An Earthman on Venus (Originally titled "The Radio Man")Farley, Ralph Milne
Science
An Earthman on Venus (Originally titled "The Radio Man")
Farley, Ralph Milne
Life on other planets -- Fiction; Science fiction; Venus (Planet) -- Fiction
The prior experiments of De Gersdorff are well known; he had succeeded
by means of radio waves, in isolating and distinguishing the
electro-magnetic constituents of all the different chemical elements.
Flambeau went one step further, and was able to transmit small formless
quantities of matter itself, although for some reason certain metals,
but not their salts, appeared to absorb the electrical energy employed
by him, and thus be immune to transportation.
As I could already transmit a three-dimensional picture of an object,
and as Flambeau had been able to transmit formless matter, then by
combining our devices in a single apparatus I found I could transmit
physical objects unchanged in form.
But this apparatus produced one unexpected phenomenon—namely, that
whenever I employed excessive power, my sending set would transmit
objects placed slightly outside its normal range, and certain small
quantities thereof would turn up in other portions of my laboratory than
within my receiving set.
To test this phenomenon further, I secured some high voltage equipment
and arranged with the Edison Company for its use.
On the afternoon when the installation was completed, I started to place
a small blue china vase in position to send it. Something must have
become short-circuited, for there came a blinding flash, and I knew no
more.
How long the unconsciousness lasted, I have no means of telling. I was a
long time regaining my senses, but when I had finally and fully
recovered I found myself lying on a sandy beach, beside a calm and
placid lake, and holding in my hand the small blue vase.
The atmosphere was warm, moist and fragrant, like that of a hothouse,
and the lap-lapping of the waves gave forth such a pleasing musical
sound that I lay where I was and dozed off and on, even after I had
recovered consciousness.
I seemed to sense, rather than really to see, my surroundings. The sand
was very white. The sky was completely overclouded at a far height, and
yet the clouds shone with such a silvery radiance that the day was as
bright as any which I had ever seen with full sunlight on earth, but
with a difference, for here the light diffused from all quarters, giving
the shadowless effect which one always notes in a photographer’s studio.
To my right lay the lake, reflecting the silvery color of the sky.
Before me stretched the beach, unbroken save for an occasional piece of
driftwood. To my left was the upland, covered with a thicket of what at
first appeared to be dead trees, but on closer scrutiny were seen to be
some gigantic species of the well-known branched gray lichen with red
tips, which I used to find on rocks and sticks in the woods as a child.
No birds were flying overhead, I suppose because there were no birds to
fly. I fell to wondering, vaguely and pleasantly, where I was and how I
got there; but for the moment I remained a victim of complete amnesia.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account