The Struggle for Empire; A Story of the Year 2236

Front matter

THE STRUGGLE FOR EMPIRE

THE

STRUGGLE FOR EMPIRE

Chapter 1

Chapter I

Introduction

It was early in the morning of the th of June, in the year . The sun rose in unrivalled splendour over the immense city of London, the superb capital, not only of England, but of the world, the Solar System, and the stars. It tipped the vast palaces with its golden rays; it flashed its light upon towers, domes, and cupolas; it drove away the sparkling dew and curling vapour from the masses of superb foliage and gorgeous flowering plants that rolled like oceans of precious stones around the towering buildings of the great city. Millions of human beings awoke to a new day of pleasure or labour, of joy or sorrow, but the brilliant King of Day ascended his appointed path through the sky unheeding and careless of the petty affairs of men.

What would the men of the nineteenth or twentieth centuries think if they could rise from the dead and see us now? They boasted of their civilization, but what would they think of ours? Their brick-and-mortar London, with its fog and dirt and crowds of narrow, unwholesome streets, has been changed into a splendid city built of the most beautiful granite and marble. It extends for miles far out into the provinces, covering hills and valleys with its imposing squares and winding streets diversified by colossal public buildings and places of amusement. The whole is traversed by a network of rivers, lakes, and streams, and varied by numerous parks and gardens. Mists, fogs, cold rains, and other nuisances of the older civilization, have been abolished, for the pole of the earth has been tilted round so that an almost tropical climate prevails through the whole of England. The air is purified from all deleterious matter by an ingenious scientific process. Salubrious showers of rain are brought whenever they are required by a force that was unknown two hundred years ago. Clouds are collected together or dispersed according as sunshine or shade is wanted.

The gardens and parks are filled with the most luxurious tropical plants, while birds of brilliant plumage flit about in the air or rest on the undulating masses of foliage. Gigantic trees of a species before unknown are seen on every side, here grouped into shady avenues, there dotted about in the parks and gardens, and surrounded by smaller but not less beautiful masses of vegetation. In some places the ground is coloured like a rainbow by the infinite variety of tropical plants, while the boughs of the trees are loaded down to the ground by the most luscious fruits. Everywhere fountains throw their refresh- ing showers into the air, while sheets and sprays of water burst forth from clefts in the rock and piles of mimic mountain scenery. Everything in and around the city is contrived on the most colossal and elegant style.

London is now the capital of the world, not, as formerly, from a commercial point of view, but in very fact; for the Anglo-Saxon race long ago absorbed the whole of the globe. The great European war, for which preparations were being made during the latter part of the nineteenth century, broke out with tremendous fury early in the twentieth. England, Germany, and the United States stood arrayed against France, Russia, Austria, Turkey, Italy, and a number of minor States. The earth was shaken by the convulsion. Torrents of blood were shed; armaments, the greatest that the world has ever seen, were totally annihilated in the terrible whirlwind of shot and pestilence. For a long time it seemed as if Great Britain must sink, overpowered by the vast hosts that beleaguered her, but she eventually came out of the struggle triumphant. Gigantic naval battles were fought at Dover, Gibraltar, Cairo, Constantinople, in the midst of the Atlantic, and in the Indian Ocean, and at last her enemies had not a ship or a colony left.

Then the drama was concluded on land. Germany crushed France and Austria in her iron grasp, and England subdued the rest, but not until some millions of her brave sons had perished on the field of battle.

The result of the war was that England obtained the whole of Turkey, a vast piece of the Russian Empire in Asia, and important ports and strongholds in France, Italy, and Spain; while Germany obtained as her share a good slice from France, Italy, and Russia. Shortly afterwards the United States were reunited to England, and the latter entered into a federal union with all the Teutonic States of Europe. The French race gradually died out, and their country was absorbed by the Federal Union, as were also Italy and Spain. The Russian Empire, pressed by England in Asia and by Germany in Europe, became so much reduced in size that at last it was quite insignificant. The Turkish nation likewise gradually died out or was absorbed into the ruling population, until finally the Anglo-Saxon race was dominant over all the globe.

