/>

The airship finally came to a hovering stop, then dropped rapidly toward

the salt-encrusted plain. It came to rest at last on the bottom of a

great, bowl-shaped hollow situated at the end of a chasm whose gray,

rock-strewn sides rose in rugged terraces for miles back into the sky.

In a few moments a panel in the vessel's side rolled noiselessly upward,

disclosing a brilliant light, and from the interior of the airship soon

appeared two figures who paused at the aperture and gazed out over the

parched earth. Then without fear or visible effort--although they were

seventy-five feet above the ground--they emerged from the ship and

floated down to earth.



These two humans--the sole survivors of all earth's children--were man

and wife--Omega and Thalma. They were burned a deep cherry by the fierce

rays of the sun. In stature they were above the average man now on

earth. Their legs were slender and almost fleshless, because for many

centuries man had ceased to walk. Their feet were mere toeless

protuberances attached to the ankle bone. Their arms were long and as

spare as their legs, but their hands, although small, were

well-proportioned and powerful. Their abdominal regions were very small,

but above them were enormous chests sheltering lungs of tremendous

power, for thus nature had armored man against the rarefaction of the

earth's atmosphere. But the most remarkable parts about this truly

remarkable couple were there massive heads set upon short, slim necks.

The cranial development was extraordinary, their bulging foreheads

denoting great brain power. Their eyes--set wide apart--were large and

round, dark and luminous with intelligence and their ears were

remarkably large, being attuned to all the music and voices of life.

While their nostrils were large and dilated, their mouths were very

small, though sensuous and full-lipped. They were entirely hairless--for

even the eyebrows and the eyelashes of man had entirely disappeared ages

before. And when they smiled they betrayed no gleam of teeth, for nature

had long discarded teeth in man's evolution.



The great, silver ship of the sky now rested in a deep pocket on the

floor of an ancient sea. Millions of years, under the sucking energy of

the sun and the whip of many winds, had sapped its waters, until only a

shallow, brackish lake remained. Along the shores of this lake, which

covered scarcely more than a hundred acres, a rim of yellowish, green

grass followed the water's edge and struggled against the inevitable,

and here and there among the grasses flowers of faded colors and

attenuated foliage reared their heads bravely in the burning sunshine.

And this lone lake, nestled in the lowest spot among the mountains and

valleys which once floored the Pacific, now held the last of earth's

waters. Barren and lifeless the rest of the world baked under a

merciless sun.



* * * * *



Now clasping hands, like children at play, Omega and Thalma approached

the lake. They glided over the ground, merely touching their feet to the

highest points, and finally stopped with their feet in the warm, still

water.



Omega ran his cupped hand through the water, then drank eagerly.



"It is good," he said in a low, musical voice. "And there is much of it.

Here we may live a long time."



Thalma laughed with sheer joy, her large, red-rimmed eyes aglow with

mother light and love.



"I am glad," she cried. "I know that Alpha will be happy here."



"It is so, my love, and--"



Omega checked and stared out over the glassy lake. A spot in its center

was stirring uneasily. Great bubbles rose to the surface and eddied to

one side, then suddenly huge cascades of water shot into the air as if

ejected by subterraneous pressure. As they stared in silent astonishment

the commotion suddenly ceased and the surface of the lake became as

tranquil as before.



"There is volcanic action out there," said Omega fearfully. "At any time

the ground may open and engulf the lake in a pit of fire. But no, that

cannot be," he added, staring at Thalma with an odd light in his eyes.

For he suddenly recalled that no volcanic action or earth tremor had

disturbed the surface crust for ages.



"What is it, Omega?" she whispered in accents of awe.



"Nothing to fear, my dear, I am sure," he replied, averting his eyes.

"Likely some fissure in the rock has suddenly opened."



And then he embraced her in the joy of new-found life. For long ages

mind had communicated with mind by telepathic waves, speech being used

for its cheer and companionship.



"We will make ready for Alpha," said Omega joyfully. "In very truth he

may be able to carry on. Moisture may return to earth, and it is more

likely to return here than elsewhere. Remember what the Mirror showed

last week over the Sahara plains--the makings of a cloud!"



They cheered each other by this remembrance how, just before they had

consumed the last of the water in their recent home and buried the last

of their neighbors and friends, the reflecting Mirror had brought a view

of a few stray wisps of vapor above the Great Sahara which once had been

reclaimed by man, where teeming millions in by-gone ages had lived their

lives.



"The inclination of the earth's axis is changing as we know," he went on

hopefully as they turned back toward the ship. "The moisture may come

back."



His was the voice of hope but not of conviction. Hope, planted in man's

soul in the beginning, still burned brightly in these last stout

hearts.



Alpha was still unborn. Omega and Thalma had willed a male child. In him

was to be the beginning of a new race which they hoped with the aid of

science would repeople the earth. Hence his name, the first letter of

the Greek alphabet, of which "omega" is the last.



"I am afraid, my love," said Thalma, looking back over her shoulder at

the placid lake. "I wonder what heaved the water about that way."



"Don't worry about it, my dear," he said as they paused beneath the ship

and he put his arm protectingly about her. "As I have said, it probably

was the shifting of a rock on the bed of the lake. It is nothing to

worry about, and I feel that we have nothing to fear for a long, long

time. And we have so much joy to look forward to. Remember Alpha is

coming, and think of his glorious future! Think of his changing all

this!" And he swept his hand toward the grim, gray hills. "Just think of

again gardenizing the world!"



* * * * *



It was indeed a dreary view upon which they gazed. On every side, upon

the mountains and hills, over salt-encrusted plains and upon the rocks,

were the skeletons and shells of departed life. Fossils of the animal

and the vegetable kingdoms greeted one on every hand. Great fronds of

palms of the deep, draped with weird remains of marine life long

extinct, stood gaunt and desolate and rust-covered in the hollows and on

the hills. Long tresses of sea weed and moss, now crisp and dead as

desert sands, still clung in wreaths and festoons to rock and tree and

plant just as they had done in that far-off age, when washed by the

waters of the sea. Great forests of coral, once white and pink and red

with teeming life but now drab and dead, still thrust their arms upward,

their former beauty covered and distorted by the dust of the ages.

Whales and sharks and serpents and fish of divers species and sizes,

together with great eels and monsters of the deep, lay thickly over the

land, their mummified remains shriveled by the intense heat, their

ghastliness softened by the ashes of the years.



