Transcriber's Note: This e-text was produced from Astounding Stories, September, 1931. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence thatthe U. S. Copyright on this publication was renewed. 

[Illustration: "_A little object lesson, as it were!_"]

The God in the Box

_By Sewell Peaslee Wright_

[Sidenote: In the course of his Special Patrol duties Commander JohnHanson resolves the unique and poignant mystery of "toma annerson. "]

This is a story I never intended to tell. I would not even tell it nowif it were not for the Zenians. 

Understand that I do not dislike the Zenians. One of the best officersI ever had was a Zenian. His name was Eitel, and he served under me onthe old _Tamon_, my first command. But lately the Zenians have maderather too much of the exploits of Ame Baove. 

The history of the Universe gives him credit, and justly, for makingthe first successful exploration in space. Baove's log of that trip isa classic that every school-child knows. 

But I have a number of friends who are natives of Zenia, and they fretme with their boastings. 

"Well, Hanson, " they say, "your Special Patrol Service has donewonderful work, largely under the officership of Earth-men. But afterall, you have to admit that it was a Zenian who first mastered space!"

Perhaps it is just fractiousness of an old man, but countlessrepetitions of such statements, in one form or another, have irritatedme to the point of action--and before going further, let me say, forthe benefit of my Zenian friends, that if they care to dig deeplyenough into the archives, somewhere they will find a brief report ofthese adventures recorded in the log of one of my old ships, the_Ertak_, now scrapped and forgotten. Except, perhaps, by some few likemyself, who knew and loved her when she was one of the newest andfinest ships of the Service. 

I commanded the _Ertak_ during practically her entire active life. Those were the days when John Hanson was not an old man, writing ofbrave deeds, but a youngster of half a century, or thereabouts, andfull of spirit. Sometimes, when memory brings back those old days, itseems hard for me to believe that John Hanson, Commander of the_Ertak_, and old John Hanson, retired, and a spinner of ancient yarns, are one and the same--but I must get on to my story, for youth isimpatient, and from "old man" to "old fool" is a short leap for ayouthful mind. 

 * * * * *

The Special Patrol Service is not all high adventure. It was not soeven in the days of the _Ertak_. There was much routine patrolling, andthe _Ertak_ drew her full share of this type of duty. We hated it, ofcourse, but in that Service you do what you are told and say nothing. 

We were on a routine patrol, with only one possible source of interestin our orders. The wizened and sour-faced scientists the Universeacclaims so highly had figured out that a certain planet, thus farunvisited, would be passing close to the line of our patrol, and ourorders read, "if feasible, " to inspect this body, and if inhabited, which was doubted, to make contact. 

There was a separate report, if I remember correctly, with a lot offigures. This world was not large; smaller than Earth, as a matter offact, and its orbit brought it into conjunction with our system onlyonce in some immemorable period of time. I suppose that record isstored away, too, if anybody is interested in it. It was largelycomposed of guesses, and most of them were wrong. These white-coatedscientists do a lot of wild guessing, if the facts were known. 

However, she did show up at about the place they had predicted. Kincaide, my second officer, was on duty when the television disk firstpicked her up, and he called me promptly. 

"Strobus"--that was the name the scientists had given this planet wewere to look over--"Strobus is in view, sir, if you'd like to look herover, " he reported. "Not close enough yet to determine anything ofinterest, however, even with maximum power. "

I considered for a moment, scowling at the microphone. 

"Very well, Mr. Kincaide, " I said at length. "Set a course for her. We'll give her a glance, anyway. "

"Yes, sir, " replied Kincaide promptly. One of the best officers in theService, Kincaide. Level-headed, and a straight thinker. He was a manfor any emergency. I remember--but I've already told that story. 

 * * * * *

I turned back to my reports, and forgot all about this wanderingStrobus. Then I turned in, to catch up somewhat on my sleep, for we hadhad some close calls in a field of meteors, and the memory of aprevious disaster was still fresh in my mind. [1] I had spent my "watchbelow" in the navigating room, and now I needed sleep rather badly. Ifthe scientists really want to do something for humanity, why don't theyshow us how to do without food and sleep?

 [1] See "The Ghost World" in the April issue of Amazing Stories. --Ed. 

When, refreshed and ready for anything, I did report to the navigatingroom, Correy, my first officer, was on duty. 

"Good morning, sir, " he nodded. It was the custom, on ships Icommanded, for the officers to govern themselves by Earth standards oftime; we created an artificial day and night, and disregarded entirely, except in our official records, the enar and other units of theUniversal time system. 

"Good morning, Mr. Correy. How are we bearing?"

"Straight for our objective, sir. " He glanced down at the two glowingcharts that pictured our surroundings in three dimensions, to reassurehimself. "She's dead ahead, and looming up quite sizeably. "

"Right!" I bent over the great hooded television disk--the ponderoustype we used in those days--and picked up Strobus without difficulty. The body more than filled the disk and I reduced the magnificationuntil I could get a full view of the entire exposed surface. 

