Science fiction; Space flight -- Fiction; Space ships -- Fiction
Seaton opened his eyes and gazed about him wonderingly. Only half
conscious, bruised and sore in every part of his body, he could not at
first realize what had happened. Instinctively drawing a deep breath, he
coughed and choked as the undiluted oxygen filled his lungs, bringing
with it a complete understanding of the situation. Knowing from the lack
of any apparent motion that the power had been sufficient to pull the
car away from that fatal globe, his first thought was for Dorothy, and
he tore off his helmet and turned toward her. The force of even that
slight movement, wafted him gently into the air where he hung suspended
several minutes before his struggles enabled him to clutch a post and
draw himself down to the floor. A quick glance around informed him that
Dorothy, as well as the others, was still unconscious. Making his way
rapidly to her, he placed her face downward upon the floor and began
artificial respiration. Very soon he was rewarded by the coughing he had
longed to hear. He tore off her helmet and clasped her to his breast in
an agony of relief, while she sobbed convulsively upon his shoulder. The
first ecstasy of their greeting over, Dorothy started guiltily.
"Oh, Dick!" she exclaimed. "How about Peggy? You must see how she is!"
"Never mind," answered Crane's voice cheerily. "She is coming to
nicely."
Glancing around quickly, they saw that Crane had already revived the
stranger, and that DuQuesne was not in sight. Dorothy blushed, the vivid
wave of color rising to her glorious hair, and hastily disengaged her
arms from around her lover's neck, drawing away from him. Seaton, also
blushing, dropped his arms, and Dorothy floated away from him,
frantically clutching at a brace just beyond reach.
"Pull me down, Dick!" she called, laughing gaily.
Seaton, seizing her instinctively, neglected his own anchorage and they
hung in the air together, while Crane and Margaret, each holding a
strap, laughed with unrestrained merriment.
"Tweet, tweet--I'm a canary!" chuckled Seaton. "Throw us a rope!"
"A Dicky-bird, you mean," interposed Dorothy.
"I knew that you were a sleight-of-hand expert, Dick, but I did not know
that levitation was one of your specialties," remarked Crane with mock
gravity. "That is a peculiar pose you are holding now. What are you
doing--sitting on an imaginary pedestal?"
"I'll be sitting on your neck if you don't get a wiggle on with that
rope!" retorted Seaton, but before Crane had time to obey the command
the floating couple had approached close enough to the ceiling so that
Seaton, with a slight pressure of his hand against the leather, sent
them floating back to the floor, within reach of one of the handrails.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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