Millions of ages had rolled away since the struggle began--the battle of

life on earth against the encroachments of death. And now death stalked

everywhere, grinning with malicious triumph, for he had but one more

battle to fight. Already his grisly clutch was closing on the standard

of victory. Man had mastered life but he had not conquered death. With

the magic wand of science he had reached out into space and viewed the

life of far-off worlds. He had routed superstition and fear and

selfishness. He had banished disease and learned all nature's secrets;

had even visited other worlds and had come to know and understand his

God, but still death had marched grimly on. For even the abysmal moment

of creation had marked the world for his prey. Slowly but surely death

had closed his cold hands about the earth. The sun flung forth his hot

rays and drew more and more of the earth's moisture and dissipated it in

space. Gradually the forests vanished and then the streams and lakes

dwindled and disappeared. By this time the atmosphere had thinned almost

imperceptibly--and only by the aid of his scientific instruments had man

been able to detect its thinning. Less and less rain fell, and finally

even the ice-caps about the poles trickled away. Cold and gaunt and

shadowy those regions lay silent and lifeless throughout the long

nights, and loomed like gray ghosts in the hushed light of the summer.

The sun blazed on relentlessly and the shores of the seven seas receded

age after age, but with his science and his machines man had doggedly

followed the retreating waters, husbanded and harnessed them and thus

retained his grip on life.



But now at last life on earth had come to its final battlefield. The

plans of the battle were sharply drawn, but there could be no doubt of

the issue. No one knew this better than Omega, for the sun shone on with

undiminished power. Yet the rotation of the earth had slackened until

twenty-five hours constituted a day, while the year was 379 days and a

fraction in length. Man, gradually adjusting himself to the new

conditions and environment, had triumphed even in the face of a losing

fight. For he had learned to smile into the hollow sockets of death, to

laugh at the empty promises of life.



* * * * *



Back in their ship Omega and Thalma gazed out over the dead world, where

the salt crystals gleamed and sparkled in the sunshine.



"Will all this ever become green again and full of joy and life?" asked

Thalma wearily.



"Why not?" asked Omega. "Although the race has come to its last stand,

water is here and before it is gone who knows what may happen?"



Omega spoke only to please his wife, for well he knew in his heart that

the star of hope had forever set. And always he was thinking of that

commotion in the waters of the lake. What could have caused it? What did

it portend? He was sure that the answer was to be one of tragedy.



"We know that for uncounted ages the world was green and beautiful, was

vibrant with life and joy," he went on. "And why may it not be so again,

even though now it is garbed in the clothes of the sepulchre? Let us

trust in the power of our son."



Thalma did not answer, and Omega, seeing that she was terribly

depressed, fell silent. So they sat in their great airship, strangely

dejected despite the close proximity of the life-giving water, while the

sun flamed through the cloudless sky and set in a crimson flood beyond

the lifeless plains. Night fell but still they sat brooding. The stars

shone out in the purple heavens, but they noticed not their glory. The

ship was wrapped in an awful silence. No night wind whispered its

message nor warmed the cold, desolate earth, stretching down from the

poles, nor cooled the hot wastes about the equator. The naked mountains

rose stark and forbidding into the sky, which hung like a great,

bejeweled bowl over the sun-scorched plains, where the dust of many ages

lay undisturbed. The shadows lay deep and dark over the valleys and

among the streets of cities dead and silent for many ages, and searched

out deep chasms which when the world was young had felt the surge of the

restless seas. No form of life winged its way through the darkness and

called to its mate. No beast of prey rent the air with its challenge. No

insect chirped. No slimy shape crawled over the rocks. Dark and solemn,

mysterious and still, the earth sped on through the night.



* * * * *



Morning found them in much better spirits. Over their breakfast, which

consisted almost wholly of food in tablet form, they discussed their

plans. After which they went to the lookout in the bow of the ship and

gazed out at the gray world. There was no change. The same

heart-breaking monotony of death confronted them. But despite it all

they finally smiled into each other's eyes.



"It is home," said Omega proudly. "The last home we shall ever know."



"My God, look!" suddenly gasped Thalma, clutching his arm and pointing a

trembling finger toward the lake. "What--is that?"



Following her gesture he stared in terror and stupefaction. Rising above

the center of the lake where the day before they had beheld the agitated

waters, was an enormous, scale-covered neck surmounted by a long,

snake-like head whose round, red eyes were sheltered beneath black,

horny hoods. The horrible creature's head was swaying back and forth as

its black tongue darted in and out between wide-open jaws displaying

single rows of sharp teeth. Fully fifteen feet above the lake the awful

eyes looked toward the land. And as the neck moved in unison with the

swaying head the scales seemed to slide under and over one another a

perfect armor for the neck.



"A plesiosaurian!" exclaimed Omega, leveling his glasses at the beast.

"No--how can that be?" he added in bewilderment. "Those monsters were

supposed to be extinct ages ago. And they had a smooth skin, while this

thing has scales, like those of a brontosaurus, which was really a land

animal. This must be a cross between the two that through the process of

evolution has been developed. Anyway it is the last of the species and

it has come here--to die."



"Like us it has followed the water and come here to die," said Thalma as

she also leveled glasses.



For several minutes they watched the swaying head which every little

while twisted from side to side, as the blazing eyes seemed to be

searching for prey, while a whitish saliva dripped from the jaws. The

body of the beast, which they knew to be enormous, was hidden beneath

the water, but the agitation on the surface showed that powerful feet

and legs were stirring.



"Yes, it has come here to die," repeated Omega, "to fight for the last

drop of earth's water. It now has possession of the lake, and unless we

kill it, it will kill us or drive us away."



Almost with the words Omega seized an atomic gun and pointed it at the

brute's head. But before he could sight the weapon and pull the trigger

the monster, as though sensing danger, suddenly jerked down its head and

a moment later it had disappeared beneath the surface.



"It has gone!" cried Thalma. She was trembling as with a chill, and her

eyes were wide with terror.



"It will appear again," said Omega, "and then we will kill it, for the

water belongs to man. Doubtless that huge beast is all that remains of

life on earth save ourselves. To-night while you sleep here in the ship,

I will take a gun, take position behind a rock on the shore of the lake

and watch for its appearance. I think shortly after nightfall when the

rocks are cool it leaves the water and comes on land in a vain search

for food, for beyond a doubt it has devoured everything in the lake,

save marine mosses and the like. Yet as it has survived all contemporary

life except man, it may live for centuries unless we destroy it."



"But there are not centuries of water out there," Thalma said. "As to

your hunting this monster alone, I will not hear of it. I shall go with

you. Together we will destroy this menace of our new home."



