The radium pool

In Short

This volume collects three pulp science fiction tales exploring hidden subterranean worlds and alternate dimensions. In the title story, two prospectors descend into a volcanic desert cavern to find a vanished woman, only to encounter telepathic Jovians harvesting immense radium power. The accompanying stories follow a scientist hunting a dimension-hopping criminal and an experimenter framed for a murder committed by an invisible entity from a red, fiery alternate plane. Together, these fast-paced narratives blend classic desert adventure with early speculative leaps into multidimensional physics and alien civilizations.

The Story

The volume opens with a desert search as Driftin' Sands and his partner track a forty-year-old trail for a missing woman named Allie Lane. Their journey leads them beneath the volcanic sands of the Manalava Plains into an eerie cavern housing a pulsating, iridescent pool of liquid radium. Surrounded by precious gems, they discover they are not alone when they are captured by grotesque, toad-like beings from Jupiter. Brought before the alien leader Abaris, who communicates entirely through telepathy, the men learn that the Jovians have mastered radium and consider themselves supreme masters of the universe. Within the subterranean chambers, Sands finally reunites with Allie Lane and her father, who have survived in the alien stronghold. A violent struggle ensues when Sands attacks Abaris to protect his companions. The Jovian leader attempts to use his deadly green destruction rays, but through desperate physical combat and sheer tenacity, the Earthmen fight for their lives in a clash between human resolve and alien supremacy.

The second narrative shifts to a modern urban laboratory where Professor Jerome Mortenson invents an electronic apparatus that neutralizes the barrier to the Fifth Dimension, allowing a person to walk unseen through the ordinary world. A ruthless crook steals the device by bludgeoning the scientist, using it to orchestrate bold robberies while remaining invisible to the police. Refusing to let the crime go unpunished, Mortenson joins Chief Steckel and a team of armed detectives who strap on helmets and venture directly into the fibrous, blue-tinted landscape of the Fifth Dimension to track the killer. After a tense pursuit through alien vegetation and encounters with terrifying multi-eyed monsters, the thief flees back to the physical world. The police follow closely behind, emerging right into a crowded city intersection where a chaotic shootout leaves the phantom bandit dead on the pavement and Mortenson wounded in the shoulder.

The final tale introduces Dr. Ivan Korsakoff and his assistant Arnoldi Kherkoff as they test a new helmet designed to access the Sixth Dimension, a scorching realm known as the Red World. Filled with shimmering, hyper-heated vegetation and intense crimson crystals, this alternate plane holds hidden dangers. Tragedy strikes when Dr. Korsakoff is murdered, and because the crime bears no human explanation, Arnoldi is wrongfully convicted by the Russian courts. Imprisoned and awaiting his own death, Arnoldi maintains that his beloved benefactor was actually slain by an incomprehensible entity originating from the crimson depths of the Red Dimension, leaving him a helpless outcast trapped between dimensions.

How It Unfolds

• The faded photograph Driftin' Sands pores over an old family album discovered in a rotted desert trunk until he spots a clear tintype of Allie Lane dated 1878. This forty-year-old discovery reignites his desperate search and sets his partner on a journey toward the Manalava Plains.
• The radium pool The prospectors stumble upon a glowing circular cavern filled with precious gems and a pulsating pool of liquid radium oozing from volcanic rock. They realize this immense radioactive power could either enrich humanity or completely destroy the world.
• The Jovian captors Grotesque, toad-like creatures from Jupiter capture the explorers and carry them deep underground into a luminous chamber filled with spinning spheres. The alien leader Abaris communicates mentally, boasting of Jovian scientific supremacy over all life.
• The stolen invention Professor Mortenson builds an electronic apparatus that pierces the Fifth Dimension, only to be struck down and robbed by a violent criminal. The thief uses the device to commit invisible heists before returning to a hidden shack filled with stolen currency.
• The fifth-dimensional hunt Armed detectives follow the criminal's trail into a strange, fibrous landscape of blue vegetation and multi-eyed monsters. The pursuit culminates in a sudden return to a busy city intersection where the bandit is fatally shot.
• The red world experiment Dr. Korsakoff invites his assistant Arnoldi to test a helmet that accesses the Sixth Dimension, revealing a hyper-heated realm of crimson crystals and weird plants. When Korsakoff is mysteriously murdered, Arnoldi is convicted of a crime committed by a non-human entity.