Meanwhile, tremendous revolutions had taken place in the thoughts and aims of men. Our forefathers considered that science had made enormous progress in the nineteenth century, but during the closing decades of the twentieth it advanced with leaps and bounds, for all the energy and intellect of mankind was concentrated upon it. This was due to the new advance which had taken place in education. For a long time men's minds had been growing more and more practical, seeking for some tangible and useful result from their labours. The result was that the study of ancient and modern Languages and Literature, of Theology, History, Metaphysics, Antiquities, and the fruitless speculations of Philosophy, received less attention every year, until at last they were altogether abandoned.

The vast amount of intellect that had been hitherto wasted on these branches of learning was then wholly concentrated on the study of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, and Engineering, as being the only subjects that gave an adequate return for the labour spent upon them. The result was beyond the dreams of the most sanguine of the pioneers of science. Every day the world was astonished by the news of some marvellous scientific discovery. A telephotoscope, or apparatus for seeing at a distance by means of an electric current, which had long been eagerly sought for by the older scientists, was soon invented and brought to practical use. Then the other problems which physicists had so long been trying to crack were solved. The nature of the attraction of gravitation, and of the ether which was supposed to pervade all space, was found out, as well as the constitution of matter, and the nature of cohesion and of the force which was known to the scientists of the nineteenth century as electricity.

The nature of these forces being known, numerous properties belonging to them that had been previously unknown were deduced, and found to be of considerable practical importance. The most wonderful of all was the discovery that the attraction of gravitation could be prevented from acting on a body by surrounding it with wires, through which peculiarly constituted currents of electricity were flowing, or, in other words, it was possible to take away a body's weight altogether. The result was that flying machines were made practicable, and these soon became almost the sole means of locomotion. Ordinary vehicles could also have their weights reduced to nothing, and consequently required less force to propel them. About the same time a new light was discovered, which was so powerful and so easy to produce that it immediately superseded the old electric light.

Great as these discoveries were, still more astonishing ones were in store. The ether-motions were still further investigated, and the result was that three new and extremely powerful forces were discovered. These were Dynogen, Pralion, and Ednogen, and practically illimitable supplies of them could be obtained from the regions of space. They could be used either separately or in combination, according to the nature of the effect desired. When all three were set in action together, an amount of energy equal to many thousands of horse-power could be obtained from an engine of very small compass. It was then that the crowning application of all these discoveries was made, and this was the navigation of space. Gravity could be annihilated at will, and there was an enormous force at the disposal of the engineers, so cigar-shaped vessels were made perfectly air-tight, and fitted with engines for acting on the ether of space, and with the anti-gravitation apparatus. After several failures, successful trips were performed to the moon and the nearer planets. The interstellar ships were gradually improved, and an ingenious steering apparatus was added, together with instruments that registered the speed of the vessel, its distance from its destination, and the existence and exact position of any obstacles that might be in the way.

The voyages were extended to the further planets, but many fatal accidents took place before the rules upon which the navigation of space must be based were fully understood. But the dangers of the voyage were soon put into the background by the marvellous tales which the explorers brought back with them. They had found Mars, Mercury and Venus uninhabited, and only waiting to be taken possession of. The others were inhabited, but the natives were quite harmless. A virgin soil that hardly required any cultivation, a salubrious climate, trees laden with the most luscious fruits, myriads of animals, and vast mineral wealth spread quite a fever for emigration. Hundreds of thousands of pioneers, adventurers, and scientists rushed into the deep unknown, and reached their destination in safety. More followed, and soon the whole of the planetary system became fully colonized, and most of the planets are, at the time when we write this history, almost as populous as the earth is.