* * * * *



All Omega's eloquence could not dissuade her. So, after the sun had set

and the dry cold had chilled the hot rocks, they set out along the shore

of the lake and looked eagerly out over the still water for a sight of

their enemy. Nothing disturbed the silvery surface of the water.

Crouching behind a mass of coral they waited, but throughout the long,

still night they watched without reward, for nothing moved within their

range of vision. The stars, wonderfully large and brilliant in that

rarefied atmosphere, seemed to be the only link between them and the

unknown. Only their own hurried breathing and the muffled thumps of

their wildly beating hearts broke the silence. And as the sun rose again

above the dead plains, weary and discouraged they returned to the ship.



While keeping up a bold front for Thalma's sake, Omega's heart was sad,

for he well knew that unless they could vanquish that marine monster

they were doomed. That such a dreadful creature had come to them from

the mists of antiquity, as it were, was incredible. Yet he had seen it,

Thalma had seen it, and it resembled some of the sea-monsters he had

heard of in the past. They could not doubt its existence and must

prepare for the worst.



Omega's name had been conferred on him by an ironical whim of fate. When

he was born there were still many people on earth inhabiting the low

valleys of the Pacific's floor where much water still remained. But the

droughts had increased with the years, and before Omega had reached

middle-life all rain had ceased to fall. The atmosphere became so rare,

even near the ground, that it was difficult for the people with the aid

of their machines to draw sufficient oxygen and nitrogen from it to

prepare the food which had been man's principal sustenance for ages.



Gradually the weaker peoples had succumbed. But the remnants of the

nations gathered about the receding waters, all foreseeing the end, but

all determined to defer it as long as possible. There was no recourse.

For ages before Omega was born the nations, knowing that the earth was

drying up, had fought one another for the privilege of migrating to

another planet to fight its inhabitants for its possession. The battle

had been so bitterly contested that two-thirds of the combatants were

slain. By the aid of their space-cars the victors colonized other

planets in our solar system leaving the vanquished on earth to shift for

themselves. There was nothing for them to do but to fight on and await

the end, for no space-car that man had ever devised was able to

penetrate the cold, far-reaches of space. Only among the family of our

own sun could he navigate his ships. And now, like the earth, every

member of that once glorious family was dead or dying. For millions of

years, Mars, his ruddy glow gone forever, had rolled through space, the

tomb of a mighty civilization. The ashes of Venus were growing cold.

Life on Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn already was in the throes of

dissolution, and the cold, barren wastes of Uranus and Neptune always

had forbidden man.



So it seemed that the name, Omega, had been fittingly bestowed. More

than ever the stark truth made him shudder with apprehension, and he

felt that only the coming of Alpha would give him strength to carry on.



"Now we must make ready for Alpha," said Omega, even while thoughts of

the sea-monster chilled his heart. "We will make our servants prepare

the way. Here in this valley must be born a new race of men. Life must

come from death. Come, Thalma."



* * * * *



She smiled back at him, reassured by his confident manner, and together

they entered a lower compartment of the ship. This compartment contained

the servants of which Omega had spoken--divers machinery and other

marvels of man's construction. Omega touched several buttons and a

section of the ship's hull rolled aside. He pressed other buttons and

whirled wheels. Then great sections of mirror slid out into the air and

without apparent direction or control they ranged themselves far up on a

steep hillside. Yet all were under perfect control. With invisible,

atomic rays Omega made all do his bidding. For countless centuries man

had mastered the atom, divided it, harnessed its electrons. Following

the discoveries of the great French scientist, Becquerel, man had

learned that the potential energy of all atoms--especially that of

radium--is almost limitless. And as the disintegration of the atom

carries an electrical discharge, man had learned to control this energy.

Omega's machines, utilizing atoms from everywhere, even the ether, split

them by radio-activity through electromagnetic waves, and utilized the

energy of their electrons which always move in fixed orbits. There being

forty radio-active substances, Omega took advantage of them all, and

equalizing the atomic weight of the atoms--whether those around a

hydrogen nucleus or a helium nucleus--he broke the atoms down and

directed the charges of their electrons. Then his motors amplified the

discharges and, through the medium of an electric current, projected

them in the form of invisible atomic rays which he could control and

direct against any object and sustain and move at will by means of

oscillating currents.



Soon upon the hillside, perfectly arranged and adjusted, appeared a

giant, parabolic, refracting mirror with which he could obtain a view of

any portion of the earth's surface by sending vibrating currents around

the world and reproducing impressions already recorded on the ether, on

the surface of the mirror. And beneath its center was a receiver,

through which he might have heard the minutest sound around the world,

had there been any to hear.



The small, atomic motors--which drew their energy both from hydrogen

nuclei, the ether of space and the radio-active substances of all

metals--now were placed on the hillside near the great mirror. There

motors were capable of creating and focusing light, without bulb or

other container, whenever and wherever needed. All were operated with

scarcely any effort by Omega.



In a measure it seemed strange that the Greek alphabet and all the

classics of the ancients had survived antiquity. But the latest

inventions of man explained it all. For man with his machines had

reached far back into the shadowy past and proved the immortality of all

thought and action. All the records of history, all the triumphs and

defeats, the joys and sorrows and aspirations of humanity, came out of

the past and marched across the screen of his historical recorder. As

nothing is ever lost, all sounds and impressions occurring on earth

since the dawn of its creation, being already impressed on the sensitive

plastic and all-pervading ether, the same as a photograph is recorded on

its film or plate, man had developed a machine for drawing on these

impressions until at will the history of the world was before him. Even

the varied life of the ancients came out of the past. Saints and

sinners, slaves and masters mingled. Confucius sat before him in

humility; Guatama counseled his followers to be humble; Christ died upon

the cross. Warriors and statesmen shouted their triumphs and bewailed

their defeats. Philosophers expounded their wisdom and Socrates drank

the hemlock. Hannibal and Caesar and Alexander fought their battles,

and Napoleon marched gory and unafraid from Austerlitz to Waterloo. All

came back at the call of Omega's science.



* * * * *



As has been stated it was a giant craft on which Omega and Thalma had

come to this last retreat of man. Within its interior were all the

latest marvels of man's ingenuity and skill. These instruments of almost

supernatural power not only reached back into the past but also

penetrated the future. There was a great atomic-electric motor used in

creating and controlling climate as long as there was any to control.