The People

Driftin' Sands is a relentless prospector whose primary desire is to find his lost love, Allie Lane, across decades of desert wandering. Standing in his way are brutal desert hazards, vast time gaps, and the technologically superior Jovians who guard their subterranean domain. By the end, he confronts the alien leadership directly, proving his unyielding loyalty and emotional endurance. Professor Jerome Mortenson is a brilliant scientist who wants to advance human knowledge through multidimensional exploration. His obstacle is an underworld crook who steals his technology, bludgeons him, and leaves him battered. Mortenson responds with cool, analytical determination, assisting the police in tracking the culprit through alternate planes. Abaris is the grotesque, toad-like ruler of the Jovians who wants to protect his people's cosmic dominance and harvest planetary resources. His obstacle is the stubborn resilience of Earthmen like Sands, and his absolute authority is severely tested in a brutal physical struggle. Arnoldi Kherkoff is a dedicated scientific assistant who wishes to explore new dimensions alongside Dr. Ivan Korsakoff. His obstacle is the sheer hostility of alternate realms and uncomprehending human laws, leaving him wrongfully convicted of a murder committed by an alien entity, resigned to die as an isolated outcast.

In Its Own Voice

Reflecting on the sheer hazard and psychological weight of an isolated desert spring during their long search, the narrator notes the lingering dread of the landscape.

"There was something eerie and ghostly about the whole section of desert that was not caused by a few bones scattered around."

Confronting the captive Earthman in the luminous underground Jovian chamber, the alien ruler explains the vast evolutionary and scientific gulf between their civilizations.

"When your people were still clinging by their tails we of Jupiter had already mastered mathematics."

Mocking the thief about the extreme danger of his stolen multidimensional equipment before the brutal laboratory robbery, the inventor offers a grimly sarcastic parting instruction.

"Plug the wires into the oval unit and send yourself into hell!"

What It's Really About

These stories explore the uneasy intersection between human greed and cosmic forces far beyond our understanding. Repp investigates the hubris of scientific advancement, showing how inventions meant to elevate humanity—such as harnessing liquid radium or peering into alternate dimensions—frequently fall into the hands of criminals or provoke the wrath of superior alien civilizations. Beneath the pulp action lies a philosophical inquiry into mortality, evolution, and isolation. The characters find themselves dwarfed by vast universal scales, whether navigating ancient subterranean caverns guarded by immortal-seeming beings or facing wrongful execution for murders committed by invisible, interdimensional entities. Ultimately, the narrative questions whether humanity is truly ready for the boundless secrets hidden just beneath the surface of the physical world.

Why Read It Today

Readers who love classic pulp science fiction, imaginative world-building, and briskly paced adventures will find plenty to enjoy in this collection. Reading these stories feels like stepping into a vintage magazine where cosmic ambition meets rugged frontier determination, offering a charmingly earnest snapshot of early speculative fiction. Modern readers should approach the text with an awareness of its period origins, noting the straightforward, unadorned prose style and occasional melodramatic tropes characteristic of early pulp writing. While the characterizations lean toward broad archetypes rather than deep psychological realism, the sheer inventiveness of multidimensional physics and subterranean alien empires keeps the pages turning. What stays with you long after finishing the book is the striking imagery of glowing green radium pools, floating spherical machinery, and the haunting realization of worlds existing just beyond human perception. It is a delightful historical artifact that rewards anyone curious about the foundational building blocks of modern science fiction.