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  CHAPTER II

  _The Mysterious Space Craft_

  The machine men made way for their leader, 25X-987, who regarded thespace craft ahead of them critically.

  "Have you tried communicating with it yet?" he asked.

  "There is no reply to any of our signals," came the answer.

  "Come alongside of it then," ordered their commander. "It is smallenough to be brought inside our carrying compartment, and we can seewith our penetration rays just what manner of creatures it holds. Theyare intelligent, that is certain, for their space ship does imply asmuch."

  The space flyer of the Zoromes slowed up as it approached the mysteriouswanderer of the cosmic void which hovered in the vicinity of the dyingworld.

  "What a queer shape it has," remarked 25X-987. "It is even smaller thanI had previously calculated."

  A rare occurrence had taken place among the machine men of Zor. Theywere overcome by a great curiosity which they could not allow to remainunsatiated. Accustomed as they were to witnessing strange sights andstill stranger creatures, meeting up with weird adventures in variouscorners of the Universe, they had now become hardened to the usual runof experiences which they were in the habit of encountering. It took agreat deal to arouse their unperturbed attitudes. Something new,however, about this queer space craft had gripped their imaginations,and perhaps a subconscious influence asserted to their minds that herethey have come across an adventure radically unusual.

  "Come alongside it," repeated 25X-987 to the operator as he returned tothe control room and gazed through the side of the space ship in thedirection of the smaller cosmic wanderer.

  "I'm trying to," replied the machine man, "but it seems to jump away abit every time I get within a certain distance of it. Our ship seems tojump backward a bit too."

  "Are they trying to elude us?"

  "I don't know. They should pick up more speed if that is their object."

  "Perhaps they are now progressing at their maximum speed and cannotincrease their acceleration any more."

  "Look!" exclaimed the operator. "Did you just see that? The thing hasjumped away from us again!"

  "Our ship moved also," said 25X-987. "I saw a flash of light shoot fromthe side of the other craft as it jumped."

  Another machine man now entered and spoke to the commander of the Zoromeexpedition.

  "They are using radium repellent rays to keep us from approaching," heinformed.

  "Counteract it," instructed 25X-987.

  The man left, and now the machine man at the controls of the craft triedagain to close with the mysterious wanderer of the space betweenplanets. The effort was successful, and this time there was no glow ofrepulsion rays from the side of the long metal cylinder.

  They now entered the compartment where various objects were transferredfrom out the depths of space to the interplanetary craft. Then patientlythey waited for the rest of the machine men to open the side of theirspace ship and bring in the queer, elongated cylinder.

  "Put it under the penetration ray!" ordered 25X-987. "Then we shall seewhat it contains!"

  The entire group of Zoromes were assembled about the long cylinder,whose low nickel-plated sides shone brilliantly. With interest theyregarded the fifteen-foot object which tapered a bit towards its base.The nose was pointed like a bullet. Eight cylindrical protuberances wereaffixed to the base while the four sides were equipped with fins such asare seen on aerial bombs to guide them in a direct, unswerving linethrough the atmosphere. At the base of the strange craft there projecteda lever, while in one side was a door which, apparently opened outward.One of the machine men reached forward to open it but was halted by theadmonition of the commander.

  "Do not open it up yet!" he warned. "We are not aware of what itcontains!"

  Guided by the hand of one of the machine men, a series of lights shonedown upon the cylinder. It became enveloped in a haze of light whichrendered the metal sides of the mysterious space craft dim andindistinct while the interior of the cylinder was as clearly revealed asif there had been no covering. The machine men, expecting to see atleast several, perhaps many, strange creatures moving about within themetal cylinder, stared aghast at the sight they beheld. There was butone creature, and he was lying perfectly still, either in a state ofsuspended animation or else of death. He was about twice the height ofthe mechanical men of Zor. For a long time they gazed at him in asilence of thought, and then their leader instructed them.

  "Take him out of the container."

  The penetration rays were turned off, and two of the machine men steppedeagerly forward and opened the door. One of them peered within at therecumbent body of the weird-looking individual with the four appendages.The creature lay up against a luxuriously upholstered interior, a strapaffixed to his chin while four more straps held both the upper and lowerappendages securely to the insides of the cylinder. The machine manreleased these, and with the help of his comrade removed the body of thecreature from the cosmic coffin in which they had found it.

  "He is dead!" pronounced one of the machine men after a long and carefulexamination of the corpse. "He has been like this for a long time."

  "There are strange thought impressions left upon his mind," remarkedanother.

  One of the machine men, whose metal body was of a different shade thanthat of his companions, stepped forward, his cubic body bent over thatof the strange, cold creature who was garbed in fantastic accoutrements.He examined the dead organism a moment, and then he turned to hiscompanions.

  "Would you like to hear his story?" he asked.

  "Yes!" came the concerted reply.

  "You shall, then," was the ultimatum. "Bring him into my laboratory. Ishall remove his brain and stimulate the cells into activity once more.We shall give him life again, transplanting his brain into the head ofone of our machines."

  With these words he directed two of the Zoromes to carry the corpse intothe laboratory.

  As the space ship cruised about in the vicinity of this third planetwhich 25X-987 had decided to visit on finding the metal cylinder withits queer inhabitant, 8B-52, the experimenter, worked unceasingly in hislaboratory to revive the long-dead brain cells to action once more.Finally, after consummating his desires and having his efforts crownedwith success, he placed the brain within the head of a machine. Thebrain was brought to consciousness. The creature's body was discardedafter the all-important brain had been removed.