Sending forth electromagnetic waves it massed and directed the

atmospheric pressure, sending heat waves here, cold ones there, thus

causing droughts and rainfall at will. But now, as with the case of most

of the other machines, Omega needed it no longer. He kept it because it

linked him with the joy of the past. Besides, there was the mind-control

appliance by whose aid man's mind might visit other worlds. This was

done through the development of the subconscious and the discipline of

the will. But Omega was weary of these pilgrimages, because his body

could not perform those far-off flights. As time went on he realized

that the earth was his natural home. Even the earth's neighbors, dead

and dying, offered him no haven.



Yes, Omega and Thalma had garnered the gist of the world's treasures

before commencing this last trek. Gold and precious stones were common

objects to them, because for countless ages man had made them at will,

but around those they had brought clustered sacred memories of loved

ones gone before. The biological machine in the chemical laboratory of

the ship--the machine that brought forth life from nature's bountiful

storehouse--was of little use now that both atmosphere and moisture were

nearly gone. Yet Omega cherished this machine, and aside from its

associations with the past, it held for him a fascination that he could

not understand.



Having set the Mirror and other mechanical servants in position, Omega

and Thalma returned to the ship, and slept throughout the day, for with

the descending sun they must again go forth to hunt that scaly demon

which had taken possession of the earth's last water.



The night was moonless, but the bright starlight brought all objects

into plain relief against the dark rocks. Taking position on the slope

several rods above the beach, Omega and Thalma watched the lake eagerly,

but nothing disturbed its mirror-like surface. As on the preceding

night the awful silence appalled them--even though they were accustomed

to the vast solitude. It was so calm and still, so full of death and

mystery, that it seemed they must cry out in the agony of their

emotions. As the very silence was crushing their spirits so the

knowledge that only one form of life on earth stood between them and the

water to which their last hope clung, was maddening. How they longed to

battle the hideous monster! But the hours dragged on with nothing to

disturb the dead, heart-breaking silence. At last the Great Dipper had

swung so far around that dawn appeared. Yet there had been not a ripple

on the lake. Omega concluded that his guess was wrong--the beast did not

leave the water at night to search for food. Perhaps it had learned the

futility of such a search in a dead, dust-covered world.



* * * * *



Wearied by their long and fruitless vigil they must have dozed, for

suddenly Omega, who sat but a yard or two from Thalma, was aroused by a

padded footfall and the exhalations of a noisome breath. Looking up he

was horrified to see the monster towering above him, its head swaying

gently to and fro, as its great, awkward feet sent it lunging forward

and backward for many feet, its spotted, scale-covered body trailed over

the rocks. By suddenly rounding the shoulder of the rock, sheltering

Omega and Thalma, its head held high, it seemed not to have seen the two

humans, for its terrible unblinking eyes were fixed ahead on the water.

However, Omega, paralyzed with fear and astonishment, and being directly

in the beast's path, believed that his hour had come. This was to be the

end of all his plans--to be crushed by the enormous weight of the

monster which challenged his right to live. But in that tense moment

when he thought that it was all over, the lithe form of Thalma reached

his side and in a frenzy of terror pulled him away. But even then the

sloping belly of the onrushing beast tore him from her frail hands and

dashed him against the rock.



While he lay there stunned and unable to move, Thalma discharged her

weapon at the monster. Three times she fired in quick succession but the

shots went wild, and in another moment the great brute struck the water

with a resounding splash and disappeared from view. For a few minutes a

trail of surface bubbles marked its rapid course toward the lake's

center, then all was motionless and still as before.



"Are you hurt, Omega?" Thalma cried anxiously, kneeling by his side.



"Just shaken up a bit," he returned, sitting up with an effort. "Great

hunters are we," he went on with a laugh. "We almost allowed the game to

catch the hunters! Well, let's go back to the ship. We'll get him next

time."



But their narrow escape had shaken their nerve. All day long they

remained safely in the ship and kept their guns trained on the lake

hoping that the beast would show himself. How or when it had left the

lake they could not surmise, but that it was more formidable than they

had thought now seemed certain, and Omega concluded to bring science to

his aid. In this way he was sure that he would soon exterminate the

monster.



So the next day he lay a cable carrying a high voltage all around the

lake and connected it with traps of various designs both in the water

and on the land. No more would they risk their lives hunting the beast

in the open after nightfall.



The hot, still days that followed were anxious ones for these last

children of life. Not a trap was sprung. The beast did not drag his

slimy body and tail across the heavily charged cable. The last of his

kind, fighting the last battle of existence, it seemed that nature had

endowed him with uncanny cunning. There was the life-giving water for

whose possession no human kind challenged them, but this enemy was more

terrible than any man, savage or civilized whom the earth had ever

known.



* * * * *



During these anxious, watchful days Omega and Thalma went often to the

Mirror and gazed into it in search of vapor clouds. And more than once

those gossamer-like formations appeared over different parts of the

world to gladden their hearts only to fade away before their vision. The

reflections of those embryo clouds became less frequent as the days wore

on. Omega and Thalma knew that they had no right to hope for the return

of water vapor. Their instruments, so finely attuned as to appear

endowed with intelligence, the records of the past and their own common

sense told them that. But nature and life in the upper reaches of the

air were dying as hard as their own hope. They knew that the aerial

manifestations they witnessed were but symptoms of the death struggle.

And yet a real cloud, dark and pregnant with moisture, suddenly appeared

in the Mirror. Consulting the chart they saw that it was hovering over a

great land of plain and mountains which formerly had been a part of the

United States of America.



"We will go and examine this gift from heaven," said Omega. "It moves

over a once beautiful land, which the voices of history tell us,

harbored a race of the free millions of years ago."



"Yes, we will go," agreed Thalma. "It may be after all that Alpha will

first see the light far from this dreadful hollow and--and--that monster

out there in the lake."



Omega hung his head. Well he knew that the presence of the monster was

slowly killing his beloved. She complained not, but her dreams were

disturbed with frightful visions, and often Omega awakened to find her

at a window staring out over the lake with terror-stricken eyes.



This new cloud was thousands of miles to the east but with fond

anticipations they entered the ship and plunged toward it. But although

they reached the spot in one hour, the last remnant of vapor dissolved

before their eyes, and they turned sadly homeward, once more beaten by

the inexorable decrees of fate.



So having decided at last that this deep valley must remain their home

forever, Omega looked about for a suitable building site, for although

the ship was safe and comfortable they longed for a home on the earth.

But the ever present menace of the sea-monster saddened them and filled

them with misgivings, despite the fact that Omega could guard the

cottage electrically. But Omega wondered whether electric safeguards

would keep this creature from coming some night to the cottage and

sticking his loathsome head in at door or window. Omega shuddered at the

thought, but refrained from mentioning such a possibility to Thalma.