But the moral progress of the race did not go hand-in-hand with its intellectual advances. The human race had gradually become divided into two parts—those who had great brain power and those who had very little. The former did all the commanding and organizing, the latter did the menial work. As far back as the nineteenth century the thoughts of everyone had been bent on acquiring money and possessions, but in the twenty-second century it had become an all-consuming fever that occupied everyone's thoughts day and night. There was a frightful struggle for riches; those who had superior abilities soon got hold of everything, while those who had none soon had their possessions taken away from them, and they could get no more, so they were reduced to a position little better than that of slaves. The human race, in its greediness, ate up the earth, appropriating every acre of ground, and then it inundated the planetary system. The same was the case with the intellectual giants of the age; their curiosity was insatiable, their ambition boundless, and their greed all-devouring. The planetary world which had been opened to their researches did not content them for long. Larger and improved interstellar ships were con- structed and fitted with enormous motive power, and the reckless scientists, accompanied by numerous adventurers, plunged once more into the unknown abysses of space. But they soon met with a power which was equal to, if not greater than, their own. They came to the fixed star Sirius, and found that his planetary system was inhabited by a race of men who had attained to the same degree of civilization as themselves—a people who were hardy and bold, and whom they had to treat as equals.

These people, who were all subject to the Sirian planet Kairet, were extremely numerous and powerful, and were bound together by a close union, so the Anglo-Saxons had to abandon all hopes of acquiring any territory in their system. As a result of these two great Powers becoming simultaneously aware of one another's existence, there was much mutual jealousy and dislike. The eager Anglo-Saxons turned their attention to other fields of acquisition, and plunged further and further into the depths of space, some even trying, in the pride of their power and their thirst for science, to seek God on His throne in those unknown regions. Dim accounts had been handed down from generation to generation of a certain great man named Napoleon Bonaparte who once nearly conquered the world. Now there were thousands of Bonapartes endowed with colossal intellect, vast energy, and boundless ambition, each burning to wrest for himself a world from the great Unknown. Provinces and countries were not even thought of; they desired to rule over a planet, a system, a universe. There was present everywhere an intense fever for acquisition; men burned with a desire to plunder in these new regions. Vast expeditions were fitted out and started off for the regions of space. Many of these were never heard of again, but some came back with wonderful tales of what they had seen and found.

It was while this was going on that the Anglo-Saxon race first came into rivalry with the people of Kairet, and a series of events followed which led to oceans of blood being shed, and entailed untold suffering on the human race. Many of us who have lived through the terrible events of the year and the five succeeding years often wished that we had been contented with our own planet, and limited our ambition to a more humble sphere. We still exist, but it will be many years before we recover from the effects of that awful struggle.

The achievements that were wrought in the other branches of science were not less wonderful. Chemists developed their science until it seemed incapable of any further advancement, and then applied the new forces to what had hitherto been considered as elements. These they succeeded in resolving into other metallic substances, which were stronger, tougher, and more durable than those previously known. The methods of analysis and synthesis were also vastly extended by the application of the force Dynogen, and the result was that thousands of new chemical bodies possessing very remarkable and useful properties were prepared.

As soon as these remarkable discoveries were made, Chemistry joined itself to its sister Science, Physics, and the two henceforth advanced hand-in-hand. Astounding discoveries had likewise been made in Biology and Medicine, with the result that diseases had been almost rooted out, and the average length of human life extended to over a hundred years, for no one hardly ever died except from an accident or the effects of old age. The human race was being gradually improved, both physically and mentally, and this, again, reacted on and quickened the progress of scientific discovery, and stimulated the race to still greater exertions.

The progress of science also introduced an enormous improvement into the pro- vinces of Engineering and Technology. It had been found that the attraction of cohesion could be diminished or altogether removed by focussing on to the mass to be acted upon the energy radiated by the two forces Pralion and Dynogen. Hence it was easy enough, by properly regulating and applying these forces, to cut, plane, and saw masses of wood, metal, or stone, and to make them assume the form of any mould without the application of heat. In this manner, and by using the powerful motive force that could so easily be obtained, all building and constructive operations were very quickly performed. Telegraphy had also been much improved, and it was possible to send messages through space without any intervening wire over a distance of more than three hundred million miles. These messages could be received by, or sent from, an interstellar ship while in motion.

After the discovery of the great power that dwelt within the Sirian system, the science of war was steadily improved by the Anglo-Saxons. Hundreds of interstellar war-vessels were constructed and fitted with the most terrible destroying weapons, after the manner of the ironclads of olden time. These were always kept patrolling the regions of space, and were frequently exercised together in fleets, so that the men might be kept in good practice in case they should be needed for actual service. Besides these formidable fleets, numerous forts were excavated in the sides of mountains all over the world, and some half-million soldiers were kept under arms, so that there might be some means of defence should the earth, by an accident to the fleets, happen to be invaded by a hostile power. The people of Kairet made preparations of a similar nature, and the two powers copied improvements from one another until at last the means of destruction and self-defence had reached the highest perfection.

And so the Anglo-Saxon race went on wresting fresh secrets from Nature every day, while its individual members were continually acquiring more possessions and building more imposing palaces. To know at that time meant to possess.

Exulting in their might, the gray-haired scientists steered their vessels through the dark depths of space, while they ransacked worlds for treasures and luxuries; some even towed great masses of valuable rock or precious metal behind their ships. Rare and beautiful plants were uprooted, and strange animals were captured and stowed away in the interior of the ships, and finally deposited in London or the other great cities of the world. Whole families would band together and buy an interstellar ship, and rush out into space to seek for themselves a new country and more splendid fortunes.

There were many deeds of darkness done in those distant regions which no one ever heard of. Rival expeditions did not hesitate to attack one another when there was a conflict of interests, and murders were of frequent occurrence. But justice rarely overtook the offenders, for the mangled bodies and broken ships were flung into space, and there they floated on and on for ever and told no tales. The fate of the dead men was never known to those whom they had left behind.

But it was fated that the great race that ruled the earth should cross the path of another as great, as ambitious, and as unyielding as itself. They were gradually approaching one another, and soon there would be a crash that would resound far and wide through the universe.

Chapter 2

CHAPTER II

LIFE IN THE YEAR

The th of June in the year was a day that will long be remembered in the annals of the Anglo-Saxon race, for on that day began a series of disasters that brought the proud inhabitants of the earth to the brink of ruin. Far off in the abysses of space the offspring of the two great races of humanity met, and flung defiance in one another's faces. But we are anticipating events, and must leave the description of what happened in those distane regions for another chapter.

The sun ascended higher and higher into the sky, diffusing his radiance around. The sky was covered with air-ships of all sizes and shapes, darting hither and thither. Some were of light build, and were principally used for transporting passengers and cargo from one part of the city to another; others were larger, and travelled to different parts of England; while still larger ones did the passenger and goods service to the more distant parts of the earth. Far up among the clouds the gleaming hulls of the huge interstellar ships could be seen returning from their voyages to the planets and more distant stars, and further down were the outward-bound vessels slowly floating into the air from the wharves below. Every now and then some great war-vessel floated slowly over the tops of the buildings, almost brushing the summits of the trees, on its way to the manœuvring-ground, the sunlight glistening on its rows of murderous-looking cannon, and the complicated masses of wires and rods that covered the exterior of the hull. The bustle and noise of a great city ascended from the streets and squares, that were now filled with busy people and with vehicles of every description.

As the day wore on and the afternoon began to wane, a beautiful girl, scarcely out of her teens, stood at one of the windows of a magnificent house that was situated almost in the centre of the city, and looked out upon the cool shades of the garden that surrounded the house and the variegated buildings beyond. Her features were regular and of the most perfect type, her eyes were of a soft dark-brown colour, and the voluptuous curves of her figure were draped in a light-blue garment. Her name was Flora Houghton, and she was the only daughter of the famous Dr. Houghton, who had made many important discoveries in physical science. She stood in the sunlight for a few moments, showing off her marvellous figure to perfection, and then she drew back the light gauzy curtain from the window that she might drink in the refreshing perfume-laden breeze that blew across the garden.

