Tesla's Signal (49 page)

Maybe not a fly,
thought Niko,
but I do plan on harming the U'jaan.
“Thank you, sir, for believing in me. But Mr. Westinghouse, how did you escape from being taken over by the Angels? They target people like you. Wealthy, influential.”

“I don't go in for spiritual crap, son. I'm a practical man.”

“Still, I hear they've controlled many powerful people by grabbing them at public functions—the opera, the cinema, ”

“The truth is, I've been in South America for the last few months. When I came back, I heard about the radio warning. Very mysterious. Someone at Pittsburgh University picked it up from someone at Carlisle College, and so on.”

“What? You received our message in Pittsburgh too?”
The Earth and ionosphere were with us that night.
 

“Sure did. I know of only one man who could have transmitted a wireless message so far, and I knew something was going on. I don't care what they say about you, son—you're still one hell of a bright spark.”

They shared a grin, and Westinghouse pulled him aside. “Listen, Nick, I'd like to obtain the rights to those 'Protection Amulets'.”

“There are no 'rights'. They're to be given free of charge.”

“Oh, I understand that. I just want to manufacture them on a large scale and distribute them to every city in the country. And of course, I'll give you a large donation for further projects.”

“Thank you, sir.” Niko began to smile. “But let's hope that we'll be rid of the Angels before they spread to the rest of the country.”

“Ah! You have another plan?”

“Well, of course. Protection Amulets are just a temporary measure. I want to throw them off the Earth.”

Westinghouse patted him on the shoulder. “That's my Nick. Always thinking big. Listen, son, talk with me later and I'll have some suggestions. Just some manufacturing tips.”

Niko didn't get a chance to reply, because the meeting was interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

“Sorry Miss Isabelle,” said the butler, “it's your cousin. He insisted he had important news that wouldn't wait.”

A man pushed his way in. He wore a rumpled suit and driver's cap, and he did not look like he belonged here among the affluent Lodge members.

“Ernest,” Isabelle said, “what are you doing here? You know the Lodge meetings are for members only!”

“Sorry, dear Cousin.” Ernest tipped his cap. “Sorry to interrupt your precious top secret meeting, but I've got some news. I just came from Harrisburg. There's been an attack by ships from the sky!”

“What!” Clara leaped to her feet, covered her mouth. The headdress fell off her head.

“Yes, Ma'am. I'm a reporter for the Harrisburg Sentinel. Here's the telegraph I got from Bellefonte.
Sky Ships Attack State College, Bellefonte, Boalsburg. Bridges, Factories, Churches Destroyed!
I saw 'em myself,” he told the gathering. “They wrecked the bridge across the Susquehanna. That'll cut off traffic and commerce to the whole central mountain area.”

Clara grabbed Niko's arm. “Good Lord! That's what I was afraid of! It's vengeance,” she explained. “Ni—Lord Telstar and I—we brought down three of the sky ships. Now they're retaliating against innocent people!”

“Really!
You
brought them down?” Ernest held up a packet of photographs. “Well listen to this, Ma'am. We got a dispatch from a remote village—he said that a ship crash-landed in a farmer's field. An un-human creature came out—a monster from outer space! My associate had a camera—he filmed the whole thing! Copies of this film are circulating as we speak. The whole world will see it.” Ernest tapped the packet. “I've got the still photographs, right here!”

After this there was no calming them down. Everyone had to see the pictures of the monsters and voice their half-hysterical opinion. The meeting went on far into the night. Isabelle finally gave up trying to restore order, and sent the butler for late-night snacks for everyone.

Much later, Ophelia beckoned Niko over to another corner of the room, where several of the younger folks had gathered around the pilot, Lawrence Parker-Jones. “You must meet these fellows,” she told him.

A man in a military greatcoat was holding forth. “I just came from Annapolis. These same ships destroyed the Navy base—I heard they wiped out most of the installations in Maryland. And our country's cowardly military has done nothing to fight them!”

“That's right,” said his comrade in army dress blues. “Because Congress has gone over to the enemy! They're sitting around drinking champagne with the invaders!”

“We're organizing a resistance movement,” Lawrence told Niko.

“Is that right!” Niko wondered how much he could tell these people. “What's your plan?”

“I'm a Civil War veteran,” said an elderly man with a cane. “Sixth  Pennsylvania Cavalry at Gettysburg.” He snapped a salute. “We're working on a strategy.”

“My cousin's an Army Colonel,” said Lawrence. “He can get a howitzer gun. ”

Niko shook his head. “I don't think that would stop them. Not enough range to reach—”

“I'll fly my plane. It's fitted for a machine gun.”

“I'm with you,” said another youngster, barely out of adolescence. “I've flown the Wright Model B.”

“I'm a drill instructor at the Valley Forge Patriots' Military College,” said an older man with his teeth clenched around a cigar. “I can run a Howitzer. When do we start?”

Niko couldn't keep quiet any longer. “Gentlemen, I admire your bravery, but your weapons are no match for these alien invaders. You'll only die for no reason.”

“You're wrong,” said Lawrence, raising his glass in a heroic pose, “if we die, it
will
be for a reason: defending our liberty, like our glorious Revolutionary forbears!”