Having selected a site under the branches of a great coral tree standing

within the shade of an overhanging rock, Omega erected a cottage. It

took him but a few days to build and furnish this building from supplies

on the ship. It was complete in every feature, even to running water

from the lake. Grass was brought from the lake and a lawn laid out about

the cottage in the shadows of the rock. The grass was kept watered for

Thalma's sake, even though the water was needed for other purposes and

the lake was diminishing steadily. But she was sacred in his eyes--she

the last mother the old earth ever was to know.



The interior of the cottage was embellished like a palace, for treasures

were brought from the airship to grace its walls. The richest rugs,

curtains, tapestries and silks the world had ever known were there for

Thalma's pleasure and comfort. Paintings of green verdure, of forests

and plains of waving grass, of tumbling mountain streams and cool,

placid lakes, Omega drew from the young days of the earth. The power to

portray nature's moods and beauties had increased in many men with the

passing of time. He placed these scenes before Thalma's couch that their

cool and inspiring presence might comfort her while she awaited the

coming of the child.



* * * * *



One morning being weary of the stark monotony of the valley, whose

eastern wall was distant many miles, Omega and Thalma determined to

scale the heights above. For sometimes in the sinister aspect of the

chasm's walls, it seemed that the rocks would close together and crush

out their lives. They concluded not to take the air-car, but to go on a

rambling picnic with the ever present hope that they might discover

another oasis of life.



Hand in hand they rose into the air, up and up for miles past frowning

cliffs and dark caverns, yawning like grinning skulls above the outposts

of death. There was no visible effort in their flight. They but took

advantage of nature's laws which man had long understood. At last on the

highest peak they paused to rest on a dust-covered rock.



The red sun rose above the cheerless horizon and blazed on them from a

deep azure sky slashed across by bars of purple and gold. More than nine

miles beneath them spread the deep gorge, where nestled their little

home, looking like a doll-house, and above it shone the great, silver

ship. The lake shone like a speck of silver on the drab rocks. They

gazed down upon it in an attitude of worship, for it alone in all that

vast realm of peaks and plains and valleys symbolized life. Then

suddenly a dark speck appeared on the surface of the lake. Omega looked

at Thalma apprehensively, for well he knew the meaning of that speck.

Her face was pale and drawn, and she clung to Omega as they pointed

their glasses at the water.



The monster was again disporting himself. He threshed the water into

foam with his long, sinuous body, while his head wagged and his terrible

eyes looked toward the land. It was the first sight they had had of him

since the night he almost killed Omega.



"Look!" breathed Thalma, "it is coming ashore. Oh, I did hope that it

was dead!" And trembling violently she clung closer to her lord.



"Never mind, dear," consoled Omega as he watched the great beast waddle

toward the shore. "We will get him this time," he went on exultingly.

"Watch--he is going to get into the trap!"



But they were again doomed to disappointment. Within a few rods of the

shore, with its great, spotted body nearly all out of the water, the

monster stopped, lifted its head and looked slowly around in every

direction. Then apparently scenting danger, it turned, floundered back

to the center of the lake and submerged.



"I--I--am afraid," shuddered Thalma.



"There is nothing to fear," reassured Omega. "The beast cannot get to

our home, and one of these days he will either get caught in a trap or

we will get a shot at him."



Although Omega spoke bravely he was really worried about the beast and

the influence it was having on Thalma. He realized that he must at once

devise a better method of extermination. Even though he did not fear it

so much personally its presence was disturbing, and it was daily

absorbing so much water needful for themselves.



* * * * *



This great gash in the earth's crust stretching for many miles below

them had been the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean when its blue waves

still lapped the shores of continents, and that little lake, far down in

the earth's bosom, was the pitiful remainder of that once mighty sea.

Far to the north-west, showing plainly against the sky in the focus of

their binoculars, were great ridges of mountain and table land, rising

gaunt and desolate from the ancient bed of the sea--the site of the

ancient empire of Japan. Round about them on every hand were the mute

remains of marine life, for the spot where they sat had been far below

the surface of the sea. Silent, mysterious, hopeless and dreary, the

prospect appalled even their stout hearts. How they yearned for the

sight of some living thing there upon those high peaks. Silence supreme

and dreadful, in which even their voices, hushed and tremulous, sounded

profane, cowed them by its unending solemnity and the relentless grip.

Gray and nude save for their pall of dust the mountains rose into the

sky, eternal in their ghostly majesty. And the dark valleys between with

their gray lips of death looked like the gaping mouths of hell.



"Death! death! eternal and triumphant death, thou art everywhere!" cried

Omega, springing up and gazing with hopeless eyes about over the

desolation.



Thalma rose and touched his arm. A smile of faith and confidence shone

on her face. He looked at her in wonder.



"Nay, death is not everywhere," she reproved gently. "Remember Alpha,

our son. In him life does and will live again."



"Forgive me, Thalma," said Omega, taking her in his arms. "You speak

truly. With your loyalty and courage I know we will win."



And so as it had always been from the beginning of time, even so in

these last days it took woman's love and devotion to sustain man.



Now Omega gazed around on the abode of death with an expression of

disdain. He challenged it and dared it to do its worst. Life still

triumphed, for he had Thalma and Alpha was coming soon. He would not

surrender. He would fight the dark forces of death--even that horrible

monster down there in the lake--and conquer them all. He would again

'gardenize' the world. The stubborn power of hope, that heritage from

his atavistic ancestors, was surging through his blood.



"We will change all this," he went on, waving his hand toward the far

rim of the sky. "We are still masters of life. But now let us descend,"

he added in answer to her approving smile.



So saying again hand in hand they stepped off into space and floated

easily down toward their last home.



Omega knew that his first important task was to get rid of the beast.

The fear-haunted expression in Thalma's eyes brooked no delay.

Accordingly they went to the ship, and each taking a small sack they

filled them with depth bombs. Thus armed they floated out over the lake

in quest of their enemy. But although quite shallow the water was opaque

for the most part being discolored by vegetable matter stirred up by the

monster, and the transparent portions were too deep for them to see

bottom. Long and carefully they searched at a safe distance above the

water, but no sight of the beast could be seen. Then hoping that a

chance shot might reach and destroy him they passed to and fro over the

lake's center and dropped their bombs. Great columns of water were sent

high in air deluging them with spray. That was all. Still, they had no

way of knowing whether a bomb had struck home. In spots the water was so

violently agitated as to suggest that the monster writhed in a death

struggle. But at last all became as quiet as before.