Strobus, it seemed, bore a slight resemblance to one view of my ownEarth. There were two very apparent polar caps, and two continents, barely connected, the two of them resembling the numeral eight in thewriting of Earth-men; a numeral consisting of two circles, one abovethe other, and just touching. One of the roughly circular continentswas much larger than the other. 

"Mr. Kincaide reported that the portions he inspected consistedentirely of fluid sir, " commented Correy. "The two continents nowvisible have just come into view, so I presume that there are noothers, unless they are concealed by the polar caps. Do you find anyindications of habitation?"

"I haven't examined her closely under high magnification, " I replied. "There are some signs.... "

 * * * * *

I increased power, and began slowly searching the terrain of thedistant body. I had not far to search before I found what I sought. 

"We're in luck, Mr. Correy!" I exclaimed. "Our friend is inhabited. There is at least one sizeable city on the larger continent and ... Yes, there's another! Something to break the monotony, eh? Strobus isan 'unknown' on the charts. "

"Suppose we'll have trouble, sir?" asked Correy hopefully. Correy was aprime hand for a fight of any kind. A bit too hot-headed perhaps, but aman who never knew when he was beaten. 

"I hope not; you know how they rant at the Base when we have to protectourselves, " I replied, not without a certain amount of bitterness. "They'd like to pacify the Universe with never a sweep of adisintegrator beam. 'Of course, Commander Hanson' some silver-sleevewill say, 'if it was absolutely vital to protect your men and yourship'--ugh! They ought to turn out for a tour of duty once in a while, and see what conditions are. " I was young then, and the attitude of myconservative superiors at the Base was not at all in keeping with myown views, at times. 

"You think, then, that we will have trouble, sir?"

"Your guess is as good is mine, " I shrugged. "The people of thisStrobus know nothing of us. They will not know whether we come asfriends or enemies. Naturally, they will be suspicious. It is hard toexplain the use of the menore, to convey our thoughts to them. "

I glanced up at the attraction meter, reflecting upon the estimatedmass of the body we were approaching. By night we should be nearing heratmospheric envelope. By morning we should be setting down on her. 

"We'll hope for the best, sir, " said Correy innocently. 

I bent more closely over the television disk, to hide my smile. I knewperfectly what the belligerent Correy meant by "the best. "

 * * * * *

The next morning, at atmospheric speed, we settled down swiftly overthe larger of the two continents, Correy giving orders to thenavigating room while I divided my attention between the televisiondisk and the altimeter, with a glance every few seconds at the surfacetemperature gauge. In unknown atmospheres, it is not difficult to runup a considerable surface temperature, and that is always uncomfortableand sometimes dangerous. 

"The largest city seems to be nearer the other continent. You should beable to take over visually before long. Has the report on theatmosphere come through yet?"

"Not yet. Just a moment, sir. " Correy spoke for a moment into hismicrophone and turned to me with a smile. 

"Suitable for breathing, " he reported. "Slight excess of oxygen, andonly a trace of moisture. Hendricks just completed the analysis. "Hendricks, my third officer, was as clever as a laboratory man in manyways, and a red-blooded young officer as well. That's a combination youdon't come across very often. 

"Good! Breathing masks are a nuisance. I believe I'd reduce speedsomewhat; she's warming up. The big city I mentioned is dead ahead. Setthe _Ertak_ down as close as possible. "

"Yes, sir!" snapped Correy, and I leaned over the television disk toexamine, at very close range, the great Strobian metropolis we were soswiftly approaching. 

 * * * * *

The buildings were all tall, and constructed of a shining substancethat I could not identify, even though I could now make out the detailsof their architecture, which was exceedingly simple, and devoid ofornament of any kind, save an occasional pilaster or flying buttress. The streets were broad, and laid out to cut the city into lozenge-shapedsections, instead of the conventional squares. In the center of thecity stood a great lozenge-shaped building with a smooth, arched roof. From every section of the city, great swarms of people were flocking inthe direction of the spot toward which the _Ertak_ was settling, onfoot and in long, slim vehicles of some kind that apparently carriedseveral people. 

"Lots of excitement down there, Mr. Correy, " I commented. "Better tellMr. Kincaide to order up all hands, and station a double guard at theport. Have a landing force, armed with atomic pistols and bombs, andequipped with menores, as an escort. "

"And the disintegrator-ray generators--you'll have them in operation, sir, just in case?"

"That might be well. But they are not to be used except in the greatestemergency, understand. Hendricks will accompany me, if it seemsexpeditious to leave the ship, leaving you in command here. "

"Very well, sir!" I knew the arrangement didn't suit him, but he wastoo much the perfect officer to protest, even with a glance. Andbesides, at the moment, he was very busy with orders to the men in thecontrol room, forward, as he conned the ship to the place he hadselected to set her down. 

But busy as he was, he did not forget the order to tune up thedisintegrator-ray generators. 

 * * * * *

While the great circular door of the _Ertak_ was backing out ponderouslyfrom its threaded seat, suspended by its massive gimbals, I inspectedthe people of this new world. 

My first impression was that they were a soldiery people, for therewere no jostling crowds swarming around the ship, such as might havebeen expected. Instead, the citizenry stood at ease in a sort ofmilitary formation of numerous small companies, each apparently incharge of an officer. These companies were arranged to form a long wideavenue, leading to the city, and down this avenue a strange processionwas coming toward the ship. 

