A Honeymoon in Space
sweeping the surface of Saturn, which was now about a hundred miles
distant. Her husband was doing the same. In fact, for the time being
they were all eyes, for they were looking on a stranger sight than man
or woman had ever seen before.
Underneath the inner cloud-veil the atmosphere of Saturn appeared to
them somewhat as the lower depths of the ocean would appear to a diver,
granted that he was able to see for hundreds of miles about him. Its
colour was a pale greenish yellow. The outside thermometers showed that
the temperature was a hundred and seventy-five Fahrenheit. In fact, the
interior of the _Astronef_ was getting uncomfortably like a Turkish
bath, and Redgrave took the opportunity of at once freshening and
cooling the air by releasing a little oxygen from the cylinders.
From what they could see of the surface of Saturn it seemed to be a dead
level, greyish brown in colour, and not divided into oceans and
continents. In fact there were no signs whatever of water within range
of their telescopes. There was nothing that looked like cities, or any
human habitations, but the ground, as they got nearer to it, seemed to
be covered with a very dense vegetable growth, not unlike gigantic forms
of seaweed, and of somewhat the same colour. In fact, as Zaidie
remarked, the surface of Saturn was not at all unlike what the floors of
the ocean of the Earth might be if they were laid bare.
It was evident that the life of this portion of Saturn was not what, for
want of a more exact word, might be called terrestrial. Its inhabitants,
however they were constituted, floated about in the depths of this
semi-gaseous ocean as the denizens of earthly seas did in the
terrestrial oceans. Already their telescopes enabled them to make out
enormous moving shapes, black and grey-brown and pale red, swimming
about, evidently by their own volition, rising and falling and often
sinking down on to the gigantic vegetation which covered the surface,
possibly for the purpose of feeding. But it was also evident that they
resembled the inhabitants of earthly oceans in another respect, since it
was easy to see that they preyed upon each other.
"I don't like the look of those creatures at all," said Zaidie, when the
_Astronef_ had come to a stop and was floating about ten miles above the
surface. "They're altogether too uncanny. They look to me something like
jelly-fish about the size of whales, only they have eyes and mouths. Did
you ever see such awful-looking eyes, bigger than soup-plates and as
bright as a cat's. I suppose that's because of the dim light. And the
nasty wormy sort of way they swim, or fly, or whatever it is. Lenox, I
don't know what the rest of Saturn may be like, but I certainly don't
like this part. It's quite too creepy and unearthly for my taste. Look
at the horrors fighting and eating each other. That's the only bit of
earthly character they've got about them; the big ones eating the little
ones. I hope they won't take the _Astronef_ for something nice to eat."
"They'd find her a pretty tough morsel if they did," laughed Redgrave,
"but still we may as well get some steering way on her in case of
accident."
CHAPTER XVIII
A few moments later he sent a signal to Murgatroyd in the engine-room.
The propellers began to revolve slowly, beating the dense air and
driving the _Astronef_ at a speed of about twenty miles an hour through
the depths of this strangely peopled ocean.
They approached nearer and nearer to the surface, and as they did so the
uncanny creatures about them grew more and more numerous. They were
certainly the most extraordinary living things that human eyes had ever
looked upon. Zaidie's comparison to the whale and the jelly-fish was by
no means incorrect; only when they got near enough to them they found,
to their astonishment, that they were double-headed--that is to say,
they had a head with a mouth, nostrils, ear-holes, and eyes at each end
of their bodies.
The larger of the creatures appeared to have a certain amount of respect
for each other. Now and then they witnessed a battle-royal between two
of the monsters who were pursuing the same prey. Their method of attack
was as follows: The assailant would rise above his opponent or prey, and
then, dropping on to its back, envelop it and begin tearing at its sides
and under parts with huge beak-like jaws, somewhat resembling those of
the largest kind of the earthly octopus, only infinitely more
formidable. The substance composing their bodies appeared to be not
unlike that of a terrestrial jelly-fish, but much denser. It seemed from
their motions to have the tenacity of soft indiarubber save at the
headed ends, where it was much harder. The necks were protected for
about fifty feet by huge scales of a dull, greenish hue.
When one of them had overpowered an enemy or a victim the two sank down
into the vegetation, and the victor began to eat the vanquished. Their
means of locomotion consisted of huge fins, or rather half-fins,
half-wings, of which they had three laterally arranged behind each head,
and four much longer and narrower, above and below, which seemed to be
used mainly for steering purposes.
They moved with equal ease in either direction, and they appeared to
rise or fall by inflating or deflating the middle portions of their
bodies, somewhat as fish do with their swimming bladders.
The light in the lower regions of this strange ocean was dimmer than
earthly twilight, although the _Astronef_ was steadily making her way
beneath the arch of the rings towards the sunlit hemisphere.
"I wonder what the effect of the searchlight would be on these fellows!"
said Redgrave. "Those huge eyes of theirs are evidently only suited to
dim light. Let's try and dazzle some of them."
"I hope it won't be a case of the moths and the candle!" said Zaidie.