* * * * *



It now occurred to Omega to surround the lake with an invisible wall of

electricity of such power as to electrocute the beast should he attempt

to go over or through it. This was accomplished by increasing the power

of his motors and by automatic controls projecting a high voltage

potential through the air around the lake. And then in addition to other

protective appliances already installed Omega put a similar wall about

the cottage, much to Thalma's relief and delight.



One night they had retired early, Thalma being weary and her time but a

few weeks away. To the sweet strain of music which had been in the air

for ages, they soon fell asleep. How long he had slept Omega could never

guess, but he was awakened suddenly. He sat up bewildered and stared

into the darkness, because for some reason all lamps were out. And then

he became aware of a peculiar sound coming from afar. It was a queer

noise combining the roar of the surf upon a rock-bound coast, the sigh

of the night wind through a forest and the rumble of thunder. Suddenly

it seemed to him that earth and cottage were trembling, and the walls of

the room swayed and buckled as though smitten by a great wind.



Frantically he rubbed his eyes, convinced that it was all a dream. But

the noise drew nearer, thundered in his ears. In terror he got to his

feet, tried to cry out. The words froze on his lips, for just then the

wall before him crashed in as though struck by an avalanche. Then came a

grinding, splitting jumble of sounds, the solid ground shook under the

passage of some mighty force which increased for a moment followed by a

piercing scream.



Frozen with horror Omega stared around the wrecked room whose tottering

walls seemed about to fall upon him. Where was Thalma? In a frenzy he

stared into the darkness, felt over the couch. She was gone!



In some way he got outside and there in the direction of the lake he saw

the monster, its great bulk looming high above the ground, its head

swaying with the swing of its legs as it lumbered along. And, merciful

God--held in the grip of the monster's jaws was Thalma!



The awful sight galvanized Omega to action. With a hoarse scream he

launched himself at the beast, passed rapidly through the air above the

monster and reached out for his wife. Scream after scream rent the still

air as he pressed forward and the beast lurched on in its haste to reach

the lake with its prey. But now Omega was close to his beloved, and he

reached out to grasp her as once more he screamed right into the ears of

his enemy. Then perhaps in sheer terror at the audacity of man, the

great jaws of the monster relaxed and Thalma fell limp and unconscious

to the ground.



As the beast lumbered on Omega knelt by her side.



"Thank God," he breathed, "she lives!"



Then he took her in his arms and turned back to the ruined home just as

a great splash informed him that once more the monster had entered his

element to challenge them for its possession.



* * * * *



Thalma soon revived, but she clung to Omega and gazed about fearfully.

How she had wandered out of doors and had been snapped up by the beast

she could not tell, but Omega said that she must have been walking in

her sleep. They went at once to the ship and there spent the remainder

of the night.



Every light, including those about the Mirror, had been extinguished by

the beast breaking the circuit. Yet it appeared that the latter's

passage through the electric wall had caused no harm. Omega explained

that likely its bony scales had acted as an insulator against the action

of the invisible wall.



While the cottage was being repaired they remained on the ship. But

despite their recent harrowing experience, they went back to the cottage

when the repairs were complete. It was more home-like than the ship, and

Thalma had learned to love it, for it was to be the cradle of a new

race. But before they again took up their residence there Omega had

erected a high fence around the cottage yard. This fence was built of

heavy cables securely fastened to huge posts, and each cable carried an

electric charge of 75,000 volts. Omega was confident that the beast

could never break through. His confidence was shared by Thalma, but as

an additional precaution she suggested that Omega place a similar fence

about the lake. He did so, and when the last cable was in place they

stood back and surveyed the work with satisfaction.



"We have him now," exulted Omega. "He can never leave the lake alive,

much less reach the cottage. Despite his tough armor of scales this high

potential will penetrate to his vitals."



"It is well," said Thalma as they turned away.



As they neared the cottage they knew that a crisis was at hand.

Forgetting the dead world about them and subduing the fears that

sometimes clutched their hearts, they lived in the joy of anticipation

and made ready for the advent of a new soul.



Night came down moonless and dark save for the light of the stars. In

the recesses of the rocks and in the bottoms of the valleys intense

darkness held sway. But the grounds and the home of Omega and Thalma

were ablaze with a thousand lamps, and on the near-by hillsides giant

searchlights, which seemed to have no basis, which were born in the

bosom of the air and blazed without visible cause, shot their rays into

the sky for miles. Yet the powerful lights about the cottage were so

tinted as to be restful to the eye. Thus silent and with clock-like

regularity the agents of Omega performed their functions. Man had

mastered all the elements of life. All were his friends and servants,

and none was his master save one--death.



In a perfect setting and exactly at the time set for the event Alpha

came into the world, the child thrived from its first intake of earth's

air.



Three weeks from birth Alpha partook of solid food in tablet form drawn

chiefly from gaseous sources. At two months his speech was perfect, and

at six months his education began. By glandular control Omega nurtured

both his body and his mind and developed them rapidly. Small wonder that

this child--the last to grace and bless the world--became his parent's

only joy and hope. They guarded him from all dangers, instructed him in

the great part he was to play in the world's future and set about to

conserve that element on which all depended--the waters of the lake.



* * * * *



But during all these long, hot days and frigid nights, the close

proximity of the monster cast a shadow over their souls, marred their

happiness by day and terrorized their dreams by night. Often, when the

sun beat down upon the lake, they saw his hideous head rise high above

the water and regard them with baleful eyes. Twice while at play Alpha

had seen him and had run screaming to the protection of his mother, who

had great difficulty in persuading him that there was no danger. This

seemed to be true, for the monster made no attempt to force the fence.

Endowed with more than the cunning of its remote progenitors, it seemed

to realize that it was trapped. Many nights Omega and Thalma, armed with

their ray guns and other implements of destruction, watched for the

beast to attempt to come on land. Sometimes he would raise his head and

look at them so long and steadily that icy chills ran along their spines

and their hands shook so that they could not sight their weapons and

therefore shot wild. Then the head would sink out of sight again.



Secure as they felt against his horrible presence it finally began to

sap their courage. Besides, the lake fascinated Alpha, now but three

years old but large and strong. He loved to wander by its shore and

dabble in the water, but so long as the beast remained, an ever present

danger was in this play. Besides there was the fear that he might escape

the watchfulness of his parents and come in contact with one of the high

tension cables.



And then Omega determined to try another plan--he would electrically

charge the water of the lake. He hoped that this would reach the monster

in his watery lair and kill him instantly. So he constructed two giant

magnets and placed one on each end of the lake. Then harnessing all the

electrical energy at his command he sent a tremendous current through

the water with high potential, alternating it at ten second intervals

for an hour.



