Twin Worlds by Neil R. Jones & Gray Morrow

Author:Neil R. Jones & Gray Morrow [Jones, Neil R. & Morrow, Gray]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Life on Other Planets
Google: FLufGAAACAAJ
Publisher: Ace Books
Published: 1967-08-15T17:05:17+00:00

Chapter IV

Shooting through the air, the professor headed straight among the Eiuks who sprang away from him a bit, yet never ceased their upward course. The professor interwove a curling tentacle among the numerous tentacles of an Eiuk. Quickly he seized another of the creatures and still another, clinging tightly to all three. Releasing his power of repulsion, he felt his dead weight hang on the struggling Eiuks. Their ascent slowed to a standstill; then they commenced to drop slowly. The professor took the opportunity to examine his three live captives and nowhere could he discover any methods of flight. He only saw that the many tentacles of the things seemed harder than those of the dead creatures the machine men had previously examined on coming to the city of Ui.

The rest of the Zoromes circled among the rising multitudes of Eiuks, confident that there was no longer any danger of frightening them from seeking their habitual haunts. They seemed unable to resist a strange, compelling call which drew them ever upward.

Slowly but steadily, the three Eiuks to which Professor Jameson resolutely clung dropped in reluctant descent. The machine man could feel and sense some powerf which attracted them from above. Then that for which he had looked occurred: in a blaze of glory, a penetrating beam of light shot out from between two peaks and grew broader and brighter as the sun burst into view. The professor realized a subtle change. Their drop became slower, and finally they barely moved. The first thing he knew they were rising again. A few laggard Eiuks shot past them to join the main van far above. Several machine men hovered in the vicinity of the professor, while the large number of Zoromes flew steadily upward with the Eiuks. The professor released one of the creatures, which shot like a plummet into the rarified atmosphere above. Still their ascent continued, yet noticeably checked. Releasing the remaining tentacles, Professor Jameson allowed the other two Eiuks to join their companion, while he dropped with the speed of a falling object. Checking his accelerating momentum with an application of his mechanical repeller wings, he rose with his metal companions.

gI believe I have cleared up several conjectures in our minds,h he said.

gI can anticipate your discoveries,h offered 6W-438. gThe secret of the phenomenal rise of the Eiuks is due to daylight, sunlight especially.h

gExactly,h the professor agreed.

gAnd their domain in the daytime is the highest reaches of the upper atmosphere, while at night they descend to lower levels. What power to you suppose daylight exerts upon them?h

gI would say that it generates a gas within them which they cannot release fast enough in the daytime to remain on lower levels. At night, they have more control over it. This would allow them to descend to lower levels and raid the Uum. We shall see if they do not rise to the outer limits of the atmosphere much like an object lighter than water rises to the surface of an ocean.

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