speed.

Within the interior of the space traveler, queer creatures of metal
labored at the controls of the space flyer which juggernauted on its way
towards the far-off solar luminary. Rapidly it crossed the orbits of
Neptune and Uranus and headed sunward. The bodies of these queer
creatures were square blocks of a metal closely resembling steel, while
for appendages, the metal cube was upheld by four jointed legs capable
of movement. A set of six tentacles, all metal, like the rest of the
body, curved outward from the upper half of the cubic body. Surmounting
it was a queer-shaped head rising to a peak in the center and equipped
with a circle of eyes all the way around the head. The creatures, with
their mechanical eyes equipped with metal shutters, could see in all
directions. A single eye pointed directly upward, being situated in the
space of the peaked head, resting in a slight depression of the cranium.

These were the Zoromes of the planet Zor which rotated on its way around
a star millions of light years distant from our solar system. The
Zoromes, several hundred thousand years before, had reached a stage in
science, where they searched for immortality and eternal relief from
bodily ills and various deficiencies of flesh and blood anatomy. They
had sought freedom from death, and had found it, but at the same time
they had destroyed the propensities for birth. And for several hundred
thousand years there had been no births and few deaths in the history of
the Zoromes.

This strange race of people had built their own mechanical bodies, and
by operation upon one another had removed their brains to the metal
heads from which they directed the functions and movements of their
inorganic anatomies. There had been no deaths due to worn-out bodies.
When one part of the mechanical men wore out, it was replaced by a new
part, and so the Zoromes continued living their immortal lives which saw
few casualties. It was true that, since the innovation of the machines,
there had been a few accidents which had seen the destruction of the
metal heads with their brains. These were irreparable. Such cases had
been few, however, and the population of Zor had decreased but little.
The machine men of Zor had no use for atmosphere, and had it not been
for the terrible coldness of space, could have just as well existed in
the ether void as upon some planet. Their metal bodies, especially their
metal-encased brains, did require a certai