Two weeks later he watched for the carcass of the beast to rise. He felt

now that his problem was to get rid of it so that it would not pollute

the water, but it did not appear.



With fear and trembling Omega observed that the water of the lake was

receding inch by inch. Then by chemical action on the coral beds and on

the rocks, he created a dense cloud and caused it to form over the lake,

thus in a measure protecting it from the sun's rays. But day by day,

despite the sheltering cloud, the water receded. Day after day Omega

moved his gauges hoping against hope that somehow and somewhere nature

would again awaken and bring water upon the earth.



During all these days and months the monster did not raise its head

above the surface of the lake--Omega was certain of this, for had the

water been disturbed ever so little his water seismograph, as well as

his cameras, would have recorded it. The monster was dead at last and

they were profoundly thankful. They were the undisputed masters of the

earth's last water! Now Alpha could play about the shore and swim in the

shallow water in peace and safety. So the dangerous fence was removed.



* * * * *



Omega knew that in the beginning the Creator had made man master of his

own destiny. He had endowed him with reason and given the earth into his

keeping. Omega thoroughly understood the Ruling Power of the universe.

He read aright His commands, blazoned across the breasts of billions of

worlds, and by the same token he knew that humanity on earth was doomed.

Yet he was urged on by that unconquerable spirit which had made man king

of all. He set up his rain-making machinery with the smile of a

fatalist. For hundreds of miles its sinuous beams sprang into the sky,

writhed about like great, hungry serpents with their tremendous sucking

and receiving maws, then coiled back to earth bringing not a drop. But

one day the Mirror again showed small, faint clouds upon its surface.

They were scattered over various parts of the world and their presence

made Omega wonder. There appeared to be no reason for them.



"I do not understand those clouds," he said to Thalma as he sat with her

and Alpha in the shade of the coral tree. "Perhaps there are hidden

places of moisture, that have escaped the receiving rays of this

mirror."



"Let us go and see," exclaimed Thalma, her eyes agleam with a new hope.

"Let us make another voyage around the world. Alpha has never been far

from home."



"That is so," he agreed. "We will go at once."



So they entered the silver ship and sailed away over the hot, dry

wastes, on and on over the cities of antiquity. The ruins of New York,

London, Paris and other marts of the ancients were visited in their

melancholy quest for life. But even the sites of these cities were hard

to find. Only the tops of the tallest structures, such as the tip of the

Washington monument and the towers of office buildings stood above the

ashes and sands of centuries. But not even the shadow of a cloud was

seen. Still they sailed on--even skirted the dark wastes of the poles

and stopped in deep valleys to test for water. Twice around the

equatorial regions they voyaged in search of a new and better haven, but

in vain. The insistent cry for water burned in their souls and led them

back to the little lake--the last sop nature had to offer the remnant of

her children.



* * * * *



Although the days were still hot and blistering, the nights were cold,

ice often forming on the lake near the shore and lingering until touched

by the advancing sun. Omega understood, and again a cold fear clutched

his heart. Unless by some miracle of the heavens sufficient moisture

should come back to the earth, no human soul could long endure the heat

of the day and the freezing temperature of night.



To still further conserve the precious water of the lake, Omega now

extended the folds of the cloud curtain down to its shores thus

completely enclosing it. And as this further reduced the evaporation to

a remarkable extent the hopes of Omega and Thalma took on new life. Here

they visioned Alpha and his children living and dying in peace, now that

the monster was no more. With the help of additional safeguards Omega

reckoned that the water might be made to last many more years, and,

before it could become wholly exhausted, some whim of nature might again

shower the earth with rain.



Now to pass the time--for there was nothing to do except to direct the

appliances about them--this last trio of mortals loved to leave the

shelter of the cottage, now that they had nothing further to fear from

the sea-monster, when the westering sun was low, and ramble among the

shadows of the cliffs and commune with the past, until the chill of

night drove them indoors. Sometimes sitting there in the dusk Thalma and

Alpha would listen to Omega's rich voice as he recounted an epic story

in the life of long ago. So to-day seated together on a cliff above the

airship, they watched the sun descend. Thalma and Alpha had asked for a

story, but Omega refused. For some time he had sat silent, his great,

brilliant eyes on the flaming sun as it sank toward the rim of the

earth. A great loneliness had suddenly seized him. He recognized it as a

presentiment of disaster. It was beyond the analysis of reason, but for

the first time in his life he longed to hold back that sun. Somehow he

feared the advent of the night. It seemed to him that before the morning

light would again flood the earth a dire calamity would befall them.



"Why so sad?" asked Thalma fearfully, and Alpha, at his father's knees,

looked up in wonder.



"It is nothing," replied Omega with forced composure as he caressed the

boy. "Some foolish thoughts of mine. Now as it is getting chilly I think

we had better go down. Oh, how I dread this awful cold which is creeping

steadily and mercilessly over the world!" he added softly, his eyes

lingering on the sun.



With her usual sweet smile Thalma agreed. So they rose and floated down.

When they reached the floor of the valley they paused and regarded the

cloud that screened the lake.



"It does well," remarked Omega. "It will make the water last into the

years."



"Yes, and all for our boy," said Thalma proudly. Alpha had left them and

was playing along the shore.



"It is now time that a mate for him be on the way," went on Omega

wistfully. "He must have a sister, you know."



"It is true," she agreed with a glad smile.



Omega had spoken truly. Without a mate Alpha could not perpetuate the

race. And so it was arranged that before the rising of the morrow's sun

a new life should begin.



Science had steadily advanced the span of life. When Alpha was born

Omega was two hundred years old, but that was only middle age. Thalma

was twenty-five years his junior. The human birth-rate had decreased

with the passing of the centuries and nature now demanded the most

exacting conditions for the propagation of the human species. Thalma at

her age could not afford to wait longer. Alpha's mate must be provided

forthwith.



"Alpha wants to play a while before going in," Thalma continued

presently. "I will remain with him."



"Very well, dear," said Omega. "I will go on and prepare dinner."



So saying he set his face toward the cottage, but before he had taken a

dozen steps he was startled by a piercing scream from Thalma. He turned

swiftly, then stood paralyzed with terror and amazement. Out of the

cloud curtain surrounding the lake protruded the ugly scale-covered head

and neck of the monster he had believed dead! And the horrible, swaying

head was darting down toward the playing boy! The monster's jaws were

spread wide, its black tongue was leaping out and in like lightning, the

sickening saliva was dripping upon the sand, and its awful eyes were

blazing like coals. And then in a twinkling the huge jaws seized the

child, the head reared back, the jaws closed, stifling the lad's

screams, and it started to draw back into the cloud.



