Children of the Chronotron

by S. J. Byrne

"Mother!" she cried out again, sobbing hysterically and struggling frantically to break away from him.

"Shush, girl!" commanded the Colonel. The P.T. speaker was blaring.

"This is co-pilot Nelson speaking for Captain Merman," came the same, tense, male voice they had heard previously. "All passengers are to remain where they are. There is nothing wrong with the ship, except we've got to keep trimming against that load in the lounge. I repeat, there is nothing wrong with the ship. B deck passengers are advised that we have been boarded, in some undetermined way, by a sort of—man. He has made no move to harm anyone although he appears to be armed. Captain Merman is trying to communicate with him. In the meantime you are advised that we are under emergency conditions affecting the rules of international travel. The Captain's orders will be followed to the letter, by all nationalities represented on board, regardless of rank or position. I repeat, this is an emergency. But there will be no panic. Violators will be placed under arrest by any male member of the crew or by any male commissioned personnel on board. All male commissioned military personnel in the service of the government of the United States are hereby deputized to make arrests and hold in custody any offender. That is all. Stand by!"

The two small children, Henry noted, were still crying, uncontrollably.

"Vot does he mean?" queried a bearded Russian at Henry's elbow. "Vot iss a sort of man?" It was a rhetorical question, with no answer expected.

But Henry said, "Well, the Captain is trying to communicate with him. That would mean he does not speak our language, perhaps none of the languages represented on board. It would mean he is not equipped with equivalent articulatory organs." Several adults near Henry turned their attention upon him. The negro G.I., whose bulging eyes had been staring alternately at the staircase and the Indian Prince, now turned, trembling, to gaze upon this new wonder. And Henry continued. "The co-pilot said he appears to be armed. This means he carries some apparatus on him which is unrelated to current technology. That this creature represents an alien intelligence and is capitalizing on the utilization of an alien science is further demonstrated by his having made an appearance on board a transoceanic stratoliner in mid-flight. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that we have with us either an extra-terrestrial or a time-traveling superman out of some future age—or both."

"Proklaty!" ejaculated the Russian. "Ya nye ponye—" He adjusted a pair of heavy-lensed spectacles and stared at Henry in myopic amazement. "I haf turned on a walkie-talking!"

"Ye gods!" exclaimed an American businessman, a fat man with a florid, sweating face, blue-veined jowls and pale yellow hair that strove unsuccessfully to cover a sunburned scalp. "Here's a quiz kid! Let him talk to the monster!"

"Poppycock!" snorted a lean, tweedy Englishman in his early forties. "The child is a precocious egotist. This is a serious matter! It is certainly not a time for youngsters to be heard at all—particularly when they appear to be addicted to the utterly fantastic! Extra-terrestrial, indeed! My poor, misguided child," he said to Henry, "you must face reality! This is either some manifestation of a Communist plot or—what would be worse—a perverted form of American advertising that has come close to endangering the lives of all of us! A rank publicity stunt! A hoax! A criminal adulteration of propriety!"

"What's immorality got to do with it?" queried the negro, fearfully. "Ah don't care if dis kid is a Republican or a vampire. Ah's worried about dat In-Between dey got upstairs!"