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Five pages of Doctor omega

ninjasaid13
Feb 10th, 2024
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  1.  
  2. How did I meet Doctor Omega?
  3.  
  4. That's quite a story... a strange story... fantastic... inconceivable, and perhaps it would be better if I had never met this man!
  5.  
  6. Then my life would not have been turned upside down by such extraordinary events that I sometimes wonder if I didn't dream the surprising adventure that happened to me and made me a hero, even though I was certainly the least daring of mortals.
  7.  
  8. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  9.  
  10. But the newspaper, magazine, and journal clippings that are strewn across my table are there to remind me of reality.
  11.  
  12. No!... I didn't dream... I wasn't the plaything of some morbid hallucination...
  13.  
  14. For nearly sixteen months I actually left this world.
  15.  
  16. What a strange being is man!
  17.  
  18. It is almost always at the moment when he is most tranquil, when he finally enjoys an ardently desired happiness, that he seeks out the most foolish complications and creates for himself perfectly useless worries.
  19.  
  20. After having long chased after fortune without being able to catch it on the fly, I had the unexpected chance to inherit a million from an old uncle whom I had always thought was poor as Job because he lived in a dreadful shack and wore sordid clothes that only held together by a miracle.
  21.  
  22. After his death, however, a thousand thousand-franc notes were found in his straw mattress.
  23.  
  24. They were a bit crumpled, but I beg you to believe that I had no difficulty in accepting them.
  25.  
  26. As soon as I was in possession of this inheritance, I immediately retired to the provinces.
  27.  
  28. I bought a pretty cottage surrounded by a five-hectare park in Marbeuf, my hometown, and I abandoned without regret the Parisian whirlwind in which energies are sometimes dulled and hopes so often sink.
  29.  
  30. I, who had been a drudge... an indefatigable literary worker, suddenly renounced, once I was rich, all pen work, even all reading.
  31.  
  32. Locked up in my home, I nevertheless lived without boredom.
  33.  
  34. It seems that some natures do not need a...
  35.  
  36. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  37.  
  38. But the newspaper, magazine, and journal clippings that are strewn across my table are there to remind me of reality.
  39.  
  40. No!... I didn't dream... I wasn't the plaything of some morbid hallucination...
  41.  
  42. For nearly sixteen months I actually left this world.
  43.  
  44. What a strange being is man!
  45.  
  46. It is almost always at the moment when he is most tranquil, when he finally enjoys an ardently desired happiness, that he seeks out the most foolish complications and creates for himself perfectly useless worries.
  47.  
  48. After having long chased after fortune without being able to catch it on the fly, I had the unexpected chance to inherit a million from an old uncle whom I had always thought was poor as Job because he lived in a dreadful shack and wore sordid clothes that only held together by a miracle.
  49.  
  50. After his death, however, a thousand thousand-franc notes were found in his straw mattress.
  51.  
  52. They were a bit crumpled, but I beg you to believe that I had no difficulty in accepting them.
  53.  
  54. As soon as I was in possession of this inheritance, I immediately retired to the provinces.
  55.  
  56. I bought a pretty cottage surrounded by a five-hectare park in Marbeuf, my hometown, and I abandoned without regret the Parisian whirlwind in which energies are sometimes dulled and hopes so often sink.
  57.  
  58. I, who had been a drudge... an indefatigable literary worker, suddenly renounced, once I was rich, all pen work, even all reading.
  59.  
  60. Locked up in my home, I nevertheless lived without boredom.
  61.  
  62. It seems that some natures do not need a world of incidents to occupy or amuse themselves, and what would seem monotonous to some abounds for others in vivid excitations, in ineffable pleasures.
  63.  
  64. All that was noisy and disorderly activity afflicted my ear with its discords and even gave me a painful sensation.
  65.  
  66. I would have liked there to be no other noise around me than that of my violin.
  67.  
  68. For, I forgot to say it, one thing... one thing only, still connected me to the civilized world: the passion for music.
  69.  
  70. I had bought the Stradivarius of a great virtuoso who died suddenly while performing a concerto by Spohr, and I had been lucky enough to get this instrument for almost nothing: forty-five thousand francs.
  71.  
  72. This will, I know, make all those who hate music smile.
  73.  
  74. Putting forty-five thousand francs into a violin when, for the same price, you can buy yourself a superb fifty-horsepower automobile!... It's madness!
  75.  
  76. Possible, but to each his own taste.
  77.  
  78. I would rather play the works of our old masters on a Stradivarius than burn up the roads at a hundred miles an hour.
  79.  
  80. So I spent my time walking a superb Pernambuco wood bow over the strings of my instrument, the mount of which alone was a little marvel.
  81.  
  82. As soon as I got up, I would sit down in front of my music stand and work with ardor on the most arid concertos of Paganini, d'AJard and Vieuxtemps.
  83.  
  84. It cannot be said that I played in order to amaze my contemporaries.
  85.  
  86. I was simply a solitary violinist, imbued with his art, a passionate, indefatigable and modest performer.
  87.  
  88. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  89.  
  90. From time to time, I would receive a visit from an old friend, a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, who had once been my collaborator and with whom I had achieved some success in the bookstore.
  91.  
  92. Well! Shall I confess it?... when this friend rang my gate and I saw his long, lanky figure in the alley, I could not repress a movement of bad humor.
  93.  
  94. However, I made an effort to receive him well (one does not become a savage overnight) but, when I had endured his presence for a whole day, I began to show impatience... On the second day of his arrival, I was no longer listening to him, and, while he was launching into long dissertations on the recent discovery of a "palimpsest" from the Middle Ages, I was absentmindedly playing some adagio by Beethoven in the background.
  95.  
  96. This friend probably found that I was, with my violin, as boring as Mr. Ingres, because he never came back.
  97.  
  98. However, by dint of constantly reading double and triple crochets, my eyes sometimes became tired; my fingers, as a result of excessive overwork, became stiff and clumsy.
  99.  
  100. Then, I would carefully squeeze my violin into a rosewood case, a true masterpiece from the end of the seventeenth century, and I would go and sit on a small terrace located at the end of my park, on the edge of the road.
  101.  
  102. There, while dreaming of sonatas, arias or cantilenas, I would let my gaze wander over the landscape that stretched out before me.
  103.  
  104. As far as the eye could see, there were dense woods among which the slate roofs of uniform bell towers pointed here and there... At my feet, that is to say, at the bottom of the terrace, a few houses were lined up along a barely visible street.
  105.  
  106. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  107.  
  108. ...of a depressing architecture; their walls, made of red and black bricks arranged symmetrically, looked rather like vast chessboards.
  109.  
  110. At the end of the village, a large, monotonous plain slept, in the center of which stood two hideous hangars made of tarred planks that I had always taken for factories or airship sheds.
  111.  
  112. These lugubrious buildings spoiled my horizon a bit, but I didn't worry about it too much...
  113.  
  114. Besides, I was, in fact, of an unparalleled indifference to aesthetics.
  115.  
  116. One evening, as I was on my terrace, my mind lost in some melodic reverie, I had not noticed that night had fallen...
  117.  
  118. I was about to get up to go back to my cottage, when suddenly, in front of me, a sinister glow leaped into the sky, spreading out like a huge serpent of fire... a great sparkling suddenly illuminated the sleeping fields, and a formidable noise, a tumultuous crash like the voice of a thousand waterfalls filled the echoes... The ground shook with a shiver.
  119.  
  120. I felt myself thrown from my rocking chair and the windows of my kiosk fell like rain on my head...
  121.  
  122. I screamed.
  123.  
  124. My gardener and my valet de chambre rushed over and picked me up with tearful faces. Perhaps they feared that I was seriously injured; perhaps they also contemplated with anxiety the possibility of a death which would have deprived them of an ideal master, not very demanding about the service, and of a quiet place which was a real sinecure. When they saw that I was not injured, their faces brightened.
  125.  
  126. "What's the matter?... what happened?" I cried...
  127.  
  128. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  129.  
  130. A man walking along the park wall heard my question and hurriedly threw these words at me:
  131.  
  132. "It's one of Dr. Omega's hangars that just blew up..."
  133.  
  134. Then he ran towards the scene of the disaster.
  135.  
  136. "Dr. Omega?... Dr. Omega?... I murmured, looking at my servants... Who is this individual?... Do you know him?
  137.  
  138. "He's an old eccentric who doesn't talk to anyone," the gardener replied. "It's surprising that monsieur hasn't noticed him yet, because he walks past here every morning at about nine o'clock. Dr. Omega is a little man dressed in black; he has a sinister face and they say in the country that he casts spells; the peasants avoid him like the plague... they even avoid looking at him... because his eyes, they say, bring bad luck...
  139.  
  140. "Ah!" I said absently.
  141.  
  142. And, after dusting myself off with my handkerchief, I left the terrace.
  143.  
  144. I was thoughtful all evening... I was even unable to play the violin. I put this nervousness down to the strong emotion I had felt and went to bed.
  145.  
  146. When I arrived in my room, I noticed that the mirror on my wardrobe was cracked and that my portrait - a pastel that represented me at the age of twenty - had fallen at the foot of my bed.
  147.  
  148. "For an explosion," my valet de chambre remarked, "you can say that it's a big one... It must have caused casualties... What a force!... It's certain that this doctor owes monsieur compensation... He will have to replace the mirror and the frame of the painting...
  149.  
  150. "Very well," I said... "we'll see about that... draw the curtains."
  151.  
  152. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  153.  
  154. The servant obeyed and, when I had no further need for him, he left...
  155.  
  156. For a quarter of an hour, I walked around my room smoking a cigarette, then I went to bed and turned off my lamp.
  157.  
  158. Strange thing, I, who usually fell asleep like a blissful one, could not close my eyes that night...
  159.  
  160. I kept thinking about the hangar, the explosion, Dr. Omega, and I tried, in spite of myself, to imagine the face of this man who inspired such fear in the whole village.
  161.  
  162. Who knows, I thought, if he wasn't crushed under the rubble of his building? And I found myself taking pity on him.
  163.  
  164. It was becoming an obsession.
  165.  
  166. Finally I fell asleep.
  167.  
  168. But soon I was woken up suddenly by a light crack... a kind of sliding. I listened for a few seconds, holding my breath, then I sat down gently on my bed. I didn't hear anything else.
  169.  
  170. "I must have been dreaming," I thought.
  171.  
  172. However, as my head was heavy, I got up and opened the window.
  173.  
  174. A bat flew by and plunged into a thicket.
  175.  
  176. In the distance, a bluish mist floated over the trees that the moon illuminated from time to time.
  177.  
  178. A faint glow like that of a smoldering fire shone on the plain... it was the rubble of the hangar that was finally burning down...
  179.  
  180. I walked around my room, knocking over objects that the darkness made me suspicious of, then, completely reassured, I closed the window and went back to bed.
  181.  
  182. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  183.  
  184. How long did I sleep? I couldn't say...
  185.  
  186. Suddenly I felt a strange sense of unease... I felt like I was suffocating, that I had a huge weight on my chest.
  187.  
  188. I jumped up and then I heard very distinctly the sound of a body falling on the floor...
  189.  
  190. A sudden numbness, a strange sensation instantly penetrated my whole being. My heart beat a disorderly alarm... my limbs shivered... I felt a great internal cold and tingling on my skin.
  191.  
  192. I could no longer doubt it now...
  193.  
  194. There was someone in my room!... I was sure of it...
  195.  
  196. For a long time I remained motionless, buried under my covers... Finally, little by little, I dared to stick my head out.
  197.  
  198. All was silent around me.
  199.  
  200. I was beginning to regain my confidence and was already giving myself a thousand reasons to calm my fear, when a horrible vision froze my blood in my veins.
  201.  
  202. At the foot of my bed... in the darkness... two eyes were staring at me... two phosphorescent eyes that seemed enormous to me.
  203.  
  204. A mad terror invaded me... my teeth chattered... I completely lost my head... my imagination ran wild and I saw frightening things.
  205.  
  206. The furniture in my room seemed to come alive and soon a kind of luminous cloud illuminated a terrifying figure.
  207.  
  208. A diabolical being, a monster with a ferocious air, was a few steps away from me. He sneered at me, and a tuft of white hair like an egret stood up and waved on his shiny skull... His strange, sparkling eyes rolled in their orbits, slowly uncovered or veiled by large red eyelids that rose and fell almost regularly.
  209.  
  210. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  211.  
  212. At the same time I heard an enormous noise of jaws crashing together and on my broken mirror I read in letters of fire this fateful word: Omega!
  213.  
  214. I don't remember what happened next, because I fainted.
  215.  
  216. When I came to, my valet de chambre was lowering the blinds to protect me from the sun that was shining directly on my bed. I rubbed my eyes, looked around in a daze, then examined the ceiling, the walls and the furniture; apart from the crack in the mirror, I saw nothing abnormal.
  217.  
  218. However, I was not yet reassured and, as my servant was about to leave, I stopped him under some pretext... I did not want to be left alone...
  219.  
  220. As I was getting ready to get up, I noticed that a cat, a big black tomcat that I had never seen at my house, was sleeping at the foot of my bed. Probably frightened by the noise of the explosion, he had taken refuge in my room... and, finding himself well there, he had stayed...
  221.  
  222. Then the light came on in my mind... I understood everything... This weight that I had felt on my chest... this body falling on the floor... these bright eyes... yes... everything was explained now.
  223.  
  224. The animal had lain down on me... Hence the oppression I had felt... He had then placed himself at the foot of my bed and these two phosphorescent globes that had frightened me so much... they were his eyes...
  225.  
  226. All this had happened in a half-sleep and my poor brain, strongly shaken by the incidents of the day, had then gone off the rails...
  227.  
  228. I had fallen asleep thinking about Dr. Omega and my imagination had formed fantastic ideas, as often happens when a fact has deeply struck you with sleep.
  229.  
  230. I got up, took a bath and felt almost calm. However, after an hour or two, I became nervous again,
  231.  
  232. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  233.  
  234. The memory of the doctor haunted me again.
  235.  
  236. I tried to play the violin...
  237.  
  238. I missed all my harmonics and my bow, poorly balanced in my hand, squeaked lamentably on the strings.
  239.  
  240. It was desperate.
  241.  
  242. I stamped my foot in anger and went out.
  243.  
  244. I then went to the terrace and leaned on the wall overlooking the road.
  245.  
  246. I was furious... furious to have slept badly... to have had this cursed nightmare... furious also to think constantly of this Dr. Omega who should have been completely indifferent to me.
  247.  
  248. What fate was driving me to always be concerned with this man?
  249.  
  250. Some experts in psychic sciences would not fail to explain this singular state of mind by a phenomenon of telepathy or thought transmission, but nothing between Dr. Omega and me could give rise to such a supposition. How could two beings who have never seen each other, who are mutually unaware of each other, find themselves in communion of mind?...
  251.  
