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Title: The last woman
Author: Thomas D. Gardner
Release date: September 29, 2026 [eBook #79678]
Language: English
Original publication: New York, NY: Stellar Publishing Corporation, 1932
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/79678
Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST WOMAN ***
THE LAST WOMAN
By Thomas D. Gardner
_Illustration by Paul_
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Wonder Stories April 1932.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
* * * * *
[Illustration: THOMAS D. GARDNER]
_Despite its title, this story is not calculated to appeal
especially to our feminine readers. For it is a red-blooded story,
and a bizarre one; yet it deals with events that are well within
the limits of probability._
_The understanding of how our sex glands function, and their effect
upon us is just beginning to be understood. When we finally do
understand, certainly a new era will dawn in the history of the
race._
_Some men already predict that women will eventually rule the
world, and they will at least make the attempt to overthrow
masculine domination. But suppose they lose, and man holds
undisputed sway, with but one woman left. Will men idolize her;
will they fight over her like wild beasts; or will they enslave
her? The answer that our author gives is much different than you
will think. This is a distinctly original story, and deals with an
absorbing idea._
* * * * *
Through the long lonely days the Last Woman reclined on a couch and
watched the dribbling throng of Intelligences pass.
From where she was she could see the tall towers and skyscrapers of
the largest city on Earth. She knew it only as Nuk. Twenty thousand
years ago its people had called it New York, but that had been in the
Golden Age when there were two sexes. Through the graceful colonnades
that once had been called Grecian, the Last Woman saw a silver
torpedo-shaped vessel leap into the empyrean blue with ever increasing
acceleration.
Almost immediately it was a silver speck, a dot in the infinite
and then it was gone. She knew that in it were men of Earth on the
Interplanetary Patrol. Before they returned they would see the cloudy
sky of Venus, the blazing deserts of Mars and perhaps the Mining
Companies on the cold dead Moon. Her heart swelled with envy, but those
adventures could never be for her. She was an anachronism.
A sudden gust of hate swept over her and turning suddenly she looked
out the other side. But here she saw the tall spires of the Natural
Science Laboratories, which were more distasteful to her than ever.
Idly she let her gaze rove over the hurrying crowds in the street
below. Some always turned into the archway and approached her dais, for
her fame had traveled to the farthest point of the solar system.
The Last Woman wrinkled her nose in disgust at the group that
approached her now. The varying types of the planets were well
represented. Only the metal men were absent. They never came. With
their electrical brains and metal bodies came a cold disdain of
anything that harped of the foolish, sentimental past that poets were
wont to call the Golden Age.
In this group were several of the seven-foot lizard men of Mars with
their big brain cases and darting eyes that saw everything. They
laughed and passed comments on the Last Woman. Her face flushed at
their cold merciless humor. She to them was another animal of Earth to
be examined and discussed. The Last Woman felt sorry for the Venusians
with their four-foot ant-like bodies. They seldom if ever spoke, but
merely looked at her. She couldn't help but feel that they were sorry
for her, that they disapproved of the Earthmen exhibiting her as if she
were an animal.
[Illustration: They laughed and passed comments on the Last Woman. Her
face flushed under their cold merciless humor. She was to them another
animal of earth.]
Ah! the Earthmen. The Last Woman hated them. They had no sympathy for
her. They were gods and she--a woman. She represented to them all that
they had fought and destroyed in the past and so had reached the mighty
pinnacle of knowledge and power that was theirs--lords of the solar
system.
As this group approached the railing that separated her from the
observers she saw that it was a class from the University. The
Professor in charge was Historian Z11. Of all things on earth that the
Last Woman hated most it was this man. He took especial delight in
recounting each time he brought his class to see the anachronism the
history of the Science Civilization and of her. Historian Z11 smiled a
cold greeting, turned and faced his class to begin his lecture.
"It all began back in the so-called Twentieth Century," Historian
Z11 began. "Henry Zeeman, now known as Biochemist G4, was attending
Columbia University in the ancient city of New York. You will probably
wonder at the peculiar nomenclature of the people of that time. It
was a relic of the Dark Ages in which the names denoted occupations,
paternity, and sometimes ownership. Zeeman was considered peculiar by
the young men of his time because of his dislike for girls. Pardon me,
fellow scientists, but the word 'girls' was used to denote adolescent
females. Whenever Zeeman was questioned on the subject he admitted that
he did not necessarily dislike girls but that the time wasted in their
company could be used to much better advantage in experiment in the
laboratory. He defended this point of view vigorously.