I should make it clear at this point that these Strobians were, inform, very similar to Earth-men, although somewhat shorter in stature, and certainly more delicately formed. Perhaps it would be better to saythey resembled the Zenians, save for this marked difference: theStrobians were exceedingly light in color, their skins being nearlytranslucent, and their hair a light straw color. The darkest hair I sawat any time was a pale gold, and many had hair as colorless assilver--which I should explain is a metal of Earth somewhat resemblingaluminum in appearance. 

The procession was coming toward the ship slowly, the marchersapparently chanting as they came, for I could see their lips moving. They were dressed in short kirtles of brilliant colors--scarlet, green, orange, purple--and wore brilliant belts suspended about their waistsby straps which crossed over their breasts and passed over eachshoulder. 

Each marcher bore a tall staff from which flew a tiny pennon of thesame color as his chief garment. At the top of each staff was a metalornament, which at first glance I took to be the representation of afish. As they came closer, I saw that this was not a good guess, forthe device was without a tail. 

 * * * * *

"The exit port is open, sir, " reported Hendricks. "The people seem farfrom hostile, and the air is very good. What are your orders?"

"There will be no change, I think, " I said as I hurried toward the nowopen door. "Mr. Kincaide will be in command of the guard at the port. You and I, with a small landing force, will advance to meet thisprocession. Make sure that there are a number of extra menores carriedby the escort; we shall need them. "

"Yes, sir!" Hendricks snapped a command and the landing force fell intoplace behind us as we passed through the circular doorway, and out ontothe rocky ground of Strobus. 

The procession stopped instantly, and the chanting died to a murmur. The men forming the living wall on each side bowed their heads and madea quick sign; a peculiar gesture, as though they reached out to shakean invisible hand. 

The leader of the procession, a fine-featured man with golden hair, walked forward with bowed head, chanting a single phrase over and overagain in a voice as sweet as a woman's: "_Toma annerson ... Tomaannerson ... Toma annerson.... _"

"Sounds friendly enough, " I whispered to Hendricks. "Hand me an extramenore; I'll see.... "

The chanting stopped, and the Strobian lifted his head. 

"Greetings!" he said. "You are welcome here. "

 * * * * *

I think nothing ever surprised me more, I stared at the man like afool, my jaw dropping, and my eyes bulging. For the man spoke in alanguage of Earth; spoke it haltingly and poorly, but recognizably. 

"You--you speak English?" I faltered. "Where--where did you learn tospeak this language?"

The Strobian smiled, his face shining as though he saw a vision. 

"Toma annerson, " he intoned gravely, and extended his right hand in agreeting which Earth-men have offered each other for untold centuries!

I shook hands with him gravely, wondering if I were dreaming. 

"I thank you for your welcome, " I said, gathering my wits at last. "Wecome as friends, from worlds not unlike your own. We are glad that youmeet us as friends. "

"It was so ordered. _He_ ordered it so and Artur is His mouthpiece inthis day. " The Strobian weighed every word carefully before he utteredit speaking with a solemn gravity that was most impressive. 

"Artur?" I questioned him. "That is your name?"

"That is my name, " he said proudly. "It came from He Who Speaks whogave it to my father many times removed. "

There were many questions in my mind, but I could not be outdone incourtesy by this kindly Strobian. 

"I am John Hanson, " I told him, "Commander of the Special PatrolService ship _Ertak_. This is Avery Hendricks, my third officer. "

"Much of that, " said Artur slowly, "I do not understand. But I amgreatly honored. " He bowed again, first to me, and then to Hendricks, who was staring at me in utter amazement. "You will come with us now, to the Place?" Artur added. 

I considered swiftly, and turned to Hendricks. 

"This is too interesting to miss, " I said in an undertone. "Send theescort back with word for Mr. Correy that these people are veryfriendly, and we are going on into the city. Let three men remain withus. We will keep in communication with the ship by menore. "

 * * * * *

Hendricks gave the necessary orders, and all our escort, save for threemen, did a brisk about face and marched back to the ship. The five ofus, conducted by Artur, started for the city, the rest of theprocession falling in behind us. Behind the double file of theprocession, the companies that had formed the living wall marchedtwenty abreast. Not all the companies, however, for perhaps a thousandmen, in all, formed a great hollow square about the _Ertak_, a greatmotionless guard of honor, clad in kirtles like the pennon-bearers inthe procession, save that their kirtles were longer, and pale green incolor. The uniform of their officers was identical, save that it wassomewhat darker in color, and set of with a narrow black belt, withoutshoulder straps. 

We marched on and on, into the city, down the wide streets, walled withsoaring buildings that shone with an iridescent lustre, toward thegreat domed building I had seen from the _Ertak_. 

The streets were utterly deserted, and when we came close to thebuilding I saw why. The whole populace was gathered there; they weredrawn up around the building in orderly groups, with a great laneopened to the mighty entrance. 

There were women waiting there, thousands of them, the most beautiful Ihave ever seen, and in my younger days I had eyes that were quick tonote a pretty face. 