  252. I was there in my thoughts when I heard below me, on the road, a small, quavering, nasal, horrifying voice.
  253.  
  254. I leaned out over the wall and could not hold back a cry of amazement.
  255.  
  256. This voice!... it was that of Dr. Omega... yes... it was he that I had before my eyes... It was indeed the man that my servants had described to me.
  257.  
  258. And he was singing!... he was singing!... a few hours after the terrible catastrophe which had probably caused casualties.
  259.  
  260. It was unheard of... incomprehensible!!
  261.  
  262. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  263.  
  264. I was going to call out to him when he turned abruptly and took a small path to the left that wound between hedges.
  265.  
  266. I then had the idea of shouting at him to stop...
  267.  
  268. I was even going to do it, but a sense of decency held me back.
  269.  
  270. I could not decently hail a man I did not know.
  271.  
  272. I was finally allowed to examine this extravagant character at my leisure, for he was three-quarters of the way down the path he was following.
  273.  
  274. He was a very small man who looked very much like the late Mr. Renan. He had, like him, a large head, long white hair, a fat and pale face.
  275.  
  276. He wore a silk hat, despite the heat - it was the middle of summer - and was dressed in a black frock coat with large tails in the pockets of which one could see rolls of white paper.
  277.  
  278. He walked with a hopping gait and his creaking boots made a little noise rather like the song of the cricket.
  279.  
  280. In his hand he held a cane with which he from time to time traced figures on the ground, without interrupting his irritating melody.
  281.  
  282. As he walked away, his voice gradually faded...
  283.  
  284. It was soon nothing more than a faint murmur, barely perceptible... a little ridiculous cooing.
  285.  
  286. This sudden apparition, far from calming my curiosity, only served to increase it.
  287.  
  288. This little man, who in any other circumstance would not even have attracted my attention, struck me as a strange... diabolical... being.
  289.  
  290. He appeared to me like one of the damned, of whom Dante speaks, who sing in the midst of the fire... like a bad genie...
  291.  
  292. ...a spirit, a mischievous gnome full of infernal malice.
  293.  
  294. Does one sing when one has almost sown death around oneself?
  295.  
  296. All day I was in a dog's mood and my servants, who were used to never receiving reproaches, were not a little surprised to hear me inveighing against them at every turn.
  297.  
  298. I didn't even think about my poor Stradivarius anymore. Only the doctor was the object of all my thoughts.
  299.  
  300. His face, which I now knew, took on bizarre expressions in my mind in turn.
  301.  
  302. I even came to make this remark: the monster I had seen in my nightmare and Dr. Omega strangely resembled each other.
  303.  
  304. It was as if there was a semblance of truth in my dream and that my distraught imagination had not entirely invented the scene of the night.
  305.  
  306. An increasingly burning curiosity gnawed at me.
  307.  
  308. I wanted at all costs to know this enigmatic old man... I wanted to talk to him, even if only for a moment... to question him... to know finally at what mysterious work he was engaged.
  309.  
  310. My decision was quickly made.
  311.  
  312. The next day, at the time of the doctor's walk, I would be on his way.
  313.  
  314. As I was afraid of having another terrible nightmare during my sleep, I did not go to bed that night.
  315.  
  316. I lay down in an armchair and left my lamp on.
  317.  
  318. How long the night seemed!
  319.  
  320. Finally, a small pale trickle slipped between the double curtains of my window.
  321.  
  322. I dressed without the help of my valet de chambre, and went out.
  323.  
  324. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  325.  
  326. ...of the park by a gate that opened onto the fields.
  327.  
  328. It was madness to leave my home so soon, since the one I wanted to see usually only passed at nine o'clock at the foot of the terrace. But a feverish impatience tortured me... I could not have stayed at home. I needed movement to deceive my expectation.
  329.  
  330. As soon as I had passed the meadows that border my cottage, I was, as if in spite of myself, pushed towards the very side where I did not want to go.
  331.  
  332. I tried to stop, to tack, to take unknown paths, but an invincible force always brought me back to a rising path that led to the plain inhabited by the doctor. Finally, I arrived at a place where the slope stopped abruptly.
  333.  
  334. Before me stretched the valley and, under the rising sun, the distant roads, which the perspective made steeper, took on shades of molten gold.
  335.  
  336. As my eyes had turned to the plain, I saw a compact mass of smoking debris which consisted of large beams, planks and strangely intertwined ironwork.
  337.  
  338. A kind of greenish reverberation, probably produced by the decomposition of acids and chemicals, floated above these ruins.
  339.  
  340. I even thought I could see, in the middle of the debris, charred bodies raising their twisted and blackened arms to the sky.
  341.  
  342. Approaching, I recognized that what I took for bodies were simply small cylindrical tanks to which still adhered burnt wooden supports.
  343.  
  344. In the middle of this tangle, a terrestrial globe, which had remained intact but blackened by smoke, emerged, like a
  345.  
  346. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  347.  
  348. A large negro head, and it had something grotesque and pitiful about it.
  349.  
  350. Further on, books were scattered... an old top hat and a red dressing gown hung on a shaky partition.
  351.  
  352. Around the site of the explosion, the earth was cracked, plowed... a few trees had been cut down at ground level.
  353.  
  354. I was busy contemplating this sad scene when a cheerful voice suddenly rose.
  355.  
  356. I turned around quickly and found myself face to face with Dr. Omega...
  357.  
  358. He greeted me with a smile, but there seemed to be something ironic and cruel in that friendliness.
  359.  
  360. — Huh?... he said with a sharp chuckle, it exploded wonderfully!
  361.  
  362. — Yes... indeed... I stammered... and it's fortunate that there were no casualties...
  363.  
  364. The doctor seemed not to hear this remark.
  365.  
  366. I ventured.
  367.  
  368. — You're probably an inventor, sir? I said to him.
  369.  
  370. He nodded affirmatively.
  371.  
  372. I was about to ask him what his inventions consisted of, but I didn't dare.
  373.  
  374. I couldn't let him go like that; he had to explain himself.
  375.  
  376. Fortunately, I had a stroke of genius.
  377.  
  378. — Me too, I exclaimed, I am... an inventor...
  379.  
  380. The old man looked at me for a few seconds with attention, and it must be believed that he was satisfied with this examination because a little smile wrinkled his large hairless face. Suddenly putting his hand on my shoulder, he asked me this unexpected question:
  381.  
  382. — Are you a courageous man?
  383.  
  384. — Why is that?.., I asked, quite worried.
  385.  
  386. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  387.  
  388. "— You will know later... I ask if you are a courageous man.
  389.  
  390. — Certainly, I replied, straightening my posture and furrowing my brow.
  391.  
  392. — Have you ever been afraid in your life?...
  393.  
  394. — Never!... I declared confidently.
  395.  
  396. — Good," said the doctor... you are the one I was looking for... What's your name?
  397.  
  398. — Denis Borel...
  399.  
  400. — Come to see me tonight... at nine o'clock.
  401.  
  402. — There?... I asked, pointing to the hangar that remained standing despite the disaster.
  403.  
  404. — Yes... there... You will ring at that small door... but, I warn you, ring loudly... because I am a bit deaf... well, goodbye... see you tonight, my friend!...
  405.  
  406. And the doctor shook my hand.
  407.  
  408. This contact had an unpleasant effect on me.
  409.  
  410. I felt as if I had touched a snake's skin...
  411.  
  412. My friend!... he called me his friend!... I thought as I walked away...
  413.  
  414. The devil if I go to his invitation! This man is simply insane...
  415.  
  416. If he wanted to talk to me... he could have done it right away. Ah! if he imagines, for example, that I'm going to come to his shack in the middle of the night... he's mistaken.
  417.  
  418. I don't care to spend an evening with a madman...
  419.  
  420. Back home, I had a hearty lunch, and in the afternoon, I played the violin for two hours.
  421.  
  422. I executed Bazzini's Dance of the Goblins perfectly... and it even seemed that my pizzicato, along with those of Jan Kubelik, could almost compete."
  423.  
  424. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  425.  
  426. However, when evening came, my obsession took hold of me again.
  427.  
  428. The conversation with the doctor replayed in my mind, and, through deductions, I found myself wondering if the doctor was truly insane.
  429.  
  430. After all, I thought, his eyes are not at all disconcerting... they are a bit intense, true, but that's probably because they are a very light blue.
  431.  
  432. His gestures don't seem like those of a hallucinating person... the insane usually have jerky, abrupt, nervous movements, and, well! Dr. Omega's gestures are quite restrained.
  433.  
  434. He is surely an eccentric... but who isn't?
  435.  
  436. Those who spend their lives constantly seeking have the right, after all, to be a bit peculiar...
  437.  
  438. Nothing detaches you from external things like the fever of invention.
  439.  
  440. In the end, thinkers are beings apart, with marvelous, powerful brains, too complicated to be understood by vague individuals who dismiss anything beyond their conception as utopia.
  441.  
  442. Do I really have the right to consider Dr. Omega as mad before judging his work? What if this man were a genius?
  443.  
  444. Dinner time arrived.
  445.  
  446. I did not touch the dishes served to me; I focused on my thoughts.
  447.  
  448. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  449.  
  450. "I attempted a broth in which I broke two eggs and drank half a glass of wine.
  451.  
  452. When I got up from the table, I was more worried and perplexed than ever.
  453.  
  454. I sat in my living room and thought again.
  455.  
  456. If I didn't go to the appointment that the doctor had set for me, I would appear cowardly in his eyes, and when he encountered me later, he would mock me.
  457.  
  458. On the other hand, I was too interested in this man not to take advantage of the opportunity to finally get to know him.
  459.  
  460. However, one thing worried me: Why had he asked if I had ever been afraid in my life?...
  461.  
  462. Well, I thought, we'll see!
  463.  
  464. The half-past eight had just struck. I had risen and was about to leave when a new thought stopped me.
  465.  
  466. What if the doctor was going to subject me to some terrible trial?... What if he was truly a dangerous madman?... Well, so be it! I will defend myself... Besides, I will be armed... I'll bring my Smith and Wesson.
  467.  
  468. I'll see how he behaves when I arrive... If it seems ambiguous, I'll quickly make my escape from this mysterious inventor.
  469.  
  470. In case he tries to forcibly detain me, I will easily manage to escape him... damn it!
  471.  
  472. I am young, vigorous... he is an old man... I will easily overcome him...
  473.  
  474. I was already in the vestibule.
  475.  
  476. I asked for my rubber coat, as the weather was stormy, and I slid my Smith into the side pocket of my jacket.
  477.  
  478. My servant, who saw this gesture, could not repress a movement of horror."
  479.  
  480. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  481.  
  482. "— Are you going out, sir?" he asked, looking bewildered.
  483.  
  484. — Yes... what's so extraordinary about that?
  485.  
  486. — It's just that since I've been in his service, sir has never left the house.
  487.  
  488. — I have an appointment, I replied.
  489.  
  490. And I added, boastfully, emphasizing the words:
  491.  
  492. — An appointment with Dr. Omega...
  493.  
  494. The valet rolled his eyes in terror.
  495.  
  496. — You're going to that... old sorcerer?... Oh!... be careful, sir... that man is capable of anything... this afternoon, I heard frightening things about him again... if you only knew...
  497.  
  498. I shrugged and left calmly, although I was internally quite troubled.
  499.  
  500. As soon as I found myself on the road, I started walking very fast, making my heels sound...
  501.  
  502. Large clouds rolled their dark scrolls in the sky... I couldn't see ten steps ahead of me.
  503.  
  504. However, when I had passed the first houses of the village, the moon appeared for a moment. My shadow then appeared on the ground... an oversized, gigantic shadow, forming a huge flickering spot in front of me.
  505.  
  506. As I passed by a farmhouse at the entrance of the plain, a dog started howling, and I was overcome by nervous trembling.
  507.  
  508. Was my courage about to abandon me?
  509.  
  510. But I straightened up, adjusted my cap, and headed resolutely towards the hangar, with only one window illuminated.
  511.  
  512. Arriving in front of the dark building, I hesitated for a few seconds; finally, grabbing a chain hanging to the right of the door, I pulled it abruptly."
  513.  
  514. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  515.  
  516. "I cannot express the effect that the sound of the small bell I had just rung had on me; a condemned soul to whom Providence had left the cruel ability to hear its death knell would not have been more moved than I was at that moment.
  517.  
  518. Soon a light shone through a grilled peephole; the door opened, and I found myself face to face with Dr. Omega.
  519.  
  520. He was bareheaded, and on his ivory skull, I noticed with horror a small tuft of white hair standing upright like a plume.
  521.  
  522. Instantly, I recalled the dream I had had, and my legs trembled beneath me.
  523.  
  524. I even made a backward movement to escape, but at that moment, the doctor, who had just closed the door, said with a little laugh that resembled the clucking of a poultry:
  525.  
  526. — There... like this... it won't open anymore... See my locking system... Isn't it ingenious enough? And yet it's quite simple.
  527.  
  528. There was a small click, then the old man added:
  529.  
  530. — It's a real safety lock... a lock like no other... But come on up.
  531.  
  532. And the little old man led the way, holding a copper lamp in his hand, casting a flickering light along the walls.
  533.  
  534. I quickly made sure that my revolver was still in my pocket... I felt the handle and regained confidence.
  535.  
  536. The doctor climbed the stairs so quickly that I had trouble keeping up; this man had steel calves.
  537.  
  538. Arriving on a very narrow landing, he opened a door and stepped aside, saying:
  539.  
  540. — Enter... my friend...
  541.  
  542. I don't know why... when he called me his friend, I felt a kind of unease... discomfort."
  543.  
  544. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  545.  
  546. "I imagined seeing in this word a cruel mockery... like an ironic threat.
  547.  
  548. I entered a pentagonal-shaped room of considerable size.
  549.  
  550. To the right, upon entering, there was a single window, narrow and long, more resembling a loophole.
  551.  
  552. At the far end of the room, in a kind of blind alley corridor reinforced like the hold of a battleship, you could see a glowing hearth topped by a cylindrical hood covered with a metal cap.
  553.  
  554. — Sit down... my friend, said the doctor, indicating a roughly crafted wooden seat.
  555.  
  556. And despite his invitation, I remained standing, so he insisted:
  557.  
  558. — But please, sit down...
  559.  
  560. I mechanically obeyed. The old man then positioned himself in front of me.
  561.  
  562. Half of his face was shrouded in shadow, and the illuminated part seemed as white as wax...
  563.  
  564. I then noticed that one of his eyes shone with a peculiar brilliance, and every time that luminous eye fixed on me... involuntarily, I shivered.
  565.  
  566. Outside, the wind was blowing fiercely.
  567.  
  568. Trees creaked, and the weathervane on the roof of the hangar spun wildly with a rattling noise.
  569.  
  570. Finally, the old man snapped his fingers and quickly moved his chair closer to mine.
  571.  
  572. — You probably want to know, he said, sneering, why I brought you here?...