"They don't seem to have taken much interest in us so far. Perhaps they
haven't been able to see properly, but suppose they were attracted by
the light and began crowding round us and fastening on to us, as the
horrible things do with each other. What should we do then? They might
drag us down and perhaps keep us there; but there's one thing, they'd
never eat us, because we could keep closed up and die respectably
together."
"Not much fear of that, little woman," he said, "we're too strong for
them. Hardened steel and toughened glass ought to be more than a match
for a lot of exaggerated jelly-fish like these," said Redgrave, as he
switched on the head searchlight. "We've come here to see strange things
and we may as well see them. Ah, would you, my friend. No, this is not
one of your sort, and it isn't meant to eat."
An enormous double-headed monster, apparently some four hundred feet
long, came floating towards them as the searchlight flashed out, and
others began instantly to crowd about them, just as Zaidie had feared.
"Lenox, for Heaven's sake be careful!" cried Zaidie, shrinking up beside
him as the huge, hideous head, with its saucer eyes and enormous
beak-like jaws wide open, came towards them. "And look! there are more
coming. Can't we go up and get away from them?"
"Wait a minute, little woman," replied Redgrave, who was beginning to
feel the passion of adventure thrilling along his nerves. "If we fought
the Martian air fleet and licked it I think we can manage these things.
Let's see how he likes the light."
As he spoke he flashed the full glare of the five thousand candle-power
lamp full on to the creature's great cat-like eyes. Instantly it bent
itself up into an arc. The two heads, each the exact image of the other,
came together. The four eyes glared half-dazzled into the conning-tower,
and the four fearful jaws snapped viciously together.
"Lenox, Lenox, for goodness' sake let us go up!" cried Zaidie, shrinking
still closer to him. "That thing's too horrible to look at."
"It is a beast, isn't it?" he said; "but I think we can cut him in two
without much trouble."
He signalled for full speed. The _Astronef_ ought to have sprung forward
and driven her ram through the huge, brick-red body of the hideous
creature which was now only a couple of hundred yards from them; but
instead of that a slow, jarring, grinding thrill seemed to run through
her, and she stopped. The next moment Murgatroyd put his head up through
the companion-way which led from the upper deck to the conning-tower,
and said, in a tone whose calm indicated, as usual, resignation to the
worst that could happen:
"My Lord, two of those beasts, fishes or live balloons, or whatever they
are, have come across the propellers. They're cut up a good bit, but
I've had to stop the engines, and they're clinging all round the after
part. We're going down, too. Shall I disconnect the propellers and turn
on the repulsion?"
"Yes, certainly, Andrew!" cried Zaidie, "and all of it, too. Look,
Lenox, that horrible thing is coming. Suppose it broke the glass, and we
couldn't breathe this atmosphere!"
As she spoke the enormous, double-headed body advanced until it
completely enveloped the forward part of the _Astronef_. The two hideous
heads came close to the sides of the conning-tower; the huge, palely
luminous eyes looked in upon them. Zaidie, in her terror, even thought
that she saw something like human curiosity in them.
Then, as Murgatroyd disappeared to obey the orders which Redgrave had
sanctioned with a quick nod, the heads approached still closer, and she
heard the ends of the pointed jaws, which she now saw were armed with
shark-like teeth, striking against the thick glass walls of the
conning-tower.
"Don't be frightened, dear!" he said, putting his arm round her, just as
he had done when they thought they were falling into the fiery seas of
Jupiter. "You'll see something happen to this gentleman soon. Big and
all as he is there won't be much left of him in a few minutes. They are
like those monsters they found in the lowest depths of our own seas.
They can only live under tremendous pressure. That's why we didn't find
any of them up above. This chap'll burst like a bubble presently.
Meanwhile, there's no use in stopping here. Suppose you go below and
brew some coffee and bring it up on deck while I go and see how things
are looking aft. It doesn't do you any good, you know, to be looking at
monsters of this sort. You can see what's left of them later on. You
might bring the cognac decanter up too."
Zaidie was not at all sorry to obey him, for the horrible sight had
almost sickened her.
They were still under the arch of the rings, and so, when the full
strength of the R. Force was directed against the body of Saturn, the
vessel sprang upwards like a projectile fired from a cannon.
Redgrave went back into the conning-tower to see what happened to their
assailant. It was already trying to detach itself and sink back into a
more congenial element. As the pressure of the atmosphere decreased its
huge body swelled up into still huger proportions. The scaly skin on the
two heads and necks puffed up as though air was being pumped in under
it. The great eyes protruded out of their sockets; the jaws opened
widely as though the creature were gasping for breath.
Meanwhile Murgatroyd was seeing something very similar at the after end,
and wondering what was going to happen to his propellers, the blades of
which were deeply imbedded in the jelly-like flesh of the monsters.
The _Astronef_ leaped higher and higher, and the hideous bodies which
were clinging to her swelled out huger and huger. Redgrave even fancied
that he heard something like the cries of pain from both heads on either
side of the conning-tower. They passed through the inner cloud-veil, and