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289
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930
·
Various
273
Kendrick
ceased,
moved
toward
a
rheostat.
As
he
made
ready
to
touch
it,
a
breathless
tension
settled
upon
the
assemblage.
Upon
the
outcome
of
what
was
now
to
happen
rested
the
fate
of
America--and
the
world.
Calmly,
though
every
fiber
of
his
being
was
at
breaking
stress,
the
young
scientist
opened
the
rheostat.
For
an
instant,
the
ray
seared
down--then,
as
it
boomeranged
back,
the
disc
burst
into
flame,
dissolved,
disintegrated.
A
thin
dust,
like
carbon,
slowly
settled
to
the
laboratory
floor.
Cutting
off
the
current
from
the
radio
towers,
Kendrick
faced
them,
a
light
of
triumph
in
his
tired
eyes.
"You
see--it
works,"
he
said.
They
saw.
Beyond
a
doubt,
it
worked!
And
what
Kendrick
saw,
as
his
eyes
met
Marjorie's,
made
him
forget
his
fatigue.
The
rest
was
a
mad
scramble
of
preparation.
Only
a
few
brief
hours
remained,
and
much
was
to
be
done.
The
application
of
the
principle
that
had
just
been
demonstrated
involved
a
hook-up
from
the
Consolidated
Electric
laboratory
with
every
broadcasting
station
in
the
metropolitan
area,
power
being
supplied
by
commandeering
every
generating
plant
within
a
radius
of
fifty
miles.
The
city,
moreover,
had
to
be
evacuated
of
all
but
the
few
brave
hundreds
who
volunteered
to
stand
by
their
posts
at
radio
stations
and
generating
plants.
As
for
Kendrick,
it
was
the
busiest,
most
hectic
morning
he
had
ever
experienced.
Only
the
realization
of
a
girl's
love
and
a
nation's
trust
enabled
him
to
overcome
the
exhaustion
of
two
sleepless
nights.
At
length,
a
little
before
eleven,
all
was
in
readiness.
Just
two
questions
troubled
the
young
scientist's
mind.
Had
the
people
of
the
disc
learned
of
their
preparations
to
counter
the
attack?
And
would
the
improvised
broadcasting
apparatus
of
the
area
stand
the
stupendous
strain
that
would
be
placed
upon
it
if
the
ray
came
down?
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