Captain Future 27 - Birthplace of Creation (May 1951) Read Free Page A

off from Earth on the twenty-first,” said Ezra. “He flew a ship of his own, apparently an experimental model on which he has been working for some time in company with a man named Herrick, who is also listed as chief pilot. Destination, none. Purpose, cosmic ray research beyond the System. Because of Garrand’s reputation and standing there was no difficulty about the clearance. That was all I could get.”
    “That’s enough,” said Curt. “More than enough.” His face was bleak and the color had gone out of it under the tan. He looked very tired and in a way so strange that Ezra came up to him and demanded, “What is it, Curt? What did Garrand take from the laboratory?”
    Curt answered, “He took the secret of the Birthplace of Matter.”
    Ezra stared, uncomprehending. “Is that a secret you can tell me?”
     
    CURT said hopelessly, “I can tell you now. For it’s known now to Garrand and this other man.”
    “What is it, then?”
    “Ezra, it is the secret of creation.” There was a long silence. It was obvious from Gurney’s face that the term was too large for him to understand. Yet Curt Newton did not continue as yet. He looked beyond them and his face was drawn and haggard.
    “We’ll have to go back there,” he said, his voice low. “We’ll have to. And I hoped never to go back.”
    Simon’s expressionless eyes were fixed on him. Otho said loudly, “What’s there to be afraid of? We ran the whirls before. And as for Garrand and the other one...”
    “I am not afraid of them!” Curt Newton said.
    “I know,” said Simon. “I was the only one who was with you in the shrine of the Watchers there. I know what you are afraid of — yourself.”
    “I still don’t get it,” Ezra said. “The secret of creation? Creation of what?”
    “Of the universe, Ezra. Of all the matter in the universe.”
    A strange wonder came on Gurney’s timeworn face. He said nothing. He waited.
    “You remember,” Curt told him, “when we came back from our first deep-space voyage? You remember that right after that we designed the electron-assembly plants that they’ve used ever since to replenish Mercury’s thinning atmosphere? Where do you think we got the knowledge to do that, to juggle electrons into desired types of matter on a big scale?”
    Gurney’s voice was a whisper now. “You got that knowledge out in deep space?”
    “In deep, deep space, Ezra. Near the center of our galaxy, amid the thick star-clusters and nebulae beyond Sagittarius. There lies the beating heart of our universe.”
    He made a gesture. “Back in the Twentieth Century the scientist Millikan first guessed the truth. The matter of the universe constantly melts away into radiation. Millikan believed that somewhere in the universe was a place where radiation was somehow built back into matter and that the so-called cosmic rays were the ‘birth-cry’ of the newborn matter. The fount of our material universe, the birthplace of material creation.”
    Awe was in Ezra’s faded old eyes. “And you found that? And never told — never let anyone guess —”
    “Garrand guessed,” Curt said bitterly. “He connected our work at Mercury with our mysterious voyage. He tried to learn what I knew and when I would tell him nothing he came to the Moon and risked death to steal our records. And now he’s gone to find it for himself.”
    Simon Wright said somberly, “He will only reap disaster if he tries to take it. I saw what almost happened there to you, Curtis.”
    “It’s my fault,” Curt said harshly. “We should have left no record. But I could not quite destroy it.” He paused, then went on rapidly. “We’ve got to overtake him. What the other man, Herrick, may have in mind we can’t tell. But Garrand is a fanatical researcher, who will tamper with the instruments of the Watchers as I did. He won’t stop where I stopped!”
    Ezra jumped to his feet. “I can have cruisers after him in an hour.”
    “They couldn’t catch