Out of steel I formed a gigantic bit or auger with a very slow spiral.
By attaching my wires to it properly I made it positive, and it started
into the ground at a great rate. At last I heard it grinding on a solid
surface. When I made sure it would go no deeper, I reversed the current
and it came back to the surface; but it came with such rapidity I did
not have time to stop the current, and it went on out and up, carrying
me with it, to Saturn, upon which it struck and started in with great
rapidity, it having been turned around in the transit. If one of the
wires had not broken I presume I should have been carried clear through,
out on the other side, and away off into space. As it was, it stopped as
I was entering the surface. This little incident led me to the
conclusion that Saturn has also a magnetic mountain and I struck upon
it, or, rather, in its rings, as it was upon one of them I struck, as I
afterward learned.
I was completely filled with surprise when I saw rolling along great
numbers of skulls similar to the one I had found in the Desert of
Sahara. Soon there was a circle around me of these queer objects,
completely hemming me in, and I began, very quickly, the readjustment of
my auger, with the object in view of getting out of there on short
notice, as I did not know to what extent these things might go.
I was on the point of turning on the current, when the largest of the
number rolled up to my feet and seemed to be trying to communicate with
me. I decided to await developments, for a time at least.
I adjusted my eye-piece and set it upon the surface of this thing, and
was no better off than before. Suddenly it rolled away at a swift pace,
and I soon saw it returning on the top of a giant of terrible
dimensions, and I would have turned on the current right then and there,
but somehow I couldn’t. I was not frightened in the least, but there was
something about his face that held me there. I do not really believe I
wanted to remain.
Think of a face that was nothing but a monster eye—no mouth; no nose; no
ears—just one great eye of a beautiful blue color.
I felt better in a moment, for this eye had such power I had no
difficulty in understanding its messages and it seemed to understand my
thoughts perfectly, and we were soon volubly communicating.
I learned that these were the people who inhabited the outer ring of
Saturn; that they only used their bodies when they wished to go great
distances. They never ate anything; never drank anything; communicated
with each other by vibrations only. Their thoughts started vibrations in
the ether which affected all their brains alike and instantly. I became
so accustomed to their way of talk I seldom spoke, communicating by
thought alone. Indeed, speech was wholly useless, and had I remained
there long enough I doubt not I should have forgotten how to talk.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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