Through these great silent ranks we passed majestically, and I feltvery foolish and very much bewildered. Every head was bowed as thoughin reverence, and the chanting of the men behind us was like thesinging of a hymn. 

 * * * * *

At the head of the procession, we entered the great domed, lozenge-shaped building, and I stared around in amazement. 

The structure was immense, but utterly without obstructing columns, theroof being supported by great arches buttressed to pilasters along thewalls, and furnished with row after row of long benches of somepolished, close-grained red wood, so clear that it shone brilliantly. 

There were four great aisles, leading from the four angles of thelozenge, and many narrower ones, to give ready access to the benches, all radiating from a raised dais in the center, and the whole buildingilluminated by bluish globes of light that I recognized fromdescriptions and visits to scientific museums, as replicas of an earlyform of the ethon tube. 

These things I took in at a glance. It was the object upon the hugecentral dais that caught and held my attention. 

"Hendricks!" I muttered, just loud enough to make my voice audibleabove the solemn chanting. "Are we dreaming?"

"No, sir!" Hendricks' eyes were starting out of his head, and I have nodoubt I looked as idiotic as he did. "It's there. "

On the dais was a gleaming object perhaps sixty feet long--which is alength equal to the height of about ten full-sized men. It was shapedlike an elongated egg--like the metal object surmounting the staffs ofthe pennon-bearers!

And, unmistakably, it was a ship for navigating space. 

 * * * * *

As we came closer, I could make out details. The ship was made of somebluish, shining metal that I took to be chromium, or some compound ofchromium, and there was a small circular port in the side presented tous. Set into the blunt nose of the ship was a ring of small disks, reddish in color, and deeply pitted, whether by electrical action oroxidization, I could not determine. Around the more pointed stern wereinnumerable small vents, pointed rearward, and smoothly stream-linedinto the body. The body of the ship fairly glistened, but it was dentedand deeply scratched in a number of places, and around the stern ventsthe metal was a dark, iridescent blue, as though stained by heat. 

The chanting stopped as we reached the dais, and I turned to our guide. He motioned that Hendricks and I were to precede him up a narrow, curving ramp that led upwards, while the three Zenians who accompaniedus were to remain below. I nodded my approval of this arrangement, andslowly we made our way to the top of the great platform, while thepennon-bearers formed a close circle around its base, and the people, who had surrounded the great building filed in with military precisionand took seats. In the short space of time that it took us to reach thetop of the dais, the whole great building filled itself with humanity. 

Artur turned to that great sea of faces and made a sweeping gesture, asof benediction. 

"Toma annerson!" His voice rang out like the clear note of a bell, filling that vast auditorium. In a great wave, the assembled peopleseated themselves, and sat watching us, silent and motionless. 

 * * * * *

Artur walked to the edge of the dais, and stood for a moment as thoughlost in thought. Then he spoke, not in the language which I understood, but in a melodious tongue which was utterly strange. His voice wasgrave and tender; he spoke with a degree of feeling which stirred meeven though I understood no word that he spoke. Now and again I heardone recognizable sequence of syllables, that now familiar phrase, "tomaannerson. "

"Wonder what that means, sir?" whispered Hendricks. "'Toma annerson?'Something very special, from the way he brings it out. And do you knowwhat we are here for, and what all this means?"

"No, " I admitted. "I have some ideas, but they're too wild forutterance. We'll just go slow, and take things as they come. "

As I spoke, Artur concluded his speech, and turned to us. 

"John Hanson, " he said softly, "our people would hear your voice. "

"But--but what am I to say?" I stammered. "I don't speak theirlanguage. "

"It will be enough, " he muttered, "that they have heard your voice. "

He stood aside, and there was nothing for me to do but walk to the edgeof the platform, as he had done, and speak. 

My own voice, in that hushed silence, frightened me. I would not havebelieved that so great a gathering could maintain such utter, deathlysilence. I stammered like a school-child reciting for the first timebefore his class. 

"People of Strobus, " I said--this is as nearly as I remember it, andperhaps my actual words were even less intelligent--"we are glad to behere. The welcome accorded us overwhelms us. We have come ... We havecome from worlds like your own, and ... And we have never seen a morebeautiful one. Nor more kindly people. We like you, and we hope thatyou will like us. We won't be here long, anyway. I thank you!"

 * * * * *

I was perspiring and red-faced by the time I finished, and I caughtHendricks in the very act of grinning at his commander's discomfiture. One black scowl wiped that grin off so quickly, however, that I thoughtI must have imagined it. 

"How was that, Artur?" I asked. "All right?"

"Your words were good to hear, John Hanson, " he nodded gravely. "Inbehalf----"

The hundreds of blue lights hung from the vaulted roof clacked suddenlyand went out. Almost instantly they flashed on again--and then clickedout. A third time they left us momentarily in darkness, and, when theycame on again, a murmur that was like a vast moan rose from the sea ofhumanity surrounding the dais. And the almost beautiful features ofArtur were drawn and ghastly with pain. 

"They come!" he whispered. "At this hour, they come!"

"Who, Artur?" I asked quickly. "Is there some danger?"