Niko frowned. Why encourage them? They didn't stand a chance. Still...“all right, gentlemen, I can at least give you a device which detects enemy ships by sending radio pulses. We'll build one for you. Stop by my lab in a few days and we'll have it ready.”

A moment later he realized:
why stop at one?
Humanity was finally catching on to the truth. He could at least give them access to his science. If he and Clara were killed, the rest of the world might still have a chance.  

When he managed to get Westinghouse alone, he outlined the basics of his pulse detection device. “I'll give you the blueprint. Can you start building these? It will allow us to keep track of the invaders' movements.”

“By Jove,” said Westinghouse, slapping his knee. “What a brilliant idea...tracking enemy movements with radio. When this gets around, it will revolutionize warfare, navigation...why haven't you patented this, Nick?”

“Because if I show up at the patent office, someone might try to collect the price on my head. How much is it now, George—a hundred thousand?”

“Attention please,” Miss Isabelle called out “Brothers and sisters, it's way past our bedtime. Let us adjourn this meeting. Sister Martha, can you lead us in a song?”

“Never fear, strive to do what's right. Always reach for the stars, for we are children of the Light.”

As the Lodge members filed out, thanking Niko and Clara with enthusiasm and adoration, Niko was filled with an emotion he had not felt in a very long time:
hope.
 

“We're with you, Great One. We'll do anything to fight the battle against the invaders!”

“Just tell us what to do. Oh, bless you for coming. You're the messenger of Light!”

28: Solar Water

Clara ran her hands over the smooth metal.

“Ooh, that's lovely,” said a voice behind her. “What are you going to do with it?”

Clara whirled, to see Miss Ophelia and Jack the hired boy. “I thought you two were in the workshop?”

Isabelle's daughter Ophelia and the hired boy Jack had been caught  spying on the laboratory so many times, that Clara and Niko finally put them  to work building Amulets.

“But we wanna see the space ship, Ma'am,” said Jack.

Clara sighed. “There's no
space ship
yet—oh, all right, come on in, you rascals. Look here.” She showed them the circular disks, about 10 ft in diameter. “These plates will spin, generating an electrostatic repulsion field which will lift it off the ground.”  

“Gee whiz,” said Jack.

“Here's the cabin.” Clara sketched out the shape. “Room for us and the Tele-men and our weapons.” Clara tapped the metal, listened to the echoes, frowned. “It's not quite ready. It needs better shielding, and strong enough propulsion to break the force of gravity.”
So many problems, and so little time!
 

“But what if them Martians shoot back at ya?” said Jack.

“Thats what we're working on. Any ideas? No? Then off you go. I've got work to do.”

“Come on,” Ophelia said to Jack. “Let's go see what Mr. Telstar is doing.”

“Yes, go bother someone else for awhile.” Clara grinned. Niko was sure to be even more grumpy than herself!

When they had gone, Clara unwrapped a small bundle: the fragment of the U'jaan ship which she had picked up after the battle.
Thank you,
schmucks
, for leaving pieces of your science around so I can use them against you.
 

She put her ear to the piece, tapping it delicately. She knew it could be shattered with the Teleforce gun. But now she needed to shape it and duplicate its structure, to protect the Saucer with the same material.

She clasped the piece between her palms, singing to herself.
Baruch... shem...kavod..
. And she stepped into that state of Wisdom, where she could see deep down inside the objects and hear the sounds that the molecules made as they jostled against each other.

Her fingers ran over the surface of the object, discovering its structure and how it could be shaped to cover a surface, providing a shield against temperature and pressure. It enabled the Martians to climb to the vacuum of space. So why not Niko's Saucer as well?

Ah. I see how it's done!
But in order to work with the material, she would have to use the alchemical substance called Solar Water to break the bonds forged beneath an alien sun.

And so Clara took out the tiny bottle from its hiding place inside the Theremin.
Are you sure you know what you're doing?
Uncle had asked.
 

No, but how else am I going to learn?
Breathing a prayer to the Almighty, she poured a tiny drop of the glue-like substance on the Alien fragment.

Solar Water, when activated, would release a burst of tremendous heat, for a millionth of a second. Enough to enable restructuring of the atoms of most materials.

The drop sizzled, changed shape. A tremendous wave knocked her back. She tumbled head over heels, right off the edge of the world.

 A shape reached to rescue her: a wing—no, a hand.

 

She grabbed at the apparition.

 

For a second Clara saw the bird-shape that was Alouette, and a rank of glowing geometric forms.

 

Other shapes greeted her.

 

shyllan
material which you have there, that is our formula. It was stolen by the U'jaan.>
 

Clara replied.

 

She awoke, finding a bruise on her forehead. “
Vei iz mir
. What happened?” One of the roof beams had come loose and a shingle had hit her right on the head. “I didn't cause that, did I?”

Bonds of matter are released as energy.
She glanced at the floor. The bottle of Solar Water had vanished, and the fragment of shyllan had been transformed into a malleable quicksilver puddle.

Solar Water...that's dangerous stuff!
Without even touching it, she knew that it would be possible to pull and mold and shape this material, in ways no metal had ever been worked before.

Ophelia and Jack came running in. “What's going on? It felt like a small earthquake.”