"Now contrary to many of the medical men of his day Zeeman was not
abnormal. He was as much alive and healthy as any young man of his
time. But Zeeman was possessed of a driving desire to know. In order
to eliminate emotion from his life altogether Zeeman experimented with
different chemicals and nearly wrecked his health in doing so. Some
would repress emotion to a certain extent, as the nitrates, but in
doing so would affect the nervous system.
"Zeeman had just about given up hope of achieving his purpose when he
ran across an account of the isolation of the four sex hormones--we
know now that there are nine--by several scientists. This was the first
ray of hope that Zeeman had received. He was then twenty-two years old.
Two years later he found an account of the chemical synthesis of these
hormones.
"Zeeman analyzed the problem this way. If emotion and the libido were
caused by these hormones what would be the effect of destroying them in
the body as soon as formed? Would the secondary sex characteristics be
affected? We know now that the secondary sex characteristics were not
the result of the hormones then found."
"If they had been the result of those four all mankind on Earth would
be neuter rather than intensely masculine. Ha! Ha!" a Martian boomed.
"I can imagine a thin-chested neuter on the Interplanetary Patrol.
Awrrk!"
* * * * *
"I think that we Earthmen can take care of ourselves." Historian Z11
continued as he flexed the muscles on his mighty arms and continued
in a rippling roll of muscle over his chest. "It was in his last year
at Columbia while working on his research problem for his Doctor's
degree that he discovered the compound we call the Elixir. As you know
the Elixir was a fabled liquid that would renew youth. This compound
made men into gods and in the Council seven thousand years ago it was
decided that the name Elixir be chosen as a permanent name instead of
the chemical one used until then.
"In a concentration of a millionth molarity one drop sufficed to break
up the four sex hormones during a period of six months. The compound
acted as a catalyst and itself was not used up. The dose was injected
directly into the blood stream. Success was his at last. The next thing
to do was to convince the world. Within five years over a hundred of
Earth's foremost Scientists were using the compound regularly.
"All the energies that had been turned toward sex and the emotional
side of life were released for thought and work. Every branch of
science advanced and the scientists began to control the money and
power resources of the Earth. The Moon was explored and its rich
mineral deposits worked. Fellow scientists, that was the first step
toward our Science Civilization."
"You mentioned the exploration of your Moon, Historian Z11, what type
of space vessel was used? No space vessels reached Venus until the
fortieth century." The shrill voice of a Venusian piped.
"Well may you ask, Venusian. I have ever noticed that you have given
very close attention to my lectures and I freely predict a glorious
future for you. The ancients used crude rocket propulsion with
molecular energy motors. In the Museum you may still see the first
vessel that reached the Moon. I shall request Physicist S178 to explain
it to you.
"But I digress. The second step came twenty years after the discovery
of the compound we call Elixir. Surgeon N3 found a method of forcing
nerve cells to heal quickly and join one end of a severed cell to the
end of another severed cell and grow together. Can you realize what
that meant? Previously men grew old and died. Their life work was cut
short and someone else had to take it up.
"But with the great advance of antiseptics and surgery the discovery
of Surgeon N3 enabled the brain of a great Scientist to be placed in
the body of another man and he could carry on his work. This was done
secretly for over two hundred years. The Scientists formed a coalition
and began their plans to rule the world. That was the second step."
"Did not anyone ever suspect what the Scientists were doing?" a Martian
asked.
"Yes, several did. But they mysteriously disappeared. An empire cannot
be built on the fabled 'Milk of human kindness.'"
"Where did the metal men enter history?" a Venusian inquired.
"That would take us too far off our lecture, but in passing I will
add that Physicist S245 made the first electrical brain. The metal
men were a great help in the war of the sexes. But I am anticipating.
From your courses in Biology and Heredity you know that in Earthmen
the determinant of sex is the XX and XY chromosomes in the sperm. The
former fertilizing an ovum gives a female and the latter a male. After
the twenty-seventh century, Scientists awoke to the fact that there was
not room for the normal and subnormal men and the conflict between the
sexes had reached a point that women were feminizing civilization to
such an extent that the variability in the male had almost ceased.
