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289
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930
·
Various
7
The
heat
was
intolerable
and
the
air
was
bad.
"Haw,
we
have
to
open
vent'lator,
Boss!"
gasped
the
Martian.
Forepaugh
nodded
grimly.
It
wouldn't
do
to
smother
either.
Though
to
open
the
ventilator
would
be
to
invite
another
invasion
by
the
black
mold,
not
to
mention
the
amoebae
and
other
fabulous
monsters
that
had
up
to
now
been
kept
at
a
safe
distance
by
the
repeller
zone,
a
simple
adaptation
of
a
very
old
discovery.
A
zone
of
mechanical
vibrations,
of
a
frequency
of
500,000
cycles
per
second,
was
created
by
a
large
quartz
crystal
in
the
water,
which
was
electrically
operated.
Without
power,
the
protective
zone
had
vanished.
"We
watch?"
asked
Gunga.
"You
bet
we
watch.
Every
minute
of
the
'day'
and
'night.'"
He
examined
the
two
chronometers,
assuring
himself
that
they
were
well
wound,
and
congratulated
himself
that
they
were
not
dependent
on
the
defunct
power
plant
for
energy.
They
were
his
only
means
of
measuring
the
passage
of
time.
The
sun,
which
theoretically
would
seem
to
travel
round
and
round
the
horizon,
rarely
succeeded
in
making
its
exact
location
known,
but
appeared
to
shift
strangely
from
side
to
side
at
the
whim
of
the
fog
and
water.
"Th'
fellas,"
Gunga
remarked,
coming
out
of
a
study.
"Why
not
come?"
He
referred
to
the
Inranians.
"Probably
know
something's
wrong.
They
can
tell
the
quartz
oscillator
is
stopped.
Afraid
of
the
Ul-lul,
I
suppose."
"'Squeer,"
demurred
the
Martian.
"Ul-lul
not
bother
fellas."
"You
mean
it
doesn't
follow
them
into
the
underbrush.
But
it
would
find
tough
going
there.
Not
enough
water;
trees
there,
four
hundred
feet
high
with
thorny
roots
and
rough
bark--they
wouldn't
like
that.
Oh
no,
these
natives
ought
to
be
pretty
snug
in
their
dens.
Why,
they're
as
hard
to
catch
as
a
muskrat!
Don't
know
what
a
muskrat
is,
huh?
Well,
it's
the
same
as
the
Inranians,
only
different,
and
not
so
ugly."
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