Beyond the Vanishing Point

the Vanishing Point, by
Raymond King Cummings

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Title: Beyond the Vanishing Point
Author: Raymond King Cummings
Release Date: September 6, 2007 [EBook #22527]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE VANISHING POINT ***

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THEY OPENED THE PANDORA'S BOX OF ATOMIC TRAVEL
When George Randolph first caught sight of Orena, he was astounded
by its gleaming perfection. Here were hills and valleys, lakes and

streams, glowing with the light of the most precious of metals. And,
more astonishing than that, it was a world of miniature perfection--an
infinitely tiny universe within a golden atom!
But for Randolph it was also a world aglow with danger. Somewhere in
its tiny vastness were the friends he had to rescue. Captives of a
madman, they had been reduced to native Orena size; to return to Earth
they needed the growth capsules Randolph was bringing them. It was
up to Randolph to find them--and quickly--for the longer they stayed
tiny, the closer they came to passing BEYOND THE VANISHING
POINT!

CAST OF CHARACTERS
FRANZ POLTER He found a gold mine in a land where there was no
gold.
DR. KENT His scientific studies could mean life or death to an entire
universe!
GEORGE RANDOLPH He crossed the border into Canada, and found
himself in another world.
ALAN KENT Twenty feet tall, or two inches high--which should he
be?
GLORA She was only as large as a thumbnail, but she carried a
gigantic secret.
BABS KENT Did she live in a golden cage or a magnificent palace?

BEYOND THE VANISHING POINT
by RAY CUMMINGS
ACE BOOKS, INC. 23 West 47th Street, New York 36, N. Y.

BEYOND THE VANISHING POINT Copyright ©, 1958, by Ace
Books, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Printed in U.S.A.
CHAPTER I
It was shortly after noon of December 31, 1970, when the series of
weird and startling events began which took me into the tiny world of
an atom of gold, beyond the vanishing point, beyond the range of even
the highest-powered electric-microscope. My name is George
Randolph. I was, that momentous afternoon, assistant chemist for the
Ajax International Dye Company, with main offices in New York City.
It was twelve-twenty when the local exchange call-sorter announced
Alan's connection from Quebec.
"Hello, George? Look here, you've got to come up here at once.
Chateau Frontenac, Quebec. Will you come?"
I could see his face imaged in the little mirror on my desk; the anxiety,
tenseness in his voice, was duplicated in his expression.
"Well--" I began.
"You must, George. Babs and I need you. See here...."
He tried at first to make it sound like an invitation for a New Year's
Eve holiday. But I knew it was not that. Alan and Barbara were my best
friends. They were twins, eighteen years old. I felt that Alan would
always be my best friend; but for Babs, my hopes, longings, went far
deeper, though as yet I had never brought myself to the point of telling
her so.
"I'd like to come, Alan. But--"
"You've got to George! I can't tell you everything over the public air.

But I've seen him: He's diabolical. I know it now!"
Him! It could only mean, of all the world, one person!
"He's here!" he went on. "Near here. We saw him today! I didn't want
to tell you, but that's why we came. It seemed a long chance, but it's he,
I'm positive!"
I was staring at the image of Alan's eyes; there was horror in them. And
his voice too. "God, George, it's weird! Weird, I tell you. His
looks--he--oh I can't tell you now! Only, come!"
* * * * *
I was busy at the office in spite of the holiday season, but I dropped
everything and went. By one o'clock that afternoon I was wheeling my
little sport Midge from its cage on the roof of the Metropole building,
and went into the air.
It was a cold gray afternoon with the feel of coming snow. I made a
good two hundred and fifty miles at first, taking the northbound
through-traffic lane which today the meteorological conditions had
placed at an altitude of 6,200 feet.
Flying is largely automatic. There was not enough traffic to bother me.
The details of leaving the office so hastily had been too engrossing for
thought of Alan and