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"Well," resumed Jarvis, "this city was one of the relay stations to boost the flow. Their power plant was the only one of the giant buildings that seemed to serve any useful purpose, and that was worth seeing. I wish you'd seen it, Karl; you'll have to make what you can from our pictures. It's a sun-power plant!" Harrison and Putz stared. "Sun-power!" grunted the captain. "That's primitive!"
But animals must take their supply of sun-power at second-hand by eating the leaves and the fruits and the seeds of plants; or at third-hand by eating other animals. All living things, including ourselves, are simply bundles of sunlight, done up in the form of cabbages, cows, and kings; and so it is quite right to say that a healthy, happy child has a "sunny" disposition.
They consider the lilies and roll into them, and, like lilies, they toil not, for they are impelled by sun-power, as water-wheels by water-power; and when the one has plenty of high-pressure water, the other plenty of sunshine, they hum and quiver alike.
This was a great boon to my world, greatly increasing the fertility of the land and the excellence of the crops. The discovery of Sun-power; its application to manufactures and the arts; to various medicinal purposes, and to invigorating the constitution and brain of man. The opening of the first Electric Theatre, and the exhibition of the wondrous feats accomplished by Electricity.
So it's almost worthless, everywhere. Not much use as an industrial metal. But the osmium and uranium alloyed with it are something else. One hunk for each of our nets. Too bad there isn't more." The uranium was driving their radiation-counters wild. "Could we drag it, if there was more?" Ramos growled. "With just sun-power on these lousy shoulder-ionics?" Everything was going sour, even Ramos.
"Right," conceded the captain. "But here, of course no earthquakes, no thunderstorms the loss must be very slow. Then why is the race dying?" "The sun-power plant answers that," countered Jarvis. "Lack of fuel! Lack of power! No oil left, no coal left if Mars ever had a Carboniferous Age and no water-power just the driblets of energy they can get from the sun. That's why they're dying."
Plants can use this sun-power only to grow with and to carry out a few very limited movements, such as turning to face the sun, reaching over toward the light, and so on.
Speeding along, they passed the first scattered domes, a hydroponic garden, an isolated sun-power plant. It was another hour before they reached the checking-gate of one of the main airlocks. Frank Nelsen didn't try any tricks before the white-armored international guards. "There have been some difficulties," he said. "I think you will want all of our names."
Plants, on the other hand, are quite independent of animals; for they can take up, or drink, this sun-power directly, with the addition of water from the soil sucked up through their roots, and certain salts melted in it. Plants can live, as we say, upon non-living foods.
They tied him to a tree and made merry with him. When he was dead, they drew their boats from out the reeds, and rowed on down the broadening river. The next day, at the time of the full sun-power, they came to this village.
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