Page 9 - 1959 VES Meteor
P. 9
•
THE DECISION
{Continued from pege 5, col. 3)
The scene reminded him of an an- cient poem-the Planetary anthem of the Earth- something about . . . " 'till I rest my eyoes on the fleecy skies, and t h e cool, g r e e n hills o f
waving grass, and trees. When he had left, ten years ago, this place had been a busy space port. Now there was nothing. He waited, but nothing happened. Finally, unable to control himself any longer, he ran
from the red triangle, through a field of waist-high grass into a small wood.
Soon he found a yellow path that led down through the forest. The path crossed a small stream, and there he knelt and drank. The water was cool and refreshing, after the dry distilled water of the ship. He leaned back and marvelled at the beauty of his surroundings.
"I would have taken all this for granted ten years ago," he thought. "Up in space, there are only pin- points of light in a vast black can- opy." Space is so vast that it makes you feel tiny and insignificant. That's when you really miss Earth, with its waving trees, rustling leaves,
. . . "
"Hello!" he shouted. There was no answer. He entered the house; it con- sisted of a single empty room. Misery and panic swept over him, and he turned to leave.
Suddenly, he heard the voice. "Mavis," it said, "open up your mind and listen. I am a mental trans- mitter, so do not be afraid. I am here to help you, not to destroy you. I have been instructed to tell you many things, but I see questions in your mind. Ask them, and I shall answer."
Still a little surprised, Mavis re- peated the question he had asked himself a thousand times since leav- ing the ship: "Where is everybody?"
"They are all gone. You, alone, are the lost living being on earth." Mavis could only· ask numbly, "What happened?"
"There were many wars after you left. Radioactive poison s p rea d through the atmosphere, and people died by the millions."
"What about the colonies on Mars and Venus? Are they . . .
"All dead. You are the only living animal life in the solar system."
"But how could all this happen in ten years?"
{Continued on pege 10, col. I)
HOTEL CARROLL BARBER SHOP
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Alma
Mrs.
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rk.
n be , Vir-
have 27. edi-
ewey e en- Noll- okey) 1g is
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re- ppa t N. top :lass.
Earth . . . " It reflected tions perfectly.
his own emo-
OR
As the ship entered the Earth's gravitational field, Mavis slowed its velocity to avoid burning up from friction. Soon he saw what he had been looking for-the red triangle that was his landing place. The last fme he had seen it was ten years ago.
Mavis lowered the ship gradually, Csing the landing rockets with deli- cate proficiency. The ship groaned on its landing pods, settled, and be- came completely silent for the first time in a decade. He was home- the first man to travel to the stars and return alive. He leaped from his chair, ran down the stairs, and snatched open the double hatches
to freedom.
His first thought was, "Where is
everybody?" He had expected a crowd, and there was not a soul in sight. The whole countryside had changed since he had last seen it. There were no buildings, no roods, no houses; only rolling hills, fields 0f
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singing
Something had been bothering him ever since he'd left the ship. Now he knew what it was. There were no animal sounds at all; only the brook and the breeze disturbed the over- whelming silence. He was suddenly very afraid, and dashed blindly down the path. When he saw the build- ing, his fears departed as quickly as they had come. It was a low
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DrPepper
THE METEOR
9
METEORITES
birds
He stopped.


































































































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