The Creatures of Neil R. Jones: Part Two

If you missed Part One…

In the July 1934 issue of Wonder Stories, Hugo Gernsback published a story that rocked the Science Fiction community. It was “A Martian Odyssey” by Stanley G. Weinbaum. This story has been called a “John W. Campbell story before Campbell”. It is often lauded as the first great SF tale, one in which the author truly made his aliens “alien”.

Which says more for the prejudice of Science Fiction readers of the 1930s than it does about the facts. The collected aliens of Neil R. Jones’s Professor Jameson series strike me as far greater an achievement than the alien travelogues of Stanley G. Weinbaum. Neither Wonder Stories or Amazing Stories are held in much regard by the Golden Agers. And this is too bad, because they missed the fun and true SF quality of the aliens in this series, which we continue here…

The Black Assassins

An intriguing alien monster that Jones took some time to figure out. If he had been more of a hack he could have simply had them be BEMs or space lizard men.

 “…Professor Jameson examined the nearest of the dead creatures, turning the hard, glistening body over and over. It was one of the simplest built, though strangest, forms of life he had ever seen. A cylindrically shaped body, approximately fusiform, tapering slightly at each end, seemed possessed of no head whatever. In fact, the professor was at a loss as to how to distinguish the position the creature assumed in locomotion, for there appeared to be no up or down. Each end of the body terminated in a pair of double-jointed appendages which were suggestive of upright stature. Queer, bulging knobs at the base of all four appendages appeared to be optics. There were eight of these eyes, four on each side of the body. Both appendages and body were sheathed in black, bony armor which the professor might have mistaken in believing extended clear through, had he not crushed a few of the weird creatures in his metal embrace. That they existed without the use of heat and respiration was quite apparent, living as they were, unprotected in the chill, airless void surrounding the planet…” (“The Sunless World” (Amazing Stories, December 1934)

The Black Assassins or Surface Dwellers on the Sunless World are cylindrical in shape with a set of appendages on either end. They can move quite easily on either set, switching back and forth without difficulty. These appendages have disc-shaped suckers that also serve as mouths for the creatures. They embrace their victim then apply acid directly onto them then absorb. The black assassins live on the surface of the planet and in a gigantic cavern filled with piles of bones. The black assassins (also known as the ancient menace) eat the humanoid inhabitants called Omeans. The Omeans send their weak, dying and criminal individuals into the cavern to be sacrificed. This payment keeps the black assassins out of their cities. At first the Zoromes think the black assassins have the ability to turn invisible. This turns out to not be true. They are very quick and have holes they jump into to escape their lights. The black assassin race is doomed after the Sunless World takes the place of the third planet in a new solar system. The cataclysm that shakes the hollow planet closes most of the openings the creatures use for accessing the inner world. That, and the organization of the Omean cities, brings their cruel reign to an end.

The Omeans

 “Professor Jameson examined the newcomer both physically and mentally. Instantly he perceived it to be of a higher plane of intelligence than the seven below. Besides, it possessed a head, appearing to the professor like a distorted caricature of his own race. The chief differences were longer legs and shorter arms. Two eyes were set quite far apart, nearly on the sides of the head, like those of a fish, and the representative of this new species had nostrils yet lacked a nose. A three cornered mouth and a visible lack of exterior ears completed the physiognomy. Hair was absent, at least from this particular individual. Standing five feet or more, the wanderer from the tunnel was a foot shorter than the black space-dwellers, despite the latter’s lack of a head. Unlike the hard, bony composition of the headless species, the newcomer’s deep-purple body appeared soft and fleshy.” (“The Sunless World” by Neil R. Jones)

The Omeans, the most familiar of which are the Aytans from the city of Ayt, are humanoid creatures. They live in cities along the inner shell of the hollow planet known as Ome. (There’s no place like Ome…) The inside of their buildings and tunnels are lit by a natural occurring light-producing fungus or chemical. The different cities vary in their physical appearance. The men from Ux are taller and buffer than those from Ayt. The different Omean cities are all enemies and kill intruders by throwing them into an unscalable pit and letting them starve to death. The only other form of execution is to send the weak, sick and criminal into the central cavern to be eaten by the black assassins. The ancient menace is conquered after the cataclysm that follows the Sunless World taking the place of another planet in a new solar system. Three quarters of the Omean population is killed but the remaining Omeans band together against the black assassins and end their cruel reign.

Once again Jones goes after organized religion, choosing to replace it with cooperation and Science.

The Sun-Powered Creatures

The Sun-powered creatures are aggressive and attack the exploring Zoromes.

