The Project Gutenberg eBook ofThe Planet MappersThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: The Planet MappersAuthor: E. Everett EvansRelease date: December 13, 2015 [eBook #50682]Most recently updated: October 22, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PLANET MAPPERS ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: The Planet MappersAuthor: E. Everett EvansRelease date: December 13, 2015 [eBook #50682]Most recently updated: October 22, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Title: The Planet Mappers
Author: E. Everett Evans
Author: E. Everett Evans
Release date: December 13, 2015 [eBook #50682]Most recently updated: October 22, 2024
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PLANET MAPPERS ***
The Planet MappersE. EVERETT EVANSDODD, MEAD & COMPANYNEW YORK, 1955Copyright 1955By E. Everett EvansAll rights reservedNo part of this book may be reproduced in any formwithout permission in writing from the publisherLibrary of Congress Catalog Card Number: 55-5211Printed in the United States of AmericaBy The Cornwall Press, Inc., Cornwall, N. Y.[Transcriber's Note: Extensive research did not uncover anyevidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]Books by E. Everett EvansMAN OF MANY MINDSALIEN MINDSTHE PLANET MAPPERSThe characters and situations in this book are whollyfictional and imaginative: they do not portray and are notintended to portray any actual persons or parties.To my boys—Carl, Dave,Tommy, Billy,Edward, