THE LAST WOMAN

THOMAS D. GARDNER

Through the long lonely days the Last Woman reclined on a couch and watched the dribbling throng of Intelligences pass.

From where she was she could see the tall towers and skyscrapers of the largest city on Earth. She knew it only as Nuk. Twenty thousand years ago its people had called it New York, but that had been in the Golden Age when there were two sexes. Through the graceful colonnades that once had been called Grecian, the Last Woman saw a silver torpedo-shaped vessel leap into the empyrean blue with ever increasing acceleration.

Almost immediately it was a silver speck, a dot in the infinite and then it was gone. She knew that in it were men of Earth on the Interplanetary Patrol. Before they returned they would see the cloudy sky of Venus, the blazing deserts of Mars and perhaps the Mining Companies on the cold dead Moon. Her heart swelled with envy, but those adventures could never be for her. She was an anachronism.

A sudden gust of hate swept over her and turning suddenly she looked out the other side. But here she saw the tall spires of the Natural Science Laboratories, which were more distasteful to her than ever. Idly she let her gaze rove over the hurrying crowds in the street below. Some always turned into the archway and approached her dais, for her fame had traveled to the farthest point of the solar system.

The Last Woman wrinkled her nose in disgust at the group that approached her now. The varying types of the planets were well represented. Only the metal men were absent. They never came. With their electrical brains and metal bodies came a cold disdain of anything that harped of the foolish, sentimental past that poets were wont to call the Golden Age.

In this group were several of the seven-foot lizard men of Mars with their big brain cases and darting eyes that saw everything. They laughed and passed comments on the Last Woman. Her face flushed at their cold merciless humor. She to them was another animal of Earth to be examined and discussed. The Last Woman felt sorry for the Venusians with their four-foot ant-like bodies. They seldom if ever spoke, but merely looked at her. She couldn't help but feel that they were sorry for her, that they disapproved of the Earthmen exhibiting her as if she were an animal.

They laughed and passed comments on the Last Woman. Her face flushed under their cold merciless humor. She was to them another animal of earth.

Ah! the Earthmen. The Last Woman hated them. They had no sympathy for her. They were gods and she—a woman. She represented to them all that they had fought and destroyed in the past and so had reached the mighty pinnacle of knowledge and power that was theirs—lords of the solar system.

As this group approached the railing that separated her from the observers she saw that it was a class from the University. The Professor in charge was Historian Z11. Of all things on earth that the Last Woman hated most it was this man. He took especial delight in recounting each time he brought his class to see the anachronism the history of the Science Civilization and of her. Historian Z11 smiled a cold greeting, turned and faced his class to begin his lecture.

"It all began back in the so-called Twentieth Century," Historian Z11 began. "Henry Zeeman, now known as Biochemist G4, was attending Columbia University in the ancient city of New York. You will probably wonder at the peculiar nomenclature of the people of that time. It was a relic of the Dark Ages in which the names denoted occupations, paternity, and sometimes ownership. Zeeman was considered peculiar by the young men of his time because of his dislike for girls. Pardon me, fellow scientists, but the word 'girls' was used to denote adolescent females. Whenever Zeeman was questioned on the subject he admitted that he did not necessarily dislike girls but that the time wasted in their company could be used to much better advantage in experiment in the laboratory. He defended this point of view vigorously.

"Now contrary to many of the medical men of his day Zeeman was not abnormal. He was as much alive and healthy as any young man of his time. But Zeeman was possessed of a driving desire to know. In order to eliminate emotion from his life altogether Zeeman experimented with different chemicals and nearly wrecked his health in doing so. Some would repress emotion to a certain extent, as the nitrates, but in doing so would affect the nervous system.

"Zeeman had just about given up hope of achieving his purpose when he ran across an account of the isolation of the four sex hormones—we know now that there are nine—by several scientists. This was the first ray of hope that Zeeman had received. He was then twenty-two years old. Two years later he found an account of the chemical synthesis of these hormones.

"Zeeman analyzed the problem this way. If emotion and the libido were caused by these hormones what would be the effect of destroying them in the body as soon as formed? Would the secondary sex characteristics be affected? We know now that the secondary sex characteristics were not the result of the hormones then found."

"If they had been the result of those four all mankind on Earth would be neuter rather than intensely masculine. Ha! Ha!" a Martian boomed. "I can imagine a thin-chested neuter on the Interplanetary Patrol. Awrrk!"

"I think that we Earthmen can take care of ourselves." Historian Z11 continued as he flexed the muscles on his mighty arms and continued in a rippling roll of muscle over his chest. "It was in his last year at Columbia while working on his research problem for his Doctor's degree that he discovered the compound we call the Elixir. As you know the Elixir was a fabled liquid that would renew youth. This compound made men into gods and in the Council seven thousand years ago it was decided that the name Elixir be chosen as a permanent name instead of the chemical one used until then.

"In a concentration of a millionth molarity one drop sufficed to break up the four sex hormones during a period of six months. The compound acted as a catalyst and itself was not used up. The dose was injected directly into the blood stream. Success was his at last. The next thing to do was to convince the world. Within five years over a hundred of Earth's foremost Scientists were using the compound regularly.

"All the energies that had been turned toward sex and the emotional side of life were released for thought and work. Every branch of science advanced and the scientists began to control the money and power resources of the Earth. The Moon was explored and its rich mineral deposits worked. Fellow scientists, that was the first step toward our Science Civilization."

"You mentioned the exploration of your Moon, Historian Z11, what type of space vessel was used? No space vessels reached Venus until the fortieth century." The shrill voice of a Venusian piped.

"Well may you ask, Venusian. I have ever noticed that you have given very close attention to my lectures and I freely predict a glorious future for you. The ancients used crude rocket propulsion with molecular energy motors. In the Museum you may still see the first vessel that reached the Moon. I shall request Physicist S178 to explain it to you.

"But I digress. The second step came twenty years after the discovery of the compound we call Elixir. Surgeon N3 found a method of forcing nerve cells to heal quickly and join one end of a severed cell to the end of another severed cell and grow together. Can you realize what that meant? Previously men grew old and died. Their life work was cut short and someone else had to take it up.

"But with the great advance of antiseptics and surgery the discovery of Surgeon N3 enabled the brain of a great Scientist to be placed in the body of another man and he could carry on his work. This was done secretly for over two hundred years. The Scientists formed a coalition and began their plans to rule the world. That was the second step."

"Did not anyone ever suspect what the Scientists were doing?" a Martian asked.

"Yes, several did. But they mysteriously disappeared. An empire cannot be built on the fabled 'Milk of human kindness.'"

"Where did the metal men enter history?" a Venusian inquired.

"That would take us too far off our lecture, but in passing I will add that Physicist S245 made the first electrical brain. The metal men were a great help in the war of the sexes. But I am anticipating. From your courses in Biology and Heredity you know that in Earthmen the determinant of sex is the XX and XY chromosomes in the sperm. The former fertilizing an ovum gives a female and the latter a male. After the twenty-seventh century, Scientists awoke to the fact that there was not room for the normal and subnormal men and the conflict between the sexes had reached a point that women were feminizing civilization to such an extent that the variability in the male had almost ceased.

"Since all progress has been due to the variability and mutation of the sperm, the race was in danger. The first Council of the science empire was called. They decided that Woman must go. They based their decision on the fact that the female bred truest to type and held the primitive characteristics longer than the male and that she reverted to the primitive type the quicker.

"The way was open because Biochemist G67 had synthesized artificial ova over fifty years before. The plan was to use a fixed ovum as a base and let all variability lie in the sperm. By selecting the type of sperm desired only males could be produced. These fertilized eggs could be raised in incubators. There could be no turning back. There were two million Scientists and over five hundred thousand metal men. Atomic Physicist SQ132 had developed the heat ray twelve years before. In thirty-four days of battle every woman, child, and man other than the Scientists died. At last Science had triumphed. Thus in the year 2794 A. D. the Science Empire was born."

"What did A. D. mean?" inquired a Venusian.

"Pardon me, I had forgotten. A. D. was the abbreviation of two words Anno Domini. They referred to the supposed birth of one of the gods in one of the primitive religions, just which one I am not sure since several claimed the Earth-born god as their own."

"If all of the women were killed and the inferior men were also killed, how did this woman come to be?" inquired a Martian.

The Professor of History smiled a cold smile. There was mirth in it—of a sort. He glanced at the reclining figure on the dais and smiled again.

"This woman! Why she is an accident. An XX sperm slipped by the examination board. After the birth of the infant the Scientists decided to let it live and exhibit to the varying types of life what primitive man thought most desirable."

An Explorer Returns

A ripple of mirth swept the class. The woman flushed a dull red. Her violet eyes blazed hate at the Historian. The Historian smiled with the cold assurance of a great race examining a primitive savage. He knew that this was an old story to her. That she had been well educated. There was a great deal of cruelty in these supermen. Historian Z11 took it out on the Last Woman.

The sun was sinking, long black shadows crept across the floor. Suddenly an orange beacon blazed far across the city. Night was coming and this mighty city was preparing to continue its work. Only the Last Woman felt depressed. The night suggested death and the Last Woman was the only one on that Planet who was fore-doomed to die without a single helping hand. Her brain would not be transferred.

The class turned to go. It was almost time for their class in Matrix Calculus. A single Martian lingered looking at the woman.

"Anachronism!" he hissed.

Martians were like that.

The woman rose wearily from her couch. The robot had come for her. The little metal car driven by atomic energy awaited. The woman entered and was whisked away. The night wind whistled through the deserted building. The last rays of the dying sun fell full on a statue in one corner of the building. It was a statue of Niobe—a relic of ancient Greece. The statue seemed to be weeping. Was she weeping for the Last Woman? No one could tell.

The patrol ship IPPP56 was returning to earth with Explorer X12 who had been wrecked on the asteroid Ceres for six earth months. The Commander V15 was well pleased. He had searched for months for the Explorer X12. Several months ago a black derelict came hurtling through space along his patrol route. On examination the derelict had turned out to be the missing explorer's space ship. A great meteor had torn completely through the stern wrecking the atomic motors and letting his precious atmosphere out into space.

There was no sign of his crew of Martians. After carefully plotting the course of the derelict it was found that it had come from the asteroid belt. So the patrol ship had set out in hopes of solving the mystery. Twelve days before a flickering violet beam had been observed on Ceres. On investigation the lost explorer had been picked up. They had lived on the raw products of the giant fern vegetation of that planetoid. But this is not a chronicle of the hardships that they had gone through. It is sufficient to note that they were rescued.

Explorer X12 stood before a quartz window looking out at the blackness of space. A few stars shone like diamond dust on black velvet. The Commander entered the room and touched the explorer on the shoulder.

"Quite a change from the barren sky of Ceres, eh!" he said quietly. "You were very lucky in preserving a violet light. You have had an interesting adventure. The Scientists of the Council will be interested in your story."

The explorer shrank back, his eyes wide open in fear, and his face pale.

"No!" he cried.

"What's the matter?"

"I don't know. You know of course that I ran out of Elixir."

"What! Man do you realize that your body has become accustomed to it. What will the result be? Here, take a shot now."

Sudden fear shook the explorer in a palsy.

"I tried to. The first injection made me very sick. My body won't stand it. I tell you I won't. I won't."

The Commander spoke slowly. "Come, you must brace up. Without Elixir you will become an atavist. The first since the beginning of the empire. The Council will condemn you to death. Do you want to become a savage?"

The Explorer shuddered. Beads of perspiration broke out on his forehead.

"I can't now," he mumbled.

"Very well, but if you do not come out of this attack of protoplasmic insanity I will have to report you to the Council." So saying this he turned and left the room.

The space ship plunged on.

The Last Woman was before the Council—that body of the solar system's greatest Scientists. Earthmen, Venusians, Martians, all were represented here. At the head was the greatest brain on the planet—Metal Man 89. He was the sole representative of that machine civilization. The Council was tired of the Last Woman's attempt to take a hand in interplanetary affairs. They had just warned her that if she persisted the sentence of death would be passed on her.

Proudly she stood and looked the Council over, but it was the look of a hunted beast. They were her superiors in every way and she knew it. Slowly she turned and passed from the Council Chamber. As she left Explorer X12 came in. Both stopped. What was this that stirred in the breasts of both. Could it be that for the first time in over nineteen thousand years love flamed? The explorer sucked in his breath. He was a young man and still inhabited the body he was born with. The Last Woman smiled and passed on.

The Council gave the explorer over to the Scientists to cure within six months. He was temporarily classed as an atavist and a great deal of interest was shown in his peculiar case. Why the man had actually developed emotions. How primeval!

The Last Woman looked into the long mirror in her private rooms that night and smiled. She was a beautiful woman from the viewpoint of twenty thousand years ago. Well formed with golden hair, violet eyes, cream complexion and with the grace of a gazelle. Suddenly she laughed, for the first time in her life she had an interest in life and the world. She was in love. If Psychologist M09 had seen her he would have immediately diagnosed it that way. Why should I go against his opinion. He should know, having delved deep into the nervous reactions of the lower animals and the simians. A light footfall fell on her ears. She turned with an exclamation for no one was allowed in her rooms. Only the robots and they did not count. The explorer stood in the doorway and held out his arms. The Last Woman needed no second invitation.

"It is death to be found here. You must go at once," the Last Woman whispered hurriedly.

"It is death anyway. I have gone back to the past. I have spent the evening in studying the old books in the library that described love and life. I love you. I can't help it. What can I do?" The man's voice was broken and his giant frame shook as with an ague.

"I thought you were under observation in the Medical Ward?"

"Yes, but I slipped out."

A gong rang loudly. The man gave a guilty start and started for the door.

"Look for me tomorrow night." His last agonized whisper floated back and he was gone.

The next day passed quickly. The Last Woman seemed to live in a dream world. But as soon as she opened her eyes the spell was broken. A shudder of horror shook her frame when she contemplated the gigantic civilization she was trying to outwit. Part of the day she was in the laboratory of Comparative Anatomy. Here her body was contrasted with the females of the simians. Disgust claimed her as she heard the Professor point out similarities between her beautiful form and the shaggy anthropoids.

Explorer X12 worked feverishly in the great library catalog turning card after card, searching, unceasingly searching. There was a chance of winning to freedom since he had heard that morning of the completed exploring vessels that were to take off for Alpha Centauri. Would he never find it? Ah! Here it was, "Methods of Life, Psychology, and Mores of the Primitive Savages Inhabiting Earth Prior to the Scientific Empire." The reference was to the great mass of books, most of which were worthless, in the building reserved for the pre-scientific period.

The worst fears of Psychologist M06 were being realized—the explorer was going primitive. Already a hunted look had come into his eyes, his attitude suggested stealth, and he trembled as he searched among the millions of books that were indexed in the library. Selecting several of the most pertinent books in regard to existence in a primitive environment without all the modern appliances of the Science Civilization, Explorer X12 left the building. But what was that? A Man! Only Psychologist M06 who shook his head at the unreasoning attitude of the explorer.

A flaming sun sank behind the tall buildings of the most wonderful civilization the solar system had ever developed. Long purple shadows chased one another along the pavement, an orange beacon rose from the southern part of the city, while a man slunk furtively toward the gigantic building that housed the Last Woman.

The Last Woman[1] watched the door in eager expectancy, for had not Explorer X12 said that he would return? Ah! There were his footsteps. The next moment she was in his arms sobbing with relief—for she was just a woman although highly civilized. The man was incoherent with joy and whispered rapidly.

"There is a chance that we can get away. Do you remember the expedition that was to start to Alpha Centauri? The cruisers have been completed and all equipment has been placed aboard. We can slip away in one of the cruisers. They are the fastest ships in the solar system."

"Where could we go—there is no place in the solar system we can hide. Don't you see that if we escape it is a blow at the Science Civilization? There have been no mistakes or failures since the beginning nineteen thousand years ago. That is why the Earthmen rule. Where could we go?" The woman's attitude suggested dejection.

"They are going to Alpha Centauri, we will go to Polaris many light years away."

"We will grow old and die before we get there. We cannot renew our bodies or transfer our brains." And the woman began to sob.

A Desperate Gamble

The man laughed and then explained the relativity of time and space. How it would take many years to reach Polaris but to the occupants of the car it would seem as if it were only a few months. He told how the cruiser would approach the velocity of light and how their relative lengths and time would be altered.

A televisor disk clouded and the two whirled in fear. A mechanical voice droned. "The completed expedition for exploring interstellar space will leave day after tomorrow. The latest telephotos will be broadcasted at once." The disk became rose, then shot with whirling streamers of red, then abruptly cleared.

The scene that was presented lay in upper Nuk. Back of the foreground could be seen the tall buildings of the city. In a little cleared space lay six great cruisers. They were not spectacular but efficient and deadly. A little over two hundred feet in length, torpedo-shaped, and driven by electronic rockets.[2]

The voice broke in again. "The vessel is fully provisioned for a period of ten years and is armed with high-powered automatic rifles for reducing cities, with ultra-violet and heat rays, the electron guns, besides poison gases and high explosive bombs. The crews are picked so as to represent all the inhabited planets. It is the hope of the Council to extend the sway of the Science Civilization over the galaxy. Within two thousand years the Physicists who are investigating the fifth and sixth dimensions promise a means of propulsion and velocity attainment greater than the velocity of light."

There followed a detailed survey of the interior of the cruisers. On all the planets only two followed the televisor views with fear and trepidation. What luck! The controls of the ship were of the standard type used on the interplanetary vessels.

"Have you any weapons?" The Last Woman asked the explorer.

"Only an automatic and a flame pistol. If we can get one of those cruisers and get started out of the atmosphere they can never catch us. I'll be here tomorrow night two hours after the orange beacon comes on. Be ready."

The Last Woman was still fearful. "Won't they signal Mars to stop us? Oh we can't! We can't!"

But the explorer was reared in a different school. He did not forget that he was once a superman.

"By the time we reach Mars we will be a thin disc due to our velocity. They can never locate us. We will make it, never fear."

"Tomorrow!" breathed the woman.

Robots labored deep beneath the cities tending great machines that steadily turned out the machinery to supply the Earth. The expedition's crew came in from Venus and Mars. The Martians laughing and talking, taking it all as a rare experience; the Venusians silent as ever going about their work efficiently. One of the Metal Men was to head the party. Many years would pass before they would return to Earth. What would they find in the system of Alpha Centauri. The explorer and the Last Woman anxiously watched the sun traverse its slow path across the sky. Would night never come?

At last night fell and the sun set in a sea of crimson. The explorer was murmuring prayers that he had read in the ancient books, Explorer X12 had indeed gone backward. The atavist's mind was a blur of conflicting emotions, his intellect clouded, fear struggled with hope. Under his tunic he had hidden the powerful automatic and two belts of clips besides his flame pistol with extra charges.

If he had been caught with these arms his life would have been forfeited, especially since he was supposed to be taking treatment for his mental ailment. Lights blazed from the pinnacles of towers, the hum of the mighty city became a lulling rhythm, official and private sky cars flashed and dipped, the night life had begun. Life was now concentrated in the great laboratories under arc lights that made each corner blaze. There was no rest in Nuk. There was activity everywhere and then more activity—that is how the Earthman ruled.

The explorer crept from the steel skyscraper's emergency exit and hurried to meet his mate. The Last Woman was waiting. There was little that she could take since speed was necessary. Explorer X12 entered silently—the robots must not be disturbed.

"We must go. I have worked out a route underneath the city. We will take a tube car from the Central Station to North Ward 8 and then pass through the Dissecting Rooms, since they will be deserted at this hour, and then it is only a short distance to the cruisers. Only a perfunctory guard will be kept as they think that no one will be interested in the cruisers now. Come!" So saying the man picked up the pitifully small bundle of personal effects of the Last Woman.

The automatic elevator carried them silently to the eighth level beneath the street. Here wide corridors led to other buildings. The walls were lined with pipes and conduits, the man carried the flame pistol in his hand, the throb, throb of the machines kept the walls gently vibrating, hot air swirled around the two, and a feeling of power gigantic filled their hearts. Televisor disks whirled at interesting corridors. Were they being checked? Evidently not for no alarm was given.

Two more corners to go and then the Central Tube Station. A robot moved ponderously from a branching corridor. Its crystal eyes gleamed as it saw the two, but before it could give warning the flame pistol shot a violet-blue flame that cut the metal body almost in two. They went on. A tube car came to their signal and Explorer X12 hurriedly pushed the Last Woman in and closed the door.

The car moved off slowly until it entered the tube then shot ahead with terrific velocity, then it slowed at the station of North Ward 8. Here was the first big test—could they enter the corridors leading to the Dissecting Laboratories unseen? How they managed it the two never understood but at last they were hurrying down the dimly lighted way. The explorer whispered.

"We must pass through this chamber." Slowly he opened the door and apparently seeing no one entered. A gigantic Martian far across the long room glanced up from a specimen that he was examining, and then in long leaps came rushing toward them. The automatic spat once, a beady eye became a bloody hole, and the body crashed to the floor. They must hurry. A noise, a suggestion of a sound, they whirled, there in the door stood a Venusian with levelled heat ray.

Defeat! The woman sobbed as overwhelming despair swept over her. The Venusian regarded them silently, lowered his ray, turned and disappeared. The Venusians were sympathetic.

At last the cruisers lay before them gleaming in the starlight. How peaceful everything looked—then a wandering beam of light outlined them clearly. The city awoke with a roar, lights flashed, gongs rang, and guards broke from the entrance to the field and ran toward the two. The explorer seized the hand of the Last Woman and ran toward the lighted opening in the cruiser that lay a scant two hundred feet from them.

A flash struck the ground by them sending up a spout of dirt and stones. They were almost there. A red beam flashed by the running pair, it struck the polished wall of beryllium of the cruiser and glanced harmlessly off into space. They reached the portal, lunged through and the man had closed the lock. Now came the big test. The explorer must get away from the Earth—already other ships were being manned and the alarm sent out to the Interplanetary Patrol.

"This way to the controls! We must get there." Said the man as he ran toward the bow of the vessel. The control room was reached—but how among the myriad controls, buttons, and switches could the man find the right ones.

His training as a superman came to his aid. He snapped over the main power switch and the gigantic dynamos that furnished current for the powerful fields of force leaped into activity. They whined like hungry dogs and settled to a steady roar. Viciously he jabbed at the gravity equalizers, turned on two propulsion units—more would raise the shell to incandescence in the earth's heavy atmosphere.

"Why are you heading north instead of out into space?" The Last Woman inquired.

The man laughed gleefully and said:

"They will be expecting that and will concentrate the Patrol above Nuk. We will fool them." But he was forgetting that he was no longer a superman but a primitive while they were trying to outwit brains that had never been defeated.

Soon the frozen plains of the north lay beneath them. Their velocity was over two thousand miles per hour at an altitude of sixty thousand feet. The Aurora hung like a curtain before them; green and red streamers signalizing success or defeat.

On their televisor disks appeared a dozen dots that swiftly grew into long ships of the Interplanetary Patrol. The Last Woman screamed and the man groaned. A cold hard voice spoke from a receiver.

"Return to Nuk at once. You are surrounded. Fools!"

The man seemed to go insane and screamed like a wild animal.

"You'll never take us back!" He pushed the ray controls madly. Five blinding beams leaped out, two red, two violet, and one the ionizing beam of a cathode ray. Three ships were caught in this wholly unexpected attack. For who would dare to defy the Patrol!

One of the red beams met a vessel head on, it leaped into blinding, coruscating incandescence, melted and disappeared. A violet beam swept over a ship, it continued its plunge toward the Earth that lay like a cradle of protecting white beneath them. The cathode ray caressed a ship and that ship was no more. Those electrons driven at almost the speed of light broke down the electrical field of the nucleus of the atoms and the whole ship exploded as the nucleus disintegrated with violence.

The explorer shouted in joy—but too soon. A brilliant plane of light flashed from the flagship of the Patrol, and the captured vessel, neatly cut in two, started on its long swift plunge toward the ground. The Earth rocketed toward them as the man seized the woman in his arms and leaped toward the emergency cylinders. Entering he hastily slammed the door and cast off—but too late—his speed was terrific and the cylinder struck the snow field and plunged far down into the icy blanket. Oblivion swept over the two. The Aurora shimmered and blazed in the cold heavens and seemed to chuckle.

The Council Room was still. The greatest case of insubordination that had ever arisen in the solar system's great civilizations was being tried. The atavist was a pathetic broken figure, the Last Woman alone defiant. All the evidence had been heard and the Head of the Council, Metal Man 89 gave the verdict that will go down into History as the policy of the Science Civilization. His cold, motionless voice brought shivers to the condemned.

"Over nineteen thousand years ago we, the Scientists of the Earth, decided that for the good of Civilization and the progress of the race that there should be only one sex—male. Putting all our energies to the task of building this Civilization we succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. We rule the solar system and soon will rule the galaxy. You represent that influence that for ages dragged mankind back to the primeval slime out of which he had struggled.

"You even dared to light the beacon of Love in a Civilization that overthrew its reign that had enwrapped the world in its coils like the octopus does its prey. Bitterly do we regret allowing the Last Woman to live, for it has deprived us of a good man—Explorer X12. He could have been cured had not the chance to slip backward presented itself. Never again shall we allow or give an anachronism or an atavist a chance to live. They must die even as we the Supreme Council of the solar system condemn you to death by the flame."

No sound was heard for several seconds as the Metal Man ceased speaking. The man was calm now. He raised his head and looked long at the tier on tier of gathered Intelligences. Did he sigh for his lost position? Rising slowly he took the hand of the Last Woman and walked slowly by the seated Councilors toward the metal door that led into the chamber of flame. Reaching the door he turned and looked back. The rays of the sun lit up the crystal emblazoned chamber with an ethereal beauty. The Last Woman was stunned—she couldn't believe it yet.

The two passed through and found themselves in a small metal walled room with no exit. Explorer X12 turned to clasp the woman in his arms—but even as he turned the room leaped into brilliant flames. When they ceased an instant afterward only two little conical piles of ash were all that remained of the Last Woman and the Explorer—those who had dared to love. An exhaust fan started to whir with a subdued murmur. The two piles of ash rose up toward the ceiling, met, coalesced, and as one passed through the vent. United at last.

Outside a Martian laughed.

THE END.