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289
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930
·
Various
27
The
immense
landing-field
reserved
for
the
ships
of
the
Interplanetary
Line
was
situated
a
thousand
feet
above
the
heart
of
New
York
City,
in
Westchester
County.
It
was
a
flat
space
set
on
the
top
of
five
great
towers,
strewn
with
electrified
sand,
whose
glow
had
the
property
of
dispersing
the
sea
fogs.
There,
at
rest
upon
what
resembled
nothing
so
much
as
iron
claws,
the
long
gray
shape
of
the
vacuum
flyer
bulked.
Nat
sneezed
as
he
watched
the
operations
of
his
men,
for
the
common
cold,
or
coryza,
seemed
likely
to
be
the
last
of
the
germ
diseases
that
would
yield
to
medical
science,
and
he
had
caught
a
bad
one
in
the
Capitol,
while
listening
to
the
debate
in
the
Senate
upon
the
threat
to
humanity.
And
it
was
cold
on
the
landing-stage,
in
contrast
to
the
perpetual
summer
of
the
glass-roofed
city
below.
But
Nat
forgot
the
cold
as
he
watched
the
preparations
for
the
ship's
departure.
Neon
and
nitrogen
gas
were
being
pumped
under
pressure
into
the
outer
shell,
where
a
minute
charge
of
leucon,
the
newly
discovered
element
that
helped
to
counteract
gravitation,
combined
with
them
to
provide
the
power
that
would
lift
the
vessel
above
the
regions
of
the
stratosphere.
In
the
low
roof-buildings
that
surrounded
the
stage
was
a
scene
of
tremendous
activity.
The
selenium
discs
were
flashing
signals,
and
the
radio
receivers
were
shouting
the
late
news;
on
the
great
power
boards
dials
and
light
signals
stood
out
in
the
glow
of
the
amylite
tubes.
On
a
rotary
stage
a
thousand
feet
above
the
ship
a
giant
searchlight,
visible
for
a
thousand
miles,
moved
its
shaft
of
dazzling
luminosity
across
the
heavens.
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