  573.  
  574. — Well... I admit that...
  575.  
  576. The doctor rubbed his hands, then, after a glance below, he continued:
  577.  
  578. — I was looking for a courageous man to accompany me..."
  579.  
  580. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  581.  
  582. "dans un voyage fantastique — that's the word — an extraordinary journey that I never thought possible but which a recent discovery has made possible... I have found a substance that is repelled by gravity... and uses it as a fulcrum to rise into the air...
  583.  
  584. I nodded in admiration, but the more the doctor delved into elaborate explanations, the more this opinion took root in my mind: 'this man is definitely mad... however... it's a gentle madness... by not contradicting him, I have nothing to fear.'
  585.  
  586. I would have been completely reassured if, from time to time, the old man hadn't abruptly turned around on his seat to look behind him...
  587.  
  588. Several times, he even got up, and I saw him heading towards the cylindrical hood heating up at the back of the room.
  589.  
  590. This behavior intrigued me, and the old man undoubtedly read the question in my eyes that I dared not ask, for he said:
  591.  
  592. — You're wondering why I often take a look at the container over there... I'll tell you...
  593.  
  594. There boils a substance that I subject to high pressure, and it would only take a moment of negligence for this hangar to explode like the other one.
  595.  
  596. I felt a slight chill run down my spine.
  597.  
  598. — Yes, continued the doctor... it's a container like the one you see at the end of this corridor that caused the catastrophe the day before yesterday...
  599.  
  600. One of my workers had neglected, upon leaving, to slow down the intensity of the fire...
  601.  
  602. And my interlocutor got up again to go examine his apparatus.
  603.  
  604. — We can, he said, returning to sit down, reach."
  605.  
  606. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  607.  
  608. "15 atmospheres... that's the extreme limit, but at 14 atmospheres 3/4... one must be vigilant.
  609.  
  610. — How much are you at the moment? I asked anxiously...
  611.  
  612. — Oh!... barely at 14... we can be at ease... So, as I was saying earlier, I found a substance that nullifies the ordinary action of gravity... It seems impossible, and yet, it's the truth.
  613.  
  614. Having noticed a hint of disbelief on my face, the doctor added, raising his voice a bit:
  615.  
  616. — You don't believe me?...
  617.  
  618. — But I do...
  619.  
  620. — No... you doubt, I can see that... Well! You will be convinced...
  621.  
  622. Look... open that chest you see there and take the first object that comes to hand.
  623.  
  624. I was careful not to contradict the old scientist. So, I lifted the lid of the large chest he pointed to and grabbed a thick metal plate.
  625.  
  626. — I'll never be able to lift this, I exclaimed.
  627.  
  628. — Try... said the doctor with a little laugh.
  629.  
  630. — I gathered all my strength and seized the enormous block.
  631.  
  632. Oh, wonder!... oh, miracle!... I lifted it without difficulty... it weighed less than a feather... Moreover, I noticed that it rose despite me, and I even had a hard time holding it back...
  633.  
  634. — Well, what do you think of that?... asked the doctor, taking the metal block from my hands and placing it back in its chest.
  635.  
  636. — It's marvelous!... unheard of!... phenomenal!... prodigious!... I exclaimed warmly.
  637.  
  638. My sudden transition from doubt to enthusiasm brought a smile of satisfaction to the doctor's face."
  639.  
  640. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  641.  
  642. "I looked at this man with wonder. It now seemed to me that something superhuman emanated from him, and I thought I saw a halo illuminating his forehead.
  643.  
  644. This little old man, who had seemed odious and ridiculous to me, transformed into a demi-god.
  645.  
  646. — You see, he said to me, that I have truly solved the most marvelous scientific problem... Will you now consent to accompany me on the great journey I am about to attempt?
  647.  
  648. How could I hesitate, after what I had just seen... I was fascinated... amazed... literally dazzled...
  649.  
  650. — Oh! doctor... I replied, I am ready to follow you anywhere... wherever you go... even to the ends of the earth.
  651.  
  652. — We will go further than that, said the old man in a serious tone.
  653.  
  654. But suddenly, despite myself, I shuddered... I had just heard a strange purring sound... a rumble... rumble... peculiar... growing louder and louder... Instinctively... I turned my eyes towards the hood.
  655.  
  656. — Oh! don't worry, said the doctor, smiling... it's the metal beginning its final heating... We are at 14 atmospheres 1/4... In a few minutes, I will slow down the combustion...
  657.  
  658. — So?... there is no danger?
  659.  
  660. — For the moment... no...
  661.  
  662. And the scientist continued, very calmly:
  663.  
  664. — I could have taken one of my workers with me to accompany me... but I not only need a bold and courageous man... I especially need an intelligent companion who can assist me effectively... take notes... write down my impressions...
  665.  
  666. — A secretary..."
  667.  
  668. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  669.  
  670. "— That's right...
  671.  
  672. — Yes, yes... I understand, I said absentmindedly, looking again at the container whose rumblings were becoming threatening...
  673.  
  674. I even seemed to hear small cracks as if the walls of the cast iron sphere were stretching under the pressure of the molten metal...
  675.  
  676. Nevertheless, I tried not to show any signs of my fear... My heartbeats lifted my clothes... but my face remained calm enough, although a cold sweat trickled down my temples.
  677.  
  678. — I think it would be high time, I finally said timidly, to release the pressure...
  679.  
  680. The scientist shrugged slightly and didn't reply.
  681.  
  682. Suddenly, a dreadful crash was heard on the ground floor. A door slammed violently.
  683.  
  684. — What's that? the old man exclaimed, suddenly rising...
  685.  
  686. Could my safety locks have slipped in their latch... no... that's impossible... wait for me a second... I'll go see... Time to go down and come back up...
  687.  
  688. — I'm coming... I'm coming... I shouted.
  689.  
  690. But the doctor was already out, and the door through which he had just disappeared closed instantly, thanks to an invisible system that was yet another invention of this astonishing man. I heard him descending the stairs four by four... then there was a sound of boards colliding, and the scientist's little voice rose screeching... furious.
  691.  
  692. What had happened?
  693.  
  694. I remained rooted to the spot, anxious, trembling.
  695.  
  696. The cubilot's growls intensified... It was now a roar like that of a furious monster..."
  697.  
  698. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  699.  
  700. "Rushing to the door, I tried to open it... the safety lock held it firmly... I tried to break it down... it resisted my desperate shakes.
  701.  
  702. Downstairs, the scientist kept shouting... I pressed my ear against the floor, and I distinctly heard these words:
  703.  
  704. — The cubilot!... The cubilot!...
  705.  
  706. It was all over for me!... What I feared had happened... the doctor could no longer come back up.
  707.  
  708. Gathering all my energy, I approached the container, and without hesitation, I abruptly turned a copper lever fixed in the tin hood. It might be my salvation!...
  709.  
  710. Curse! I had hastened my demise!...
  711.  
  712. Immediately, the molten substance started buzzing with more force... the needle on the pressure gauge made a small leap and trembled on the dial... A blinding blaze filled the room... stifling heat suffocated me.
  713.  
  714. I wanted to scream. But blood rushed to my throat... my tongue remained glued to my palate...
  715.  
  716. Then I understood that it was the end...
  717.  
  718. I stepped back to the far end of the room, staring with wild eyes at the ominous glow that radiated more and more, and, hiding my face in my hands, I collapsed like a weight...
  719.  
  720. Anguish strangled me, annihilating in my delirious brain the last remnants of reason."
  721.  
  722. Chapter 2 pg 25
  723.  
  724. "When I came to, I saw by the light of a lamp a huge man standing beside me, looking at me with a smile.
  725.  
  726. I stared at him with astonishment and was about to question him when he said:
  727.  
  728. — Well? sir, it was high time I arrived, otherwise we would all have blown up, and you first. But where is the doctor?
  729.  
  730. — He is downstairs... I replied, marveling despite myself at the composure of this stranger."
  731.  
  732. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  733.  
  734. "— What?... He left you alone here without explaining how to regulate the cubilot?
  735.  
  736. — He thought he could come back immediately... but it is to be presumed that he had an accident.
  737.  
  738. — We need to go see what happened, said the man, who seemed suddenly worried.
  739.  
  740. I rose with difficulty, as my limbs were sore, and followed him...
  741.  
  742. At the bottom of the stairs, we found the communication door to the corridor locked.
  743.  
  744. — Ah!... I understand, said my companion, he must have locked himself in... it was bound to happen sooner or later with his secret lock system... But how is it that we don't hear him?...
  745.  
  746. — He shouted for a long time, I replied... Perhaps in the end, the shock overwhelmed him... It's not surprising, as he also expected to blow up...
  747.  
  748. The stranger didn't reply. Pressing his mouth against the door, he called out with a booming voice:
  749.  
  750. — Doctor!... doctor!...
  751.  
  752. We heard a kind of growl. The man then pressed his shoulder against the door and, seemingly effortlessly, knocked it off its hinges.
  753.  
  754. We found the doctor crouched in the vestibule... He seemed furious... His hands were bloody... his clothes stained with plaster... He must have made superhuman efforts to escape his prison.
  755.  
  756. I tried to speak to him... He pushed me away roughly. Then the giant accompanying me ventured a timid question.
  757.  
  758. — Enough... Fréd... shouted the doctor... enough... I don't want to hear anything.
  759.  
  760. However, he calmed down a bit. — And the cubilot?... he asked."
  761.  
  762. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  763.  
  764. "— Rest assured, doctor... there is no more danger... I arrived in time," Fred replied.
  765.  
  766. The scientist chuckled. Then, turning to me, he said:
  767.  
  768. "— Ah!... my dear Mr. Borel... you must have experienced a terrible shock.
  769.  
  770. Wanting to justify the patent of courage I had easily bestowed upon myself, I replied in a very calm tone:
  771.  
  772. "— Me?... Oh, no... I tried to avert the danger, but when I realized I couldn't, I lay down on the floor and, well... I waited for death...
  773.  
  774. The doctor believed me. But I caught a mischievous smile on Fred's face. He knew better than anyone what to make of my heroic stance...
  775.  
  776. Now the old man was carefully examining his locks.
  777.  
  778. "— You see," he said to me, "when I went down to close that cursed door that had opened in the gust, an even stronger gust of wind than before pushed this one, and I found myself trapped... My locks no longer slid into their latch, and that iron rod that connects them had suddenly bent... I'll have to fix that."
  779.  
  780. The day had dawned.
  781.  
  782. "— I believe," the doctor added, "that after such a night, both of us need some rest... How about I offer you hospitality?"
  783.  
  784. The prospect of walking three kilometers to get back to my cottage didn't appeal to me much... So, I eagerly accepted the scientist's offer.
  785.  
  786. He led me to a sparsely furnished room where there was a small cot covered with andrinople fabric."
  787.  
  788. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  789.  
  790. "— Rest well," he said to me, "or I will wake you around noon; it's four in the morning now, that will give you eight hours of sleep... not too much... Your nerves, like mine, need to relax.
  791.  
  792. The emotions I had gone through had annihilated me... shattered me... I threw myself fully clothed onto my bed and almost immediately drifted into a doze.
  793.  
  794. I was sleeping deeply and probably for quite some time when I was suddenly awakened by loud shouts from outside. I tried to catch a few words in the midst of the confused clamor, but all I could make out were wild screams and the hiss of threatening voices.
  795.  
  796. The door suddenly opened, and the doctor appeared, followed by Fred, who held a huge stick in his hand.
  797.  
  798. "Do you hear... do you hear?" exclaimed the old man. "They're talking about breaking down the door... they're making death threats... and the gendarmes are letting them do it... because there are gendarmes among them... My God!... My God! What does all this mean?"
  799.  
  800. Very worried myself, I opened a window that overlooked the plain.
  801.  
  802. At the sight of me, cries arose:
  803.  
  804. "There he is!... there he is!..."
  805.  
  806. And, at the forefront of the crowd, I saw my valet and my gardener.
  807.  
  808. I burst into loud laughter and, turning to the doctor, said:
  809.  
  810. "You have a bad reputation in the area... They take you for a sorcerer... My servants knew I was at your place... not seeing me return, they assumed you had killed me."
  811.  
  812. From the window, I addressed the crowd. In a loud voice,"
  813.  
  814. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  815.  
  816. "Then I explained that Dr. Omega was not what a foolish populace thought...
  817.  
  818. "He is a great man," I exclaimed, "a marvelous man... Soon you will hear about his astonishing discoveries... Salute him, my friends... Applaud him!... for he honors this country... no, I say?... he honors France... the entire world!
  819.  
  820. Applause erupted frenetically. It sounded like a storm of rain falling on a zinc roof.
  821.  
  822. The doctor, deeply moved, approached the window and awkwardly waved. The cheers redoubled.
  823.  
  824. It was the first time in his life that this modest man enjoyed the honors of triumph.
  825.  
  826. He tried to say a few words, but his small voice, paralyzed by emotion, emitted strange sounds... alternately deep and soft, sharp and nasal. One could have thought he was singing a yodel. The crowd, not hearing a word of his speech, nonetheless manifested their enthusiasm.
  827.  
  828. It took just a few minutes to make a man, whom they treated as an enemy that morning, sympathetic... This is one of the flaws and also one of the qualities of the crowd - to change opinions very quickly.
  829.  
  830. When the cheers subsided, I called my valet, who was still in front of the hangar, and gave him some quick instructions. Turning then to the doctor, whose face was radiant with joy, I said:
  831.  
  832. "Come to my place, my dear scientist, I offer you breakfast..."
  833.  
  834. After a few moments, accompanied by Dr. Yed, I headed towards my home.
  835.  
  836. The crowd respectfully parted to let us pass and followed us to my cottage.
  837.  
  838. There, I brought up four barrels of excellent wine from my cellar."
  839.  
  840. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  841.  
  842. "I served wine and offered drinks to the entire population of Marbeuf. This generous gesture further increased the doctor's popularity and earned me much esteem from the peasants.
  843.  
  844. At dessert, the scientist, cheered by a few glasses of Spanish wine, became very talkative.
  845.  
  846. "I must have seemed like a rather odd individual the first time you saw me," he said.
  847.  
  848. "Well..."
  849.  
  850. "Yes, yes, say it... you thought I was a madman... but I knew perfectly well that no one had been injured... I am neither a Caffer nor a Patagonian... If any of my collaborators had been a victim of the explosion, you wouldn't have seen me so cheerful..."
  851.  
  852. "Indeed... you were singing..."
  853.  
  854. "I was singing?... that's quite possible, but I was so happy!"
  855.  
  856. "And could we know the cause of this sudden joy?"
  857.  
  858. "I will now, dear friend, satisfy your curiosity.
  859.  
  860. I have already told you that, for a long time, I have been conducting incessant research on various metals, but these researches focused particularly on radium, this new substance that has revolutionized modern science. You are not unaware that, until recent years, scientists posited as an axiom that matter attracts matter and that this attraction is proportional to the masses and inversely proportional to the square of their distance.
