THE PEOPLE OF THE COMET
speed force and vibration weave themselves into the indestructible network that we call matter. And I held that until we had the secret of the atoms’ cohesion, we could never unriddle the stars. But, of course, it was impossible for us to go down into the atom and solve the mystery.
“ 'And that is right where I made my point. Our solar system is, itself, an atom! Then I started my attack upon established astronomy.
" ‘I maintained that our astronomers had hitherto studied the stars from an impossible angle—Infinity. And I showed that, so long as we are bound up in a Universe that centers about ourselves, we can get nowhere. It is impossible to gaze through the stars without finding more beyond them. Therefore, I maintained that we had better study the secret of our own solar atom, and find out, if possible, the secret force or cohesion that holds our solar system in its approximate relation to the rest of the stars. And I proposed to do this through the medium of a comet.
“ 'My first act upon ascending the throne of Sansar was to address the council of Wise Men. I laid my plans before them; and I asked their cooperation in the great work that I had chosen—namely, to study the first comet that approached and to prove its secret. For I held that the secret of a comet is nothing other than the cohesive force that we were seeking, and that it is entirely analogous to the ionic something that holds together the atoms of matter. I would discover what a comet is composed of, and I would learn its reason.
" 'There was a great one approaching. It was called the Blood Red Comet, and though we had never seen it, we had been told by the Lunar astronomers, with whom we were in constant communication, that it was the greatest and most spectacular cometary guest that had ever visited the heavens, that its orbit covered a million years, and that it was coming from the very outskirts of Space. I would solve this comet.
“ 'There was no one among the Wise Men who would not admit the possibility of my argument. We knew nothing about comets, except what we had gained through spectroscopic means, namely: a few facts of light, density, transparency, and a mass of consequent speculation. ‘The question arose: How would I solve the comet?
“ 'I went into my plans, plans that were a bit daring, and that at first startled my auditors.
“ 'I proposed to visit the comet. At least, I would go close enough to solve its mystery. By means of an ether ship I would ascend from the Earth and lay in wait along its path.
“ 'We had an ether ship in Sansar, an aircraft built to penetrate the ether, and designed for the special purpose of crossing to the moon. It had been under construction for a number of generations and had only recently been proved a success. It was built like a fish, with three walls, two of ajacite and one of steel, with compressed air spaces between and a layer of non-magnetic alloy coated over the steel and protected by crystalline sulphur. Ajacite is a mineral that we had discovered through our Lunar neighbors. It is the only substance that will withstand the strain of absolute zero, and the only metal that would insure against explosion when in vacuum space. For we had learned to our cost that most crafts have a tendency to explode, when above the atmosphere of the Earth, in exactly the same manner that a deep sea fish goes to pieces when brought to the surface of the ocean. Ajacite would not only resist the internal pressure, but it was impervious, as well, to all extremes of temperature; so that, while the cold outside might be five hundred degrees below the zero point, the occupant inside the ether ship would be just as comfortable as though he were walking the streets of Sansar.
“ 'Inside the walls were two compartments, one for the atomic engines and the electrical machinery, and the other for the oxygen tanks and the chemical engines that would keep the air pure throughout the journey. The ship was small, not over forty feet, and there was only room enough, after deducting apparatus space, for two persons.
“ 'The craft had made a number of flights; and I, myself, had risen in it, only a few days previously, to the height of more than a thousand miles above the Earth. I was certain that by its means I could approach the comet, and solve, once and for all, the mystery of cometary visitation.
“ 'Such was my plan, one that may appear illusionary to you; but, in the days of advanced Sansar civilization, not at all impossible. We had the craft, engines, and other necessary means of crossing the ether. The whole problem became a question of danger to myself and the consequent extinction (if the trip proved fatal) of the scientific line of the Alvas.
“ 'I overcame that very easily. By dint of argument and persuasion I won the Wise Men; and it was proclaimed throughout the world that I, Alvas, known as the Astronomer, would set out on a certain day on a cometary voyage to prove the theory of matter.
“ 'At least it was so stated in the proclamation. I did not care how it was proclaimed so long as I could make the voyage. There was nothing to do now, but await the Blood Red Comet.
CHAPTER SIX
AT THIS time the people of the Sansar world knew very little about comets.
“ 'A comet is the most mysterious inhabitant of the starry heavens. It is a thing of beauty. It flashes through the solar system, disobeys its planetary laws, display its million miles of glory and is gone, to return, perhaps in a certain number of years, perhaps never.
“ 'No man had ever been able to understand the secret of the comet. We only knew certain facts that are manifest under an analysis of the spectrum. We knew that the light is intrinsic, that it comes from the comet itself, and not from the sun. We knew that it is composed of three parts, the head, the nucleus, and the tail. The head, or coma, of a comet, is its main visual part, a ball of transparent light; the nucleus is the bright spot of light directly behind it; and the tail is the wonderful luminous cloud that streams from the head out over the heavens. All this we knew. But we did not know what composes the comet in any of its parts; neither did we know its purpose; nor its reason for flashing across the firmament on its visit to the solar system.
“ 'The whole Sansar world waited for the Blood Red Comet.
“ 'When the lunar observatories began reporting its approach we made ready. The ether ship was gone over for the last time and every detail scrupulously overhauled. The Wise Men and the Astronomers haunted the observatories while we waited the terrible visitor. We had been warned that it was the most awesome and terrible guest that had ever visited the heavens. The moon with its stronger telescopes and more advanced civilization located it first.
“ 'Then we picked it up. At first it was barely perceptible, a mere glimmering of red, no larger than a pinpoint—like a star of the faintest magnitude. Then it grew larger, running up through all the magnitudes, until it had surpassed the first and had passed into planetary brightness. In a few nights it had so gained in size that it hung like blood drop ready to fall from the heavens. From the very first it had a gruesome glimmer and a threat of terror; and, being a comet, it had the additional weight of mystery and omnipotence. From the Lunar observatories we learned that its orbit covered a million years, and when
