CHAPTER XVIII
AT THE MOON
Confusion reigned aboard the _Annihilator_. It had turned completelyover, and was now moving through space apparently bottom side up. Ofcourse, being cigar shaped, this did not make any difference as far asthe exterior was concerned, but it did make a great difference to thosewithin.
The occupants of the great shell had fallen and slid down the roundedsides of the projectile, and were now standing on what had been theceiling. Objects that were not fast had also followed them, scatteringall about, some narrowly missing hitting our friends. Of course, themachinery was now in the air, over the heads of the travellers.
This was one of the most serious phases of the accident, for the greatCardite motor was built to run while in the other position, and when itwas turned upside down it immediately stopped, and the projectile,deprived of its motive power, at once began falling through space.
"What has happened? What caused it?" cried Mark, as he crawled over towhere Jack sat on the ceiling, with a dazed look on his face.
"I don't know. Something went wrong. Here comes Professor Henderson andMr. Roumann. We'll ask them."
The two scientists were observed approaching from the pilot-house. Theywalked along what had been the ceiling, and when they came to theengine room they had to climb over the top part of the door frame.
"What's wrong?" asked Jack.
"Our center of gravity has become displaced," answered Mr. Henderson."The gravity machine has either broken, or some one has been tamperingwith it. Did either of you boys touch it?"
"No, indeed!" cried Mark, and his chum echoed his words.
"I wonder if Washington could have meddled with it?" went on thescientist.
At that moment the colored cook came along, making his way cautiouslyinto the engine room. He was an odd sight. Bits of carrots, turnips andpotatoes were in his hair, while from one ear dangled a bunch ofmacaroni, and his clothes were dripping wet.
"My kitchen done turned upside down on me!" wailed Washington, "an' awhole kettle ob soup emptied on my head! Oh, golly! What happened?"
The aged scientist looked toward the German. The latter was gazing upat the motionless Cardite motor over his head.
"There is but one way," he answered. "We must restore our centre ofgravity to where it was before. Then the projectile will right herself."
"Can it be done?" asked Mark.
"It will be quite an undertaking, but we must attempt it. Bring sometables and chairs, so I can stand up and reach the equilibrium machine."
From where they had fallen to the ceiling, which was now the floor,Jack and Mark brought tables and chairs, and made a sort of stepladder.On this Professor Roumann mounted, and at once began the readjusting ofthe centre of gravity.
It was hard work, for he had to labor with his arms stretched up in theair, and any one who has even put up pictures knows what that means.The muscles are unaccustomed to the strain. The German scientist,though a strong man, had to rest at frequent intervals.
"We're falling rapidly," announced Jack, in a low voice, as he lookedat the height gauge.
"I am doing all I can," answered Mr. Roumann. "I think I will soon beable to right the craft."
He labored desperately, but he was at a disadvantage, for the_Annihilator_ was not now moving smoothly through space. With thestopping of the motor she was falling like some wobbly balloon, swayinghither and thither in the ether currents.
But Professor Roumann was not one to give up easily. He kept at histask, aided occasionally by Professor Henderson and by the boyswhenever they could do anything.
Finally the German cried out:
"Ah, I have discovered the trouble. It is that scoundrel Axtell! See!"And reaching into the interior of the machine he pulled out a smallmagnet. To it was attached a card, on which was written:
"I told you I would have my revenge!" It was signed with Axtell's name.
"This was the dastardly plot he evolved," said Professor Roumann. "Heslipped this magnet into the equilibrium machine, knowing that in timeit would cause a deflection of the delicate needles, and so shift thecentre of gravity. He must have done this as a last resort, and toprovide for his revenge in case we discovered him on board after westarted. It was a cruel revenge, for had I not discovered it we wouldsoon all be killed."
"Is the machine all right now?" asked Jack.
"It will be in a few minutes. Here, take this magnet and put it as faraway from the engine room as possible."
It was the work of but a few minutes, now that the disturbing elementwas removed, to readjust the gravity machine, and Mr. Roumann called:
"Look out, now, everybody! We're going to turn right side up again!"
As he spoke he turned a small valve wheel. There was a clanging ofheavy ballast weights, which slid down their rods to the proper places.Then, like some great fish turning over in the water, the _Annihilator_turned over in the ether, and was once more on her proper keel, if sucha shaped craft can be said to have a keel.
Of course, the occupants of the space ship went slipping and slidingback, even as they had fallen ceilingward before, but they wereprepared for it, and no one was hurt. From the galley came a chorus ofcries, as pots and pans once more scattered about Washington, but therewas no more soup to spill.
As soon as the _Annihilator_ was righted, the Cardite motor began towork automatically, and once more the projectile, with the seekers ofthe moon, was shooting through space at their former speed. They hadlost considerable distance, but it was easy to make it up.