"Yes. A very great one. I will tell you, but first--" He strode to theedge of the dais and spoke crisply, his voice ringing out like the thincry of military brass. The thousands in the auditorium rose in unison, and swept down the aisles toward the doors. 

"Now, " cried Artur, "I shall tell you the meaning of that signal. Forthree or four generations, we have awaited it with dread. Since thelast anniversary of his coming, we have known the time was not far off. And it had to come at this moment! But this tells you nothing. 

 * * * * *

"The signal warns us that the Neens have at last made good their threatto come down upon us with their great hordes. The Neens were once menlike ourselves, who would have none of Him"--and Artur glanced towardthe gleaming ship upon the dais--"nor His teachings. They did not likethe new order, and they wandered off, to join those outcasts who hadbroken His laws, and had been sent to the smaller land of this world, where it is always warm, and where there are great trees thick withmoss, and the earth underfoot steams, and brings forth wriggling life. Neen, we call that land, as this larger land is called Libar. 

"These men of Neen became the enemies of Libar, and of us who callourselves Libars, and follow His ways. In that warm country they becamebrown, and their hair darkened. They increased more rapidly than didthe Libars, and as they forgot their learning, their bodies developedin strength. 

"Yet they have always envied us; envied us the beauty of our women, andof our cities. Envied us those things which He taught us to make, andwhich their clumsy hands cannot fashion, and which their brutish brainsdo not understand. 

"And now they have the overwhelming strength that makes us powerlessagainst them. " His voice broke, he turned his face away, that I mightnot see the agony written there. 

"Toma annerson!" he muttered. "Ah, toma annerson!" The words were likea prayer. 

"Just a minute, Artur!" I said sharply. "What weapons have they? Andwhat means of travel?"

He turned with a hopeless gesture. 

"They have the weapons we have, " he said. "Spears and knives and shortspears shot from bows. And for travel they have vast numbers ofmonocars they have stolen from us, generation after generation. "

"Monocars?" I asked, startled. 

"Yes. He Who Speaks gave us that secret. Ah, He was wise; to hear Hisvoice was to feel in touch with all the wisdom of all the air!" He madea gesture as though to include the whole universe. 

 * * * * *

There were a score of questions in my mind, but there was no time forthem then. I snatched my menore from its clip on my belt, and adjustedit quickly. It was a huge and cumbersome thing, the menore of that day, but it worked as well as the fragile, bejeweled things of today. Maybebetter. The guard posted outside the ship responded instantly. 

"Commander Hanson emanating, " I shot at him. "Present my compliments toMr. Correy, and instruct him as follows: He is to withdraw the outsideguard instantly, and proceed with the _Ertak_ to the large domedbuilding in the center of the city. He will bring the _Ertak_ to restat the lowest possible altitude above the building, and receive furtherorders at that time. Repeat these instructions. "

The guard returned the orders almost word for word, and I removed themenore with a little flourish. Oh, I was young enough in those days!

"Don't worry any more, Artur, " I said crisply. "I don't know who _He_was, but we'll show you some tricks you haven't seen yet! Come!"

I led the way down the ramp, Hendricks, Artur, and the three Zeniansfollowing. As we came out into the daylight, a silent shadow fellacross the great avenue that ran before the entrance, and there, barelyclearing the shining roof of the auditorium, was the sleek, fat bulk ofthe _Ertak_. Correy had wasted no time in obeying orders. 

Correy could smell a fight further than any man I ever knew. 

 * * * * *

From her emergency landing trap, the _Ertak_ let down the cableelevator, and the six of us, Hendricks, Artur, the three Zenians of thecrew, and myself, were shot up into the hull. Correy was right there bythe trap to greet me. 

"What are the orders, sir?" he asked, staring curiously at Artur. "Isthere trouble brewing?"

"I gather that there is, but we'll talk about that in a moment--in thenavigating room. " I introduced Artur and Correy as we hurried forward, and as soon as the door of the navigating room had closed on the threeof us, I turned to Artur with a question. 

"Now, where will we find the enemy, these Neens? Have you any idea?"

"Surely, " nodded Artur. "They come from their own country, to thesouth. The frontier is the narrow strip of land that connects Libarwith Neen, and since the alarm has been sounded, the enemy is alreadyat the frontier, and the forces of my people and the enemy are alreadymet. "

"I don't know anything about the set-up, " put in Correy, "but thatsounds like poor management to me. Haven't you any advance guards, orspies, or outposts?"

Artur shook his head sadly. 

"My people are not warlike. We who spread His teachings have tried towarn the masses, but they would not listen. The land of the Neens wasfar away. The Neens had never risen against the Libars. They neverwould. So my people reasoned. "

"And you think there is fighting in progress now?" I asked. "How didthe word come?"

"By phone or radio, I presume, " said Artur. "We are in communicationwith the frontier by both methods, and the signal of the lights hasbeen arranged for generations. In the day, all lights were to flash onthree times; at night, they were to be darkened three times. "

 * * * * *

So they had telephones and radios! It was most amazing, but myquestions could wait. They would have to wait. Correy was shuffling hisfeet with anxiety for orders to start action. 

