06 - 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 six of The Menace from Below by Horal Vincent.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter six
Tony accepts confinement. Talbot observed with an ironic smile. The
somewhat embarrassed greetings exchanged by Tony and Miss van Alsteen.

(00:21):
I'll answer your question, Miss van Alsteen, he said. Mister
Russell has not come for you, like yourself. He is
a prisoner. But it is my pleasure that you be
given the freedom of Subterrania, and I shall release you
from your present confinement in mister Russell's custody, provided he
gives me his word of honor that no attempt be

(00:42):
made to evade my law. Margaret looked at him with fear,
not unmixed with curiosity. What is your law? Asked Tony.
You are to become permanent residence of Subterranea, replied Talbot,
and as such are subject to all laws the Realm,
as enacted and enforced by Ainsworth and Meat. In addition,

(01:04):
you are to make no attempts to communicate with those
above us, and are not to leave the confines of
the city Olaca unless by my express permission. If we
do not agree, asked Tony Talbot shrugged his shoulders. Miss
van Alstein will remain in solitary confinement and will later

(01:25):
become a subject for our experiments. Understand me, Tony, It
is with no tenderness towards the daughter of Wolf van
Alsteen that I make this offer. It is for the
simple reason that I bear you some friendliness that dates
back to our college days, and I know it will
give you pleasure to have the young lady freein and
your company. Do you accept the condition? Tony nodded slowly

(01:51):
and unwillingly. Through his mind there rushed the remembrance of
some of the experiments credited to Talbot and Ainsworth by
the newspapers some years before, experiments in which the alleged
torturing of dumb animals figured to an extreme that was
horrible to contemplate. Yes, I agree, I give you my word,

(02:12):
he said. Good, said Talbot. Now we shall visit Ainsworth.
He failed to observe the wink that Charley indulged in
for Tony's benefit. Frasy had made no promise. They returned
to the elevator by which they had descended, and were
soon slipping rapidly deeper into the lower regions. Of the
strange realm. As the car dropped speedily through the smooth shaft.

(02:35):
Tony remarked on the even temperature of the atmosphere. The temperature,
said Talbot in explanation, is almost uniform at seventy four
degrees fahrenheit the year round. This was a great surprise
to us when we first came to Subterranea. For all
evidence of mining and drilling operations above point to an
average increase in temperature of one degree for each one

(02:56):
hundred feet descent below the surface of the Earth. This
would mean a temperature of more than five hundred degrees
at ten miles below the surface. But there are portions
of our realm much deeper than that, and the temperature
is no greater than at this level. But we have
accounted for this in the refrigerating effect produced by the
evaporation of moisture in the larger areas where animal and

(03:19):
vegetable life is abundant. Is the atmosphere of constant density
and oxygen content, asked Charlie. Yes, excepting for the difference
accounted by the varying pressures at different levels. The elimination
of carbon dioxide and the replenishing of the oxygen supply
is accompanied by the natural functioning of certain plants and

(03:39):
fungi in much of the same ways. This is done.
On the surface. The relative humidity is high, but you
will not find it uncomfortably. So there are no openings
to the surface, excepting the one in Labrador, asked Charlie.
Talbot laughed that one has long since been sealed. He replied,
but there is one other by which we maintain unsuspected

(04:01):
contact with the outer world. It is cleverly concealed in
the heart of an unscalable Mesa and Arizona. Then your
domain does extend west of the Mississippi, exclaimed Tony in surprise,
only to one point, said Talbot. And this connection is
by a tunnel we have produced since our coming, a
tunnel more than twelve hundred miles in length. Tony whistled

(04:25):
in astonishment. Jerry, he said, I have asked you before
how such stupendous tasks have been performed, engineering marvels that
cost millions of dollars and required years to accomplish on
the surface, But you have evaded me. Talbot grinned his appreciation. Tony,
he said, you spoke of riches were Ainsworth and I

(04:47):
to return to your world, we would be the wealthiest
men alive. There are untold millions in precious minerals and
gems here billions. Were they converted into American money, we could,
if we wished, upset the money market of the world
in a very few weeks. Some small amount of this
vast wealth makes its way above through our agents, who

(05:10):
contracts secretly for certain fabricated materials and machinery we can
best obtain in this manner. But as to the years
of labor and the necessity of employing great armies of
workmen and engineering projects, there is no such necessity here.
In addition to our discoveries in connection with the fourth dimension,
we have also discovered the secret of atomic disintegration. We

(05:33):
have at our command an undreamed of force that is
released at the touch of a finger. Were it not
under complete control, were it permitted to continue unchecked when
once started, the annihilation of the world would result. The
twelve hundred mile tunnel was bored in a matter of
weeks by a carefully directed, progressive disintegration of the material

(05:54):
through which it passes. It is as straight and smooth
as the bore of a rifle, and the direction of
the energy that produced the result was by the hands
of Ainsworth and myself. Ye got exclaimed Tony, No wonder
you're so cocksure about what you can do in the
way of imposing your will in the world. But what