"Since all progress has been due to the variability and mutation of the
sperm, the race was in danger. The first Council of the science empire
was called. They decided that Woman must go. They based their decision
on the fact that the female bred truest to type and held the primitive
characteristics longer than the male and that she reverted to the
primitive type the quicker.
"The way was open because Biochemist G67 had synthesized artificial ova
over fifty years before. The plan was to use a fixed ovum as a base and
let all variability lie in the sperm. By selecting the type of sperm
desired only males could be produced. These fertilized eggs could be
raised in incubators. There could be no turning back. There were two
million Scientists and over five hundred thousand metal men. Atomic
Physicist SQ132 had developed the heat ray twelve years before. In
thirty-four days of battle every woman, child, and man other than the
Scientists died. At last Science had triumphed. Thus in the year 2794
A. D. the Science Empire was born."
"What did A. D. mean?" inquired a Venusian.
"Pardon me, I had forgotten. A. D. was the abbreviation of two words
_Anno Domini_. They referred to the supposed birth of one of the gods
in one of the primitive religions, just which one I am not sure since
several claimed the Earth-born god as their own."
"If all of the women were killed and the inferior men were also killed,
how did this woman come to be?" inquired a Martian.
The Professor of History smiled a cold smile. There was mirth in it--of
a sort. He glanced at the reclining figure on the dais and smiled again.
"This woman! Why she is an accident. An XX sperm slipped by the
examination board. After the birth of the infant the Scientists decided
to let it live and exhibit to the varying types of life what primitive
man thought most desirable."
An Explorer Returns
A ripple of mirth swept the class. The woman flushed a dull red. Her
violet eyes blazed hate at the Historian. The Historian smiled with
the cold assurance of a great race examining a primitive savage.
He knew that this was an old story to her. That she had been well
educated. There was a great deal of cruelty in these supermen.
Historian Z11 took it out on the Last Woman.
The sun was sinking, long black shadows crept across the floor.
Suddenly an orange beacon blazed far across the city. Night was coming
and this mighty city was preparing to continue its work. Only the Last
Woman felt depressed. The night suggested death and the Last Woman was
the only one on that Planet who was fore-doomed to die without a single
helping hand. Her brain would not be transferred.
The class turned to go. It was almost time for their class in Matrix
Calculus. A single Martian lingered looking at the woman.
"Anachronism!" he hissed.
Martians were like that.
The woman rose wearily from her couch. The robot had come for her. The
little metal car driven by atomic energy awaited. The woman entered
and was whisked away. The night wind whistled through the deserted
building. The last rays of the dying sun fell full on a statue in one
corner of the building. It was a statue of Niobe--a relic of ancient
Greece. The statue seemed to be weeping. Was she weeping for the Last
Woman? No one could tell.
* * * * *
The patrol ship IPPP56 was returning to earth with Explorer X12 who had
been wrecked on the asteroid Ceres for six earth months. The Commander
V15 was well pleased. He had searched for months for the Explorer X12.
Several months ago a black derelict came hurtling through space along
his patrol route. On examination the derelict had turned out to be
the missing explorer's space ship. A great meteor had torn completely
through the stern wrecking the atomic motors and letting his precious
atmosphere out into space.
There was no sign of his crew of Martians. After carefully plotting the
course of the derelict it was found that it had come from the asteroid
belt. So the patrol ship had set out in hopes of solving the mystery.
Twelve days before a flickering violet beam had been observed on Ceres.
On investigation the lost explorer had been picked up. They had lived
on the raw products of the giant fern vegetation of that planetoid. But
this is not a chronicle of the hardships that they had gone through. It
is sufficient to note that they were rescued.
Explorer X12 stood before a quartz window looking out at the blackness
of space. A few stars shone like diamond dust on black velvet. The
Commander entered the room and touched the explorer on the shoulder.
"Quite a change from the barren sky of Ceres, eh!" he said quietly.
"You were very lucky in preserving a violet light. You have had an
interesting adventure. The Scientists of the Council will be interested
in your story."
The explorer shrank back, his eyes wide open in fear, and his face pale.
"No!" he cried.
"What's the matter?"
"I don't know. You know of course that I ran out of Elixir."
"What! Man do you realize that your body has become accustomed to it.
What will the result be? Here, take a shot now."
Sudden fear shook the explorer in a palsy.
"I tried to. The first injection made me very sick. My body won't stand
it. I tell you I won't. I won't."