  861.  
  862. Now, radium seems to want to escape this universal attraction; its molecules, far from attracting each other, repel each other with such energy that they flee and radiate in all directions at a speed estimated at three hundred thousand kilometers per second, exactly the speed of a ray of light."
  863.  
  864. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  865.  
  866. "— Yes... yes," I replied knowingly, even though these explanations were entirely new to me...
  867.  
  868. — So, as any good chemist, I had a precision balance in my laboratory, and each time I mixed several substances, I took care to precisely measure the weight of each one...
  869.  
  870. Since Lavoisier, it was quite obvious — or at least, it seemed obvious — that the weight of the compound must be equal to the sum of the weights of the component substances. It was a truth so indisputable that no scientist would have thought to contest it...
  871.  
  872. Imagine my astonishment when, one day, after meticulously weighing the various minerals that were to combine in my crucible, I noticed, while measuring a result, that the balance indicated a weight significantly lower than what logically... undeniably... it should have shown.
  873.  
  874. I thought it was an error on my part... I must have miscalculated my initial weighings.
  875.  
  876. I repeated the experiment... the same phenomenon occurred.
  877.  
  878. Certainly, I thought, my balance is faulty...
  879.  
  880. I checked it by placing two similar weights on it; the pans balanced.
  881.  
  882. I then performed the well-known double weighing operation: my balance was impeccably accurate.
  883.  
  884. For the third time, carefully monitoring the movement of my fingers, I repeated the weighing of the same metals, and I obtained a result identical to the first...
  885.  
  886. I began to think that I had completely lost my mind...
  887.  
  888. However, little by little, an idea emerged in my mind... It was initially a vague supposition... something"
  889.  
  890. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  891.  
  892. "obscure... confusing, which gradually became clear... clarified. There must have been a new substance produced in my mixture with phenomenal, unimaginable, astounding properties.
  893.  
  894. After long reflection, I eventually intuited that chance had led me to a discovery.
  895.  
  896. This mysterious substance, the existence of which I sensed, must be, as incredible as it may seem, resistant to gravity! It existed... that was certain... its mass was evident... and yet it had no weight!...
  897.  
  898. From then on, I had only one idea, to isolate this substance, to free it from its alloys...
  899.  
  900. Oh! how many nights I spent experimenting with different combinations!... How many futile experiments did I conduct!
  901.  
  902. Others might have been discouraged in my place, but I persisted... something told me that I had to succeed...
  903.  
  904. Four days ago, I added two new substances to my crucible, and I had high hopes for their effectiveness in removing the mysterious metal from its parasitic molecules... the key was to determine the exact cooking time for this amalgam...
  905.  
  906. An old formula found in a 16th-century alchemy book had inspired me to try this experiment. One cannot imagine the fresh ideas one can sometimes draw from old books.
  907.  
  908. My new mixture was boiling in a crucible similar to the one you know when, fortunately, this crucible exploded due to the negligence of one of my workers... negligence that I now bless—you'll find out why.
  909.  
  910. Initially, this disaster devastated me... I went into a wild rage... I almost destroyed everything here.
  911.  
  912. The next day at dawn, I went outside to get some fresh air, for"
  913.  
  914. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  915.  
  916. I had a burning sensation in my head... and mechanically, I headed towards the debris of my hangar. A wooden ceiling supported by four beams rose in the midst of these ruins...
  917.  
  918. Without thinking about the danger I was exposing myself to — I was no longer aware of anything — I entered under this swaying canopy that could collapse at any moment. Suddenly, as I raised my head, I saw three small metal spheres adhering to this ceiling... At first, I didn't pay much attention to it... These tiny blocks had probably been propelled with the molten metal and had welded to the planks they encountered on their way... Nothing could be more natural.
  919.  
  920. However, I thought I noticed that these spheres were not stationary and were bouncing lightly. I rubbed my eyes and looked more closely.
  921.  
  922. Indeed, they were moving...
  923.  
  924. A half-broken table was near me; I
  925.  
  926. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  927.  
  928. "reinforced it with stones and climbed as best I could onto this improvised scaffold.
  929.  
  930. Stretching my arm, I managed to grab one of the spheres; it detached easily, but I still felt, as I pulled it towards me, a slight resistance similar to that of a magnet attracted to a piece of iron.
  931.  
  932. Suddenly, my scaffold collapsed, and I rolled on the ground. As I fell, I had let go of the sphere I was holding in my hand! Immediately, I searched for it in the debris, moving planks and plaster, but I couldn't find it... I was certain, however, that it hadn't fallen very far.
  933.  
  934. I then resolved to go get another one... I resumed my gymnastics exercise, but as I raised my arm to grab one of the small metal blocks, I remained astonished...
  935.  
  936. There were still three spheres on the ceiling, and yet I was sure I had removed one that I had let fall to the ground!...
  937.  
  938. I hastily seized the one that was closest and jumped off my scaffold. I then examined the small ball curiously... It presented nothing special...
  939.  
  940. To observe it better, I placed it in the palm of my hand... but at that moment... — what I'm going to tell you will seem unbelievable... prodigious! — it gently rose and adhered to the ceiling...
  941.  
  942. I let out a cry of triumph... which Fred heard from the neighboring shed, and I started dancing... frolicking like a madman...
  943.  
  944. When Fred arrived, I immediately told him:
  945.  
  946. — Quickly! Quickly... grab me those balls you see above your head... and whatever you do, don't throw them to me... don't throw them, you hear, pass them to me... if you let go, they'll go back up in the air..."
  947.  
  948. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  949.  
  950.  
  951. "Fred looked at me bewildered; nevertheless, he obeyed without saying a word and passed me the three small spheres, one after the other.
  952.  
  953. I put two in my pocket, kept one in my hand, and then went to stand on the road.
  954.  
  955. Bending down, I placed the ball on the ground, and after letting it go, I stood up quickly. It immediately rose, and when it reached chest height, I caught it promptly.
  956.  
  957. Then, I placed it back on the ground and let it go again... but this time I didn't stop it. It rose to my face, surpassed my head, and then rose faster and faster...
  958.  
  959. Soon I lost sight of it...
  960.  
  961. It had disappeared into space!...
  962.  
  963. Oh happiness!... Oh miracle!... I had not only found a substance refractory to gravity but also a metal that, overturning all the laws of nature, seemed to be repelled by the force that attracts bodies towards the earth...
  964.  
  965. I had succeeded in eliminating gravity... do you hear me well... gravity... I could now impart to any body coated with this marvelous substance a rectilinear, uniform, infinite impulsion force... that is, a constant speed that nothing in the ether could oppose anymore!...
  966.  
  967. — Are you quite sure, I ventured, that you can reconstitute this substance whenever you want?
  968.  
  969. — Not only am I sure, but I already have several blocks of this metal at home that I melted without difficulty... You even touched one...
  970.  
  971. — Ah! yes... the famous block that weighs less than a feather.
  972.  
  973. — That's it...
  974.  
  975. — You can be sure that I minutely analyzed the..."
  976.  
  977. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  978.  
  979. "— Yes... yes," I replied knowingly, even though these explanations were entirely new to me.
  980.  
  981. — Well then, I'll explain it to you, continued the doctor. "I must warn you, my dear friend, that what I'm about to reveal to you is an extraordinary secret, and you must promise to keep it confidential. Can I trust you with such a responsibility?"
  982.  
  983. — Absolutely, I assured him.
  984.  
  985. The doctor then began to disclose a series of discoveries he had made in the realm of physics, chemistry, and metallurgy. He spoke of a mysterious substance he had named "repulsite," a material that, instead of being attracted by gravity, was repelled by it and used it as a point of support to ascend.
  986.  
  987. He emphasized the importance of this repulsite for a grand aerial journey he envisioned – a voyage to the planet Mars. Intrigued, I inquired how, with the repulsite, he planned to undertake such an extensive journey through space.
  988.  
  989. — Everything is planned, my dear friend, he replied. "If you come to my laboratory, I'll show you some fascinating plans I've been working on. You must be familiar with them since you'll be part of this journey. You are still determined to accompany me, aren't you?"
  990.  
  991. — More than ever! I exclaimed.
  992.  
  993. — Well then, let's go...
  994.  
  995. Half an hour later, I found myself back in Dr. Omega's laboratory.
  996.  
  997. — Today is August 24th, the doctor said. "We must have left Earth by April 18th."
  998.  
  999. — Why April 18th? I asked, surprised.
  1000.  
  1001. — Because I calculated that by departing on this date, we would reach the planet Mars precisely when it is only 56 million kilometers away from Earth.
  1002.  
  1003. — That's already quite a distance!
  1004.  
  1005. — Yes... but it is relatively small when you consider that when the planet is at its aphelion, it is 400 million kilometers away from our globe. It will take us just seventeen days and two hours to reach Mars."
  1006.  
  1007. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1008.  
  1009. "— And how did you manage to determine this time so precisely?
  1010.  
  1011. — Nothing simpler... You are familiar with the law of falling bodies, aren't you? You know that any body left to itself is acted upon by a constant force called gravity and falls towards the ground with a uniformly accelerated motion.
  1012.  
  1013. — Perfectly...
  1014.  
  1015. — During the first second of its fall, this body will cover 4.90 meters; it will have traveled 19.60 meters during the first two seconds; 44.10 meters during the first three; 78.40 meters during the first four, and so on.
  1016.  
  1017. The repulsite, as its name suggests, is not attracted to the ground but pushed away by a force just as constant as gravity.
  1018.  
  1019. Therefore, it undergoes a uniformly accelerated motion, but in the opposite direction.
  1020.  
  1021. It rises instead of falling, and the speed of its ascent is exactly that which a body subjected to the laws of attraction would take.
  1022.  
  1023. It will ascend by 4.90 meters during the first second; by 19.60 meters during the second; by 44.10 meters during the third; by 78.40 meters, and so on, following the well-known formula:
  1024.  
  1025. E = 1/2 * g * t^2
  1026.  
  1027. until the moment when we enter the gravitational zone of the planet Mars, after about eight days and thirteen hours of travel.
  1028.  
  1029. At that moment, we will be moving at a speed of 800 kilometers per second.
  1030.  
  1031. — But, I objected, before reaching that gravitational zone, as our speed increases exponentially..."
  1032.  
  1033. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1034.  
  1035. "fantastic, do we not risk being burned, vaporized?
  1036.  
  1037. — No... because by the time we reach speeds that are dangerously high in that regard, we will have long passed the outer limits of the atmosphere, which extend only about a hundred kilometers...
  1038.  
  1039. — Ah, very well, I said... But you haven't told me what kind of vehicle you will use for this journey.
  1040.  
  1041. — I'm getting to that, said Dr. Omega... We will depart in a projectile.
  1042.  
  1043. — Like the heroes in Jules Verne's stories?
  1044.  
  1045. Dr. Omega shrugged.
  1046.  
  1047. — I'm speaking seriously, he said... You're not going to compare ours to an imaginary journey, are you? Jules Verne's concept was purely hypothetical, whereas mine...
  1048.  
  1049. — Please continue, doctor.
  1050.  
  1051. — So, we will depart in a projectile... That's the truth, and you can believe that this projectile will be marvelously constructed.
  1052.  
  1053. Here are a few sketches I've drafted, and if you don't mind, we can take a look.
  1054.  
  1055. Dr. Omega then showed me small sheets of paper on which a very elongated projectile with complicated accessories was represented in various cross-sections.
  1056.  
  1057. — See, said the scientist... this is our vehicle... it will be 13 meters long by 3 in diameter... but it won't only be a projectile, it will also transform into a submarine and an automobile in turn.
  1058.  
  1059. I opened my eyes wide in astonishment.
  1060.  
  1061. — Yes, I mean it... an automobile and a submarine... Before reaching the rocks of Mars, we will need to cross the vast seas surrounding that planet; then we..."
  1062.  
  1063. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1064.  
  1065. "will quickly traverse that unknown world in order to reach inhabited centers...
  1066.  
  1067. — Do you believe there are inhabitants on Mars?
  1068.  
  1069. — We will know soon... But let me continue my description...
  1070.  
  1071. The projectile will be surrounded by a layer of repulsorite five centimeters thick, underneath which there will be, in a way, a second shell made of lightweight steel, completely independent, and which we can gradually discard when we wish... but I will explain that to you later.
  1072.  
  1073. Four chambers, Dr. Omega continued, will be arranged inside our vehicle... and we will illuminate them with electric lamps powered by a dynamo and an eight-cylinder 200-horsepower engine.
  1074.  
  1075. The floors of each of these chambers will rest on a cardan suspension... You know that a body held by this system always stays in its normal position, regardless of the inclination given to the device, thanks to a set of concentric circles that oscillate around perpendicular pivots, maintaining alignment with each other.
  1076.  
  1077. Our portholes, or windows if you prefer, instead of being fitted with glass that would nullify the lifting force, will be made of transparent repulsorite... Now, see this double propeller...
  1078.  
  1079. — Yes...
  1080.  
  1081. — It will be sufficient to press a lever to instantly deploy it from the projectile; it is connected to the engine by a steel layer shaft...
  1082.  
  1083. — And those wheels I see there?... I asked.
  1084.  
  1085. — Those are the wheels of the automobile... When we want to turn our projectile into a land vehicle, a simple trigger will immediately release this chassis you see."
  1086.  
  1087. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1088.  
  1089. "tinted in red, drops by one meter and fits into grooves and slots at the bottom of the projectile.
  1090.  
  1091. This downward movement will simultaneously operate four openings in the sides of the projectile, and the wheels will thus make contact with the ground. Then, instead of steering the vehicle with a rudder, as when it is underwater, we will control it using this steering wheel. Finally, two powerful brakes will give our planetary shell all the qualities of an automobile.
  1092.  
  1093. — All of this is wonderfully designed! I exclaimed... Ah! Doctor, you are a genius! An innovator who will be looked upon in a few months as one of our national glories!
  1094.  
  1095. The scientist did not respond, but I saw a gleam of pride in his small eyes.
  1096.  
  1097. — Be convinced, he continued, that everything will have its place in our metal carriage... Nothing will be missing.
  1098.  
  1099. — But how will we breathe? It will be impossible to open the portholes to replenish our air supply.
  1100.  
  1101. — You can be sure that I have not forgotten the main thing... We will take with us sufficient oxygen cylinders for the round trip.
  1102.  
  1103. But the scientist hesitated for a few seconds before uttering the last word.
  1104.  
  1105. Perhaps, despite all the confidence he seemed to have in the outcome of this journey, he did not contemplate the future without a certain unease.
  1106.  
  1107. Finally, he pulled out a large sheet from a drawer on which our future vehicle was drawn.
  1108.  
  1109. Until now, I had only seen separate parts of the grand whole that would make up the aerial projectile...
  1110.  