 “…We encountered a race of metallic creatures who lived entirely from the rays of a sun during the period of daylight and slumped into a coma of inactivity and near-death during the darkness…And they were so numerous, catching us entirely unawares at the dawn if a new day, that they swarmed all over our bodies and we were overpowered. But by nightfall they were utterly helpless, and we escaped safely…” (“The Sunless World ” by Neil R. Jones)

Just a throw-away bit but it could have been a story in its own right. Jones was not prolific (compared to writers like Edmond Hamilton or Raymond Z. Gallun). He obviously had plenty of ideas but never got around to writing them all out fully.

The Organic Zoromes

 “Zora’s large eyes with their long underlashes stared inquisitively at the professor. Her six tentacles undulated gracefully as she shifted herself to a more comfortable position…From four pronounced callosities, two on each side of her upper body, four of Zora’s tentacles grew long and tapered to tiny tips. Two more, one in front and another in back, at right angles to the flanked tentacles, completed the six upper appendages. Below this upper area her body assumed vase-like proportions, then tapered to four short legs, unjointed, which curved outward from the base of her body to terminate in three-pointed feet. Zora’s head was large and stately, though not out of proportion to the size of her body. A high fringe of membranous tissue grew from cheek to cheek across her head like a thin, waving coiffure. Beneath and in front of this, below a well fashioned forehead, deep, dark eyes sparkled with curiosity. Long, lower lashes drooped over several inches of her face, devoid of what the professor would have described as a nose…A diamond-shaped mouth opened in amazement from time to time as the professor told his tale…Zora possessed no external ears. Her faculty of distinguishing sound was located in the back of her head, behind the waving membrane whose thin points arose star-like from the deep-pink fringe. Her respiration process was accomplished through tiny, valved openings at the base of her fore tentacle.” (“Zora of the Zoromes” (Amazing Stories, March 1935) (Also “Space War”, Amazing Stories, July 1935)

The organic Zoromes, those who have not yet been placed in their mechanical bodies, live on five worlds around the star of Zor. These planets are Poth (a dead world), Trach (a hot world), Grutet (an encased world), Zor (the original planet), Dompt (a heavy world used as a massive museum) and Ipmats (an ice world, used for interstellar travel and military purposes). The original Zoromes are tentacled creatures with some differences between the male and female. Females possess long eye lashes and vase-shape figures while males do not and their head crests are red to purple instead of pink. The organic Zoromes live their lives, engaging in art and learning, until they become old or injured, then have their brains placed inside mechanical bodies. They believe in ideas like beauty and love (while their machine counterparts are less so, and more logical). In such matters, the mechanical Zoromes bow to the wishes of their organic brothers and sisters. The Zoromes have allowed other races to join their league of mechanical men, such as humans (Professor Jameson) and the Tripeds. This usually works but in the case of the Mumes of Mumed it resulted in a space war.

Jones gives us a fascinating look at the Zor home worlds in “Zora of the Zoromes”. Some of his ideas are great while others show their age, such as the eye-lashes on Zora, along with the illogical body curves. Like a cartoon, he must dress her up in human female body signals so we can tell the girls fro the boys.

The Mumes

 “…The organic Mumes were strange creatures. They appeared to the professor as large spiders with cranial superstructures. Their globular bodies, slightly flattened at top and bottom, were equipped with eight jointed appendages, while from the top center of their bodies projected a head, a smaller globe atop the larger one.” (“Zora of the Zoromes” by Neil R. Jones)

The Mumes are a race of aliens living on the planet Mumed. Originally thought to be a good choice for the mechanical process of the Zoromes, they filled their ranks with dissenters and madmen, until the two races came to fight a space war. The Mumes have enslaved another race called the Ablenox of the neighboring planet Ablen. The Mumes are led by a lunatic genius named 6D4, a mechanical man. He fills his machine ranks with conscripts who have yet to live their organic lives. His plans for imperialistic expansion include goading the Zoromes into a battle near the Mumes’ planet and wiping out the Zorome fleet. Afterwards the Mumes would take the planets of Zor. The organic Mumes are spider like creatures. The Mumes develop certain weapons for their space war. Their planet is protected by a force field shield, they have guns that specifically burn holes in metal (anti-Zorome gun) and a “locator veil” which allows ships to hide unseen in space. The Zoromes defeat this weapon by following the detector beams back to their source. The Mumes also have a gigantic space net called an enveloping ray which captures the Zorome space fleet and is about to crush it by constricting but two Zoromes (Professor Jameson and 6W-438) destroy it after infiltrating the Mumes. The evil 6D4 escapes to Ablen but dies when an Abelonox drops a boulder on him.

Jones’s evil version of the mechanical Zoromes reminds me of the Daleks. 6D4’s conscripts remind me of the Cybermen and the “locator veil” and space battles all sound like Star Trek 30 years early. Science Fiction television did not create its ideas from nothing, but had a short history to borrow from.