The Commander spoke slowly. "Come, you must brace up. Without Elixir
you will become an atavist. The first since the beginning of the
empire. The Council will condemn you to death. Do you want to become a
savage?"
The Explorer shuddered. Beads of perspiration broke out on his forehead.
"I can't now," he mumbled.
"Very well, but if you do not come out of this attack of protoplasmic
insanity I will have to report you to the Council." So saying this he
turned and left the room.
The space ship plunged on.
The Last Woman was before the Council--that body of the solar
system's greatest Scientists. Earthmen, Venusians, Martians, all
were represented here. At the head was the greatest brain on the
planet--Metal Man 89. He was the sole representative of that machine
civilization. The Council was tired of the Last Woman's attempt to take
a hand in interplanetary affairs. They had just warned her that if she
persisted the sentence of death would be passed on her.
Proudly she stood and looked the Council over, but it was the look of
a hunted beast. They were her superiors in every way and she knew it.
Slowly she turned and passed from the Council Chamber. As she left
Explorer X12 came in. Both stopped. What was this that stirred in the
breasts of both. Could it be that for the first time in over nineteen
thousand years love flamed? The explorer sucked in his breath. He was a
young man and still inhabited the body he was born with. The Last Woman
smiled and passed on.
* * * * *
The Council gave the explorer over to the Scientists to cure within
six months. He was temporarily classed as an atavist and a great deal
of interest was shown in his peculiar case. Why the man had actually
developed emotions. How primeval!
The Last Woman looked into the long mirror in her private rooms that
night and smiled. She was a beautiful woman from the viewpoint of
twenty thousand years ago. Well formed with golden hair, violet eyes,
cream complexion and with the grace of a gazelle. Suddenly she laughed,
for the first time in her life she had an interest in life and the
world. She was in love. If Psychologist M09 had seen her he would have
immediately diagnosed it that way. Why should I go against his opinion.
He should know, having delved deep into the nervous reactions of the
lower animals and the simians. A light footfall fell on her ears. She
turned with an exclamation for no one was allowed in her rooms. Only
the robots and they did not count. The explorer stood in the doorway
and held out his arms. The Last Woman needed no second invitation.
"It is death to be found here. You must go at once," the Last Woman
whispered hurriedly.
"It is death anyway. I have gone back to the past. I have spent the
evening in studying the old books in the library that described love
and life. I love you. I can't help it. What can I do?" The man's voice
was broken and his giant frame shook as with an ague.
"I thought you were under observation in the Medical Ward?"
"Yes, but I slipped out."
A gong rang loudly. The man gave a guilty start and started for the
door.
"Look for me tomorrow night." His last agonized whisper floated back
and he was gone.
The next day passed quickly. The Last Woman seemed to live in a dream
world. But as soon as she opened her eyes the spell was broken. A
shudder of horror shook her frame when she contemplated the gigantic
civilization she was trying to outwit. Part of the day she was in
the laboratory of Comparative Anatomy. Here her body was contrasted
with the females of the simians. Disgust claimed her as she heard the
Professor point out similarities between her beautiful form and the
shaggy anthropoids.
Explorer X12 worked feverishly in the great library catalog turning
card after card, searching, unceasingly searching. There was a chance
of winning to freedom since he had heard that morning of the completed
exploring vessels that were to take off for Alpha Centauri. Would he
never find it? Ah! Here it was, "Methods of Life, Psychology, and Mores
of the Primitive Savages Inhabiting Earth Prior to the Scientific
Empire." The reference was to the great mass of books, most of which
were worthless, in the building reserved for the pre-scientific period.
The worst fears of Psychologist M06 were being realized--the explorer
was going primitive. Already a hunted look had come into his eyes,
his attitude suggested stealth, and he trembled as he searched among
the millions of books that were indexed in the library. Selecting
several of the most pertinent books in regard to existence in a
primitive environment without all the modern appliances of the Science
Civilization, Explorer X12 left the building. But what was that? A Man!
Only Psychologist M06 who shook his head at the unreasoning attitude of
the explorer.
A flaming sun sank behind the tall buildings of the most wonderful
civilization the solar system had ever developed. Long purple shadows
chased one another along the pavement, an orange beacon rose from the
southern part of the city, while a man slunk furtively toward the
gigantic building that housed the Last Woman.
The Last Woman[1] watched the door in eager expectancy, for had not
Explorer X12 said that he would return? Ah! There were his footsteps.
