The Central Intelligence: The Golden Amazon Saga, Book Seven. John Russell Fearn
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machine. When he reached it he became busy amidst the debris, shifting great sheets of metal that clanged so violently to the watching three the sound waves threatened to split their eardrums.
“Looks to me,” the Amazon said, “as though he’s already explored this world and not found anything on it. How big do you suppose this planet is?”
“Not large.…” Abna seemed to be musing over something else. “If we were normal size, we could probably circumnavigate it in a reasonable time. As it is, it would take us about as long as walking around the Earth.… Materials are densely packed, obviously, for, despite this world’s smallness, Quorne isn’t walking lightly. Which means dense matter.”
“It looks to me,” Viona remarked, “as though he is trying to patch up the Ultra. Not that I can see it will be any use to him if he does. The computers must be wrecked, and they are the only instruments which can work out the formula of infinite expansion necessary to get back to our normal universe.”
“Quorne,” the Amazon replied, “is probably repairing the Ultra so he can have somewhere to live. He can also possibly make it void-worthy, which means he can travel to various other worlds until perhaps he finds one that is inhabited. There he may settle until he can solve how to get back home.”
“Best thing for us to do,” Viona said, “is to let him get the Ultra fixed up, then go inside it and travel to wherever he decides. We’ll never be seen, though we also have the problem of food and drink to cope with.”
“True,” the Amazon said. “What do you think of the suggestion, Abna?”
He was studying one of the instruments with which his waist-belt was adorned. When he spoke he did not answer the Amazon’s question. Instead he said: “This high frequency detector responds to Quorne. Look at the needle: it is following his every movement.”
The Amazon gave an impatient glance. “What of it? We can see where Quorne is without a detector.…”
“There’s only one explanation for this,” Abna continued, lost in speculations. “Quorne was originally expanded to infinite size by Molith of Ur, was he not, in an attempt to destroy him? Then by a mistake our computers brought him back again. It can only mean that the original energy expended upon him by Molith’s apparatus has been absorbed by him, so strongly that it affects this high-frequency detector. In other words, wherever Quorne may go we shall always be able to approximate his position by means of this detector.”
“Yes,” the Amazon agreed. “Now, will you please answer my question? Should we go aboard the Ultra and go wherever Quorne goes? Remember our purpose, to destroy him, is still unfulfilled.”
Abna put away the detector and stood thinking, his keen eyes on the Goliath who was busy in the wreckage of the Ultra.
“To just fly around as minute stowaways from one world to another is not my idea of fun,” Abna said presently. “Besides, in our present size we can never defeat Quorne. We cannot handle a single instrument because we’re too small.”
The Amazon said: “We must have nourishment and shelter. Also, we have no guarantee that the climate of this planet will always be as calm as it is now.”
“All of which I have taken into account,” Abna responded. “It seems that for once in my life I have got to abandon all material methods and turn to pure thought to get us home. I hadn’t wanted to be bothered, but apparently there is nothing else to do.” He settled down again upon the boulder and pondered. “I’ll have to work it out. When I have done so, I’ll tell you what to do. Don’t interrupt me.”
CHAPTER TWO
ERROR OF JUDGMENT
This was a command that the Amazon and Viona promptly obeyed. Both of them knew the astounding mental feats Abna could perform when necessary, but always he needed time beforehand in which to map out his plan of action. So as he sat brooding, looking very much like Rodin’s statue of the ‘Thinker’, the two women took it upon themselves to watch the giant figure of Sefner Quorne as he worked on the shattered Ultra. It so happened, however, that everything was patterned on such a gargantuan scale they could not determine what Quorne was doing. Finally, they gave up the attempt, driven away chiefly by the stunning noise created by the shifting of metal plates.… Only one factor seemed to emerge from the chaos: by degrees Sefner Quorne was using the Ultra’s many machine tools to repair the heavy damage that had been wrought.
Abna, for his part, was hardly aware of what was going on around him. So completely was he able to detach his mind from immediate events, he was already oblivious to them. Instead, he was mentally exploring formula after formula, integrating the complex weavings of spatial mathematics necessary to bring about a return to the ordinary Universe—or at least the Universe that he, the Amazon, and Viona understood.
And, in assimilating the mathematical currents, he started for himself the longest mental analysis he had ever undertaken. Hour after hour he sat as though petrified, his eyes closed, his body so detached from his thought he neither experienced cramp, nor needed nourishment. Now and again the Amazon and Viona looked at him, then at each other, but they kept quiet. Once, when hunger and thirst became too much for them, they explored the mighty ruins of the Ultra, avoiding Quorne’s titanic feet, and from the shattered food compartments removed a few crumbs that, for them, were as satisfying as full-sized loaves. For liquid they stood under one of the broken water vents and allowed the fluid to drop into their mouths.
A week passed and worry, for the two women, was at its height, when at last Abna stirred and looked at them. He might only have been thinking for a few seconds for he said calmly: “Yes, we can get back.”
“Will it be difficult?” the Amazon questioned.
“For me, yes; for you two, no. I shall be obliged to carry you along under my own mental impulse, for neither of you have the intelligence required to work alone.”
The Amazon did not say anything, but her beautiful face hardened a little. Then she relaxed again; knowing only too well her limitations, when Abna exerted his full powers.
“You’ll be hungry by now,” Viona said. “We got a few crumbs from the Ultra and—”
“Thanks, my dear, but I’m not hungry.” Abna gave her a mystical smile. “Feasting upon intelligence wipes out all material sensations and desires.… Ah, I observe Quorne is progressing with the Ultra! It even looks to be taking on its former shape.”
“It is,” the Amazon replied. “He seems to have about restored it. If we ever get back home we’ll have to build another Ultra.”
“We’ll get home all right,” Abna promised. “And we’ll start now. Come and sit beside me, both of you.”
The two women sat as directed, and he laid one hand on each of theirs.
“All you have to do is submit passively to my thoughts,” he explained. “They will presently control your minds, much in the manner of hypnotism, though this is actually a very different thing. Do not mentally struggle in any way: by degrees you will lose consciousness of your bodies, just as if you were under an anaesthetic, but you will be aware through mental currents of everything that is happening about you. Just leave me to guide everything. It is a supreme test of mind over matter. Now, are you ready?”
“Ready!” both women assented together, and closed their eyes.
They knew there was nothing fantastic about what Abna intended doing. On numberless occasions in the past he had revealed himself the absolute master of material conditions, so there was no reason why he should not reveal the same power again.
And, suddenly, the overwhelming force of his concentration made itself felt. Though their eyes were shut, the two women saw quite clearly, presumably through his own focused mind-forces. The barren little world was already flying away from them in a soundless rush of speed. They were in space, unaware of their bodies, unaware of anything except a deep peace and irresistible velocity.
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