Page:Weird Tales volume 02 number 03.djvu/37

36 that a comet is an ion? Take, for instance, this comet."

"There is."

He straightened up, and his eyes seemed to glow with sudden fire.

"It can be proved," he spoke. "Not only can it be proved, but you may, if you wish, see the other side of the Universe!"

I started.

"This is the first time," he went on, "that an ion has been held by a conscious controlling intelligence. The comet is an ion; your solar system is an atom; the stars are all atoms, all moving according to atomic laws, vibrating, revolving, crossing, holding together, each in its place, apparently unending."

"How would I see the other side of the Universe?"

He thought a moment; then he spoke:

"Perhaps I ought not to tell you. 'You are the protector of Sora. And that must be the first duty of your life. It was mine. But, for all that, you have a right to my secret. As a young man I set out to solve the riddle of the stars. I have not done it. But God has sent you to take up and follow my work. I prayed for it. Perhaps he will grant you what he has denied to me.

"Had it not been for Sora I would have driven the comet through the Universe long ago. But my child came first. Love is greater than all. I have the love of a father. Had I been alone I would have gone to the other side—perhaps perished. But at least, I would have seen."

"How is it possible," I asked, "to drive this comet out of the Universe?"

"It is easily possible. Have you seen the rim of the nucleus?"

"Only as I came through. Sora has kept me away from it, since. She swears it is death."

"It is. Do not approach it; its force is inconceivably greater than anything you have upon your Earth. Have you seen the lake?"

"From the ether ship, only."

"The lake feeds the rim automatically," he answered, "and in a manner prescribed by natural law. It feeds it just so fast or just so slowly. It regulates the speed of the comet. When it approaches a solar system, or atom, it feeds faster, answering the natural law, and imparts its peculiar quality of cohesion. The faster it feeds, the greater the speed of the comet.

"I would let the whole lake into the rim of the nucleus at one time. The comet would still be an ion, but it would be an ion gone wild, what you call energy—heat. It would pass through the substance to the surface and into the super ether.

"This is exactly what is taking place at all times in matter. For instance: if I take this stick and place it in a fire, the cohesion immediately comes to the surface, the atoms fall apart and become whirring forces; afterwards, the ions settle, and the atoms rearrange to form new matter. This is what we call heat, energy, and is the source of all mechanics, and all force. But it is nothing, after all, but the release of uncounted myriads of ions."

I was thinking of my own Earth. So I asked:

"If this were done with this one particular ion, would it hurt my own solar atom?"

"Not at all. Or at least, only infinitesimally. There are myriads of ions for each atom. Perhaps the ion would return. But it would surely pass to the surface."

I thought for a moment. All my life I had been dreaming of a way to get through the stars. What lay beyond them? What were they for? But I had never dreamed of such a moment as this: I could only ask:

"How would I turn the lake into the rim?"

"I have arranged for that,” he answered. "You have seen the path winding up the side of the mountain. It leads toward the outlet, where the liquid force flows into the rim. Do not go too close. You will find a switch where the path stops. By simply pressing a lever you will loosen an atomic current that will blow out the channel. The lake will drop down and rush into the rim. That will be all. The comet will no longer be cohesive. It will be a mad ion, a bit of heat, energy. It will pass to the surface of the substance, to the outside of the Universe.

"But the heat?" I asked, "such a speed is unknown. The nucleus would burn."

"Not at all. You cannot destroy an ion. You merely loosen it. The nucleus will be protected by its own coma. You will not notice its speed."

"But," I interposed, "nothing can travel so swiftly, not even electricity."

"The force of the ion is swift. It is as swift as thought. It is not the first time that an ion has been thrown out. It will only be obeying a natural law. It must pass out until it can recover its balance: perhaps it will return."

"One more question. Granting that we go out, how would we be conscious in such an immensity?"

"That is a fair question. And I have thought it out. To do that I have had to get at the center force of the ion, the spirit, life, or what you will. You understand the ovum, the first form of life—the germ in the egg sac?"

"Yes, to a certain point; it is the meaning of all life, the nucleus that splits and becomes two, four, eight, protoplasmic cells, called blastomeres, and each one containing a nucleus like the original. They multiply by division; they are the secret of all life—and the mystery."

"Not at all. The whole process is simple, once you understand it. You are puzzled only so long as you regard the nucleus of the ovum as mere matter, as atoms—substance. It is not that; it is both below and above it. The nucleus is a sac of ions, cohesive and adhesive, male and female, gathered from the life of the parents. Cohesion is life. It is the function of these ions to gather the atoms out of the blood and food and to build up the body. Each ion, while it remains, is a lord and an architect; it gathers its own particular atoms. Thus you have hair, nails, muscles, bone, what not. It comes from the life of the parent, from the Soul, which is a sort of amoeba. Science teaches that the amoeba subdivides always; and goes on unending. Religion tells you that the Soul is immortal. Both are true. Only they are one and the same thing. The Soul is an amoeba, subdividing always, passing on, eternal. I have spent my years upon the comet, experimenting with life. I have been able to isolate its functions and to hold them. I have gathered enough to build up two bodies."

He pointed to a shelf.

"Pass me down the package of foil yonder.

"There now," he held it up, "if ever you wish to make the experiment with the comet, all you have to do is to take what you find in these vials. Take one. And then wait. You will see the outside of the Universe. What happens to you and the comet will be in inverse ratio. You will grow and the comet will diminish. You shall know!"

That was all that he told me.

He was very weak and lay back, suddenly, upon the pillows, overcome with exertion. He lay still. With a great deal of awe and reverence, I withdrew.

Outside I ran into Sora. She was standing by the door. She had been listening. Though it was an honest bit of eavesdroopingeavesdropping [sic], I did not know what it would come to. She touched her finger to her lips as if cautioning silence. Then she entered the room.

The old astronomer never spoke more. Perhaps the exertion hastened