The next moment she was in his arms sobbing with relief--for she was
just a woman although highly civilized. The man was incoherent with joy
and whispered rapidly.
[Footnote 1: Those who read this manuscript will wonder why the
Last Woman did not have a number. There was no place in the Science
Civilization for a woman. She was called simply the Last Woman.]
"There is a chance that we can get away. Do you remember the expedition
that was to start to Alpha Centauri? The cruisers have been completed
and all equipment has been placed aboard. We can slip away in one of
the cruisers. They are the fastest ships in the solar system."
"Where could we go--there is no place in the solar system we can
hide. Don't you see that if we escape it is a blow at the Science
Civilization? There have been no mistakes or failures since the
beginning nineteen thousand years ago. That is why the Earthmen rule.
Where could we go?" The woman's attitude suggested dejection.
"They are going to Alpha Centauri, we will go to Polaris many light
years away."
"We will grow old and die before we get there. We cannot renew our
bodies or transfer our brains." And the woman began to sob.
A Desperate Gamble
The man laughed and then explained the relativity of time and space.
How it would take many years to reach Polaris but to the occupants of
the car it would seem as if it were only a few months. He told how the
cruiser would approach the velocity of light and how their relative
lengths and time would be altered.
A televisor disk clouded and the two whirled in fear. A mechanical
voice droned. "The completed expedition for exploring interstellar
space will leave day after tomorrow. The latest telephotos will be
broadcasted at once." The disk became rose, then shot with whirling
streamers of red, then abruptly cleared.
The scene that was presented lay in upper Nuk. Back of the foreground
could be seen the tall buildings of the city. In a little cleared space
lay six great cruisers. They were not spectacular but efficient and
deadly. A little over two hundred feet in length, torpedo-shaped, and
driven by electronic rockets.[2]
[Footnote 2: Within the atom the laws of thermodynamics do not apply.
Instead of the conservation of energy one has the conservation of
momentum. The propulsive power was complex but very efficient. The
electrons within the atom were ejected with a very high velocity, their
wavelength approaching short gamma radiation. The atoms were made
artificially radioactive by altering the nature of space about the
nucleus.
The quantum repulsive factor of the positive charge coming into phase
with the electron wave caused the ejection. The leaving electron with
its mass multiplied 10^{24} times gave a tremendous shove to the atom
which was communicated to the vessel. The electron was revolved into
hyper-space and its vector sign changed, then back into the present
four-dimensional continuum thus giving a second momentum to the cruiser
propulsive unit.
The electrons then became free electrons with a longer wavelength
having given up a greater part of their energy. The loss in mass of the
electron and protons furnishing the energy. (If this seems far-fetched,
remember that modern quantum theory is even more so, and the increase
of mass, wavelength of electrons, and protons, the radioactivity of
matter as due to being in phase with the bound electrons, and the
repulsive force or quantum number are well known today by atomic
physicists.)]
The voice broke in again. "The vessel is fully provisioned for a period
of ten years and is armed with high-powered automatic rifles for
reducing cities, with ultra-violet and heat rays, the electron guns,
besides poison gases and high explosive bombs. The crews are picked
so as to represent all the inhabited planets. It is the hope of the
Council to extend the sway of the Science Civilization over the galaxy.
Within two thousand years the Physicists who are investigating the
fifth and sixth dimensions promise a means of propulsion and velocity
attainment greater than the velocity of light."
There followed a detailed survey of the interior of the cruisers. On
all the planets only two followed the televisor views with fear and
trepidation. What luck! The controls of the ship were of the standard
type used on the interplanetary vessels.
"Have you any weapons?" The Last Woman asked the explorer.
"Only an automatic and a flame pistol. If we can get one of those
cruisers and get started out of the atmosphere they can never catch us.
I'll be here tomorrow night two hours after the orange beacon comes on.
Be ready."
The Last Woman was still fearful. "Won't they signal Mars to stop us?
Oh we can't! We can't!"
But the explorer was reared in a different school. He did not forget
that he was once a superman.
"By the time we reach Mars we will be a thin disc due to our velocity.
They can never locate us. We will make it, never fear."
"Tomorrow!" breathed the woman.