The Ablenox

“Professor Jameson also saw many of the enslaved Ablenox from the planet Ablen. They were great, hulking brutes, with tremendous physical strength, yet they were no match for the machine men of Mumed. Their lesser intelligence was obvious. The Ablenox seemed peaceful and slow to anger, despite their physical accomplishments. They walked upright on two lower limbs, their barreled bodies possessed of four upper appendages that were heavily muscled and terminating in six digits arranged scoop fashion.” (“Zora of the Zoromes” by Neil R. Jones)

The Ablenox are a slow-thinking but peaceful race of four-armed giants. The Mumes enslaved them and use them for heavy manual labor. The planet Ablen is in the same system as Mumed with one planet between them, a dead world called Tanid. Wild Ablenox roam the planet and raids supply the Mumes with their slaves. These free Ablenox hate invaders and will attack and kill any mechanical men or organic Mumes they can. They also vandalize ships and equipment. They kill the Mumes dictator 6D4 when he flees to their planet.

Shades of Edgar Rice Burroughs with these guys.

The Builders

 “…Through the fringe of canopy in the woodland copse they caught occasional glimpses of yellow surfaced domes and walls. Suddenly they burst into the open before the high wall surrounding the mysterious old piles.” “Labyrinth” (Amazing Stories, April 1936)

The mysterious builders once lived in cities on the planet of the Queegs. One of the Zoromes postulates that the Queegs may be degenerate offspring of the builders but others disagree. Their cities are built of yellow sparkling stone blocks cemented together with yellow mortar. The builders have long since died out before the Zoromes come to explore their planet.

“Labyrinth” is mostly about metal-eating enemies trapping the Zoromes in a bottleneck but I would have liked for them to have found some clue to the Builders’ identities while they were running through all those tunnels!

The Ohbs

 “The animal, if it could be called such, appeared like a gigantic slug, fully half as large as one of the metal cubes comprising the body of a zorome. As the Queegs hauled it out of the depression, the machine men saw that the underside of the ohb was possessed of the same concentric rings that governed the movements of snakes and worms. From all appearance, the ohb was an invertebrate, presenting a pulpy, unprotected mass of sluggish motion…The machine men noticed that from time to time the smooth skins of the ohbs became overspread with a network of capillary brilliance, like wet punkwood in the dark. At such times, their antennae shivered perceptibly, and others of the creatures came close and gathered around, all intent upon a particular section of ground.” (“Labyrinth” by Neil R. Jones)

The Ohbs are slug-like creatures on the planet of the Queegs who eat metal. They have stripped vast areas of the globe, creating deserts. They have also tunneled great labyrinths beneath the ground in their search for metal-rich ore. It is one of these tunnel systems the Zoromes get lost in this story. The Queegs are the Ohbs only known predators, taking very few of the slugs in their hunts. The Ohbs possess no bones but have a cartilage skeleton inside. Their skin lights up whenever they eat metal. Their two little antennae send out silent messages to all surrounding Ohbs when they find large caches of food. They have no intelligence, only a driving hunger for metal.

The Ohbs are like the metal-destroying ray guns of earlier stories, an attempt on the authors part to create new “dangers” for robots who are impervious to most physical harm. This story suffers from no real emotional point but there is a great scene where the Zoromes are trapped up a wall and the room is filled with slugs. A great bottleneck tale with no real purpose besides watching Zoromes get eaten by slugs.

The Queegs

 “Like the machine men, they walked on four legs; jointed in different places, however. They seemed to have no ankles, their lower leg bones terminating in soft, padded discs. Their upper appendages consisted of long arms like the thin, jointed legs of spiders. There must have been a dozen of these upper appendages. The body represented about the same dimensions as the body of a man, although the torso trended towards an ovoid form. The head was strangest of all, being exceedingly diminutive. Its largest feature consisted of a loose, flabby mouth with hanging lips which gave the creature a crestfallen, woebegone expression. Nostrils were visible, though the faculty of hearing was not apparent in exterior detail. The eyes were weird, yet practical. There were four of them, each optic situated at the termination of an angular pedicel rising some seven or eight inches out of the small head. These snaky antennae twisted and turned in all directions…” (“Labyrinth” by Neil R. Jones)

The Queegs are nomadic hunter-gatherers that live amongst the ruins left behind by the Builders, a vanished civilization. They number around five hundred only. The Queegs may be the degenerate offspring of that race though it is unlikely. They do not wear clothes. The Queegs subsist on Ohbs, which they hunt with wooden spears. The Queegs possess metal-working but know that Ohb hunting is best done without metal.

The Queegs strike me as what either monkeys or rats might evolve into after humans disappear. I think this may be what Jones is suggesting.

Until next time, when the Zoromes pass from Amazing Stories to Astonishing Stories…