04 - Gray Plague by Lloyd Eshbach

Dive into a gripping end-of-the-world sci-fi adventure that draws inspiration from H.G. Wells The War of the Worlds and In The Days of the Comet. This thrilling tale promises an unforgettable journey through a captivating dystopian landscape! (Summary by BellonaTimes)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Chapter four of the Great Plague by Lloyd Eshbach. This
LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Reading by Matt Barrard.
The terrible days of the Gray Plague ended in mystery
much that had puzzled the world. Parkinson, with his Venerian knowledge, explained.

(00:22):
But there was one thing, the final enigmatical act in
the strange drama, that was as much of a mystery
to him as it was to the rest of the world.
Enigma of what significance, of what portent? Who could tell?
When the great vessel from the United States equipped to

(00:44):
destroy the Meteor of the Venetians near the Great Folk sphere,
they came upon a scene quite different from what they
had expected. Parkinson, who was on this ship, was more
surprised than the rest, for he had definite knowledge of what,
in the natural course of events they should see. For

(01:07):
the others, there was nothing so very strange in what
they saw. Parkinson had lied, that was all. When the
bacteriologist had left the meteor, there had been a high,
bronze colored tower, a burnished lighthouse covering its entire top.

(01:27):
It had been there, but now it was gone. Only
the jagged, arched surface of the meteor remained. They lowered
boats and rowed to the strange island. There they saw
something that filled them, Parkinson especially with a very definite uneasiness.
The entire top of the meteor was a twisted, fire

(01:49):
blasted mass of bronze like metal. Where the tower had been,
where the shaft had led into the remarkable interplanetary vehicle.
There was now a broken expanse of thought that flashed
fire under the rays of the sun. Something seemed to
have melted, to have fused the tower until it had

(02:11):
crumpled and had run filling the entrance of the meteor.
There was irrefutable evidence to that effect. No one thought otherwise.
But what agency had done this strange thing? Someone suggested
that it might have been the work of some prearranged mechanism.
Parkinson shook his head. Had such been the case, his

(02:34):
Venerian knowledge would have told him so. Obviously, nothing of
Earth had done it, nothing of Earth than something of Venus.
Inconclusive conjecture, perhaps, but no other explanation offered itself. Something
had sealed the contents of the meteor from the sight
of man, something with a purpose from Venus. The thought

(02:58):
was logical to say the least not for long did
they remain there beside the Venerian Vehicle. There was naught
for them to do, so they turned about and headed
toward the United States. They bore tidings that were vaguely disturbing,
tidings that none were glad to hear, for, according to

(03:19):
all indications, something alien to Earth was still within her confines.
Behind it, all the meteors, the plague. The ceiling of
the Venerian Vehicle is one fact of great significance. No
longer is man alone in the universe, no longer is
he in isolation. Out of space came a menace, an

(03:43):
intelligent striving to wrest from him his right to rule
over Earth. No longer can man, in his smug complacency,
think of himself as being secure in his strength. He
has been shown the utter folly of such thinking. The menace,
the invaders from Venus came and were destroyed, their purposes defeated.

(04:07):
Yet in the vast reaches of space, in worlds of
other dimensions, in the cosmic crucible of life that embodies
all creation, there may be other forms of life, other menaces,
hovering clouds of death preparing to sweep down upon Earth
to snuff out her life. Who can tell, and who

(04:30):
may say that man is free from the Venerian danger?
The strange sealing of the meteor implies that the menace
is still present. Who knows but what those inhuman Venerian
brutes may even now be planning. Some new invasion may
be preparing to renew their attack upon Earth. Time alone

(04:56):
will tell. End of Chapter four, End of the Gray
Plague by Lloyd Eschbach