"Well, that _was_ an experience," remarked Jack, as he and his chumbegan picking up the tools and other objects that were scattered allabout by the change in equilibrium.
"I should say yes," agreed Mark. "I'm glad it didn't happen at dinnertime. That fellow Axtell is a fiend to think of such a thing."
"Indeed, he is! But we're all right now, though it did feel funny to beturned upside down."
An inspection of the projectile was made, but they could discover noparticular damage done. She seemed to be moving along the same asbefore, and, except for the upsetting of things in the store-room, itwould hardly have been known, an hour later, that a dreadful accidentwas narrowly averted.
Washington made more soup, and soon had a fine meal ready, over whichthe travellers discussed their recent experience.
"And when do you think we will arrive?" asked Jack of Mr. Henderson.
"We ought to be at the moon inside of two days now. We have not madequite the speed we calculated on, but that does not matter. I think wewill go even more slowly on the remainder of the trip, as I wish totake some scientific observations."
"Yes, and so do I," added Mr. Roumann. "I think if we make fifteenmiles a second from now on we will be moving fast enough."
Accordingly the Cardite motor was slowed down, and the projectile shotthrough space at slightly reduced speed, while the two scientists madeseveral observations, and did some intricate calculating about etherpressure, the distance of heavenly bodies and other matters of interestonly to themselves.
It was on the afternoon of the third day following the turning turtleof the _Annihilator_ that Mark, who was looking through a telescope inthe pilot-house, called out: "I say, Jack, look here!"
"What's the matter?" asked his chum.
"Why, we're rushing right at the moon! I can see the mountains andcraters on it as plain as though we were but five miles away!"
"Then we must be nearly there," observed Jack. "Let's tell the others,Mark."
They hurried to inform the two professors, who at once left theirtables of figures and entered the steering chamber. Then, after gazingthrough the glass, Mr. Henderson announced: "Friends, we will land onthe moon in half an hour. Get ready."
"Are we really going to be walking around the moon inside of thirtyminutes?" asked Mark.
"I don't know about walking around on it," answered the German. "Wefirst have to see if there is an atmosphere there for us to breathe,and whether the tem
perature is such as we can stand. But theAnnihilator will soon be there."
The speed of the Cardite motor was increased, and so rapidly did theprojectile approach Luna that glasses were no longer needed todistinguish the surface of the moon.
There she floated in space, a great, silent ball, but not like theearth, pleasantly green, with lakes and rivers scattered about inverdant forests. No, for the moon presented a desolate surface to thegaze of the travellers. Great, rugged mountain peaks arose all aboutimmense caverns that seemed hundreds of miles deep. The surface wascracked and seamed, as if by a moonquake. Silence and terribleloneliness seemed to confront them.
"Maybe it's better on some other part of the surface," said Jack, in alow voice.
"Perhaps," agreed Mark. "It's certainly not inviting there."
Nearer and nearer they came to the moon. It no longer looked like agreat sphere, for they were so close that their vision could only takein part of the surface, and it began to flatten out, as the earth doesto a balloonist.
And the nearer they came to it the more rugged, the more terrible, themore desolate did it appear. Would they be able to find a place toland, or would they go hurtling down into some awful crater, or bedashed upon the sharp peak of some mountain of the moon?
It was a momentous question, and anxious were the faces of the twoprofessors.
"Mr. Henderson, if you will undertake to steer to some level place, Iwill take charge of the motor," suggested Mr. Roumann. "I willgradually reduce the speed, and get the repelling machine in readiness,so as to render our landing gentle."
"Very well," responded the aged scientist, as he grasped the steeringwheel.
The progress of the _Annihilator_ was gradually checked. More and moreslowly it approached the moon. The mountains seemed even higher now,and the craters deeper.
"What a terrible place," murmured Jack. "I shouldn't want to livethere."
"Me either," said Mark.
"Can you see a place to land?" called Professor Roumann through thespeaking-tube from the engine room to the steering tower.
"Yes, we seem to be approaching a fairly level plateau," was Mr.Henderson's reply.
"Very well, then, I'll start the repelling machine."
The Cardite motor was stopped. The projectile was now being drawntoward the moon by the gravity force of the dead ball that once hadbeen a world like ours. Slowly and more slowly moved the greatprojectile.
There was a moment of suspense. Mr. Henderson threw over the steeringwheel. The _Annihilator_ moved more slowly. Then came a gentle shock.The dishes in the galley rattled, and there was the clank of machinery.The Shanghai rooster crowed.
"We're on the moon at last!" cried jack, peering from an observationwindow at the rugged surface outside.
"Yes; and now to see what it's like," added Mark. "We'll go outside,and----"
"Wait," cautioned Professor Roumann. "First we must see if we canbreathe on the moon, and whether the temperature will support life. Imust make some tests before we venture out of the projectile."