To Worlds Unknown, page 8
Why, the very words astronomy, arithmetic and algebra sprang from there. Oh yes, we should soon know the truth of this. The language alone should tell us. If not in its original form some words will have remained the same. Many scholars believe that all alphabets have a common origin, descending from the Semitic—that is, Hebrew."
Rex had never seen the Professor so moved.
"I take this to mean our next trip will be to Lila," said Tiger.
"Certainly, if our friends will be kind enough to take us there. This promises to be the greatest discovery of all time. Imagine it! Imagine reading the records of a civilization on Earth of which all traces have been lost and we did not even know had ever existed."
"I wouldn't be too sure about all traces having been lost," put in Tiger. "There are quite a few things in Asia Minor and Central America which no one has yet been able to explain. If there is any truth in this amazing tale we may find the answers in the records on Lila. Can you read ancient Hebrew, Professor ?"
"No, but there are plenty of people on Earth who can. I know a few odd words. No doubt the people of Lila would allow us to take copies of their scrolls when we tell them we come from their original homeland. As you may know, some have recently been discovered on Earth, buried in caves."
"Why bury them ?" questioned Rex.
"Because the Jews were a devout race, and had a horror of the Word of God even being seen by unbelievers. Their religious writings were never exposed to public gaze."
"When do you want to go to this place?" asked Vargo, practically.
"Just as soon as we can get there. For my part I can't get there quickly enough."
"If this place is so far off the beaten track, so to speak, how was it that Rolto happened to go there ?" queried Toby, suspiciously.
Vargo replied. "That might well happen. When he was a Captain of the Remote Survey Fleet his work was chiefly exploration. He had a roving commission and would call anywhere."
The Professor sighed enviously. "What a wonderful job.”
“We haven't done so badly for the length of time we've been whistling about," reminded Tiger. "I can see Rolto now, just going past. He must have been delayed."
"Stop him!" cried the Professor. "I must speak to him." Rex ran out, and at his request Rolto followed him inside.
The Professor addressed him. "As you would expect, we are immensely interested in what you have told our young friend here about the planet Lila. May I ask you one or two questions ?"
"Certainly."
"You have landed there ?"
"Yes. Two or three times. On one occasion I was forced down there. Later I stayed for a while to rest my crew and look over my ship."
"What are the people like ?"
"In what way ?"
"How far are they civilized ?"
"They don't make bomb explosions if that's what you mean," answered Rolto, a sneer creeping into his voice. He went on: "There are not many of them. They live quietly in houses of wood and dried mud, in conditions which they told me have not been changed in many generations. They are deep philosophers and spend much time thinking and talking of a great King they have never seen but whom they call—" Rolto paused to search his memory "—Jehovah, or something like that. For him they have built a temple of stone."
Silence fell. Rex stared at the tall, stern-looking space captain, aware of a feeling of unreality at hearing such a word fall from his lips.
The Professor broke the silence. "How could you learn this when it seems unlikely you could speak their language, or they yours?"
"On the first occasion I landed on Lila I had to do so to avoid a broad trail of meteorites left by a comet which had crossed my course. Rather than risk damage to my ship I waited for the particles to clear. For this reason I was on the planet for some time, long enough to learn something of the language. That occasion was in the nature of an accident, but my second call was deliberate. I made a courtesy call as I happened to be in that Region."
"Do you remember any of the words you learned while you were there ?"
"Many."
"Then tell me this. What is their word for planet?”
“Oth."
"What do they call their chief?"
"Khazek."
"Sun?"
"Cheres."
"Food?"
"Zaid."
Said the Professor, who was pale from emotion: "Thank you, Rolto. As you are able to speak the language would you care to go with us and introduce us to these people ?"
"It is not possible. I have other work to do." Rolto bowed and went out.
The Professor, looking slightly dazed, stared at the others. "So it is true. It must be true. It could not be coincidence that the people of Lila speak the language we call Hebrew, although in some words it is related to Arabic. I know very little of either language, but what I have just heard is enough to convince me that Rolto's story is true in substance. How otherwise could he have known those words? After all, we must remember that for centuries on Earth Hebrew was practically a dead language, like Latin and Greek, used only by scholars and for religious ritual. Although few people have realized it we have on Earth seen the unique spectacle of a dead language come to life, in Israel, where a common language was necessary for people of many nationalities. Of all the things that have happened to us on our travels this is the most astounding. We must go to Lila."
"Were you thinking of visiting Terromagna on this trip ?" asked Multova.
"Nothing has been decided. Why ?"
"Because if so I could take you to Lila and go on to Terromagna afterwards. I suggest that because Lila is a very long way away, and my ship is both larger and faster than the Tavona. It is so far distant that calls on the way would be necessary, if only for fresh water. Our good friend Vargo could come with us. As I imagine you would wish to stay on Lila longer than I could wait I could leave you there to be picked up later by the Tavona, which could follow us. I have enough accommodation for Vargo, but not for the others of the Tavona. I can leave word here where I have gone."
