Astounding Stories of Super-Science, October, 1930Various
Science
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, October, 1930
Various
Science fiction -- Periodicals; Science fiction, American -- Periodicals
"'You see,' he said, 'Jackson Gee was right. We have resolved man into
his constituent elements, transmitted his key vibrations by radio, and
reassembled him from a supply of identical elements at the other end.
And now, if you will assure that woman that her husband is safe, I
will get some sleep. You will have the proof before you in less than
three hours.'
"I can't vouch for the doctor's feelings, but as Drayle left us I was
satisfied that everything was as it should be, and that I had just
witnessed the greatest scientific achievement of all time. I did not
foresee, nor did Drayle, the results of an error or deliberate
disobedience on the part of one of his assistants.
"We waited, the doctor and I, for the arrival of the man who, we were
convinced, had been transported some three hundred miles in a manner
that defied belief. The evidence would come, Drayle had said, in a few
hours. Long before they had elapsed we were starting at the sound of
every passing motor, for we knew that a plane must land some distance
from the house and that the travelers would make the last mile or so
by car.
"Mrs. Drayle endeavored to convince the imagined widow that her
husband was safe and was returning speedily. Later she rejoined us,
full of questions that we answered in a comforting blind faith. The
time limit was drawing to a close when the sound of an automobile horn
was quickly followed by a sharp knock on the laboratory door. At a
sign from Mrs. Drayle one of the policemen opened it and we saw two
men before us. One, a scholarly appearing, bespectacled youth, I
recognized as Drayle's Boston assistant, Ward; the other, a rather
burly individual, was a stranger to me. But there was no doubt he was
the man we awaited so eagerly, for Mrs. Farrel screamed 'Harry!
Harry!' and sped across the room towards him.
* * * * *
"At first she ran her fingers rather timidly over his face, and then
pinched his huge shoulders, as if to assure herself of his reality.
The sense of touch must have satisfied her, for abruptly she kissed
him, flung her arms about him, clung to him, and crooned little
endearments. The big man, in turn, patted her cheeks awkwardly and
mumbled in a convincingly natural voice, ''Sall right, Mary, old kid!
There ain't nothin' to it. Yeah! Sure it's me!'
"Then I was conscious of Drayle's presence. A brown silk dressing gown
fell shapelessly about his spare frame and smoke from his cigarette
rose in a quivering blue-white stream. Ward spied him at the same
moment and stepped forward with quick outstretched hands. I remember
the flame of adoring zeal in the youngster's eyes as he tried to
speak. At length he managed to stammer some congratulatory phrases
while Drayle clapped him affectionately on the back.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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