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289
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930
·
Various
29
Would
the
proud
old
Earth
have
to
come
to
that?
Daily
those
ominous
threats
had
been
repeated,
until
popular
fears
had
become
frenzy.
And
Nat
was
being
sent
out
as
a
last
hope.
If
he
failed,
there
would
be
nothing
but
surrender
to
this
man,
armed
with
a
super-force
that
enabled
him
to
lay
waste
the
Earth
from
the
Moon.
Within
one
hour,
those
invisible,
death-dealing
rays
had
destroyed
everything
that
inhaled
oxygen
and
exhaled
carbon.
The
ray
with
which
the
liner
was
equipped
was
a
mere
toy
in
comparison.
It
would
kill
at
no
more
than
500
miles,
and
its
action
was
quite
different.
As
a
prelude
to
Earth's
surrender,
Axelson
demanded
that
World
President
Stark
and
a
score
of
other
dignitaries
should
depart
for
the
Moon
as
hostages.
Every
ray
fortress
in
the
world
was
to
be
dismantled,
every
treasury
was
to
send
its
gold
to
be
piled
up
in
a
great
pyramid
on
the
New
York
landing-stage.
The
Earth
was
to
acknowledge
Axelson
as
its
supreme
master.
The
iron
claws
were
turning
with
a
screwlike
motion,
extending
themselves,
and
slowly
raising
the
interplanetary
vessel
until
she
looked
like
a
great
metal
fish
with
metal
legs
ending
with
suckerlike
disks.
But
already
she
was
floating
free
as
the
softly
purring
engines
held
her
in
equipoise.
Nat
climbed
the
short
ladder
that
led
to
her
deck.
Brent
came
up
to
him
again.
"That
teleradio
message
from
Axelson--"
he
began.
"Yes?"
Nat
snapped
out.
"I
don't
believe
it
came
from
the
Moon
at
all."
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