Page:Amazing Stories Volume 21 Number 06.djvu/33

Rh today. This is America, and of those of the family of whom I have heard, only Europe was mentioned as their home. But he may have come here from Europe through the great under-sea ways, centuries ago. He may have been very great and powerful here, and still have been unknown in Europe. There were always many secret groups, you know. They fear to be known to each other, as the ancient rays are such terrible weapons that it is better not to be known at all to each other. But hereabouts, he may have ruled in great power for long, and then his family wiped out by the mad nomads some night when all were drunk and forgetting to guard the ways from the mad ones."

"Nydia, would it be safe for us to go there? I would give an arm to see this Collection of Mentalia. Could we avoid death from the distant devils, and get through to this forgotten palace of Zigor's, or is the risk too terrible to face at all?"

"It could be done. It is in truth needed. We must always be finding and learning to use new and more deadly weapons. This place of the Mephisto's should contain many and terrible and strange weapons, ray-mech of which we know nothing. We could bring some of them here, and surprise these besieging dero with them. Or we might find the place an impregnable fortress, and find it of benefit to move there entirely. Eg Notha, the name tells nothing. I will call a meeting and plan for the work."

O IT was that Nydia, the lovely young daughter of the hidden cavern people, and myself—an escaped convict who had found refuge in these unknown dwellings of the forgotten Gods of earth, and Solaris, the son of the leader of our little group of sane cavern dwellers, a slim, dark, well built young man, and a little dwarfish maid who loved Nydia and attended her, whose name was Truly, entered a huge half-globe that lay in one of the numerous borings. This half-globe was the usual traveling device used by the ancients, and there were several of them in the vast borings under the chambers in which we made our home and our fortress. Solaris pressed a stud on the puzzling keyboard of the controls that filled one segment of the circular chamber. I gasped, for all weight had left my body. The control was one that operated an anti-gravity device. I looked at Solaris.

"Don't ask me how, I only know the electric from the old generators charges some plates on the flat under-side of the half-globe so that it floats. You will have to find the scientific words to tell yourself what the mech is all about. As it rises, an automatic electric eye shuts it off before it strikes the ceiling, and we float midway in these tunnels. They used these cars a great deal, the Elder race. They ride like wheels of air, and they are equipped with gravity controls coupled with auto-eyes fore and aft, and overhead, so that one cannot bump into anything even if one wished. It is only in landing the thing that any skill is required, and that is very simple."

"I won't try to explain it, Solaris. If gravity is really a kind of electric or magnetic force, they must have known how to generate and control gravity in reverse. What is the ancient name of this car?"

"There is the name on the panel. Anyway those letters are on the panels of all these cars that I have seen. You read it."

"The letters look like Z-O-N-T-O-N. A 'Zonton' is what they may have called it, or it's the name of the man who invented it."

"I suspect the thing can also be used as a space ship. It is tremendously powered for its small size, and fitted with mighty weapons. One can never turn on but a fraction of the propulsion dial—the drive force will propel it at terrific speed. We have used this one many times for short trips through the longer borings in our search for the things we need. For hunting trips to the great water-filled caves where the blind monsters live, for fishing—But as for really knowing this ship, I do not. I can use it, but there is much I do not know, and fear to try to learn. For instance, if I press this stud, the protective auto-ray controls are released, and then if I press this lift control, it goes up at terrific speed, the "governor" is off—possibly for use in high-flying outside the caves. It would crash one who did not know against the roof. I did that inadvertently once over the water in the water-caverns, and nearly drowned us all. Only the strength of the antique materials saved us. We bounced off the roof, knocked loose a small avalanche of stalactites, turned over, started for the water just as fast as we had come up—went under water traveling at terrible speed, and I managed to shut it