Raiders of the Universes

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  _He somehow managed to close the tiny switch._]

  Raiders of the Universes

  By Donald Wandrei

  Childlike, the great astronomer Phobar stands before the metallic invaders of the ravished solar system.

  It was in the thirty-fourth century that the dark star began its famousconquest, unparalleled in stellar annals. Phobar the astronomerdiscovered it. He was sweeping the heavens with one of the newlyinvented multi-powered Sussendorf comet-hunters when something caughthis eye--a new star of great brilliance in the foreground of theconstellation Hercules.

  For the rest of the night, he cast aside all his plans and concentratedon the one star. He witnessed an unprecedented event. Mercia'snullifier had just been invented, a curious and intricate device, basedon four-dimensional geometry, that made it possible to see occurrencesin the universe which had hitherto required the hundreds of years neededfor light to cross the intervening space before they were visible onEarth. By a hasty calculation with the aid of this invention, Phobarfound that the new star was about three thousand light-years distant,and that it was hurtling backward into space at the rate of twelvehundred miles per second. The remarkable feature of his discovery wasthis appearance of a fourth-magnitude star where none had been known toexist. Perhaps it had come into existence this very night.

  On the succeeding night, he was given a greater surprise. In line withthe first star, but several hundred light-years nearer, was a second newstar of even more brightness. And it, too, was hurtling backward intospace at approximately twelve hundred miles per second. Phobar wasastonished. Two new stars discovered within twenty-four hours in thesame part of the heavens, both of the fourth magnitude! But his surprisewas as nothing when on the succeeding night, even while he watched, athird new star appeared in line with these, but much closer.

  At midnight he first noticed a pin-point of faint light; by one o'clockthe star was of eighth magnitude. At two it was a brilliant sun of thesecond magnitude blazing away from Earth like the others at a rate oftwelve hundred miles per second. And on the next evening, and the next,and the next, other new stars appeared until there were seven in all,every one on a line in the same constellation Hercules, every one withthe same radiance and the same proper motion, though of varying size!

  * * * * *

  Phobar had broadcast his discovery to incredulous astronomers; but asstar after star appeared nightly, all the telescopes on Earth wereturned toward one of the most spectacular cataclysms that historyrecorded. Far out in the depths of space, with unheard-of regularity andunheard-of precision, new worlds were flaming up overnight in a linethat began at Hercules and extended toward the solar system.

  Phobar's announcement was immediately flashed to Venus, Mars, Jupiter,and Saturn, the other members of the Five World Federation. Saturnreported no evidence of the phenomena, because of the interfering ringsand the lack of Mercia's nullifier. But Jupiter, with a similar device,witnessed the phenomena and announced furthermore that many stars in theneighborhood of the novae had begun to deviate in singular and abruptfashion from their normal positions.

  There was not as yet much popular interest in the phenomena. WithoutMercia's nullifier, the stars were not visible to ordinary eyes, sincethe light-rays would take years to reach the Earth. But every astronomerwho had access to Mercia's nullifier hastened to focus his telescope onthe region where extraordinary events were taking place out in theunfathomable gulf of night. Some terrific force was at work, creatingworlds and disturbing the positions of stars within a radius alreadyknown to extend billions and trillions of miles from the path of theseven new stars. But of the nature of that force, astronomers could onlyguess.

  * * * * *

  Phobar took up his duties early on the eighth night. The last star hadappeared about five hundred light-years distant. If an eighth new starwas found, it should be not more than a few light-years away. Butnothing happened. All night Phobar kept his telescope pointed at theprobable spot, but search as he might, the heavens showed nothing new.In the morning he sought eagerly for news of any discovery made byfellow-watchers, but they, too, had found nothing unusual. Could it bethat the mystery would now fade away, a new riddle of the skies?

  The next evening, he took up his position once more, training histelescope on the seven bright stars, and then on the region where aneighth, if there were one, should appear. For hours he searched theabyss in vain. He could find none. Apparently the phenomena were ended.At midnight he took a last glance before entering on some tediouscalculations. It was there! In the center of the telescope a faint, hazyobject steadily grew in brightness. All his problems were forgotten asPhobar watched the eighth star increase hourly. Closer than any other,closer even than Alpha Centauri, the new sun appeared, scarcely threelight-years away across the void surrounding the solar system. And allthe while he watched, he witnessed a thing no man had ever beforeseen--the birth of a world!

  * * * * *

  By one o'clock, the new star was of fifth magnitude; by two it was ofthe first. As the faint flush of dawn began to come toward the close ofthat frosty, moonless November night, the new star was a great white-hotobject more brilliant than any other star in the heavens. Phobar knewthat when its light finally reached Earth so that ordinary eyes couldsee, it would be the most beautiful object in the night sky. What wasthe reason for these unparalleled births of worlds and the terrifyingmathematical precision that characterized them?

  Whatever the cosmic force behind, it was progressing toward the solarsystem. Perhaps it would even disturb the balance of the planets. Thepossible chance of such an event had already called the attention ofsome astronomers, but the whole phenomenon was too inexplicable topermit more than speculation.

  The next evening was cloudy. Jupiter reported nothing new except thatNeptune had deviated from its course and tended to pursue an erratic andpuzzling new orbit.

  Phobar pondered long over this last news item and turned his attentionto the outermost planet on the succeeding night. To his surprise, he hadgreat difficulty in locating it. The ephemeris was of absolutely no use.When he did locate Neptune after a brief search, he discovered it morethan eighty million miles from its scheduled place! This was atone-forty. At two-ten he was thunderstruck by a special announcementsent from the Central Bureau to every observatory and astronomer of notethroughout the world, proclaiming the discovery of an ultra-Plutonianplanet. Phobar was incredulous. For centuries it had been proved that noplanet beyond Pluto could possibly exist.

  * * * * *

  With feverish haste, Phobar ran to the huge telescope and rapidlyfocused it where the new planet should be. Five hundred million milesbeyond Neptune was a flaming path like the beam of a giant searchlightthat extended exactly to the eighth solar planet. Phobar gasped. Hecould hardly credit the testimony of his eyes. He looked more closely.The great stream of flame still crossed his line of vision. But thistime he saw something else: at the precise farther end of the flame-patha round disk--dark!

  Beyond a doubt, a new planet of vast size now formed an addition to thesolar group. But that planet was almost impervious to the illuminatingrays of the sun and was barely discernible. Neptune itself shonebrighter than it ever had, and was falling away from the sun at a rateof twelve hundred miles per second.

  All night Phobar watched the double mystery. By three o'clock, he wasconvinced, as far as lightning calculations showed, that the invader washurtling toward the sun at a speed of more than ten million miles anhour. At three-fifteen, he thoug
ht that vanishing Neptune seemedbrighter even than the band of fire running to the invader. At four, hisbelief was certainty. With amazement and awe, Phobar sat through thelong, cold night, watching a spectacular and terrible catastrophe in thesky.

  As dawn began to break and the stars grew paler, Phobar turned away fromhis telescope, his brain awhirl, his heart filled with a great fear. Hehad witnessed the devastation of a world, the ruin of a member of hisown planetary system by an invader from outer space. As dawn cut shorthis observations, he knew at last the cause of Neptune's brightness,knew that it was now a white-hot flaming sun that sped with increasedrapidity away from the solar system. Somehow, the terrible swathe offire that flowed from the dark star to Neptune had wrenched it out ofits orbit and made of it a molten inferno.

  * * * * *

  At dawn came another bulletin from the Central Bureau. Neptune had asurface temperature of 3,000 deg. C, was defying all laws of celestialmechanics, and within three days would have left the