"All right, Mr. Correy, " I said. "Close the ports and ascend to aheight that will enable you to navigate visually. You are sufficientlyfamiliar with the country to understand our objective?"

"Yes, sir! Studied it coming down. It's that neck of land thatseparates the two continents. " He picked up the microphone, and startedpunching buttons and snapping orders. In twenty seconds we wererushing, at maximum atmospheric speed, toward the scene of what, Arturhad told us, was already a battle. 

Artur proved to be correct. As we settled down over the narrow neck ofland, we could see the two forces locked in frenzied combat; the Libarsfighting with fine military precision, in regular companies, butoutnumbered at least five to one by the mob-like masses of brown Neens. 

From the north and from the south slim, long vehicles that moved withuncanny swiftness were rushing up reserve forces for both sides. Therewere far more monocars serving the Libars, but each car brought but apitifully few men. And every car shot back loaded with wounded. 

"I thought you said your people weren't fighters, Artur?" I said. "They're fighting now, like trained soldiers. "

"Surely. They are well trained, but they have no fighting spirit, likethe enemy. Their training, it is no more than a form of amusement, arecreation, the following of custom. He taught it, and my people drill, knowing not for what they train. See! Their beautiful ranks crumple andgo down before the formless rush of the Neens!"

"The disintegrator beams, sir?" asked Correy insidiously. 

"No. That would be needless slaughter. Those brown hordes are witlesssavages. An atomic bomb, Mr. Correy. Perhaps two of them, one on eitherflank of the enemy. Will you give the order?"

 * * * * *

Correy rapped out the order, and the ship darted to the desiredposition for the first bomb--darted so violently that Artur was almostthrown off his feet. 

"Watch!" I said, motioning to Artur to share a port with me. 

The bomb fled downward, a swift black speck. It struck perhaps a halfmile to the west (to adopt Earth measures and directions) of theenemy's flank. 

As it struck, a circle of white shot out from the point of impact, acircle that barely touched that seething west flank. The circle paledto gray, and settled to earth. Where there had been green, rank growth, there was now no more than a dirty red crater, and the whole west flankof the enemy was fleeing wildly. 

I said the whole west flank; that was not true. There were some thatdid not flee: that would never move again. But there was not onehundredth part of the number that would not have dissolved into dustwith one sweep of the disintegrator ray through that pack of strivinghumanity. 

"The other flank, Mr. Correy, " I said quietly. "And just a shadefurther away from the enemy. A little object lesson, as it were!"

 * * * * *

The battle was at a momentary standstill. The Neens and the Libarsseemed, for the moment, to forget the issue; every face was turnedupward. Even the faces of the runners who fled from a disaster they didnot understand. 

"I think one more will be enough, sir, " chuckled Correy. "The beggarsare ready to run for it right now. " He gave a command, and as thoughthe microphone itself released the bomb, it dropped from the bottom ofthe _Ertak_ and diminished swiftly as it hurtled earthward. 

Again the swift spread of white that turned to gray; again the vast redcrater. Again, too, a flank crumpled. 

As though I could see the faces of the brown men, I saw terror striketo the heart of the Neens. The flanks were melting away, and the panicof fear spread as flame spreads on a surface of oil. Correy has a goodeye for such things, and he said there were fifty thousand of the enemymassed there. If there were, in the space that it takes the heart totick ten times, fifty thousand Neens turned their back to the enemy andfled to the safety of their own jungles. 

 * * * * *

The Libars made no effort to pursue. They stood there, in theirmilitary formations, watching with wonderment. Then, with crispmilitary dispatch, they maneuvered into great long ranks, awaiting thearrival of transportation. 

"And so it is finished, John Hanson, " said Artur slowly, his eyesshining with a light that might almost be called holy. "My people aresaved! He spoke well, as always, when He said that those who would comeafter Him would be our friends if we were their friends. "

"We are your friends, " I replied, "but tell me, who is this one of whomyou speak always, but do not name? From what I have seen, I guess agreat deal, but there has been no time to learn all the story. Will youtell me, now?"

"I will, if that is your wish, " said Artur, "but I should prefer totell you in the Place. It is a long story, the story of toma annerson, the story of He Who Speaks, and there are things you should see, sothat you may understand that story. "

"As you wish, Artur. " I glanced at Correy and nodded. "Back to thecity, Mr. Correy. I think we're through here. "

"I believe we are, sir. " He gave the orders to the operating room, andthe _Ertak_ swung in a great circle toward the gleaming city of theLibars. "It looked like a real row when we got here; I wouldn't haveminded being down there for a few minutes myself. "

"With the _Ertak_ poised over your head, dropping atomic bombs?"

Correy shook his head and grinned. 

"No, sir!" he admitted. "Just hand to hand, with clubs. "

 * * * * *

Artur and I were together in the great domed building he called "thePlace. " There were no others in that vast auditorium, although outsidea multitude waited. Artur had expressed a wish that no one accompanyme, and I could see no valid reason for refusing the request. 

"First, " he said, pausing beside the great shining body of the spaceship upon the central dais, "let me take you back many generations, tothe time when only this northern continent was inhabited, and theLibars and the Neens were one people. 

