. "Now the hell starts popping."

* * * * *

Governor Perkins met them in person when they arrived at the Municipal
Airport in Albany. A great crowd had gathered in the shadows outside
the brilliance of the flood lights, and a police escort rushed them to
the governor's private car.

"Here's where you go to the Bastille for socking that cop," Van
observed. His spirits had risen appreciably since that successful S.
O. S. call.

But the governor was in a serious mood, as they made their way toward
the executive mansion through the milling crowds that lined the hilly
streets of the capital city of New York State. Proofs had not been
lacking of the truth of Bill Petersen's radio warning. Already the
spreading red death had covered a circle some eight miles in diameter,
covering farm lands and destroying the crops, blocking the roads and
trapping many on the streets and in their homes in nearby towns. More
than a hundred had lost their lives, and thousands were fleeing the
threatened area. The country was in an uproar.

"Gentlemen," the governor said, when they had reached the privacy of
his chambers, "this is a serious matter, and no time must be lost in
dealing with it. Nevertheless, I want you, Mr. Vanderventer, to tell
your story of the thing to me and to the radio system of the United
States Secret Service. The President himself will be listening, as
will the chief executives of most of the states. Hold nothing back, as
the fate of our people is at stake."

* * * * *

So Van faced the microphone and related the history of his work in the
little laboratory in the Ramapo Mountains. He told of his interest in
the earth's satellite, and of his first unsuccessful experiments with
ultra-telescopes in the endeavor to explore its surface close at hand;
of the failure of a space-ship he had built; of the final discovery of
the ray, by means of which it was possible to transport solid objects
from the one body to the other. He told of the discovery of man-made
relics and of fossils; he told of the diamonds, and of the attack by
Dan Kelly which had resulted in the spreading of the seed of the
deadly moon weed. He even related the incident of the traffic
policeman, at which the governor smiled.

"That has been reported," he said, "and you need have no fear on that
score.--The charges will be dropped. I now ask that you give us your
opinion as to the best method