04 - Menace from Below by Harl Vincent

An entire subway train filled with unsuspecting passengers vanishes without a trace in the depths of the New York subway! A murder victims body appears to dissolve into the ground right before a witnesss eyes! What dark secrets do the mysterious subterranean ape men hold? Dive into this enthralling tale of wild science fiction and uncover the truth for yourself! - Summary by Ben Tucker

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter four of The Menace from Below by harl Vincent.
This LibriVox recordings in the public domain. Chapter four. On
the trail, Anthony Russell labored incessantly all through that night,
and he drove his force of installation engineers unmercifully. By morning,

(00:21):
there had been completed the installation of television and radio
transmitters and receivers on eighteen trains of the West Side Subway,
and in addition, six complete outfits were installed in the
tunnel itself. These were distributed at equally spaced points of
vantage and were of the remote control type, so that
no operators were required to keep them in service. A

(00:43):
central observation and control apparatus was erected in the director's
room of his Wall Street office, and here it was
possible to view simultaneously the images transmitted from the various
instruments installed in the tunnel and trains. The news of
the disappearance of the second train leaked out through the
efforts of an over zealous reporter of one of the

(01:03):
tabloid newspapers, and the Metropolitan District was in an uproar.
Although both accidents had occurred in the tunnel of the
West Side Line, of the Interborough. It was practically impossible
to convince the public that it was safe to ride
through any of the other tunnels. When the early morning
rush hour commenced, the ferries over the North River were
crowded to capacity, The new Hudson River Bridge carried an

(01:26):
increasingly heavy traffic, and the bridges over the East River
groaned beneath their unaccustomed loads. Regular train service was maintained
in the Hudson Tubes, but the travelers were few and
far between. Traffic on all lines of the Interborough BMT
and the new Eighth Avenue Subway was normal in Manhattan,
but trains were not continued below Wall Street nor across

(01:47):
East River, excepting on those lines which crossed the bridges
on the Brooklyn side. Borough Hall Station became the terminal
for the Interborough lines, and traffic through the tunnel of
Disaster was limited to two trains in eas direction, which
were to ply back and forth between Wall Street and
Borough Hall, each manned by a company of National Guard
and a detail of police. The television radio equipment on

(02:10):
these trains and in the tunnel was placed in operation
at an early hour. Tony insisted on riding the first
train that entered the tunnel, and Charlie Frazy accompanied him.
Ward Platt, with the Mayor and other city officials, occupied
the room of the many television screens and watched with
interest the manipulations of the operators of the Russell Television
Corporation as they made the adjustments that brought into view

(02:32):
on six separate screens the images from the stationary transmitters
in the tunnel. Then contact was obtained with the instruments
on the four trains to be shuttled through the tube.
The entire interior of the forward car of each train
was pictured in its individual screen, and a second transmitter
on the forward end of the car recorded a view
of the tunnel ahead. There were thus fourteen screens in

(02:55):
operation at the central viewing station, with the result that
the scene was thoroughly covered. As the first train pulled
out of the station, Ward Platt watched the screen picturing
the interior of the first car. Here were visible the
tense faces of Tony and Charlie, behind whom were gathered
a group of police and militia, all straining to obtain

(03:15):
a view of the tracks and tunnel ahead. The radio
loud speaker was connected to the receiver tuned to the
instrument on this train, and Ward spoke into the microphone,
bidding his partner good luck. Charlie smiled and returned to
the greeting, don't worry about us, Ward, he said, We'll
come through all right, and we're going to see this
thing to finish. But Tony's worried about the lady. Tony

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grinned somewhat sheepishly at this. Frankly, I am mister Platt,
he said. I know she was on the last train
lost and have a premonition that she did not leave
the train in Manhattan. If that is the case, she
is lost with the rest of the passengers. But you
have no certain knowledge of that, said Ward. She might
have left the train at fourteenth or Chambers, or any

