Life on other planets -- Fiction; Mars (Planet) -- Fiction; Science fiction
the remaining ships until the fleet has been absolutely erased. I have
destroyed a great fleet without risking the life of a single man of my
own following."
"But they will see the torpedoes coming," suggested Nur An, "and they
will devise some defense. Even gunfire might stop many of them."
"Heigh-oo! But I have thought of that," cackled Phor Tak. He laid the
torpedo upon a bench and opened another cabinet.
In this cabinet were a number of receptacles, some tightly sealed and
others opened, revealing their contents which appeared to be different
colored paints. From a number of these receptacles protruded the
handles of paint brushes. One such handle, however, appeared to hang
in mid-air, a few inches above one of the shelves, while just beneath
it was a section of the rim of a receptacle that also appeared to be
resting upon nothing. Phor Tak placed his open hand directly beneath
this floating rim and when he removed his hand from the cabinet, the
rim of the receptacle and the portion of the handle of the paint brush,
floating just above it, followed, hovering just over his extended
fingers, which were cupped in the position that they might assume were
they holding a glass jar, such as would ordinarily have belonged to
a rim like that which I could see floating about an inch above his
fingers.
Going to the bench where he had laid the cylinder, Phor Tak went
through the motions of setting a jar upon it, and, though there was no
jar visible other than the floating rim, I distinctly heard a noise
that was identical with the sound which the bottom of a glass jar would
have made in coming in contact with the bench.
I can assure you that I was greatly mystified, but still more so by the
events immediately following. Phor Tak seized the handle of the paint
brush and made a pass a few inches above the metal torpedo. Instantly
a portion of the torpedo, about an inch wide and three or four inches
long, disappeared. Pass after pass he made until finally the whole
surface of the torpedo had disappeared. Where it had rested the bench
was empty. Phor Tak returned the handle of the paint brush to its
floating position just above the floating jar rim and then he turned
to us with an expression of child-like pride upon his face, as much
to say, "Well, what do you think of that? Am I not wonderful?" And I
was certainly forced to concede that it was wonderful and that I was
entirely baffled and mystified by what I had seen.
"There, Nur An," exclaimed Phor Tak, "is the answer to your criticism
of The Flying Death."
"I do not understand," said Nur An with a puzzled expression upon his
face.
"Heigh-oo!" cried Phor Tak. "Have you not seen me render the device
invisible?"
"But it is gone," said Nur An.
Phor Tak laughed his high cackling laugh. "It is still there," he said,
"but you cannot see it. Here," and he took Nur An's hand and guided it
toward the spot where the device had been.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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