The Mystery of the Blazing Cliffs - M. V. Carey [32]
Charles Barron and his wife came into the dining room. Barron was frowning, puzzled and also hopeful. He stared at the radio, and after a moment the voice went on.
“Infra-red scanners aboard our patrols have detected tremendous inner stresses in your planet. Before many days there will be an earthquake, with volcanic activity more violent than any we have witnessed before. The Earth will tilt on its axis so that the area now covered by the polar icecaps will move. The Antarctic continent will shift to the equator.
The eternal ice will melt so that the seas will rise, and those cities that have not already been levelled by the Earth’s upheaval will be inundated by water.”
“He’s kidding!” cried Mary Sedlack. “Hey, Mrs. Barron, he is kidding, isn’t he?”
Mrs. Barron didn’t answer, and Mary looked at her in sudden fright. “Hey, come on!”
she said pleadingly. “Tell me it’s some kind of joke.”
“The Supreme Council of Omega has chosen to remove certain individuals from the Earth before this devastation occurs,” said the voice on the radio. “After the time of chaos has passed, these people can return to be the leaders of a new civilization. Charles and Ernestine Barron are among those to be taken. We attempted a rendezvous last night, but we failed. Tonight we will try again to complete our mission. We will land at 2200 hours to take aboard our own people who are on your planet at this moment. If they have the courage, Charles Barron and his wife should be at the edge of the lake on the Barron land at 2200 hours. They should have with them any belongings they wish to save from destruction. That is all.”
The voice stopped and there was silence for a second. Then the blare of static came again from the radio.
Barron reached past Mary Sedlack and snapped off the radio. Then he pushed the stop switch on the tape recorder. He picked up the recorder and went out of the room, and the boys heard him on the stairs.
“Mrs. Baron, can I talk with you for a second?” said Jupe.
She shook her head. Her face was white. “Not right now,” she said. “In a little while.”
She went out and up the stairs.
Mary Sedlack sat staring at the radio. “Did you hear what he said?” she whispered.
“He … he sounded so real!”
She pushed back her chair abruptly and bolted away from the table and out through the kitchen. The boys could hear her calling to Elsie Spratt.
Pete looked searchingly at Jupe. “Well!” he said.
“We aren’t going to die,” said Jupe. “At least not right now.”
“You’re sure?” said Pete.
“Positive,” said Jupe.
“I hope you’re right,” said Pete, and he and the other two went out into the late afternoon sunshine.
There was no sign of Mary or Elsie on the drive, but a group of men and women were coming up the lane towards the big house. They carried tools and they talked softly to one another as they walked. One young man who looked especially serious and solemn nodded to the boys as he came abreast of them.
“Say, just a minute,” said Jupe. He touched the man’s sleeve.
“What is it?” said the man.
“I was wondering,” said Jupe. “There must be some talk among the people here. What are they saying?”
The man looked after his companions. Several had gone on into their homes, but a few stood in the lane and looked back as if they were waiting for him.
“Some say that the world will end,” answered the man nervously. “Some say it will not be the world. It will only be California that will disappear into the ocean and be lost forever.”
“What do the people here think of the soldiers on the road—the ones who are camped near the gate?”
“The soldiers are afraid,” the man said. “They drink and their officer—he does not make them stop. They do not care about their officer.” The man’s voice was scornful, but fearful, too. The strange behaviour of the soldiers seemed to confirm his belief that something terrible was happening in the world.
“And what about getting out?” asked Jupe. “Does anyone want to walk out of