The Black Star Passes John W. Campbell (good novels to read in english TXT) š
- Author: John W. Campbell
Book online Ā«The Black Star Passes John W. Campbell (good novels to read in english TXT) šĀ». Author John W. Campbell
āDo you remember those wires that we saw leading to that little box of the reflecting material? So perfectly reflecting it was that we didnāt see it. We only saw where it must be; we saw the light it reflected. That was no doubt light-matter, a nonmetal, and as such, non-conductive to light. Like sulphur, an electric nonmetal, it reflected the base of which it was formed. Sulphur reflects the base of which it was formed. Sulphur reflects electricity andā āin the crystalline formā āpasses light. This light-nonmetal did the same sort of thing; it reflected light and passed electricity. It was a conductor.
āNow we have the things we need, the matter to disintegrate, and the matter to hold the disintegrating material in. We have two different types of matter. The rest is obviousā ābut decidedly not easy. They have done it, though; and after the war is over, there should be many of their machines drifting about in space waiting to give up their secrets.ā
Arcot senior clapped his son on the back. āA fair foundation on which to start, anyway. But I think itās time now that you got working on your problem; and since Iām officially retired, Iām going downstairs. You know Iām working in my lab on a method to increase the range and power of your projector for the molecular motion field. Young Norris is helping me, and he really has ideas. Iāll show you our math later.ā
The party broke up, the three younger men staying in their own labs, the older men leaving.
IVThe three immediately set to work. At Arcotās suggestion, Wade and Morey attacked the plate of crystal in an attempt to tear off a small piece, on which they might work. Arcot himself went into the televisophone room and put through a second call to the Tychos Observatory, the great observatory that had so recently been established on the frigid surface of the Moon. The huge mirror, twenty feet in diameter, allowed an immense magnification, and stellar observations were greatly facilitated, for no one bothered them, and the āseeingā was always perfect.
However, the great distance was rather a handicap to the ordinary televisophone stations, and all calls put through to the astronomers had to be made through the powerful sending station in St. Louis, where all interplanetary messages were sent and received, while that side of the Earth was facing the station; and from Constantinople, when that city faced the satellite. These stations could bridge the distance readily and clearly.
For several minutes Arcot waited while connections were being made with the Moon; then for many more minutes he talked earnestly with the observer in this distant station, and at last satisfied, he hung up.
He had outlined his ideas concerning the black star, based upon the perturbation of the planets; then he had asked them to investigate the possibilities, and see if they could find any blotting out of stars by a lightless mass.
Finally he returned to Morey and Wade who had been working on the crystal plate. Wade had an expression of exasperation on his face, and Morey was grinning broadly.
āHello, Arcotā āyou missed all the fun! You should have seen Wadeās struggle with that plate!ā The plate, during his absence, had been twisted and bent, showing that it had undergone some terrific stresses. Now Wade began to make a series of highly forceful comments about the properties of the plate in language that was not exactly scientific. It had value, though, in that it seemed to relieve his pent-up wrath.
āWhy, Wade, you donāt seem to like that stuff. Maybe the difficulty lies in your treatment, rather than in the material itself. What have you tried?ā
āEverything! I took a coronium hack saw that will eat through molybdenum steel like so much cheese, and it just wore its teeth off. I tried some of those diamond rotary saws you have, attached to an electric motor, and it wore out the diamonds. That got my goat, so I tried using a little force. I put it in the tension testing machine, and clamped itā āthe clamp was good for 10,000,000 poundsā ābut it began to bend, so I had to quit. Then Morey held it with a molecular beam, and I tried twisting it. Believe me, it gave me real pleasure to see that thing yield under the pressure. But itās not brittle; it merely bends.
āAnd I canāt cut it, or even get some shavings off the darned thing. You said you wanted to make a Jolly balance determination of the specific gravity, but the stuff is so dense youād need only a tiny scrapā āand I canāt break it loose!ā Wade looked at the plate in thorough disgust.
Arcot smiled sympathetically; he could understand his feelings, for the stuff certainly was stubborn. āIām sorry I didnāt warn you fellows about what youād run into, but I was so anxious to get that call through to the Moon that I forgot to tell you how I expected to make it workable. Now, Wade, if youāll get another of those diamond-tooth rotary saws, Iāll get something that may help. Put the saw on the air motor. Use the one made of coronium.ā
Wade looked after the rapidly disappearing Arcot with raised eyebrows, then, scratching his head, he turned and did as Arcot had asked.
Arcot returned in about five minutes with a small handling machine, and a huge magnet. It must have weighed nearly half a ton. This he quickly connected to the heavy duty power lines of the lab. Now, running the handling machine into position, he quickly hoisted the bent and twisted plate to the poles of the magnet, with the aid of the derrick. Then backing the handling machine out of the way, he returned briskly
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