"In those days, we were of less understanding than the Neens of today. There were no cities; each family lived to itself, in crude huts, tilling the ground and hunting its own food. Then, out of the sky camethis. " He touched, reverently, the smooth side of the space ship. "Itcame to earth at this very spot, and from it, presently, emerged He WhoSpeaks. Would you inspect the ship that brought Him here?"

"Gladly, " I said, and as I spoke, Artur swung open the small circulardoor. A great ethon flashlight, of a type still to be seen in ourlarger museums, stood just inside the threshold, and aided by itsbeams, we entered. 

I stared around in amazement. The port through which he had entered ledto a narrow compartment running lengthwise of the ship: a compartmenttwice the length of a man, perhaps, and half the length of a man inbreadth. The rest of the ship was cut off by bulkheads, each studdedwith control devices the uses of which I could but vaguely understand. 

 * * * * *

Forward was a veritable maze of instruments, mounted on three largepanels, the central panel of the group containing a circular lens whichapparently was the eyepiece of some type of television disk the like ofwhich I have never seen or heard. From my hasty examination I gatheredthat the ship operated by both a rocket effect (an early type ofpropulsion which was abandoned as ineffective) and some form ofattraction-repulsion apparatus, evidently functioning through thereddish, pitted disks I had observed around the nose of the ship. Thelettering upon the control panels and the instruments, while nearlyobliterated, was unmistakably in the same language in which Artur hadaddressed us. 

The ship had, beyond the shadow of doubt, come from Earth!

"Artur, " I said gravely, "you have shown me that which has stirred memore than anything in my life. This ship of the air came from my ownworld, which is called Earth. "

"True, " he nodded, "that is the name He gave to it: Earth. He was ayoung man, but He was full of kindness and wisdom. He took my peopleout of the fields and the forests, and He taught them the working ofmetals, and the making of such things as He thought were good. Otherthings, of which He knew, He kept secret. He had small instruments Hecould hold in His hand, and which roared suddenly, that would take thelife of large animals at a great distance, but He did not explainthese, saying that they were bad. But all the good things He made formy people, and showed them how to make others. 

 * * * * *

"Not all my people were good. Some of them hated this great one, andstrove against Him. They were makers of trouble, and He sent them tothe southern continent, which is called Neen. Those among my people wholoved Him and served Him best, He made His friends. He taught them Hislanguage, which is this that I speak, and which has been the holylanguage of His priests since that day. He gave to these friends namesfrom his own country, and they were handed down from father to son, sothat I am now Artur, as my father was Artur, and his father before him, for many generations. "

"Just a second, " I put in. "Artur? That is not--ah! Arthur! That is thename: Arthur. "

"Perhaps so, " nodded the priest of this unknown Earth-child. "In manygenerations, a name might slightly change. But I must hasten on with mystory, for outside my people become impatient. 

"In the course of time, He passed away, an old man, with a beard thatwas whiter than the hair of our new-born children. Here, our hair growsdark with age, but His whitened like the metal of his ship that broughtHim here. But He left to us His voice, and so long as His voice spoketo us on the anniversary of the day upon which He came out of the sky, the Neens believed that His power still protected His people. 

"But the Neens were only awaiting the time when His voice would nolonger sound in the Place. Each year their brown and savagerepresentatives came, upon the anniversary, to listen, and each timethey cowered and went back to their own kind with the word that He WhoSpeaks, still spoke to His people. 

"But the last anniversary, no sound came forth. His voice was silencedat last; and the Neens went back rejoicing, to tell their people thatat last the god of the Libars had truly died, and that His voicesounded no more in the Place. "

 * * * * *

A tense excitement gripped me; my hands trembled, and my voice, as Ispoke to Artur, shook with emotion. 

"And this voice--it came from where, Artur?" I whispered. 

"From here. " Sorrowfully, reverently, he lifted, from a niche in thewall, a small box of smooth, shining metal, and lifted the lid. 

Curiously, I stared at the instruments revealed. In one end of thehorizontal panel was a small metal membrane, which I guessed was adiaphragm. In the center of the remaining space was thrust up a heavypole of rusty metal. Supported by tiny brackets in such fashion that itdid not quite touch the pole of rusty metal, was a bright wire, whichdisappeared through tiny holes in the panel, on either side. Each ofthe brackets which supported the wire was tipped with a tiny roller, which led me to believe that the wire was of greater length than wasrevealed, and designed to be drawn over the upright piece of metal. 

"Until the last anniversary, " said Artur sadly, "when one touched thissmall bit of metal, here, "--he indicated a lever beside the diaphragm, which I had not noted--"this wire moved swiftly, and His voice cameforth. But this anniversary, the wire did not move, and there was novoice. "

"Let me see that thing a moment. " There were hinges at one end of thepanel, and I lifted it carefully. An intricate maze of delicatemechanism came up with it. 

 * * * * *

One thing I saw at a glance: the box contained a tiny, crude, butworkable atomic generator. And I had been right about the wire: therewas a great orderly coil of it on one spool, and the other end wasattached to an empty spool. The upright of rusty metal was the pole ofan electro-magnet, energized by the atomic generator. 