'What a beautiful thing is life!' she murmured, with the joyous accents of early maidenhood, as she tripped lightly out into the garden. 'Everything around me is so fresh and bright. How happy I feel! Only three more hours and I shall see my dear Alec.'

She stooped over one of the flower-beds and made a small nosegay out of the most sweet-smelling flowers.

'There!' she said, as soon as she had finished binding the flowers together. 'That will do for his button-hole when he comes to dinner this evening. Now I must go and have just one look at him to while away the time.'

She returned to the house, dreamily twirling the button-hole in one hand, and entered a small room where there was a strange-looking instrument made of several concave reflectors standing in front of a large screen. She pressed a button and spoke into a telephone that was attached to the instrument. In a few seconds there came an answering ring, and then she turned a handle that was fastened on to one of the reflectors. A picture immediately began to form on the screen, and grew brighter until every detail depicted on it appeared to be quite real. It represented a young man of twenty-five or thereabouts, clad in naval uniform, and seated at a table covered with a mass of papers, which he was busily engaged in examining. This was Lieutenant Alec Brandon, of the first-class interstellar war-ship Lightning. He was a rising young officer of great abilities, who was expected soon to obtain his captaincy. This fact and some minor achievements that he had wrought in the field of science made him very acceptable to Dr. Houghton, who had consented to his engagement with his daughter. As soon as the picture was quite perfect, he looked up from his papers in the direction in which Flora was standing and kissed his hand to her. She smiled and nodded to him, and held the flowers up for him to see. He bowed his thanks to her, and then she turned a handle and the picture vanished.

Flora then threw herself into an armchair with a book and a fan, and patiently occupied the next two hours by reading a sensational story about twenty-third century loves. She was just in the full swing of the romance when Lieutenant Alec Brandon was announced.

'At last, my sweet one,' he said as he entered the room, 'I am released from the toils of my office, and have the pleasure of seeing your sweet face once more. Are you tired of doing nothing, or would you rather that I waited just a little longer?'

'I was tired of being without you, Alec,' she replied, as he bent down and kissed her upturned face. 'I thought you were never coming.'

'Well, here I am at last, and so you have me safe enough. But really, you know, I think I have come away too soon,' he added, with a smile. 'I ought to be still working out those tactics for the Admiral. Shall I go back again for a little while?'

'Oh no, Alec; stay with me now you are here, and let the tactics wait,' she murmured as she rested her head on his shoulder. 'I don't see nearly enough of you as it is.'

'Don't you, my little girl?' he said laughingly, as he kissed her again. 'You will see enough of me to-night, anyhow, for I am going to take you to the Villeroy Theatre to see the new piece.'

'Oh, that will be grand!' she exclaimed, clapping her hands. 'We shall be able to have a nice evening together. Come into the drawing-room now and see the doctor; it is just upon dinner-time.'

He gave her his arm and led her into the drawing-room, where several guests, consisting mainly of men whose names were well known in the scientific and military worlds, were assembled, besides several very fascinating ladies. A few moments later dinner was announced, and the guests paired off and proceeded to the dining-room, where a dinner awaited them such as would have provoked the envy of the most particular diner-out of the nineteenth century. There were fishes and meats that had been brought from places hundreds of millions of miles off, and which were served up by cooks who had grown gray in studying the intricacies of the culinary art. They were accompanied by the most exquisite wines and vegetables, and followed by fruits that had been culled from among the stars. Miniature fountains that stood on the tables threw up showers of scented liquids into the air, and the room was flooded by a subdued light that seemed to issue from ceiling, wall, and table.

The conversation was highly intellectual. The gray-haired scientists talked of nothing but the subjects to which they had devoted their lives, and explained to one another the recent advances that had been made in their own special departments. The naval men discussed the subtleties of tactics and strategy and the latest instruments of destruction and defence, while Dr. Houghton entertained his own immediate neighbours with an account of the recent researches of the Sirian professors.