  1111. This time, instead of being represented horizontally, it was"
  1112.  
  1113. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1114.  
  1115. "slightly inclined... that is, in the position it would occupy in space.
  1116.  
  1117. I then noticed that it was divided along its length, below its ogival part up to the base, by a sort of metal partition on which three equally sized rooms were arranged, communicating with each other through very narrow doors.
  1118.  
  1119. Imagine a building somewhat in the shape of a mosque on the left of which an iron staircase would wind.
  1120.  
  1121. The lower cabin was reserved for supplies, as the doctor, who thought of everything, had not forgotten provisions. We would take with us a quantity of hams, salted meats, canned goods, and biscuits, along with bottles of pale ale, champagne, wine, and mineral water.
  1122.  
  1123. The room on the first floor, surrounded by small square cabinets, contained two beds and a movable table placed on a translating pivot.
  1124.  
  1125. The room on the third floor, or the one at the front, was to be the lookout post. It was there that the doctor would stand to monitor the progress of his projectile.
  1126.  
  1127. The other compartment—I mentioned that the shell was divided in two lengthwise—also contained three rooms, but, by some system I do not know, it was enough to press a lever for the ladder and floors to immediately fold against the vehicle's wall.
  1128.  
  1129. While I examined this plan attentively, Doctor Omega observed me over his glasses.
  1130.  
  1131. Finally, I exclaimed:
  1132.  
  1133. — All of this is magical!... I hope you can carry out this grand project!...
  1134.  
  1135. — Nothing prevents me from doing so, the scientist replied... I have sacrificed my fortune to carry out this enterprise.
  1136.  
  1137. I have already communicated telegraphically with the"
  1138.  
  1139. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1140.  
  1141. engagements of Le Creusot; soon I will send them a copy of these plans, and they will start the work immediately.
  1142.  
  1143. For nearly three months, we worked tirelessly. The scientist recalculated all his figures, modified some of his plans, and I transcribed the hastily scribbled indications.
  1144.  
  1145. Finally, on November 27, I set out for Le Creusot, accompanied by the doctor and Fred.
  1146.  
  1147. When we arrived at the factories, the enormous projectile had already been cast in the molds. However, since, of course, it could not be melted in one piece, it was divided into three parts that were to be joined together with bolts and rivets.
  1148.  
  1149. The doctor carefully examined these initial works and seemed satisfied. Then, he had a long conversation with the factory engineers.
  1150.  
  1151. I noticed that they seemed to consider my poor friend a madman. Nevertheless, since he was paying, they followed his instructions to the letter.
  1152.  
  1153. For six months, thirty workers were assigned to the service of the doctor, and by mid-March, our vehicle was almost complete.
  1154.  
  1155. All that remained was to cast the repulsite envelope. This is where the real difficulties began.
  1156.  
  1157. The projectile had to be transported under a very low hangar, whose roof had been strongly reinforced because the repulsite pieces coming out of the molds immediately rose into the air like mere sheets of paper and stuck to the upper beams.
  1158.  
  1159. On April 2, the projectile was entirely clad in the antigravity cuirass. However, it should not be thought that the repulsite envelope was welded to the shell. On the contrary, it was movable and could, thanks to a very simple maneuver, slide rapidly around the vehicle.
  1160.  
  1161. This is important to note."
  1162.  
  1163. Chapter 3
  1164.  
  1165. On April 16, the projectile was transported in a massive closed container to a vast plain.
  1166.  
  1167. Using winches and scaffolding, it was stood upright, with the base resting on a large cemented platform. Chains and ropes were used to secure it to the ground.
  1168.  
  1169. The day before departure, I noticed that Dr. Omega was constantly making calculations in his notebook.
  1170.  
  1171. "Have you made a mistake?" I asked.
  1172.  
  1173. "No," he replied, "it's just important for me to determine exactly where we are so that in order to adjust the inclination of my projectile. Otherwise, we might risk passing Mars altogether. As you know, for aiming at this planet, one must take into account a crucial factor: the projectile experiences two different movements - its own motion and the one imparted by the Earth's rotation.
  1174.  
  1175. You're familiar with its own motion. The one imposed by the Earth is the distance covered due to the rotation of the globe on its axis. Starting from Le Creusot, located between the 46th and 47th degrees of north latitude, the speed of this movement equals 24,000 kilometers in twenty-four hours, or 1,000 kilometers per hour. (This is the speed that the city of Le Creusot covers in space due to the Earth's rotational movement.)
  1176.  
  1177. Now, this impulse, my projectile will retain indefinitely, as you are aware that when a body is in motion, it cannot stop by itself. Suddenly stop a speeding car; what happens? Those inside are thrown forward with more force the faster the car was moving.
  1178.  
  1179. In summary, Le Creusot covering 4,000 kilometers per hour due to rotation, for as many hours as our projectile will take to reach Mars, it will be deviated from its course by 1,000 kilometers for each hour. Since it must remain in the air for 17 days and 2 hours, or 410 hours, it will be deviated by 410,000 kilometers.
  1180.  
  1181. Therefore, we will be compelled, for it to reach the goal, to incline our projectile in a position precisely corresponding to 410,000 kilometers west of Mars.
  1182.  
  1183. But that's not all. The Earth also has a translational movement around the sun, and I have also accounted for this in my drift calculations."
  1184.  
  1185. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1186.  
  1187. "If we didn't take into account the movements I just mentioned, we would be following the example of a marine pointer who, aiming for the target, would not care about the roll or pitch.
  1188.  
  1189. All of this was Greek to me, but I nodded in agreement and occasionally murmured words like these: Clearly... It's evident... Nothing is clearer... It's self-evident...
  1190.  
  1191. And the doctor continued his explanations, convinced that I understood him wonderfully.
  1192.  
  1193. Suddenly he said:
  1194.  
  1195. — I don't believe I made a mistake in my calculations, as I've double-checked them; however, for extra certainty, I'll ask you to redo them. I'll keep my operations... we'll compare them with yours shortly.
  1196.  
  1197. These words had the effect of a cold shower on me, and I looked at the scientist with a startled expression.
  1198.  
  1199. I was about to confess my ignorance when, fortunately, Fred's arrival provided a distraction. Indeed, this good lad always came at the right moment.
  1200.  
  1201. He approached the doctor and said in an embarrassed tone:
  1202.  
  1203. — Doctor... I have something to ask you...
  1204.  
  1205. — Well, speak... said the scientist gruffly.
  1206.  
  1207. — I would like... to join you...
  1208.  
  1209. — You're crazy, Fred!... besides... I don't need you... we're two... that's enough.
  1210.  
  1211. Fred smiled.
  1212.  
  1213. — It's possible... he replied... but you probably haven't thought of something... you know I'm not a bad cook... you've even complimented me on the dishes I've prepared for you... I could be your head chef on board the shell... I would take care of the 'grub.'"
  1214.  
  1215. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1216.  
  1217. " Well, then... who knows... if you were to be attacked on the moon... I heard it was inhabited by nasty characters... some rather peculiar individuals...
  1218.  
  1219. — My dear Fred, said the doctor with a smile... we're not going to the moon... but to the planet Mars...
  1220.  
  1221. — The moon or the planet Mars, for me, it's all the same... it's an unusual place. If the 'Martians'... I think that's what they're called...
  1222.  
  1223. — No, the Martians... corrected the doctor.
  1224.  
  1225. — Well, if the Martians were to come after you upon your arrival... Do you think the two of you could stand up to them? With me... the situation would be less dangerous... I could defend you...
  1226.  
  1227. And Fred showed his enormous hands.
  1228.  
  1229. The doctor looked at his worker for a moment and then said:
  1230.  
  1231. — Fine... you'll come with us, but I'll have to add a layer of repulsite to our projectile corresponding to your weight... well!...
  1232.  
  1233. — Oh! thank you! exclaimed Fred, you'll see... I'll be more useful than you think... I'm sure you won't regret bringing me along.
  1234.  
  1235. I wasn't unhappy to see Fred join the expedition because I was already wondering, being unaccustomed to any manual labor, how I would manage to effectively assist the scientist.
  1236.  
  1237. On the day of departure, a large crowd had gathered at Le Creusot.
  1238.  
  1239. Since the previous day, the plain where the projectile was located was crowded with onlookers who had camped out in the open.
  1240.  
  1241. I must confess that, on the morning of April 18th, I had nevertheless lost much of my confidence, and I wondered..."
  1242.  
  1243. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1244.  
  1245.  
  1246. "even if I should or should not go with the doctor.
  1247.  
  1248. For several hours, I deliberated... I was on the verge of going to my friend and telling him not to count on me anymore... but I couldn't bring myself to decide.
  1249.  
  1250. The moment to leave this world had arrived. The doctor was already giving his final instructions.
  1251.  
  1252. With his notebook in hand, a compass in the other, he tilted the projectile in the westward direction toward an imaginary point that he seemed to genuinely see.
  1253.  
  1254. The machine was moved, spun with the help of winches, tilted more and more, and finally the doctor exclaimed:
  1255.  
  1256. — We're there!...
  1257.  
  1258. Immediately, the projectile was slid onto a metal hatch moved by a gigantic spring, which, when released with tremendous force, would give the machine the initial inclination that would propel it into Mars, making it describe an immense parabola.
  1259.  
  1260. — Perfect, said Doctor Omega after checking the position of the projectile one last time.
  1261.  
  1262. And he headed towards a small platform where he took his place in the midst of about fifty people. Fred and I sat beside him.
  1263.  
  1264. A band played our national anthem, then several serious and solemn gentlemen, grotesquely dressed in frock coats, delivered rambling speeches that most of the audience did not understand at all.
  1265.  
  1266. Doctor Omega wanted to respond, but it's known that he wasn't an orator. He blushed, stammered, got entangled in a period... and finally came to a halt...
  1267.  
  1268. All that could be grasped from his speech was that he gave the name Cosmos to his planetary vehicle.
  1269.  
  1270. — Long live the Cosmos! Long live the Cosmos!... screamed the onlookers."
  1271.  
  1272. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1273.  
  1274. "The doctor made three small automatic bows and, turning to Fred and me, he said:
  1275.  
  1276. — The moment has come...
  1277.  
  1278. — Alea jacta est!... I mentally added.
  1279.  
  1280. And in front of ten thousand spectators, we solemnly descended the steps of the platform and headed towards the Cosmos, around which soldiers of the engineering corps and all the engineers from Creusot were gathered.
  1281.  
  1282. At that moment, my heart was pounding as if it would break... I must have been very pale... because I can admit it... I was afraid...
  1283.  
  1284. The doctor instructed the military to gently remove the moorings so as not to disturb the position of the projectile, then he activated a spring, and a tiny door opened at the bottom of the vehicle. Fred entered first.
  1285.  
  1286. — It's your turn... Mr. Borel... the old man said to me.
  1287.  
  1288. An assistant who I knew had spoken to me. I clung to him like a shipwrecked man to wreckage... and extended the conversation excessively... to delay the fateful moment of boarding as much as possible... I resembled a bit the man who swore to blow his brains out at a determined hour and who waits for all the clocks in the city to chime before carrying out his plan.
  1289.  
  1290. The doctor repeated:
  1291.  
  1292. — Come on... it's your turn... Mr. Borel...
  1293.  
  1294. I warmly shook hands with my interlocutor, gazed one last time at the crowd around me, then at the sun-drenched, green countryside, where a vibrant, joyful, enchanting life buzzed...
  1295.  
  1296. For a moment, I thought of fleeing, even if it meant being considered a coward... a pusillanimous and cowardly being, but I met the doctor's eye... that peculiar eye that had always given me shivers... And fascinated... hypnotized by this gaze... I entered the projectile...
  1297.  
  1298. Almost immediately, the scientist joined me. I heard a great clamor, then the door closed with a small, crisp sound, and I no longer heard outside but a vague murmur, quite similar to the buzzing of bees.
  1299.  
  1300. The cables slid along the repulsion layer, there was a jolt, then I had the very clear sensation that we were falling into a hole. It then seemed to me that we remained still.
  1301.  
  1302. — We have departed, said the doctor.
  1303.  
  1304. In the light of a small electric lamp placed along a partition, I stared at my old friend.
  1305.  
  1306. He was very calm, trying to smile.
  1307.  
  1308. As for Fred, he seemed very happy.
  1309.  
  1310. Through one of the portholes, we looked below us, and I could then see that we were really moving.
  1311.  
  1312. Every second, the speed increased smoothly, without jolts, and we saw the ground rapidly receding.
  1313.  
  1314. Sixteen minutes and forty seconds after our departure, we were 5,000 kilometers from Earth.
  1315.  
  1316. The curvature of the globe was now very clear to us.
  1317.  
  1318. Below us stretched the expanse of seas, the blue tint darkening more and more, while on the contrary, the continents brightened.
  1319.  
  1320. After an hour, the doctor informed us that we were traveling at a speed of 35,640 kilometers per second and that we were at an altitude of 64,800 kilometers.
  1321.  
  1322. Now the Earth was nothing more than a shrinking ball, which eventually looked exactly like the moon.
  1323.  
  1324. Then we went up to the third floor, to the living chamber, and took a look through the large porthole."
  1325.  
  1326. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1327.  
  1328. "Although our vehicle was very thick, we began to feel overwhelmed by the cold, and we were obliged to put on our fur coats.
  1329.  
  1330. However, for a few minutes, the doctor remained with his face glued to the repulsion window. What caught his attention was a phosphorescent mass that seemed to swell enormously every second...
  1331.  
  1332. — What is that? I asked.
  1333.  
  1334. — I have no idea, he answered irritably.
  1335.  
  1336. And the doctor continued to watch with concern. Standing behind him, I also observed this luminous mass approaching at lightning speed. Suddenly, the old scientist turned to me, his face in turmoil.
  1337.  
  1338. — Damnation!... fate! he exclaimed. See that light advancing, and its brilliance intensifying every second... it's coming towards us... we're rushing towards it!... We can't avoid it anymore... There's nothing to be done... nothing... absolutely nothing!...
  1339.  
  1340. And he added, hitting his head:
  1341.  
  1342. — It's a bolide!... a huge bolide! And it's right in our trajectory!"
  1343.  
  1344. Chapter 4
  1345.  
  1346. "I don't know if any of my readers have ever experienced shipwreck and heard in the night this sinister, terrifying command:
  1347.  
  1348. 'Lifeboats in the water!'
  1349.  
  1350. This lugubrious cry, although initially chilling to the hearts with fear, soon becomes welcomed with joy by the passengers when they realize that their floating home is about to vanish into the foaming waves.
  1351.  
  1352. Perhaps the lifeboats might reach distant shores, snatch from the sea the prey it demands with its howling! And a secret hope fills every soul...
  1353.  
  1354. No longer do we think about the raging storm... we only think of one thing, securing a place at all costs in the lifeboats.
  1355.  