* * * * *



But, after the first onrush of horror, life came again to Omega's numbed

senses. He darted forward with a mad cry, and as he swung through the

air rather than ran, he seized a stone and hurled it at the brute's

head. His aim was true and the stone struck the great brute on the bony

hood above the right eye. It did not harm, but it maddened the monster.

Hissing horribly it swung Alpha high in the air and with a fling dashed

him down upon the rocks. Then with a hoarse bellow it turned upon Omega.

With its first forward lunge it seemed about to crush Thalma, who was

between it and its intended victim. But the sight of her mangled child

and the danger to her lord roused all the latent fury and courage in her

soul and made of her a fighting demon. Like Omega she grabbed the first

weapon at hand--a stone the size of a man's fist--and with the hot

breath of the monster in her face she hurled the stone with all her

strength straight into the red, gaping mouth.



With a blood-curdling scream the brute halted, reared backward, then ran

its head back and forth over the rocks. Its loathsome body threshed

about in the lake, throwing water far up on the beach. Then in its

contortions it wallowed up out of the lake as it swung its terrible head

about in agony, all the while hissing its challenge.



Terror-stricken, unable to move, Omega and Thalma watched it and could

not understand its writhings. But as it continued to writhe and groan

they understood at last--the stone had lodged firmly in its throat and

was choking it to death.



Then they sprang to Alpha's side. Omega gathered him up in his arms, but

he saw with one agonized glance that he was dead. His skull was crushed

and it appeared that every bone in his body was broken.



Omega's heart was bursting, but he did not cry out. Holding the crushed

body of his son, he raised his eyes to that God who throughout the ages

had hidden His face from man, and smiled a brave smile of humility and

resignation. While Thalma, understanding all, looked on dumb and

dry-eyed.



Leaving the monster floundering about in its death agony, they took

their beloved son to the cottage and there injected those chemicals

which would forever arrest decay. Then they placed him on his cot that

he might be with them to the end of life. It was then that Thalma,

broken in spirit, found refuge and relief in tears which have always

been woman's solace and savior.



And Omega, gazing out toward the lake, saw that the monster lay still.

They had won their long battle, but at an awful cost. Omega realized

that the gigantic creature, probably deep in a water cavern, had been

only stunned by the electric charges.



* * * * *



Thalma refused to be comforted. Day after day she wept above the

lifeless form of her boy. All Omega's words of consolation, all his

reasoning and faith in the wisdom and justice of all things, failed to

soothe her torn heart. Nor did the promise of another child, rouse her

from her sorrow. She steadfastly refused to consider another child. Life

had lost its last hold on her soul, and now she was ready to surrender

to that cruel fate which had given them mirages of promise and mocked

their misery. In vain Omega explained that it was their duty to fight

on; that they, the last of a once noble race, must not show the white

feather of cowardice. He mentioned the great consolation they had of

having their beloved son ever near them, though lifeless. But Thalma

longed for the presence of the soul, for those words of endearment and

love that had thrilled her mother heart.



Before the embalmment it would have been possible for Omega to restore

life to his boy. Man had mastered all the secrets of biology and life.

He could have mended the broken bones and tissues, revitalized the heart

and lungs and cleared the brain. Alpha would have walked with them

again. But his personality would not have been there. That mysterious

something, men call the soul, had fled forever, and so far mankind had

not been able to create its counterpart. To have brought life again to

Alpha would have been a travesty on the brilliant mind they had known.

Omega recalled many pathetic examples of such resuscitation where the

living had walked in death.



Omega foresaw the end, but he smiled in the face of it all. He was the

same kind and loving companion Thalma had always known, her every want

his command and law. But no more she realized its inspiration and love.

He seldom left her side any more, but sometimes overcome with sorrow he

would soar up above the peaks and commune alone with the past.



So to-day he had risen higher than usual. The red sun beat upon his body

as he hovered in the hot air, his eyes fixed on the distant sky line. He

gazed like a famished animal, for it seemed to him that at last a cloud

must appear above that hopeless shore of land and sky and bring renewed

life to him and his. Yet he fully realized the impossibility of such a

thing. Slowly his great, dark eyes roved around the horizon. He loathed

its dreary monotony, and still it fascinated him. Beyond that dead line

of land and sky lay nothing but ghastly death. His many voyages in the

airship and the reflecting Mirror told him that, but still he hoped on.



When at last he glided down to the cottage the sun was low. Having

registered the time in his mind when he left Thalma--for countless

generations man had dispensed with time-keeping devices--he realized

that he had been gone just three hours. Reproaching himself for his

negligence he entered the doorway, then stared aghast.



Upon Thalma's wide couch facing a painting of the ancient, green world,

she had placed the body of Alpha, then lain down by his side. Her glazed

eyes were fixed upon the picture, and for the first time in many weeks

there was a smile about her lips.



Omega knelt by her side, took her cold hands in his and feverishly

kissed her brow. With a grief too deep for tears he smiled at death,

thankful for the love she had borne him. Nor did he censure the Plan of

the Creator, the Plan that had led him, Omega, scion of the world's

great, up to the zenith of life and now left him alone, the sole

representative of its power. Thalma had passed on, and in the first

crushing moments of his agony Omega was tempted to join her. Without

effort and without fear or pain, his was the power to check the

machinery of life.



* * * * *



Crushed and broken, Omega sat by his dead, while the shadows of night

entered the valley and wrapped all in their soft embrace. When would his

own hour strike? He might retard or hasten that time, but the real

answer lay in that little lake out there under the stars, daily

shrinking despite the cloud curtain. There was nothing more to live for,

yet he determined to live, to go down fighting like a valiant knight of

old, to set an example for the sons of other worlds.



But despite his brave resolution his grief for a while seemed likely to

master him. Heart-broken he finally went out into the cold dusk and

gazed up at the heavens appealingly.



"Alone!" he whispered as an overwhelming sense of his isolation tore his

spirit. "Alone in a dead world--the sole survivor of its vanished life!"



He slumped to the ground and buried his face in the cold dust. His

thoughts were jumbled in a maze of pain and sorrow. He could neither

pray nor think. Gasping, dying a thousand deaths, he lay there groveling

in the dust. But at last he rose, dashed the dust from his eyes and

again faced the sky. He would accept the cruel mandate of nature. He

would live on and try to conquer all--even death.