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289
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930
·
Various
31
Half
man,
half
ape,
and
very
much
unlike
either,
these
vestiges
of
a
species
on
a
ruined
globe
had
proved
tractable
and
amenable
to
discipline.
They
had
become
the
laborers
of
the
convict
settlement
that
had
sprung
up
on
the
Moon.
Thither
all
those
who
had
opposed
the
establishment
of
the
World
Federation,
together
with
all
persons
convicted
for
the
fourth
time
of
a
felony,
had
been
transported,
to
superintend
the
efforts
of
these
dumb,
unhuman
Moon
dwellers.
For
it
had
been
discovered
that
the
Moon
craters
were
extraordinarily
rich
in
gold,
and
gold
was
still
the
medium
of
exchange
on
Earth.
To
supplement
the
vestigial
atmosphere,
huge
stations
had
been
set
up,
which
extracted
the
oxygen
from
the
subterranean
waters
five
miles
below
the
Moon's
crust,
and
recombined
it
with
the
nitrogen
with
which
the
surface
layer
was
impregnated,
thus
creating
an
atmosphere
which
was
pumped
to
the
workers.
Then
a
curious
discovery
had
been
made.
It
was
impossible
for
human
beings
to
exist
without
the
addition
of
those
elements
existing
in
the
air
in
minute
quantities--neon,
krypton,
and
argon.
And
the
ships
that
brought
the
gold
bars
back
from
the
Moon
had
conveyed
these
gaseous
elements
there.
The
droning
of
the
sixteen
atomic
motors
grew
louder,
and
mingled
with
the
hum
of
gyroscopes.
The
ladder
was
drawn
up
and
the
port
hole
sealed.
On
the
enclosed
bridge
Nat
threw
the
switch
of
durobronze
that
released
the
non-conducting
shutter
which
gave
play
to
the
sixteen
great
magnets.
Swiftly
the
great
ship
shot
forward
into
the
air.
The
droning
of
the
motors
became
a
shrill
whine,
and
then,
growing
too
shrill
for
human
ears
to
follow
it,
gave
place
to
silence.
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