  1356. Sometimes, the frail skiffs, after leaping over the tumultuous waves, skimming past the large black rocks resembling mythical monsters, reach an island or a continent... often, they are rolled by the waves and swallowed into the unfathomable depths...
  1357.  
  1358. But those unfortunate ones who perished at least had, for a few hours, the thought that perhaps everything was not over, and that, with the help of Providence, they would escape death.
  1359.  
  1360. Hope sustained them for a moment, and after the lifeboat, they still had the wreckage to which they clung desperately until the final convulsions forever stiffened their frozen limbs!...
  1361.  
  1362. We, aboard the Cosmos, had no chance of salvation!
  1363.  
  1364. Death was coming... we saw it approaching with lightning speed, and it was impossible to avoid it!...
  1365.  
  1366. I doubt that there can be more dreadful situations in life... more horrifying... and, as I write, I cannot relive those tragic minutes without a shudder.
  1367.  
  1368. While our fear manifested in moans and prayers, Doctor Omega angrily struck the walls of our vehicle, howling with a hoarse voice:
  1369.  
  1370. 'Fatality!... Fatality!...'
  1371.  
  1372. For a moment, he probably became aware of the serious responsibility he had taken on by bringing Fred and me with him, as he looked at us with sadness and we heard him murmur:"
  1373.  
  1374. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1375.  
  1376. "— Poor friends!...
  1377.  
  1378. Already, we perceived a loud noise similar to that of a gigantic siren.
  1379.  
  1380. The glow was approaching... it was now blazing... it blinded us...
  1381.  
  1382. A few more seconds and we were about to be crushed... vaporized...
  1383.  
  1384. From our bodies, now full of life, soon there would be nothing left but nameless molecules... invisible atoms that would flutter, lost in the vast immensity, and we would return to dust, according to the words of Genesis, without undergoing the transformations common to that humanity from which we were forever separated!...
  1385.  
  1386. Fred and I had lost all consciousness.
  1387.  
  1388. We had knelt down like two sailors who understand that everything is over, and we murmured vague words that expressed all the distress of our souls.
  1389.  
  1390. Suddenly, the doctor, who had so far retained his reason in the face of death, made a sudden movement, stretched out his arms, and bowed his head, like a man who sees a building collapsing above him...
  1391.  
  1392. I uttered a cry... Fred fell like a log.
  1393.  
  1394. A massive blaze... a dazzling glow penetrated through the portholes, and we felt an intense heat comparable to that which must prevail inside a furnace.
  1395.  
  1396. Suddenly, the Cosmos deviated from its course as if driven by a furious gust of wind... its joints creaked, and I had the distinct impression that our vehicle was flattening out... that it was crashing from top to bottom.
  1397.  
  1398. Fortunately, it was an illusion... because almost immediately, the voice of Doctor Omega rose, brilliant like a fanfare:"
  1399.  
  1400. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1401.  
  1402. "— Saved!... my friends... we are saved!...
  1403.  
  1404. I could hardly believe it... I rubbed my eyes like a man coming out of a dream and approached a porthole.
  1405.  
  1406. The glow was still visible, but it seemed less dazzling to me... and I soon convinced myself that it was gradually losing its intensity.
  1407.  
  1408. So... it was true... the bolide that was supposed to crush us had passed by the Cosmos without hitting it.
  1409.  
  1410. — My friends, said the scientist, the sky protects us... After a peril like the one we just avoided, what can we fear now?
  1411.  
  1412. We looked at the doctor in a bewildered manner.
  1413.  
  1414. — But shake yourselves, by Jove! he exclaimed... have you ever seen people like this? You should be jumping, dancing, shouting for joy!
  1415.  
  1416. — So... I stammered, it's really certain... we have nothing more to fear?
  1417.  
  1418. — But since I'm telling you.
  1419.  
  1420. — And... the projectile?
  1421.  
  1422. — Well! the projectile?
  1423.  
  1424. — It must be in a sorry state.
  1425.  
  1426. The doctor shrugged.
  1427.  
  1428. — It has suffered no damage, he replied.
  1429.  
  1430. — However... I did feel that it was contracting...
  1431.  
  1432. — You thought that... The gases that surrounded, or rather formed, the bolide exerted tremendous pressure on our vehicle, and, by a most natural phenomenon, the resistance it opposed to this mass made you think it was flattening. But, rest assured... it is in perfect condition... Perhaps its exterior has been slightly bronzed by the fire, but what does it matter?... since it has lost none of its buoyancy...
  1433.  
  1434. See, after undergoing the attraction of the bolide in a"
  1435.  
  1436. "sens it then underwent the same attraction in the opposite direction and consequently retained its straight line completely. In a simple cast-iron shell, we would have been, not carbonized, but consumed in barely a tenth of a second...
  1437.  
  1438. — So, exclaimed Fred, who had regained his good humor, the Cosmos is like the salamander... it runs amidst the flames without getting burned!
  1439.  
  1440. The meteorite now appeared as a large star... it was already several thousand leagues away, because unlike the Cosmos, whose speed increased in ascent, its speed increased as it approached the ground.
  1441.  
  1442. — Provided, I clumsily concluded, that we don't encounter any other bolides!
  1443.  
  1444. The doctor frowned and shot me a frosty glance.
  1445.  
  1446. But I tried to mitigate the negative impact of the words I had just spoken by marveling with Fred at the beauty of the journey we had embarked upon.
  1447.  
  1448. — If someone had told me one day, exclaimed the giant, that I would go to the Moon, I wouldn't have believed it.
  1449.  
  1450. — I repeat, Fred, the doctor said, that we are going to the planet Mars...
  1451.  
  1452. — For me, it's the same thing... Well... since I don't want to contradict you, doctor, I won't talk about the Moon anymore.
  1453.  
  1454. — That's right, Fred, said the old man with a smile. But, take care of our meal; I'm starting to get hungry.
  1455.  
  1456. Fred didn't need to be told twice.
  1457.  
  1458. He went into the supply room, and soon we heard him moving dishes and uncorking bottles.
  1459.  
  1460. The doctor had taken a notebook on which he was lining up endless columns of numbers.
  1461.  
  1462. Sometimes he dictated some observation to me, which I consid-"
  1463.  
  1464. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1465.  
  1466. "written in a large cardboard notebook at the top of which I had written in my best handwriting: Ship's Log.
  1467.  
  1468. We continued to advance smoothly... hardly a slight oscillation occurred from time to time.
  1469.  
  1470. We had long since surpassed the last atmospheric limits and were now sailing through the ether like mythological characters.
  1471.  
  1472. Around us, on one side, it was almost complete darkness, on the other, we could see the sun... a cold and gloomy sun, and one can easily imagine the monotony of this aerial journey.
  1473.  
  1474. I do not recommend to tourists fond of picturesque sites and enchanting landscapes to take an excursion into the ether... it lacks charm.
  1475.  
  1476. — How much longer, I asked the doctor, will we remain in these regions?
  1477.  
  1478. — About eight days...
  1479.  
  1480. — Ah! I exclaimed with a grimace...
  1481.  
  1482. I was about to ask the scientist some more questions when Fred suddenly entered, his face flushed, eyes bloodshot.
  1483.  
  1484. — What's happening? exclaimed the doctor, looking at the giant.
  1485.  
  1486. — There is... there is... that I'm suffocating... I can't breathe anymore... I... and Fred collapsed at our feet.
  1487.  
  1488. The scientist quickly headed towards the supply room, but he reappeared immediately, red with anger.
  1489.  
  1490. — The fool... he exclaimed. He imprudently lit the alcohol stove to cook... Can you imagine that... Lighting a stove in a room of a few square feet where the amount of breathable air is just enough...
  1491.  
  1492. And the scientist operated a small lever connected to the oxygen tubes at the front of the projectile."
  1493.  
  1494. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1495.  
  1496. "Fred gradually began to recover from his fainting spell... He slowly opened his eyes, looked at us in amazement, then, suddenly remembering:
  1497.  
  1498. — Excuse me, doctor, he stammered... I was wrong, but I wanted to surprise you by serving grilled meat... I didn't think that cursed stove could heat up so much.
  1499.  
  1500. — It's fine, said the scientist, but next time, remember that when I forbid something, I have my reasons for it... So because of you, we'll have to release at least two oxygen tubes into the supply room...
  1501.  
  1502. And I saw a great concern on the doctor's face.
  1503.  
  1504. Fred was sorry and looked at us in such a comical way that at any other moment, we couldn't have helped but laugh.
  1505.  
  1506. This was not the last blunder committed by the good giant, for, while he was strong as an ox, when it came to clumsiness, he could have given points to a linnet.
  1507.  
  1508. I'll skip the details of our journey; besides, each day was alike.
  1509.  
  1510. As we all had to keep busy on board, I was tasked with purifying the air in our compartments daily by absorbing the carbon dioxide released by respiration and combustion using caustic potash.
  1511.  
  1512. Fred supervised the kitchen and attended to various household chores.
  1513.  
  1514. As for the doctor, he was constantly calculating.
  1515.  
  1516. I'm sure that during our journey, he covered at least five hundred sheets of paper.
  1517.  
  1518. I sometimes wrote under his dictation, but as he was"
  1519.  
  1520. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1521.  
  1522. "Breathe deeply... talk continuously... keep moving... we will remain almost still and open our mouths as little as possible... It's a habit to develop...
  1523.  
  1524. Fred listened with wide-open eyes.
  1525.  
  1526. — I'm especially addressing you, the scientist said to him... you have enormous lungs and consume a tremendous amount of air... do you hear, from now on, no more empty words... no more exclamations, no more shouting...
  1527.  
  1528. And as the giant seemed surprised, the doctor shook him roughly, saying:
  1529.  
  1530. — Don't you understand, fool, that if we have to reduce our consumption of breathable air, it's because of you... only you... With your alcohol stove, you forced me to use two oxygen tubes.
  1531.  
  1532. The giant lowered his head, swayed for a moment, then went to sit on a metal seat.
  1533.  
  1534. After crossing his arms and closing his eyes, he began to breathe so softly that we couldn't even see his vast chest rise.
  1535.  
  1536. I took my logbook, and the scientist took his notepad, and we settled in the front room.
  1537.  
  1538. I won't hide from you that I was rather impatiently awaiting the moment when we would finally exit our airborne prison.
  1539.  
  1540. The projectile had become a true torture chamber.
  1541.  
  1542. Finally, one morning, the doctor, who meticulously kept a daily account of the consumed oxygen, exclaimed, snapping his fingers:
  1543.  
  1544. — My friends... we still have three compressed air tubes... that's more than we need to reach the goal of our journey. From now on, we can breathe normally."
  1545.  
  1546. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1547.  
  1548. "In twelve hours, we will enter the seas of Mars, and there we will always have the option, if air becomes scarce underwater, to occasionally resurface for oxygen replenishment.
  1549.  
  1550. Immediately, our tongues loosened, and a multitude of questions rushed to our lips.
  1551.  
  1552. For a long time, light had reappeared because we were in the gravitational zone of Mars, and we were descending into this planet with a uniformly delayed motion, thanks to the system of slides I have already mentioned, which allowed the doctor to increase or decrease the surface of "repulsit."
  1553.  
  1554. Sometimes he also used solar heat as a brake, but I have never quite understood how this maneuver worked.
  1555.  
  1556. Now, a phenomenon entirely opposite to what had followed our departure was occurring.
  1557.  
  1558. As the projectile approached Mars, it significantly lost the acquired speed.
  1559.  
  1560. We might have thought we were still far from the Martian globe if the doctor hadn't shown signs of great agitation.
  1561.  
  1562. He paced back and forth, pulled levers, opened valves that closed instantly.
  1563.  
  1564. At one point, I heard a sharp noise against the walls of the shell.
  1565.  
  1566. — What's happening? I asked.
  1567.  
  1568. — It's the anchor that I'm releasing, said the scientist.
  1569.  
  1570. — How... the anchor?...
  1571.  
  1572. — Yes... it was contained in that cage below us... now it floats in space, and the goal is to let it out as much as possible...
  1573.  
  1574. And indeed, I saw a kind of capstan turning with"
  1575.  
  1576. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1577.  
  1578. "speed, and around which a metal cable was unwinding.
  1579.  
  1580. The doctor, positioned at the front of the projectile, seemed to be fixing his gaze on something in the distance.
  1581.  
  1582. Suddenly, he let out a triumphant cry.
  1583.  
  1584. — Look... look... do you see that large sparkling surface?
  1585.  
  1586. — Yes, I said.
  1587.  
  1588. — Well! That's the sea... one of the seas of Mars... In exactly sixteen minutes, we will enter it... Victory!... Victory!... my friends!
  1589.  
  1590. And we all gazed at the large luminous expanse resembling a mirror reflecting the sun.
  1591.  
  1592. — I hope we don't hit a rock head-on, I thought.
  1593.  
  1594. But that idea was foolish... Assuming we fell on a reef, our descent wouldn't be dangerous, as, thanks to the repulsor and the mysterious maneuver I mentioned, the projectile was supposed to land gently on the ground, like a large bird that, after a long flight, slowly descends to the earth.
  1595.  
  1596. Suddenly, the doctor shouted to us:
  1597.  
  1598. — Attention!... Fred and you, Mr. Borel, go to the capstan... As soon as we feel our anchor has bitten, we must shorten the cable to submerge underwater. Almost immediately, I felt a fairly violent impact... there was a long whistling sound, and through the portholes, I saw green bubbles and a multitude of small bubbling waves.
  1599.  
  1600. However, instead of plunging deeply as I expected, the Cosmos remained motionless for a moment, and I even thought it was rising.
  1601.  
  1602. — I hope the anchor bites! the doctor exclaimed.
  1603.  
  1604. But fortunately, the iron claw hooked without a hitch."
  1605.  
  1606. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1607.  
  1608. "doubt, to an underwater rock, because our vehicle, which was already rising imperceptibly, remained motionless, swaying on its cable like a ship at anchor.
  1609.  
  1610. — Quickly!... Quickly!... ordered the doctor... To the capstan!
  1611.  
  1612. Fred and I quickly began turning a copper wheel that operated a winch around which the anchor rope was wound.
  1613.  
  1614. — Haul!... Haul hard!... shouted the doctor...
  1615.  
  1616. We exerted all our energy.
  1617.  
  1618. The Cosmos began to sink gradually.
  1619.  
  1620. Soon, we could only see a gloomy light that quickly thickened... became a dark green, and then ink black.
  1621.  
  1622. The doctor ordered us to lock the winch in its stop notch, and then he listened.
  1623.  
  1624. Finally, after a few minutes, he said:
  1625.  
  1626. — Everything is fine... fortunately, what I feared did not happen...
  1627.  
  1628. — What were you afraid of?
  1629.  
  1630. — The clash of temperatures... indeed.
  1631.  
  1632. — How so?
  1633.  