(06:15):
is the purpose of your enmity? Talbot scowled. We'll leave
that until we see Ainsworth, he responded shortly. We changed
cars here across Subterranea. The cage halted at another large chamber,
where they found a small torpedo shaped car waiting in
a smooth groove in the rock floor. They were led

(06:38):
to the shiny metal side of the vehicle, and Talbot
opened a door that led into its padded interior. Isn't there,
he said, smiling as he handed Margaret into the opening.
When they were all in sconced and cushioned seats that
lined each side of the car, Talbot closed and bolted
the door. It is eight hundred miles to a Laca said,

(07:00):
but we'll be there in an hour. An hour, asked
Charlie incredulously. Just about, and I must warn you to
settle back deeply into the cushioned chair packs. The acceleration
is terrific. And you will scarcely be able to move
when we have reached full speed. Just sit quietly and
do not worry about the discileration when that is necessary

(07:21):
for the chairs rotate automatically at the instant it starts,
so the pressure remains against your backs throughout the journey.
Let's go. The car started smoothly and silently, entering the
black mouth of a tube of not more than twelve
feet diameter. The whistle of the air compressed between the
car sides and the bore of the tube soon rose
to a shrill note that told a tremendous speed. How

(07:45):
is the car propelled, shouted Tony. Atomic energy, replied Talbot.
It does not touch bottom or sides of the tube,
but is supported on a cushion of the air it
compresses during its journey. Tony turned his head with difficulty
to look at Charley. He nodded jerkily in wonder. They
were traveling at about one thousand miles an hour, and

(08:06):
the pressure between their bodies and the air cushioned behind
them was so great that it was almost impossible to
move a muscle. The uncomfortable position and the trouble in
making themselves heard over the shrill note of the swift
passage kept them silent throughout the remainder of the journey.
When the car reached its destination, they stepped into the
opening with expressions of astonishment that caused Talbot to smile

(08:27):
and chuckle. Why why it's beautiful, gasped Margaret. They stood
near the shore of a great body of water, and
but for the different quality of light, it would have
seemed that they were in the open air of their
own world. Far overhead swept an arch of deep green
that merged into nothingness in the distance, where its color

(08:48):
seemed to melt into a fathomless distance comparable to the
heavens themselves. It seemed that there were five blue, white
suns in this firmament, but no stars. Open mouthed stared
at the wonders and beauties of Subterranea. The suns, explained Talbot,
are great patches of phosphorescent materials embedded in the arched

(09:10):
roof of this huge cavern. The farthest is some six
hundred miles from this point, and it is the largest
of all six hundred miles, intoned Charlie. For heaven's sake,
how large is this space? It is more than seven
hundred miles in length and well over four hundred in width,

(09:30):
said Talbot. Its two lakes, Atacna and a tacna Og
are the two of which I spoke previously. Olaka is
but a few miles along the coast, and the height,
inquired Tony, eighty miles at the zenith. We are nearly
one hundred miles below Chicago, where we now stand. This

(09:50):
cavity is a huge air bubble in the Earth's crust
that was left during the process of cooling. It is
the largest in Subterranea. It is the most amazing thing
I've ever witnessed, said Tony, Who in our world above
would suspect it such a world exists beneath their feet.
The air was redolent of sweet odors of growing things,

(10:13):
and Margaret exclaimed again and again at the beauty of
some new growth that attracted her attention. She had drawn
a few feet from the three men and suddenly gasped
as her eyes rested on a most unexpected sight, an airplane,
she called out again. Talbot smiled as the two men
turned to confirm her discovery. The airplane was a trim

(10:34):
little thing of not more than thirty feet wing spread,
a modern biplane of the cabin type, incapable of seating
five passengers. Tony and Charlie walked to the craft to
inspect it, and Margaret gurgled delightedly when Talbot informed her
that the plane was to carry them to a loca.
Where's the engine in the confounded thing? Charlie was asking

(10:54):
as Jerry and Margaret reached the plane, For though there
was the conventional propeller at the forward end of the
boat like body, there was no evidence of a driving motor.
It's in the shaft, laughed Talbot. In the shaft ejaculated Tony.
For the love of Pete, what is its power? Oh?
About three hundred horse It is an atomic engine using

(11:17):
water as a fuel, and is but three and a
half inches in diameter and eight inches in length. The
release of atomic energy from less than four pounds of
water will drive the plane the full length of this cavern.
Tony stared, great guns, Jerry, he gasped, why aren't you
in our rightful sphere? You'd revolutionize the world, Yes, growled Talbot.

