Lord of Atlantis. John Russell Fearn
can bring the sun’s rays into one focus from sixteen different points. Imagine those sixteen reflected rays concentrated into a single burning beam! A whole city could be destroyed in a matter of minutes by concentrated sunlight. It is just the little boy with the magnifying glass on a gigantic, scientific scale.”
“So that is your intention!” Anger flamed again in the girl’s eyes. “You would destroy the cities of Earth and resurrect Atlantis with its scientific devices, thereby enforcing a victory for yourself.”
“That is my aim—and why not?” Abna shrugged. “It’s so perfectly logical and therefore should appeal to you. I am still an Earthman at heart, remember, even though I was born on Jupiter. The Atlanteans were Earth people to begin with. I am merely intending to return to the world whence my race sprang. I know that as long as you rule the people of Earth, you will never submit to my control; so the only alternative is to destroy you—or them. I have too much regard for you to ever kill you, so the other way is to leave you with nobody to control, which means obliteration of Earth people, or else complete bondage.”
“I’ll stop you somehow.”
“On the other hand,” he continued, “you have a way out. Compromise by marrying me. Then, together, pooling our respective sciences, we can rule not only the Earth but my own small territory on Jupiter as well. You will add another world to your collection of colonised planets and everybody will be happy.”
“The gain being all to you! You have no real love for me, Abna, even though I was once fool enough to think so. You simply regard me as a woman, and believe thereby that you can bring life once again to your dying race. You believe our offspring could form the basis of a new race.”
“Mighty in strength and in knowledge,” Abna agreed, smiling again. “What is so outlandish about that? We understand each other and can regard the biological implications dispassionately. I admit that is the primary reason for my desiring union with you, but it’s not the only reason. I do love you, Vi, and always shall, even if we have to become sworn enemies through our differing viewpoints. A man who did not love you would never have gone through what I have to keep in contact with you. I would never have sought you out again after that synthesis trick you played on me. In the end, all universal issues come down to that one inescapable factor.”
The Amazon relaxed, her lips tight. In her earlier contact with Abna, she had at times had to fight a similar battle to this, but never before had she so clearly realized that she had two sides to her fantastic character. The hard, cruel shell of a scientific woman which had gained her such tremendous power and eminence was at last desperately at war with the underlying woman, the woman who would not admit, even to herself, that she was becoming weary of her lone path, even a little nauseated at having greater power and intelligence than anybody else on Earth. The one side of her loathed the quiet mastery of Abna of Atlantis; the other side felt a sense of relief that a stronger personality could support her in moments when she was unsure.
“Naturally,” Abna said, “it takes some thinking out—even though I should have imagined that you’d had time enough to consider in these past months. You knew perfectly well that I would return one day, and that union between us is inevitable in the end.”
“I know nothing of the sort,” she responded, without looking at him.
“It is inevitable because there is no room in the immediate solar system for both our sciences—and because we have too much regard for one another to resolve matters by destroying each other. If you have any doubts that I mean what I say, just come and watch this little episode.”
Her meal finished, the Amazon rose and followed him across the control room until they reached an outlook port. Here Earth was in full view, greatly magnified by the lens of which the window itself was composed.
“There,” Abna said, “is the United States. You recognize the outline? And there is England and Federation Europe. That greyness is the Atlantic and the darker grey running across it is newly risen Mu. If it were daylight instead of moonlight you’d see it more clearly. However, it is sufficient for our purpose.”
“What purpose?” the Amazon asked in suspicion.
Abna summoned the adviser. He came forward like a ghost.
“Plan 19,” Abna told him. “Proceed with it.”
Sefner Quorne withdrew and moved over to the men still at the control board. He gave them instructions and then stood watching proceedings, alert for the slightest mistake. The Amazon gave a start as from the floating globe there stabbed a deep, lavender-coloured beam which lost itself in distance as it reached down toward Earth.
“What have you done?” she demanded flashing a glance at Abna’s intently watching face. “Set fire to a city?”
“No, we have— There! See?”
The girl looked at a brief flash of flame. Then the lavender beam faded out and the hum of power from the atomic plant ceased.
“Satisfactory, highness?” Sefner Quorne inquired.
“Entirely,” Abna assented, and to the Amazon he added, “I have destroyed the force-dome existing round Atlantis. That is the first move. I shall next travel to Atlantis and resurrect its scientific weapons. I must go quickly before your Earthly curiosity-mongers start investigating. After that will come the destruction of every city, unless we compromise.”
The girl made a bewildered movement. “Abna, I do not understand you!” she declared. “Whatever I may think of you, I have never considered you a man of violence. I honestly do not believe that you would deliberately kill a whole race of people just to get me. You haven’t the necessary ruthlessness for that!”
“You underrate me,” he replied. “There was a time in the past when you killed thousands to try to master the world: why shouldn’t I perform a similar action for, to me—a far greater prize—to get you?”
The Amazon said nothing and Abna’s reddish eyes regarded her steadily. “One word from you can stop it all, Vi. However,” he added, smiling, “think it over. I shall not go to Earth to deal with Atlantis until tomorrow. In the meantime you are my guest. Excellency!”
Sefner Quorne came over without a sound.
Abna said: “Please see that Miss Brant has the guest suite. And you’ll forgive me, Vi,” he added to her, “if I place a guard outside your door. With you right here in my hands I would be a fool indeed if I gave you any opportunity to escape!”
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