"I think I see the trouble, Artur!" I exclaimed. One of the connectionsto the atomic generator was badly corroded; a portion of the metal hadbeen entirely eaten away, probably by the electrolytic action of thetwo dissimilar metals. With trembling fingers I made a freshconnection, and swung down the hinged panel. "This is the lever?" Iasked. 

"Yes; you touch it so. " Artur moved the bit of metal, and instantly theshining wire started to move, coming up through the one small hole, passing, on its rollered guides, directly over the magnet, anddisappearing through the other hole, to be wound up on the take-upspool. For an instant there was no sound, save the slight grinding ofthe wire on its rollers, and then a bass, powerful voice spoke from thevibrating metal diaphragm:

"I am Thomas Anderson, " said the voice. "I am a native of a worldcalled Earth, and I have come through space to this other sphere. Ileave this record, which I trust is imperishable, so that when otherscome to follow me, they may know that to Earth belongs the honor, ifhonor it be, of sending to this world its first visitor from the stars. 

"There is no record on Earth of me nor of my ship of space, the_Adventurer_. The history of science is a history of men working underthe stinging lash of criticism and scoffing; I would have none of that. 

 * * * * *

"The _Adventurer_ was assembled far from the cities, in a lone placewhere none came to scoff or criticize. When it was finished, I took myplace and sealed the port by which I had entered. The _Adventurer_spurned the Earth beneath its cradles, and in the middle of theTwenty-second century, as time is computed on Earth, man first foundhimself in outer space. 

"I landed here by chance. My ship had shot its bolt. Perhaps I couldleave, but the navigation of space is a perilous thing, and I could notbe sure of singling out my native Earth. This is a happy world, and thework I am doing here is good work. Here I remain. 

"And now, to you who shall hear this, my voice, in some year so faraway that my bones shall be less than dust, and the mind refuses tocompute the years, let me give into your charge the happiness and thewelfare of these, my people. May peace and happiness be your portion. That is the wish of Earth's first orphan, Thomas Anderson. "

There was a click, and then the sharp hum of the wire re-spoolingitself on the original drum. 

"Toma annerson, " said Artur solemnly: "He Who Speaks. " He offered hishand to me, and I understood, as I shook hands gravely, that this oldEarth greeting had become a holy sign among these people. And Iunderstood also the meaning of the familiar phrase, "toma annerson"; itwas the time-corrupted version of that name they held holy--the name ofThomas Anderson, child of my own Earth, and explorer of space centuriesbefore Ame Baove saw his first sun. 

 * * * * *

There is more I could tell of Strobus and its people, but an old man'spen grows weary. 

The menace of the Neens, Artur agreed, had been settled forever. Theyknew now that He Who Speaks still watched over the welfare of hispeople. The Neens were an ignorant and a superstitious people, and thetwo great craters made by our atomic bombs would be grim reminders tothem for many generations to come. 

"You have done all that need be done, John Hanson, " said Artur, hisface alight with gratitude. "And now you must receive the gratitude ofmy people!" Before I could protest, he signalled to the men who guardedthe four great entrances, and my words were lost in the instant trampof thousands of feet marching down the broad aisles. 

When they were all seated, Artur spoke to them, not in the "holy"language I understood, but in their own common tongue. I stood there bythe ship, feeling like a fool, wondering what he was saying. In the endhe turned to me, and motioned for me to join him, where he stood nearthe edge of the dais. As I did so, every person in that monstrousauditorium rose and bowed his head. 

"They greet you as the successor to He Who Speaks, " said Artur gently. "They are a simple folk, and you have served them well. You are a manof many duties that must soon carry you away, but first will you tellthese people that you are their friend, as Toma Annerson was the friendof their fathers?"

 * * * * *

For the second time that day I made a speech. 

"Friends, " I said, "I have heard the voice of a great countryman ofmine, who is dead these countless centuries, and yet who lives today inyour hearts. I am proud that the same star gave us birth. " It wasn'tmuch of a speech, but they didn't understand it, anyway. Arturtranslated it for them, and I think he embroidered it somewhat, for thetranslation took a long time. 

"They worship you as the successor to Toma Annerson, " whispered Arturas the people filed from the great auditorium. "Your fame here will besecond only to His, for you saved, to-day, the people He called Hisown. "

We left just as darkness was falling, and as I shot up to the hovering_Ertak_, the chant of Artur and his bright-robed fellows was the lastsound of Strobus that fell upon my ears. They were intoning the praisesof Thomas Anderson, man of Earth. 

And so, my good Zenian friends, you learn of the first man to brave thedangers of outer space. He left no classic journal behind him as didAme Baove, nor did he return to tell of the wonders he had found. 

But he did take strong root where he fell in his clumsy craft, and ifthis record, supported only by the log of the _Ertak_, needs furtherproof, some five or six full generations from now Strobus will be closeenough for doubting Zenians to visit. And they will find there, I haveno least doubt, the enshrined _Adventurer_, and the memory, not only ofThomas Anderson, but of one, John Hanson, Commander (now retired) ofthe Special Patrol Service.