car with an unmistakable gesture.

      “Do we?” the Amazon asked, with a glance, “If we lose this spaceship, we lose everything.”

      “We haven’t much choice,” Abna replied, shrugging, and set the example by walking forward. It pleased him to note that the four men fell aside in deference as he moved, and he even suspected their heads were slightly bowed in subservience. All of which did much to bolster up the theory of friendship.

      Abna having taken the plunge, the Amazon, Viona, and Mexone followed suit. In a moment or two they were all within the control cabin of the monorail car, gazing about them with interest upon a number of panels that, from their very nature, proved that these people were anything but ignorant of scientific laws.

      Entering, the leader of the four men waved to a long, softly sprung seat. Then he and his colleague settled in special driving saddles and by automatic control the door closed. A second later the monorail car started up and, had the four not been accustomed to tremendous velocities, they would probably have been caused considerable anguish by the acceleration. Even as it was they were pressed tightly back into their sprung seats as with terrific speed the vehicle went back along the track the way it had originally come. The curious thing was that there seemed to be no lag between starting and picking up speed. Almost instantaneously the machine reached a 400-mile-an-hour velocity from a standing start, taking no cognizance of inertia or basic laws.

      This was a problem that seemed to preoccupy Abna, and the Amazon, too, in a lesser way. She had not the mentality of an Abna, brilliant though she undoubtedly was.… Entirely disinterested in the scientific side issues were Viona and Mexone. Their heads close together, they gazed out of the window on the flashing scenery outside.

      For a seemingly interminable time, despite their speed, there seemed to be nothing but the one enormous gouged road; but at last things began to change and they found themselves approaching the heart of the city proper. Then suddenly—stillness. Without any slowing down, or even a hint of it, the machine stopped dead. The quartet were thrown forward, but not as violently as they would have expected, but the four magnificently resplendent men seemed unconcerned as they climbed from their control saddles.

      Abna, frowning, got to his feet and looked at the Amazon.

      “First time I ever came across a vehicle that defied the laws of mass as this one does,” he murmured. “Things don’t seem to fit in the way we’re accustomed to.”

      The Amazon nodded but did not say anything. She stood waiting as the four escorts opened the door of the vehicle and led the way outside, thereafter standing in deference for the travelers to follow.

      “We’re in it now,” Abna said, shrugging. “Might as well go on with it.”

      He stepped outside and waited for the others to join him. As they did so, he gazed at the gigantic edifice before which the monorail car had drawn up. It towered up 200 and more storeys with the inevitable endless lighted windows. Significantly, there was an aircraft beacon on the roof, turning its yellow guiding light constantly to the skies.

      “Evidently air travel is understood,” the Amazon remarked, also seeing it. “Wonder if space travel is?”

      “Soon find out,” Abna murmured, as the four escorts started to walk forward, and presently up the wide steps of the building. Automatic doors slid aside.

      Inside they crossed an immense hall, on the perimeter of which were several wide corridors. They followed their escorts into one of the corridors, then passed along it until they came to a room of tremendous proportions. In fact, it was more than a room; it had something in common with an electrical laboratory. There was, too, a hum of power and, from a great distance, the droning of dynamos. Over it all glowed the bright light of this world, though where it came from was skillfully hidden.

      The leader of the quartet made a series of signals to signify that his part of the job was finished, and with a bow he retired with his colleagues and closed the platinum door. Abna turned from watching him go and gave a glance of inquiry.

      “Well, what now, I wonder? And say, couldn’t we do something with a lab like this, Vi?”

      The Amazon seemed about to reply, then she paused as in the center aisleway a figure suddenly appeared—tall, bald-headed, and with an air of serene composure. He advanced silently.