Lieutenant Alec Brandon sat next to Flora, and for a time both took part in the learned arguments that were going on around them; then they drifted into a species of conversation that was more congenial to the relation which existed between them.

Dinner over, coffee and more wines were served in the drawing-rooms, and Alec Brandon and his sweetheart set out for the theatre, leaving the other guests dispersed all over the grounds enjoying various kinds of intellectual food. They had arranged to walk part of the way, as it led through a park which was very refreshing in the cool of the evening. So they walked along arm-in-arm through groves of flowering zeratas that had come from Jupiter, under spreading Sirian palms, and past flower-beds covered with the luxurious blossoms of plants that had been brought from Uranus and Neptune. High over their heads were the arched branches of estinoderms that had been reared on Mars, and on the right and left, interspersed with shrubs that had come from the remotest depths of space, were pinophasts and purple mirapheas that had been brought from Mercury and Venus.

They walked by the side of artificial torrents rushing over their rocky beds, crossed lakes which teemed with the most beautiful fish that could be found in the universe, and then found themselves in a large open space. Here the air was filled with the voluptuous sounds of music, which seemed to come from above, but no performers were visible; for musical sounds could be transmitted all over London by a marvellous electric contrivance. There were hundreds of seats scattered about under the trees, and numerous restaurants in the open space, which was crowded with people who had come out to enjoy the fresh evening air and listen to the music.

The two lovers were making their way through the crowd, when they saw a tall pale man of about thirty years of age, apparently wrapped in thought, coming towards them.

'There is James Tarrant,' said Alec Brandon, as he nodded his head in the newcomer's direction. 'He is quite absorbed with his own thoughts, to judge from his appearance.'

The tall pale-faced man was about to pass by them without speaking, when Alec accosted him.

'Hullo, Dr. Tarrant?' he said. 'Still at it, then? Have you got any nearer to the solution than you were before?'

The individual addressed started and looked up, and showed a face that was seamed with lines, in spite of his youth.

'Ah, Lieutenant!' he said in an absent-minded voice, as he fastened his dreamy eyes on Alec; 'how do you do? Good-evening, Miss Houghton. I am just getting a little fresh air after my labours.'

'Have you found out anything yet, Doctor?' inquired Alec.

Tarrant shook his head somewhat sadly.

'There is one difficulty that I cannot get over,' he replied. 'If it were not for that, I could achieve the greatest discovery that has been made during the last fifty years. I could render all your great war-ships practically useless.'

'That is not so easily done as you think,' said Alec, flushing slightly. 'Besides,' he added, with a slight laugh, 'you couldn't do it!'

'We shall see! we shall see!' said Tarrant somewhat bitterly. 'I have spent all my life so far on this one subject, and find it out I will. I am poor now and I have nothing,' he continued, as he shot a meaning glance at Flora, 'but I shall be powerful enough some day.'

'Well, I hope you will succeed, I am sure,' said Alec in a sarcastic voice. 'Come, Flora, or we shall be late.'

They walked on for a short distance, and then, hailing an open boat-shaped vessel that happened to be floating in the air, they entered it and quickly arrived at the Villeroy Theatre. This was a huge building quite in character with the city in the centre of which it stood. It was replete with everything that science could suggest to add to the brilliance of the performance and the comfort and enjoyment of the audience. The magnificent 'Chorus of the Worlds,' the greatest musical composition that the world has even seen, was first performed as an overture by an invisible orchestra, and the air was filled with a rapturous music that surpasses all description. Then the curtain rose and the performance commenced. The scene was laid in one of the far-off planets, and everything was arranged to produce as realistic an effect as possible. There seemed to be real houses and streets, real woods, and real clouds flitted across a deep blue sky. Everything was exactly imitated, even thunderstorms and rain, so that the audience could easily fancy themselves on the actual spot without any effort of imagination. When there was a garden scene, real trees and flowers appeared, the sun shone down from above, and a breeze flitted over the foliage, while every now and then the most luxurious music accompanied the movements of the actors. At last the piece came to an end and the curtain fell amidst a tempest of applause.