(03:58):
of the stations on the way down. She is probably
safe somewhere in Manhattan at the present moment. But Tony
shook his head gloomily at this. He was not to
be convinced. The hunters caught The train was gathering speed,
and the watchers at the screens transferred their gaze to
the view of the tunnel ahead of it. It seemed

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that they were riding the front of the train. Themselves,
so realistically were the on rushing tracks and tunnel walls portrayed.
When the lowest point was reached, or about half way
through the tube, a sudden flare of red light appeared
in the space between the tracks, and only about a
hundred feet ahead through the loud speaker came the screaming
of the brakes as they were applied with full pressure.

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A quick glance to the other screen showed the occupants
of the front car thrown into struggling heaps by the
sudden jar and yells of surprise and pain mingled with
the jarring clatter of the stopping train. Looks like we're
in for it, shouted Charlie, picking himself to his feet
and staring from the front window of the car. The
gaze of the watchers in Russell's office shifted once more

(05:03):
to the forward screen, and there they observed the sudden
changing color of the warning light. It flared high, changing
slowly from its brilliant red to a pale, violent glow
that seemed to creep along the track toward the ill
fated train. Then one of the operators uttered a startled cry.
Look he said, pointing a shaky finger to another of

(05:24):
the screens. This one received the image from one of
the permanent transmitters in the tunnel, and it pictured the
train itself from the rear. The violet haze had surrounded
the metal work of the cars, and from every corner
in angle their glowed sparkling pin points of light that
sputtered and blinded the watters, like miniature explosions of flash powder.

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The tracks and bottom wall of the tube glowed brilliantly
with the same eerie light, and suddenly they vanished from view.
The bottom seemed to have dropped from the tunnel, leaving
a huge, brightly lighted space beneath, but the train remained intact,
seemingly poised in mid air. Then slowly, surely it was
lowered into the great opening, apparently dropped by hydraulic jacks

(06:09):
or other deliberate means. Before they could exclaim their astonishment,
the normal light of the tube was restored, and to
their amazed eyes, the tracks and tunnel floor were in
their original, solid and uninterrupted condition. A shout came from
the loud speaker, and the watchers turned to the other screens.
Inside the car could be seen Charley and Tony, their

(06:29):
faces frozen in unnatural grimaces. Behind them there appeared the
rigid forms of a number of soldiers and police, all
frozen to immobility and seemingly unable to move a muscle.
Tony grew red in the face in an ineffectual attempt
to speak. His features contorted painfully, but he was unable
to utter a word. Then came the sound of shouting

(06:50):
from outside the car, and the watchers turned to the
outside viewing screen. The view pictured an immense cavern crowded
with creatures, at first sight of which the Mayor uttered
an involuntary cry of disgust and fear. Monstrous apes they
seemed to be, But those in closest proximity faced the
watchers with evilly, leering human countenances. Then these were thrust

(07:12):
aside unceremoniously by a man who approached the train with
extreme anger in his glittering eyes, and with shouts of
impatience to his inhuman companions. Curse them, he yelled, they've
got a television instrument on this car. His glowering face
loomed large in the screen. A large iron bar was raised,

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and just as ward Platt let forth a cry of recognition,
there was a crash, and the screen went blank. Simultaneously
with the blotting out of the view In this screen,
there was a confused sound from the loudspeaker and on again.
Turning to the inner screen, the lights in the car
were seen to go out. In the dim light, the
frozen forms of the occupants stood immovable like wooden soldiers.

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Then there was another crash and complete darkness. The six
viewing screens connected to the permanent transmitters and the tunnel
showed the normally DIMLT tube intact but empty. The mayor
turned toward in amazement. Did you recognize the man who
approached and destroyed the first transmitter? He asked, yes, breathed ward.