"If that is agreeable to everyone I think it is a very good plan," agreed the Professor.
And so it was decided.
Grey Lady. He said it was their latest design and he did not know of a more efficient ship. Modifications and improvements were constantly being made, as with all types of vehicles on Earth.
"On Earth you are still working on the wrong lines," said Multova, casually. "You'll never get anywhere while you rely on liquid fuel for your motive power. Just as your internal combustion engine made ordinary flying possible so one day will the discovery of how to employ cosmic and other rays, which exist in unlimited quantities everywhere, revolutionize your ideas of space travel. You might shoot a rocket to your moon but of what use is that? By telling your scientist-engineers what you know you could advance them a thousand years of laborious experiments of trial and error."
"Our people are not yet ready for anything so startling," put in the Professor, who had overheard Multova's last remark. "Heaven only knows what they would do with such power if they had it. First they must change their outlook on life. All they think of at present is war, and all energy is directed to that end."
Tiger looked at Rex and winked. They all knew what the Professor thought of war.
They stepped into the ship and took their places. Multova made a signal to the commander. The heavy self-sealing double doors closed automatically. Then came the familiar whine of the cosmic jets. Switches were thrown. Instruments glowed, and in a few moments the astradrome appeared to be falling away as if the ship had dropped it.
The journey that followed was the longest Rex had ever undertaken, and although he had prepared himself for it the time seemed interminable. He lost count of the hours, having forgotten to wind his watch, for this was the only means he had of reckoning the passage of time in terms that he could grasp.
Conversation had naturally been devoted almost entirely to the amazing story Rolto had told them, and the Professor was able to enlarge on it.
"There is no doubt," he said, "that Earth had suffered some tremendous disasters long before the Flood. Of what they were only fragments of evidence remain in writing, and these are more in the nature of legend than established fact. There is, for example, the story of the lost continent of Atlantis which sank into the Atlantic Ocean about eleven thousand years ago. Plato, the Greek philosopher, claimed he had an ancestor named Solon who knew all about this, having had the story from some Egyptian priests. Those records were lost in the fire that destroyed the Alexandrian Library, in which were stored a hundred thousand ancient manuscripts."
"Is it known when the Deluge occurred?" asked Toby.
"It is held by some to have occurred about 2348 B.C. Many people think it was confined to what we call Iraq, but I don't share that view."
"Why not?"
"Because we find the same story all over the world. It is not peculiar to the Hebrew account told in the Bible. People do not forget a disaster of such magnitude, and even if the story is not preserved in writing it survives in legend told by parents to their children. The same story of the Flood is told by the Indians, Chinese, Persians, Babylonians, Syrians, South and Central Americans and even the Polynesians of the Pacific. The damage and loss of life must have been appalling. Of course, Noah and his party were not the only people to escape, as the old Hebrew chroniclers believed. They were not to know that. They could not be expected to know, if Rolto's story is true, that some of their people escaped to another world. I recall that the story of the Flood was written on the sacred tablets of Babylon. They were translated into Greek.
I'm convinced that the Flood must have covered much of the Earth. Of course, the ancient Hebrew writings present many mysteries that have never been solved."
"Such as?" questioned Rex.
"The Lost Tribes, for example. There were originally twelve tribes of Israel, founded by the twelve sons of Jacob. In 721 B.C. ten of the tribes, having been defeated in battle were carried off into slavery by the Assyrians under Sargon. What became of them is not known, for which reason they have since been known as the Lost Tribes. The two tribes that survived and remained in their homeland were Judah and Benjamin. There is a school of thought which believes the Lost Tribes escaped and made their way to Northern and Western Europe, even to England. Certainly there were plenty of Jews in England long before William the Conqueror came over and dispossessed them of their land."
"So the people on Lila might have been members of any of the Tribes."
"Yes. The Flood had occurred long before the ten tribes were lost, but they would of course know all about it. It is a tremendous thought that the people now on Lila might have records, which on Earth were lost in the Flood, of some of the frightful things that went on and make such a tale of woe in the Old Testament. It is all very thrilling. Of course, the people of Lila would know nothing of the history of the Jews since their own departure from our planet. They would know nothing of the Great Redeemer who arose from the surviving tribe of Judah, or of his crucifixion, which was the common form of execution in those days. If what Rolto says is true, we may come upon some really prehistoric information."
It was at this juncture that Multova interrupted to say they were approaching a small intermediate planet named Lut where he intended to call for fresh water. This would give them time to relax, sweeten the ship, and refresh themselves with a bath if they so wished.
"I take it this place Lut presents no dangers ?" said the Professor.
"None at all," Multova assured him. "It is a very pleasant little place, ideal for what I have heard you call a picnic. Being within the influence of two suns it is rather warm, but rain falls frequently and cools an atmosphere that is as comfortable as one could wish. Both pressure and gravity are slight, but you are accustomed to that."
"Are there any human inhabitants ?"