  1634. — Yes... I was afraid that these icy waters, acting on the burning envelope of our repulsor, might suddenly split it...
  1635.  
  1636. But it resisted the liquid element... it is truly a marvelous substance... Now, we need to attend to the ballasting of our submarine, which ceases to be a shell and becomes a hull.
  1637.  
  1638. Indeed, the projectile had just lost its vertical position in the great depths... and it was now maintaining itself horizontally.
  1639.  
  1640. We left our compartments and descended into the part that now formed the hold."
  1641.  
  1642. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1643.  
  1644. "On the doctor's orders, Fred quickly cleared the upper parts of the furniture and provisions. Then, when he had completed this task, he pressed a lever, and the floors tilted, forming three semi-circles that precisely matched the projectile's walls.
  1645.  
  1646. In this way, it had transformed into a single and spacious chamber around which one could move easily, thanks to rolling ladders.
  1647.  
  1648. The dynamo was activated, and our electric motor soon began to beat with initially erratic, then regular and powerful strokes. Fred manipulated a maneuver that resulted in the propeller emerging outside, and it began to spin rapidly.
  1649.  
  1650. — Everything is fine... said the doctor... Now, to the ballast!
  1651.  
  1652. Using a wrench, he opened two valves, and we heard the water entering, hissing into the tanks beneath the hold.
  1653.  
  1654. The scientist consulted a dial with a quivering needle, and when he judged the quantity of liquid sufficient, he told us:
  1655.  
  1656. — Now, we are balanced... We won't ascend. I have sufficiently loaded our submarine so that the repulsor won't bring us to the surface. Now, by increasing or decreasing the amount of liquid, we can submerge or rise to the surface at will. When we have depleted our oxygen, we will navigate at the water's surface.
  1657.  
  1658. And the scientist took his place at a helm after instructing Fred to monitor the engine and propeller. As for me, I was tasked with cutting the cable holding the anchor."
  1659.  
  1660. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1661.  
  1662. "I used a strong pair of pliers, whose long branches formed a lever for this purpose, but I was so clumsy that Fred had to come to my aid.
  1663.  
  1664. With his strong grip, he cleanly cut the thick iron cable. It immediately slid away like a snake and disappeared through a small hatch that closed instantly.
  1665.  
  1666. We were free...
  1667.  
  1668. Fred, with all the gravity of a man who knows his job perfectly, manipulated two or three levers, lowered two curved levers, and the Cosmos began to glide underwater.
  1669.  
  1670. A powerful electric lamp mounted on the front porthole, which, as you may recall, almost covered the entire nose cone of the projectile, cast a faint glow ahead of us.
  1671.  
  1672. However, gradually, the sea illuminated around us, and we could easily distinguish the objects surrounding us. Sometimes this brightness dimmed, disappeared, then reappeared even more dazzling.
  1673.  
  1674. What phenomenon was causing it?
  1675.  
  1676. I didn't take long to find an explanation.
  1677.  
  1678. Suddenly, the sea lit up again, and it was then a magical, unforgettable sight...
  1679.  
  1680. Here and there rose marine trees with enormous trunks, adorned with red or yellow flowers speckled with sparkling pearls.
  1681.  
  1682. Domes, as transparent and pure as crystal, surrounded their tops with bright pink halos, which gradually descended along large caves formed by gigantic sponges, fading away into the abyss amid a drifting mist...
  1683.  
  1684. Closer to us, needle-like plants were covered with diamond crystallizations, sparkling chandeliers..."
  1685.  
  1686. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1687.  
  1688. "It looked like a star-studded chandelier, reflecting a thousand lights in the facets of its prisms. Then, everything faded.
  1689.  
  1690. Through a Milky Way, a distant nebula, a thousand points of light extinguished and reformed, stretching to infinity, then suddenly merging into a shower of light.
  1691.  
  1692. — It's certainly not the sun that illuminates the sea like this, I said to the doctor.
  1693.  
  1694. — Look up, he replied.
  1695.  
  1696. I raised my eyes and saw swiftly passing, shiny fish with strange shapes, elongated bodies, and triangular heads.
  1697.  
  1698. It seemed like the porthole was a kaleidoscope in which a mysterious fairy delighted in displaying all the inhabitants of the seas.
  1699.  
  1700. I couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
  1701.  
  1702. The doctor then explained to me that these fish were phosphorescent, and it was they who spread this wonderful brightness around us.
  1703.  
  1704. — It's livelier here than in the tunnels of the Metropolitan, remarked Fred, who had regained his good mood since he had permission to breathe.
  1705.  
  1706. Soon, the number of luminous fish increased.
  1707.  
  1708. They were everywhere, to the right, to the left... below us.
  1709.  
  1710. We walked in the midst of a shimmering of scales, and we heard very distinctly the noise made by this escort of vertebrates with their fins.
  1711.  
  1712. From time to time, a cry rang out... a guttural cry... monotonous... like a distant lament.
  1713.  
  1714. This sea must be inhabited by prodigious monsters... gigantic ichthyosaurs."
  1715.  
  1716. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1717.  
  1718. "At one point, Fred pointed out long brown serpents that glided amidst clusters of seaweed with rapid undulations... One of these creatures even passed very close to us, and I noticed that it had countless legs and was hairy like a caterpillar.
  1719.  
  1720. There were also large, rounded fish floating here and there, bursiform, with voluminous heads topped by enormous tentacles resembling long elephant trunks.
  1721.  
  1722. I couldn't help but make a gesture of horror when I saw one of these octopuses graze the porthole to which my face was pressed.
  1723.  
  1724. But at that moment, we felt a violent jolt; the Cosmos came to a sudden stop, and the doctor exclaimed:
  1725.  
  1726. — We're stranded!
  1727.  
  1728. Indeed, the nose of the submarine was stuck in an obstacle that we had not seen... probably in one of those spongy caves, similar to those we had already encountered. At first, we only saw a reddish mass and large white frames shaped like hoops.
  1729.  
  1730. The doctor approached the repulsion window, examined this obstacle for a moment, and then exclaimed:
  1731.  
  1732. — It's a fish...
  1733.  
  1734. — A fish! I stammered, shivering.
  1735.  
  1736. — Yes... a huge Martian cetacean... some whale that floated in front of us...
  1737.  
  1738. Hardly had he spoken these words when we felt violently shaken, and the Cosmos began to veer off at a lightning speed.
  1739.  
  1740. We were being dragged by the monster.
  1741.  
  1742. The doctor, still in control of himself, retracted the propeller and stopped the engine, hoping that the resistance offered by the Cosmos would free it from being stuck."
  1743.  
  1744. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1745.  
  1746. "But, to make matters worse, the gigantic fish continued to flee horizontally. Finally, it stopped... shook furiously.
  1747.  
  1748. The tip of the shell seemed to disengage.
  1749.  
  1750. — If only we could ascend, said the scientist, we would be saved.
  1751.  
  1752. But the cetacean did not move anymore... Perhaps it was dead.
  1753.  
  1754. The doctor had the propeller put back in place and ordered the engine to be activated.
  1755.  
  1756. At the first vibration, the monster resumed its frenzied run.
  1757.  
  1758. I then looked at Doctor Omega.
  1759.  
  1760. He was very pale, but he did not leave his observation post.
  1761.  
  1762. As for Fred and me, we had almost lost our minds.
  1763.  
  1764. Suddenly, we whirled rapidly... the sides of the Cosmos were struck with dull blows, and the sea lit up as if by magic.
  1765.  
  1766. We then witnessed a horrifying spectacle... a real feeding frenzy.
  1767.  
  1768. The phosphorescent fish had reappeared by the thousands and had ferociously attacked the monster by which we were being dragged.
  1769.  
  1770. It was a gigantic creature, resembling a seal, but a seal twice the size of a whale.
  1771.  
  1772. We were then able to free ourselves easily. We managed to ascend towards the upper waters, and soon we balanced ourselves roughly at the same height as before.
  1773.  
  1774. Once again, we had escaped danger... but I was far from being reassured.
  1775.  
  1776. Fred had become insanely cheerful.
  1777.  
  1778. He joked... laughed at everything... at the fish that passed by"
  1779.  
  1780. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1781.  
  1782. "before the portholes or the plants we encountered on our way.
  1783.  
  1784. — I'll come back to fish here, he said... at least it bites... it's not like in the Seine where you have to wait half a day before feeling a nibble...
  1785.  
  1786. The waters had changed color.
  1787.  
  1788. They were now a dark red and still illuminated, although the luminous fish had disappeared long ago. We tried to discover what could be illuminating them, and we soon convinced ourselves that this reflection was due to rocks transparent as glass, in which columns of fire rose.
  1789.  
  1790. — Ah! that's curious, exclaimed Fred, it looks like volcanoes under globes!
  1791.  
  1792. — Indeed, they are volcanoes, said the doctor... beneath us, rivers of fire flow, and these illuminated mounds have gradually been formed by the lava... they are hollow, and the flame circulating in them gradually burns them until the day they explode.
  1793.  
  1794. — Nevertheless... you see some really strange things around here, Fred concluded with a serious look... When we tell all this upon our return, no one will believe us... But look... just look over there, behind the fire rocks... don't they look like houses?
  1795.  
  1796. We burst into laughter.
  1797.  
  1798. — You're crazy, Fred, said the scientist, shrugging.
  1799.  
  1800. The colossus, a little offended, did not reply and resumed observing the underwater landscape with attention, but suddenly he jumped backward and, pointing his finger at the porthole, stammered with a strangled voice:
  1801.  
  1802. — Doctor!... Doctor!... There's a man there looking at us!"
  1803.  
  1804. Chapter 5
  1805.  
  1806. Indeed, a grimacing monster... a sort of fabulous man fixed us with his round, lidless eyes... huge and protruding.
  1807.  
  1808. He had clung to the nuts of the projectile and was successfully resisting the turbulence produced by the wake of our vehicle. At one point, he crawled to the front of the bullet using his hands and feet, which were webbed like those of a cormorant.
  1809.  
  1810. We could then examine this peculiar visitor.
  1811.  
  1812. "He was indeed a man... but a horrifying man, with a repulsive appearance, a hundred times more hideous than those strange demons sculpted on the portals of our old cathedrals...
  1813.  
  1814. His face, of a dark blue tending towards violet, vaguely resembled that of a hamadryas... his forehead was smooth and receding, his nose broad and flat.
  1815.  
  1816. In place of ears, he had two bloody holes resembling fish gills...
  1817.  
  1818. His widely split mouth was armed with a quadruple row of pointed fangs that tightened or spread apart depending on whether the monster opened its jaws more or less.
  1819.  
  1820. However, the hue of this strange vertebrate was not uniform, and the color of his body contrasted remarkably with that of his head.
  1821.  
  1822. His chest and abdomen were covered with green scales... As for his hands and feet, they were a bright red that darkened towards the extremities...
  1823.  
  1824. This underwater man seemed to be in a violent rage... he emitted hoarse cries, and the scraping of his claws could be heard on the walls of the Cosmos...
  1825.  
  1826. — This ugly biped, said the doctor, is quite capable of breaking our repulsorite window... See how he thrashes about... he is of prodigious strength... at any cost, we must get rid of him...
  1827.  
  1828. — And how? murmured Fred... We certainly can't exit the bullet to give him a thrashing...
  1829.  
  1830. — If we lighten the vehicle, I suggested, to rise to the surface... perhaps this curious fellow will flee as soon as he sees the daylight...
  1831.  
  1832. Doctor Omega did not respond.
  1833.  
  1834. He had headed towards the dynamo and seemed very busy unrolling wires covered with gutta-percha."
  1835.  
  1836. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1837.  
  1838. "We then saw him connect these wires together and fasten them to a nut, which he began to unscrew carefully... Then he ordered Fred to operate the dynamo.
  1839.  
  1840. Suddenly, we heard a mournful cry... The monster had just been struck by lightning-
  1841.  
  1842. Thanks to a most powerful electric shock, the scientist had rid himself of a formidable enemy.
  1843.  
  1844. We then looked through the porthole, and in the light of our lamp, we saw the underwater man, arms outstretched, eyes rolled back, slowly sinking into the abyss.
  1845.  
  1846. — He was well hit, exclaimed Fred, clapping his hands.
  1847.  
  1848. — Yes, said the doctor... the electric shock hit him squarely in the head-
  1849.  
  1850. - Here's one who certainly didn't expect to be electrocuted, I said, laughing.
  1851.  
  1852. — It's a pity, said the doctor, that we had to kill him!
  1853.  
  1854. — And why is that?
  1855.  
  1856. — I was in the process of studying him through the porthole, and I had already gathered interesting observations... I was even thinking of capturing him... or at least keeping him captive behind our vehicle... but it had to end, because this biped was only trying to break the windows.
  1857.  
  1858. — Damn! said Fred after looking at us carefully, he probably wanted to touch us...
  1859.  
  1860. — He is truly an underwater man, added the doctor, one of those 'Thalassites' mentioned by Pliny the Elder... The description he gave of them corresponds exactly to the observations I noted...
  1861.  
  1862. It is to be presumed that at a certain time — thousands of years ago — the seas of our planet were also populated by these monsters that gradually disappeared or were"
  1863.  
  1864. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1865.  
  1866. "they have transformed and, from one transformation to another, have become seals or walruses...
  1867.  
  1868. Nevertheless, I will have to obtain a specimen of this species... I will think about it... Just imagine... what glory if we were to return to Earth with such a curious animal!
  1869.  
  1870. — Indeed, I said, but we are not yet at the end of our journey, and it is quite possible that we will find on the lands of Mars monsters as interesting as the one we just got rid of.
  1871.  
  1872. — Equally interesting, I doubt it, replied the doctor... This Thalassite was truly marvelous in its ugliness... well, we'll see...
  1873.  
  1874. The transparent rocks I mentioned earlier were increasing visibly.
  1875.  
  1876. Now, they were everywhere.
  1877.  
  1878. They took bizarre shapes in turn: they looked like luminous giants lurking in the depth of the waves, as if in search of an invisible prey.
  1879.  
  1880. These underwater mountains sparkled brilliantly. They were sometimes a soft pink, sometimes a bright red. And, strangely, the sea illuminated by these luminous rocks perfectly reflected images...
  1881.  
  1882. The shadow of the Cosmos, presenting its side to these specular stones, was reflected like an enormously magnified torpedo.
  1883.  
  1884. Around us, the water bubbled in small, short waves and sparkled in golden flakes.
  1885.  
  1886. Never had a more imposing spectacle appeared before my eyes...
  1887.  
  1888. One could suddenly believe they were transported to some ideal country... to a dream kingdom ruled by invisible spirits.
  1889.  
  1890. Soon, the lights dimmed, and we began to sail amidst velvety darkness; it was not, for"
  1891.  
  1892. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1893.  
  1894. "so to speak, complete darkness, but a kind of strange twilight.
  1895.  
