Page:Amazing Stories Volume 15 Number 10.djvu/52

52 "Here," said Kora-san, "we make our weather. The bright sun shines endlessly for us, and rain falls only when it is needed, and then only where we direct."

Again the scene changed, and they were in completely new surroundings, standing on a plain. Far off they could see a circle of men in apparent work. Suddenly, before their eyes, the plain started to break into deep furrows, the earth turning richly under an invisible plow. "We have harnessed the energy of the atom," said Kora-san. "It obeys us as meekly as all Nature."

The furrows had formed quickly for miles, and a single cloud had appeared in the sky. They could hear the sound of rain falling softly to the earth, but where they stood there was no rain. Then, looking on, they saw the cloud moving slowly over the field.

"We have precipitated a cloud to water our new field," Kora-san explained. "Now the field will be vitalized, and the produce of the earth will rise quickly."

It was as he had said. In a short interval, buds began to spring from the earth, growing almost fast enough for the eye to observe the wonder. The cloud kept moving about the fields, and the buds became stalks.

"The day's work is almost done," Kora-san said. "Agriculture is tedious labor for us. Tomorrow we will harvest these fields."

Sammy nodded obediently and took another drink from the bottle, making certain there was some left. His head was reeling, and he had enough self-consciousness left to wonder whether it was the Scotch or what he was witnessing. He wiped his lips and waited, watching the ever-present red disc enlarge under his feet.

With the instantaneous change to which he was almost acclimated, Sammy perceived that they had come to steep ranges of mountains. On every side the great, snow-capped peaks thrust to a sky that seemed overhead by only a few feet. Miles below them were the plains where Quennians tended their fields, but even at their height there were still trees, huge-trunked and green, and the air was warm and dense. It was a scene of breath-taking beauty.

"Here,' said Kora-san, "our Council has chosen to erect a new city, and the workers will be here shortly." They waited a few moments, and people began to flash into existence on every side of them. They moved about in leisurely bands, consulting with each other until new machines which neither Sammy nor Mike had seen before made their seemingly magical appearance among them. The bands separated and men took charge of the machines, each to his own task.

EAMS of light flashed from one of the machines, and close by, one of the largest of the peaks began to thin out and vanish. It was as if some incredibly large cleaver had cut off the peak when the work was finished, and a plateau had been made among the peaks. The work of the machines dove-tailed, and other peaks disintegrated, until a flat-bottomed crater had been fashioned among them. Then a red disc grew along the plateau, and all at once the discs were laden with blocks of marble and granite and various woods, the building materials transported miles high in the twinkling of an eye.

"Soon other workers will arrive with their machines," Kora-san said, "and the building of the city will begin. Our greatest architects will take charge. They have been years in planning, but it will take but a few days for the actual construction." He smiled at Sammy. "We understand your feel-