(08:18):
It was Jeremiah Talbot, a recognition. When the red light
appeared in the tunnel, those on board the train were
astonished beyond measure. But when it merged into the unholy
violet radiance, they were gripped by some unseen power that
rendered each and every one of them as immovable as

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if molded from bronze. Those in the rear cars, who
had not the warning accorded to those up front, struggled
mightily against the unexpected and unseen enemy, but to no avail.
The car floors beneath their feet hummed with a not
unmusical vibration. The unearthly radiance surrounding the cars held them
awe struck and fascinated. They were helpless to touch their

(09:01):
rifles or pistols. Into the cavern below dropped the eight
massive steel cars with their paralyzed human freight. A slight
droning of machinery beneath told of the purely physical accomplishment
of the task, but the motion was so smooth and
steady as to give the impression of being carried out
by some supernatural agency. It seemed they were in a

(09:23):
dream from which they must soon awaken. But there was
nothing dream like about the contact of the squat, hairy
bodies that soon crowded into the cars, and, in the
semi darkness, lifted the helpless figures of the passengers and
carried them to the outside. In the blue white light
of the cavern, these bodies were made out as those
of a strange breed of creatures, part human, part beast.

(09:48):
Huge barrel like chests characterized these strange simian monsters, who
wore trousers like men, but exposed the naked, hairy upper
portions of their bodies, without covering. Beady, deep set black
eyes peered out from beneath bushy brows, and chalky white
faces of human mold and Strangest of all, these faces
were not malicious in repose. They were more like hopelessly

(10:11):
vacant visages of incurable idiots. Only when the creatures smiled,
if their grimaces could be called smiles, were the faces evil.
Of not more than five feet in height, their thick
bodies surmounting uniformly bowed legs, they gave the impression of
tremendous strength, and the pressure exerted on the bodies of

(10:31):
the victims by some of those long arms left mute
evidence of this strength in the form of bruises and abrasions.
The members of the police and the militia were laid
on the rock floor of the cavern in long rows,
as if being prepared for burial. Then, when all had
been removed from a train, a man, a white man
garbed in gray woolens of excellent quality and cut, walked

(10:53):
along the line and sneeringly regarded his captives. When he
came to Tony and Charlie, he stopped abruptly so he said,
at last, we have two scientists among us. Welcome to
our realm. He laughed aloud, and to Tony's numbed senses
there came the recollection of having heard that laugh before.

(11:13):
But he could not move his head, could scarce roll
his tortured eyes so that it was impossible for him
to see the features of his captor. And now, mister
Anthony Russell continued, the familiar voice, will free you and
your friend. At least you did not come against me. Armed.
He directed four of the monsters to carry the two

(11:36):
men to an adjoining cavern, and as Tony was lifted
to the shoulders of two of the creatures, he saw
from the corner of his eye that the train they
had so recently occupied was slowly moving down a section
of track to join two others that occupied a siding
in a dim recess of the great excavation. Above him
hung the damp rounded lower surface of the tube from

(11:57):
which they had been kidnapped. The cavern had been hollowed
from the solid rock beneath, and the tube itself was
shored up on both sides with rows of strong columns,
which prevented its collapse into the opening. Below. After being
carried for some considerable distance along a passage where the
only illumination was from hand lights carried by their captors,

(12:19):
Tony and Charlie were brought into a large room which
might have been the drawing room of a luxurious mansion.
It was lighted in the most modern manner and furnished
sumptuously and elegantly. At the far side of the room
there was a great oak cabinet, which at first glance
appeared to be a huge wardrobe. The two men were
placed on their feet before this massive piece of furniture,

(12:40):
and its doors were opened. There was a click, and
the entire face of the cabinet belched forth a breath
of heated incandescence that nearly threw them to the floor.
But when the dazzling brilliancy abated, they found that their
muscles were once more in normal condition, and they could
move their limbs freely. Tony wheeled about to face his
capit and found himself gazing into the grinning countenance of

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the man of the gray flannels, Jerry Talbot. He gasped.
End of Chapter four