  1896. We were surrounded by a clear and transparent mist.
  1897.  
  1898. A peculiar noise, similar to the rumbling of an underground waterfall, had been audible for some time, and the waters, which until then had been absolutely calm, began to stir and buzz furiously.
  1899.  
  1900. The doctor looked through the front porthole and suddenly seemed very concerned because the Cosmos, despite its respectable weight, was tossed about like a mere nutshell.
  1901.  
  1902. The situation seemed serious.
  1903.  
  1904. — We need to descend, said the scientist... we cannot stay in these disturbed regions... Fred, quickly open the ballast tanks.
  1905.  
  1906. Fred immediately obeyed.
  1907.  
  1908. He lowered a lever, there was a small splash, and water entered hissing into the sides of the Cosmos, which began to sink.
  1909.  
  1910. When the scientist deemed the amount of ballast sufficient, he had the valve closed, and the submarine, having descended several meters, began to stabilize in calmer waters.
  1911.  
  1912. The light had reappeared, and we recognized that it was still produced by luminous rocks. However, these rocks, instead of being upright and uneven like those we had encountered previously, continued infinitely with perfect regularity.
  1913.  
  1914. They now took the form of an immense dike built by human hands.
  1915.  
  1916. But what kind of people could have leveled these stone summits?"
  1917.  
  1918. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1919.  
  1920. "The landscape— if one can express it as such— had completely changed.
  1921.  
  1922. Large spongy trees, gigantic algae, rose here and there, but, strangely enough, amidst these underwater forests, there was a kind of symmetry too surprising to comprehend.
  1923.  
  1924. Roads... paths crisscrossed them in all directions, and we even thought we noticed in certain places vast circular squares toward which all these arteries converged...
  1925.  
  1926. It was impossible that the whims of the waters had shaped these paths in such a way.
  1927.  
  1928. The more we advanced, the greater our astonishment grew.
  1929.  
  1930. Suddenly, we saw a cluster of huts, all shaped like beehives...
  1931.  
  1932. — Oh! exclaimed Fred... houses!
  1933.  
  1934. — You're crazy, said the scientist.
  1935.  
  1936. — Crazy as much as you want, doctor, but I stand by what I say... Absolutely, they are houses, and the proof... is that I see people coming out of them...
  1937.  
  1938. The doctor aimed his binoculars and couldn't suppress a surprised reaction.
  1939.  
  1940. — But yes, he exclaimed... Fred is right... these are indeed dwellings we see... dwellings of underwater men!...
  1941.  
  1942. Hardly had he finished these words than we felt ourselves gently drawn towards the depths... and soon our portholes darkened as if veiled...
  1943.  
  1944. — What's happening? What does this mean? cried Doctor Omega, rushing to the front porthole.
  1945.  
  1946. Soon he let out a cry.
  1947.  
  1948. — It's them! It's them! he roared."
  1949.  
  1950. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1951.  
  1952. "— Them?... I exclaimed.
  1953.  
  1954. — Yes... the underwater men!... Look... you can see them... they are swimming above us... there must even be some on the hull of the Cosmos... they surround us with algae and vines... They are trying to draw us to them!...
  1955.  
  1956. And through a pale glow, I distinguished hundreds of repulsive beings, with green bellies and red hands, clinging to our vehicle, making horrifying contortions...
  1957.  
  1958. — We are lost, I thought...
  1959.  
  1960. Fred had thrown himself to his knees and was beating his head with his fists:
  1961.  
  1962. — Oh!... my God!... my God... it's awful! he murmured in a mournful voice... To perish at the hands of these monsters!...
  1963.  
  1964. As for me, I was literally stunned and didn't even have the strength to make a move.
  1965.  
  1966. Fortunately, Doctor Omega was one of those men whose composure never abandons them, one of those solidly tempered natures whose reason knows no faltering. In the face of danger, he seemed to have regained new qualities of decision and energy.
  1967.  
  1968. Rushing towards Fred, who was still lamenting, he scolded him... shook him violently...
  1969.  
  1970. — Quickly!... quickly!... fool!... instead of moaning as you do, run to the ballast pump... Well, do you hear me?
  1971.  
  1972. And as the poor boy looked at him with terrified eyes, the scientist grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him brutally towards the bottom of the vehicle.
  1973.  
  1974. Fred began to pump with ferocious energy.
  1975.  
  1976. — Well! And you? the doctor said to me, what are you doing here?... But help him... We must ascend at all costs."
  1977.  
  1978. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1979.  
  1980. "I threw myself on one of the levers of the pump and exerted a strength I never thought I had.
  1981.  
  1982. Gradually, the Cosmos, from which we were relieving the water load, rose gently, despite the desperate efforts of our enemies to hold it back, and soon it acquired a prodigious velocity.
  1983.  
  1984. The algae and vines that obscured the portholes finally detached, driven away by a torrent of foaming bubbles, and we could then look around. The underwater men had disappeared.
  1985.  
  1986. As we continued to ascend, I asked the doctor if it would not be prudent to stop this ascent.
  1987.  
  1988. — No, he said... on the contrary... it is necessary that we return to the open air because oxygen is running out...
  1989.  
  1990. Indeed, I noticed that I was starting to breathe with difficulty, and Fred was all crimson.
  1991.  
  1992. After some complicated maneuvers, we finally saw a light of a yellowish-white... the sea gradually brightened, but the daylight that enveloped us had nothing in common with the wonderful transparency we had encountered in the depths.
  1993.  
  1994. Doctor Omega had balanced the Cosmos so precisely that the vehicle skimmed the surface of the waters.
  1995.  
  1996. When we opened the upper valve, a breath of air entered the projectile, but this air, although very fresh, unpleasantly caught in our throats; it seemed saturated with sulfur, and for a few seconds, we felt suffocated.
  1997.  
  1998. The scientist explained to us that this sulfur smell was produced by the contact of the new air with the carbon oxide contained in the Cosmos.
  1999.  
  2000. Fortunately, this phenomenon was short-lived, and we soon began to breathe normally."
  2001.  
  2002. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  2003.  
  2004. "A milky white light illuminated the interior of the vehicle, literally blinding us... We blinked our eyes like owls surprised by dawn.
  2005.  
  2006. Our front porthole was half out of the water, so we could inspect the new regions we found ourselves in.
  2007.  
  2008. As far as the eye could see, it was a liquid plain covered with ice floes, and here and there, towering icebergs sparkled.
  2009.  
  2010. With a spyglass in hand, the doctor looked ahead.
  2011.  
  2012. Suddenly, he began to hop in place, exclaiming:
  2013.  
  2014. — Land!... land!...
  2015.  
  2016. Fred and I rushed to the porthole, but we could see absolutely nothing.
  2017.  
  2018. It was only after a few minutes that we could finally make out a line of dazzling whiteness on the bluish horizon.
  2019.  
  2020. — We're approaching!... we're approaching!... the doctor kept saying every moment, rubbing his hands.
  2021.  
  2022. And he tapped the metal floor with his two feet... eager to land on this mysterious land that no man from our planet had yet trodden.
  2023.  
  2024. The brave scientist had transformed... his face was radiant... his eyes shone like two light bulbs, and his mop of white hair stood joyfully on his head.
  2025.  
  2026. I must admit, I was far from sharing his enthusiasm.
  2027.  
  2028. A secret fear tortured me... What strange beings would we find on the lands of Mars?... Would they be hideous, savage, and fierce monsters?... Or, on the contrary, would they be harmless and welcoming humanoids?
  2029.  
  2030. Now, the white line that marked the end of the sea was becoming clearer and clearer, and I recognized an ice mountain surrounded by blue reefs."
  2031.  
  2032. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  2033.  
  2034. "We were approaching... The doctor, attentive to the maneuver, remained still.
  2035.  
  2036. Suddenly, he exclaimed:
  2037.  
  2038. — Attention!... Fred... to the engine!... Halt!...
  2039.  
  2040. The pistons stopped pounding, and the Cosmos remained in place, the nose slightly tilted forward just a meter from the shore.
  2041.  
  2042. — Now, said the doctor, we must not resume our flight towards the land... Fred, open the valve and step out of the Cosmos... When you're on the ground, I'll throw you a rope that you'll securely wrap around one of these rocks...
  2043.  
  2044. The giant climbed out through the opening at the top of the vehicle, then jumped onto the ice. The doctor and I were preparing to throw him a cable, but Fred had disappeared!...
  2045.  
  2046. Where could he be? Had he fallen into some crevice?
  2047.  
  2048. I shouted loudly:
  2049.  
  2050. — Fred!...
  2051.  
  2052. The giant reappeared, but strangely, he seemed like a rubber man tossed by the wind... He moved from one glacier to another with tremendous leaps.
  2053.  
  2054. Take very small steps! shouted the doctor.
  2055.  
  2056. Fred obeyed and finally reappeared near the shore. I threw him a heavy cable, which, however, sliced through the air with surprising ease...
  2057.  
  2058. Our companion grabbed the rope, securely tied it to a huge block of ice, and exclaimed:
  2059.  
  2060. — There you go... you can disembark... Come... come quickly... you'll see how funny it is, we fly like birds in this place!
  2061.  
  2062. We reached the shore, but we surpassed by a few cubits the spot where Fred was standing."
  2063.  
  2064. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  2065.  
  2066. "When finally all three of us were reunited, we pulled the Cosmos towards us by shortening its rope.
  2067.  
  2068. Our vehicle was now almost out of the water, and its repulsor envelope, although greatly reduced and folded at the rear, tended to pull it towards the upper regions.
  2069.  
  2070. While we threw other cables around the projectile, the doctor explained to us the curious phenomenon that was thus overturning all the laws of locomotion on the planet Mars.
  2071.  
  2072. — Here, he said, since the density is not the same as on Earth, the weight of objects becomes lighter... The intensity of Earth's gravity, represented by 100, is reduced to only 37 exactly on the surface of this planet... Consequently, a kilogram from Earth transported here weighs only 376 grams... A man weighing 70 kilograms is thus reduced to 26, and gravity no longer hinders his movements, allowing him to easily take strides of three or four meters instead of one.
  2073.  
  2074. Fred couldn't believe it.
  2075.  
  2076. The doctor went back into the Cosmos to fetch his telescope. I followed him and grabbed an iron rod that could, at a pinch, serve as an alpenstock.
  2077.  
  2078. We set out on an exploration.
  2079.  
  2080. But we hadn't gone a hundred meters when we heard a confused rustling, somewhat like the sound of wind blowing through reeds.
  2081.  
  2082. And suddenly, cries arose... sad and monotonous cries, resembling those of frogs.
  2083.  
  2084. We stopped, surprised, and looked around.
  2085.  
  2086. Horror!... we were surrounded by a crowd of gnomes who approached cautiously, with the obvious intention of encircling us and doing us harm..."
  2087.  
  2088. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  2089.  
  2090. "They were the inhabitants of Mars!...
  2091.  
  2092. — Oh!... they have such funny faces! exclaimed Fred.
  2093.  
  2094. Indeed, the Martians were not precisely what one would call beautiful specimens of the human race.
  2095.  
  2096. They were at most fifty centimeters tall, and their bodies were supported by small, graceful legs, shaped like grasshopper legs...
  2097.  
  2098. Their huge and round heads resembled a ball... Two convex green eyes encircled in red illuminated their pallid faces...
  2099.  
  2100. Instead of a nose, they had a small curved trunk, and their lipless mouth took on the shape of a diamond.
  2101.  
  2102. Instead of arms, they had long tentacles that twisted horribly with small whistles.
  2103.  
  2104. Their bodies seemed translucent and glistened like a bladder coated in grease.
  2105.  
  2106. As they walked, they mimicked the sound beetles make with their elytra.
  2107.  
  2108. These loathsome beings did not inspire fear in me, but rather a profound feeling of disgust... I dreaded their contact as one fears that of a spider or a rat...
  2109.  
  2110. The number of Martians was increasing visibly... they were coming out from everywhere... One could believe that the earth was vomiting hundreds of them every second.
  2111.  
  2112. The doctor, very calm, observed them with curiosity like a naturalist suddenly facing unknown animals...
  2113.  
  2114. As for Fred, he burst into laughter and showered the Martian army with mocking remarks.
  2115.  
  2116. It was evident that this small people was very courageous and would not hesitate to engage in combat with us...
  2117.  
  2118. Dr. Omega, very humanitarian, tried to negotiate... We saw him make rapid gestures, extending the"
  2119.  
  2120. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  2121.  
  2122. "Hands, bring them back to his chest, bowing benevolently, but the gnomes became more aggressive.
  2123.  
  2124. Three of them rushed at the scientist and entwined his legs with their tentacles, emitting shrill cries.
  2125.  
  2126. — Well, too bad, said the doctor, we must exterminate them. Come on!... Be courageous!
  2127.  
  2128. Fred did not need this recommendation. In the blink of an eye, he twisted the necks of the three Martians clinging to the doctor's legs.
  2129.  
  2130. Then, with this execution accomplished, he pounced on the closest ones.
  2131.  
  2132. Then we witnessed a lamentable spectacle. These dwarfs were of such fragile structure that, with a single kick, Fred incapacitated four of them... Under his boot, the heads of these little monsters burst like dried gourds.
  2133.  
  2134. However, the enemies continued to harass us. I then entered the scene with my iron bar and caused a real carnage.
  2135.  
  2136. The doctor struck from right and left with his telescope, and this harmless instrument became more deadly in his hands than a weapon.
  2137.  
  2138. Soon, hundreds of corpses littered the ground, and the retreating Martians disappeared behind the glaciers.
  2139.  
  2140. — If all the inhabitants of Mars, said Fred, are not tougher than these fellows, we can be at ease...
  2141.  
  2142. The doctor bent down and examined curiously the panting body of a Martian, turning it in all directions.
  2143.  
  2144. — Look, he said, these poor beings are really not organized for a fight... their limbs are as fragile as glass..."
  2145.  
  2146. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  2147.  
  2148. "And effortlessly, he broke the leg of a corpse... There was a small, dry sound comparable to that of a deadwood stick being snapped between the fingers.
  2149.  
  2150. — Yet they are structured like most vertebrates, the scientist continued... Look at their heads... they are enormous... their brains are voluminous... How is it that these beings, who are certainly intelligent, have not found a way to create means of defense for themselves... After all, maybe they don't need it... Could they have imagined that one day miserable earthlings would come to massacre them?
  2151.  
  2152. And I caught a glimpse of compassion on Dr. Omega's face...
  2153.  
  2154. As for me, I was troubled... The sight of these dwarfs strewn haphazardly over each other was something impressive, and I couldn't help but feel moved by all these poor little faces with their horrible and painful masks...
  2155.  
  2156. We were about to continue our journey when a dreadful scream echoed a few steps away from us.
  2157.  
  2158. Instinctively, we drew closer to each other, rooted to the ground by terror..."
Tags: Sci-fi book translated public domain
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