Robots labored deep beneath the cities tending great machines that
steadily turned out the machinery to supply the Earth. The expedition's
crew came in from Venus and Mars. The Martians laughing and talking,
taking it all as a rare experience; the Venusians silent as ever going
about their work efficiently. One of the Metal Men was to head the
party. Many years would pass before they would return to Earth. What
would they find in the system of Alpha Centauri. The explorer and the
Last Woman anxiously watched the sun traverse its slow path across the
sky. Would night never come?
* * * * *
At last night fell and the sun set in a sea of crimson. The explorer
was murmuring prayers that he had read in the ancient books, Explorer
X12 had indeed gone backward. The atavist's mind was a blur of
conflicting emotions, his intellect clouded, fear struggled with hope.
Under his tunic he had hidden the powerful automatic and two belts of
clips besides his flame pistol with extra charges.
If he had been caught with these arms his life would have been
forfeited, especially since he was supposed to be taking treatment for
his mental ailment. Lights blazed from the pinnacles of towers, the
hum of the mighty city became a lulling rhythm, official and private
sky cars flashed and dipped, the night life had begun. Life was now
concentrated in the great laboratories under arc lights that made each
corner blaze. There was no rest in Nuk. There was activity everywhere
and then more activity--that is how the Earthman ruled.
The explorer crept from the steel skyscraper's emergency exit and
hurried to meet his mate. The Last Woman was waiting. There was little
that she could take since speed was necessary. Explorer X12 entered
silently--the robots must not be disturbed.
"We must go. I have worked out a route underneath the city. We will
take a tube car from the Central Station to North Ward 8 and then
pass through the Dissecting Rooms, since they will be deserted at
this hour, and then it is only a short distance to the cruisers. Only
a perfunctory guard will be kept as they think that no one will be
interested in the cruisers now. Come!" So saying the man picked up the
pitifully small bundle of personal effects of the Last Woman.
The automatic elevator carried them silently to the eighth level
beneath the street. Here wide corridors led to other buildings. The
walls were lined with pipes and conduits, the man carried the flame
pistol in his hand, the throb, throb of the machines kept the walls
gently vibrating, hot air swirled around the two, and a feeling
of power gigantic filled their hearts. Televisor disks whirled at
interesting corridors. Were they being checked? Evidently not for no
alarm was given.
Two more corners to go and then the Central Tube Station. A robot moved
ponderously from a branching corridor. Its crystal eyes gleamed as it
saw the two, but before it could give warning the flame pistol shot a
violet-blue flame that cut the metal body almost in two. They went on.
A tube car came to their signal and Explorer X12 hurriedly pushed the
Last Woman in and closed the door.
The car moved off slowly until it entered the tube then shot ahead
with terrific velocity, then it slowed at the station of North Ward 8.
Here was the first big test--could they enter the corridors leading to
the Dissecting Laboratories unseen? How they managed it the two never
understood but at last they were hurrying down the dimly lighted way.
The explorer whispered.
"We must pass through this chamber." Slowly he opened the door and
apparently seeing no one entered. A gigantic Martian far across the
long room glanced up from a specimen that he was examining, and then in
long leaps came rushing toward them. The automatic spat once, a beady
eye became a bloody hole, and the body crashed to the floor. They must
hurry. A noise, a suggestion of a sound, they whirled, there in the
door stood a Venusian with levelled heat ray.
Defeat! The woman sobbed as overwhelming despair swept over her.
The Venusian regarded them silently, lowered his ray, turned and
disappeared. The Venusians were sympathetic.
At last the cruisers lay before them gleaming in the starlight. How
peaceful everything looked--then a wandering beam of light outlined
them clearly. The city awoke with a roar, lights flashed, gongs rang,
and guards broke from the entrance to the field and ran toward the
two. The explorer seized the hand of the Last Woman and ran toward the
lighted opening in the cruiser that lay a scant two hundred feet from
them.
A flash struck the ground by them sending up a spout of dirt and
stones. They were almost there. A red beam flashed by the running pair,
it struck the polished wall of beryllium of the cruiser and glanced
harmlessly off into space. They reached the portal, lunged through and
the man had closed the lock. Now came the big test. The explorer must
get away from the Earth--already other ships were being manned and the
alarm sent out to the Interplanetary Patrol.
"This way to the controls! We must get there." Said the man as he ran
toward the bow of the vessel. The control room was reached--but how
among the myriad controls, buttons, and switches could the man find the
right ones.