(11:41):
And to whose advantage some rascal like Wolf van Aalstein
would maneuver things to his own benefit. He hesitated, Oh,
I beg your pardon, Miss van Alstein, he apologized, I
had forgotten your presence. Margaret raised her head proudly granted,

(12:01):
she replied, without rancor an attempted rescue. After a moment
of embarrassed silence, the four clambered into the cabin of
the Plain and Talbot took his place in the pilot's seat.
At a touch of his finger, there was a whirr
that rose to a muffled roar. The propeller spun rapidly,

(12:22):
and with the stick pulled back as far as it
would go, Talbot sent the plane into the air with
a rush that carried it from the ground in less
than twenty feet of taxiing. They swept out over the
greenlit lake at tremendous speed and were soon out of
sight of the shore. Overhead, the misty green arch in
the five blue white suns shimmered with a wavering eeriness
that reminded the visitors of the Aurora borealis. It was

(12:45):
not a long trip to Alaca, and when the Plain
headed for the south shore of the lake and the
sprawling city came into view, the visitors exclaimed anew at
what they saw. A single magnificent building of some three
hundred feet in height, rose above the rest of the city.
On all sides. Along the coast and back inland spread
the streets and squat dwellings of the underground capital. Mere huts.

(13:08):
These dwellings seemed to be, and they were circular, walled
and domed like an igloo. But the oddest incongruity was
the color scheme. The single main building, which rose so
majestically from the orderly rows of domed huts, was of
a rich golden hue. The huts themselves presented all the
colors of the rainbow and chameleon like. They changed color

(13:29):
with the flickerings from the five light sources. The view
of the city was blotted out as the plain circled
over the flat roof of the central building, and in
a moment Talbot had brought them to a perfect landing
on the smooth surface. Welcome to O Laka, he said,
as they alighted. Five minutes later they were in the
presence of Professor Ainsworth, that famous scientist of a few

(13:51):
years back, who had been disowned by his government and
by his contemporaries. The tall figure of the once noted,
Savant bent tensely over a circular table that was placed
in the exact center of a huge room that was
cluttered with laboratory equipment. So absorbed was he that he
did not look up from his close scrutiny of the
table top until they had approached within a very few

(14:12):
feet of where he stood. What is it, prof asked
Talbot in a quiet voice. The tall figure straightened at
the question, and, with hardly a glance at the newcomers
or recognition of their presence, he pointed a long finger
at the table top. Look was his sole comment. They
all bent over the circular surface, which proved to be

(14:33):
the viewing screen of some sort of television apparatus. Tony
drew a quick breath as he saw that the scene
depicted was the interior of the subway tunnel, at the
point where the trains had disappeared. At the moving of
a control lever, the view shifted slowly from end to
end of the tunnel, which was now brightly lighted by
auxiliary floodlights of great power. It was packed with soldiery

(14:54):
armed to the teeth, and at the exact spot where
the last train had vanished from the viewers. In New York,
a gang of workmen was busily engaged in burning away
through the iron tunnel with acetlene torches. Talbot chuckled sardonically,
but Charlie groaned as he observed that Ward Platt was
directing the labors of the welders. Has the shaft been

(15:14):
closed off, asked Talbot. A half hour since, replied Ainsworth.
Four miles of rock now separate them from our lower passages,
and the prisoners are safely below. They'll find no living
beings when they break through into the cavern, although find
is their silly subway trains and eternity. Good God, cried Charlie.

(15:39):
You'll not destroy them. Ainsworth looked the speaker over coolly.
And why not, he asked. It's murder, cold blooded murder,
exclaimed Charlie. And what would they do with their rifles
and machine guns if they reached us, inquired the scientist.
There was no reply, for the three visitors were one

(16:00):
once more watching the screen intently. A great section of
the tunnel bottom had fallen into the cavern below, and
the opening thus created was ringed with soldiers who were
preparing to shoot on sight of the ape men who
had been glimpsed in that brief instant in the wall
street viewing screens. Ainsworth pressed a button at the edge
of the table, and the lights in the far away

(16:20):
cavern were extinguished. Then came the portable flood lights of
the militia, and rope ladders were dropped into the pit ward.
Platt was the first to clamber to the rock floor below,
and Charley could not repress a useless cry of warning
that sprang to his lips. The soldiers followed by hundreds,
and when all were assembled in the great cavern, the
watchers saw them prowl about and eventually come upon the

(16:40):
abandoned trains, where they reposed on the subterranean sighting. Ainsworth
reached for another button, and Charlie struck for his arm
as he suddenly realized that this meant death to those
distant hundreds of human beings, his friend and partner among them.
But his blow quickly as it struck, was too late.
The button was pressed firmly before Charley's fit struck the
outstretched hand. The screen was blotted out by a great

(17:04):
burst of flame as a terrific explosion rent the air
of the cavern. Then all was darkness. Margaret screamed, and
Charlie cursed. Tony stared unbelievingly. Ainsworth cackled with the glee
of a madman. The while he rubbed his bruised arm.
Talbot twisted the corners of his mouth into his derisive smile.

(17:27):
End of chapter six.