"No. The only inhabitants are insects and small reptiles, all of which, as far as I know, are harmless."
"If the place is as pleasant as you say why are there no people on it?"
"I don't know. We can only assume that life, when it occurred, followed a different course. That often happens, as you must be aware. By what conditions human forms come into existence we still don't know, but it seems to be largely a matter of accident. There is plenty of vegetation. I imagine Lila must have been such a world as this, for which reason these Hebrew refugees from Earth decided to stay there. Apparently they liked it and have remained there, or their descendants have, ever since."
"People have done that sort of thing on Earth, although their movements have of course been confined to their own planet. Our present troubles arise largely from the fact that we have few pieces of land left unoccupied, with the result that people try to seize land that is occupied by someone else. That means war."
"It seems a pity, with so many excellent planets unoccupied," said Multova. "The sooner you have spacecraft the better. If people were unhappy with their land they could then go somewhere else. That would end your wars."
"I doubt it. They would then squabble over the most desirable planets."
Multova sighed. "Well, from the millions of planets available there should be enough for everyone. But we approach Lut, a case in point. No one could wish for anything better. When you have spaceships you can recommend it to people who are dissatisfied with what they have on Earth."
"I will keep it in mind," returned the Professor, a trifle cynically.
They were now all looking at the planet towards which the ship was dropping. From a distance it seemed to Rex to be all that Multova had claimed for it; and this was confirmed when they touched down, and he, with the others, stepped out. With flowers, trees and flowering shrubs on all sides he might have been in a tropical park. The warm still air was filled with the hum and buzz of insects. A brook of clear water from the high ground meandered past. Had it not been for the rather torrid heat Rex would have said the place was as near to paradise as it was possible to imagine. He noticed one curious phenomenon. As a result of there being two suns, one high and the other low in the sky, shining from opposite directions, there were no definite shadows, and what there were seemed to be duplicated and so thin as to be hardly noticeable.
A cheerful meal on the grass beside the ship was brought to an end by a sudden rather heavy shower of rain, which forced them to retire inside. But it did not last long, and the suns were soon shining again. The brook, which had been little more than a trickle, as a result of the rain falling on the high ground now filled its bed. Rex took off his shoes and paddled. Finding the water comfortably warm he declared his intention of taking a bathe; so throwing towel over his arm he strolled back to the brook and off along the bank, making for the point where it was lost to sight round a wooded bend.
"You're sure there's nothing here to be afraid of?" he called back to Multova.
"Nothing at all," was the answer. "It's quite safe but don't go too far because we shall be moving off fairly soon."
Rex strolled on, leaving the crew disposing of garbage that had accumulated in the ship during the long voyage.
He went a fair way before he found a spot ideally suited to his purpose. This was a deep pool with a little beach of sparkling grey-white sand below a grassy bank. Observing that the water was already going down again he threw off his clothes, had a plunge, swam around for a little while and then sat on the bank, with his feet resting on the moist sand, to dry off in the sun. Thoroughly enjoying his sunbathe he sat there for some time, watching the clear water flowing past and trying to work out the cause of a curious metallic glint he sometimes saw in it when the sun caught it at a particular angle. He noticed the same sheen in the sand into which he had allowed his feet to sink. The sun had already dried the surface. The water had also left a slight deposit on his body where it had dried, rather in the manner of salt sea water but with a slight shine. He rubbed some of it off and found it was a fine, white metallic dust.
After a while, deciding he had stayed long enough and afraid he might be keeping the others waiting, he resolved to rejoin them, Rising, in trying to take the first step towards his clothes, he nearly fell on his face when he found his feet stuck in the sand.
At first he was not particularly alarmed. He pulled. Nothing happened. He pulled harder. Still nothing happened. In something like a panic he pulled and jerked and twisted, but for all the progress he made his feet might have been clamped in a vice. He tore at the sand with his fingers, only to discover with a shock that the surface of the sand was as hard as rock, so hard that even with his nails he could make no impression on it.
Panting, he sat down again, staring unbelievingly at his feet, trying to work out what had happened. The sand, which had been as soft as ordinary sand when he had first stepped on it, seemed, in drying, to have turned to cement. He reached for a stone intending to use it as a hammer, only to find that it had set in the stuff. A few more efforts to get clear made it obvious that he would never get free by himself; indeed, he could not see how the others would be able to help him.
Deciding that he would have to let them know what had happened he let out a hail. But apparently he had gone farther than he had realized, and he had to do a lot of shouting before, to his relief, he received an answer.
Presently Tiger appeared round the corner. "What the deuce are you doing ?" he demanded, angrily. "You were told not to be long. We've been waiting for you."
"I'm sorry, but I'm stuck," explained Rex.
"You're What?"
"Stuck. I can't move an inch."
"Don't be absurd."
"Well, you try to move me," invited Rex, grimly. Tiger strode up. He seized one of Rex's legs and pulled. He pulled several times before he released it. "How did this happen?" he asked.