His training as a superman came to his aid. He snapped over the main
power switch and the gigantic dynamos that furnished current for the
powerful fields of force leaped into activity. They whined like hungry
dogs and settled to a steady roar. Viciously he jabbed at the gravity
equalizers, turned on two propulsion units--more would raise the shell
to incandescence in the earth's heavy atmosphere.
"Why are you heading north instead of out into space?" The Last Woman
inquired.
The man laughed gleefully and said:
"They will be expecting that and will concentrate the Patrol above
Nuk. We will fool them." But he was forgetting that he was no longer a
superman but a primitive while they were trying to outwit brains that
had never been defeated.
* * * * *
Soon the frozen plains of the north lay beneath them. Their velocity
was over two thousand miles per hour at an altitude of sixty thousand
feet. The Aurora hung like a curtain before them; green and red
streamers signalizing success or defeat.
On their televisor disks appeared a dozen dots that swiftly grew into
long ships of the Interplanetary Patrol. The Last Woman screamed and
the man groaned. A cold hard voice spoke from a receiver.
"Return to Nuk at once. You are surrounded. Fools!"
The man seemed to go insane and screamed like a wild animal.
"You'll never take us back!" He pushed the ray controls madly. Five
blinding beams leaped out, two red, two violet, and one the ionizing
beam of a cathode ray. Three ships were caught in this wholly
unexpected attack. For who would dare to defy the Patrol!
One of the red beams met a vessel head on, it leaped into blinding,
coruscating incandescence, melted and disappeared. A violet beam swept
over a ship, it continued its plunge toward the Earth that lay like a
cradle of protecting white beneath them. The cathode ray caressed a
ship and that ship was no more. Those electrons driven at almost the
speed of light broke down the electrical field of the nucleus of the
atoms and the whole ship exploded as the nucleus disintegrated with
violence.
The explorer shouted in joy--but too soon. A brilliant plane of light
flashed from the flagship of the Patrol, and the captured vessel,
neatly cut in two, started on its long swift plunge toward the ground.
The Earth rocketed toward them as the man seized the woman in his
arms and leaped toward the emergency cylinders. Entering he hastily
slammed the door and cast off--but too late--his speed was terrific and
the cylinder struck the snow field and plunged far down into the icy
blanket. Oblivion swept over the two. The Aurora shimmered and blazed
in the cold heavens and seemed to chuckle.
The Council Room was still. The greatest case of insubordination that
had ever arisen in the solar system's great civilizations was being
tried. The atavist was a pathetic broken figure, the Last Woman alone
defiant. All the evidence had been heard and the Head of the Council,
Metal Man 89 gave the verdict that will go down into History as the
policy of the Science Civilization. His cold, motionless voice brought
shivers to the condemned.
"Over nineteen thousand years ago we, the Scientists of the Earth,
decided that for the good of Civilization and the progress of the race
that there should be only one sex--male. Putting all our energies to
the task of building this Civilization we succeeded beyond our wildest
dreams. We rule the solar system and soon will rule the galaxy. You
represent that influence that for ages dragged mankind back to the
primeval slime out of which he had struggled.
"You even dared to light the beacon of Love in a Civilization that
overthrew its reign that had enwrapped the world in its coils like the
octopus does its prey. Bitterly do we regret allowing the Last Woman to
live, for it has deprived us of a good man--Explorer X12. He could have
been cured had not the chance to slip backward presented itself. Never
again shall we allow or give an anachronism or an atavist a chance to
live. They must die even as we the Supreme Council of the solar system
condemn you to death by the flame."
No sound was heard for several seconds as the Metal Man ceased
speaking. The man was calm now. He raised his head and looked long at
the tier on tier of gathered Intelligences. Did he sigh for his lost
position? Rising slowly he took the hand of the Last Woman and walked
slowly by the seated Councilors toward the metal door that led into
the chamber of flame. Reaching the door he turned and looked back. The
rays of the sun lit up the crystal emblazoned chamber with an ethereal
beauty. The Last Woman was stunned--she couldn't believe it yet.
The two passed through and found themselves in a small metal walled
room with no exit. Explorer X12 turned to clasp the woman in his
arms--but even as he turned the room leaped into brilliant flames.
When they ceased an instant afterward only two little conical piles of
ash were all that remained of the Last Woman and the Explorer--those
who had dared to love. An exhaust fan started to whir with a subdued
murmur. The two piles of ash rose up toward the ceiling, met,
coalesced, and as one passed through the vent. United at last.
Outside a Martian laughed.
THE END.
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