Science fiction -- Periodicals; Science fiction, American -- Periodicals
Captured by a Robot in a Time-traveling cage! We tried to fathom it.
And why had she been captured? Had she some enemy? She could only
think of a fellow called Tugh. He was a hideously repulsive cripple
who had dared make love to her and had threatened vengeance against
her and her father.
"Tugh!" exclaimed Alten. "A cripple? Why, he lived in New York City
three years ago, in 1932!"
A coincidence? The Tugh whom Mary knew in 1777 seemed the same person
who, in 1932, had gotten into trouble with the New York police and had
vowed some weird vengeance against them and all the city. And, equally
strange, this house on Patton Place where we had found the girl was
owned by the same Tugh who now was wanted for the murder of a girl and
could not be found!
With Dr. Alten, and Mary Atwood, Larry and I returned that same night
to the house on Patton Place. Near dawn, in the back yard of the
house, the Time-traveling cage appeared again! The Robot came from it.
Alten, Larry and I attacked the monster, and were defeated. When the
fight was over, Larry and Alten lay senseless. The mechanical thing
seized Mary and me, shoved us in the cage and whirled us away into
Time.
Larry presently recovered. He rushed into Patton Place, and in his
path another, much smaller cage appeared. A man and a girl leaped from
it; and, when Larry fought with them, they carried him off in their
vehicle.
* * * * *
He learned they were chasing the larger cage. They were not hostile to
Larry and presently made friends with him. They were Princess Tina and
a young scientist named Harl, both of the world of 2930. The two cages
had come from 2930. The larger one had been stolen by an
insubordinate Robot named Migul--a pseudo-human mechanism running
amuck.
Again Tugh, the cripple, was mentioned. In 2930 he was a prominent
scientist! But Harl and Tina mistrusted him. Tugh and Harl had
invented the Time-traveling cages. It was a strange Time-world, that
2930, which now was described to Larry. It was an era in which all
work was done by mechanisms--fantastic Robots, all but human! And they
were now upon the verge of revolt against their human masters! Migul
was one of them. It had stolen one of the cages, gone to 1777 and
abducted Mary Atwood; and now, with her and me in its power, was
headed back for 1777 upon some strange mission. Was it acting for the
cripple Tugh? It seemed so. Tina and Harl, with Larry, chased our cage
and stopped in a night of the summer of 1777.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account