THE PEOPLE OF THE COMET
“ 'I was now directly under the gigantic coma, looking down into the heart of the comet.
“ 'To speak metaphorically, it was like looking into frozen fire. The flashes or ascending halos, broke from the rim of the nucleus, a circular ring whose intensity might be compared to boiling, liquid electricity. It was dazzling, blinding, incomparable—a rim of life and power whose potency can only be pictured in the extreme of imagination, a whirling, rotating wheel, out of whose depths leaped the gyrating wreaths of glory that fed into the coma.
“ 'The rim of the nucleus was traveling about the center at slow speed. At first I took it to be a complete circle; but after a bit I saw that it was broken and that it did not entirely surround. It was this break that emphasized the circular movement; it was the only part that I could watch without being blinded.
“ 'What was in the center of the nucleus? What was it for? I remembered my theory concerning greater matter. If it were correct, and if, as I had maintained, the sun and its planets is but a super atom, then this marvelous ring of force was but an ion, I was gazing into an ion of cohesion! That was why it defied planetary law. It had not to do with planetary law. It had not to do with our solar system alone, but with other systems as well. Its function was interstellar cohesion.
“ ‘Such was my theory.
“ 'The flashes, I discovered, were harmless so long as they were not touched. After a bit I learned that the wreaths of current were broken like the ring. By maneuvering, I brought the ship opposite the break in the outer nucleus. I would get a good view of what might be inside. If I saw a chance I would sail straight into the comet’s heart!
“The break was large—perhaps twenty miles—so that when I brought my craft to a favorable ion I could get a fair view. By following the break in its rotation, I gradually accustomed my eyes tothe light within. What I saw startled me, and gave me reasons for believing that the marvelous body might, after all, be, in substance, merely a gigantic meteor. I brought the ether ship around and made for the opening.
“ 'For a minute there was a blinding flash as I passed through, then a lapse, and after that a notion of heaviness. The atomic engines began giving off the hum that is peculiar when they are combating atmospheric friction. Could it be that there was air?
“ 'I slowed down to mere airplane speed. Then I looked below me for the answer.
" 'It was the greatest and most marvelous moment that I can remember. I was in the heart of the comet, and it was alive! Below me was spread out a varied scenery, trees, plants, diminutive mountains, lakes, a short river with a beautiful waterfall, along the banks of which strange creatures were walking and feeding.
“ 'There was grass in the plains and ferns in the hollows. On the crest of the mountain was a little lake full of a pink liquid. The river bubbled out at the foot of the mountain. I approached the ground and followed the course of the river. I marveled at this little world below me. It was as natural as my own Earth.
“ 'At length I approached the source of the stream, which sprang from a small forest at the foot of the hills. In front of the trees was a pile of stones heaped and built as if for habitation.
“ 'And then! I caught the brakes and set the ether ship into its first full stop, For the heart of the nucleus was not only atmospheric, but it was the habitation, as well, of human beings. The pile of rocks that I had observed was indeed a residence. Before it, looking up at the ether ship, was a woman, or rather, I should say, a girl—the girl of the comet!’ ”
This Story Will Be Concluded in the Next Issue of WEIRD TALES. The Final
Chapters Bristle With Strange Experiences Even More Engrossing
Than Those in This First Installment. Don’t Miss
the Next WEIRD TALES.
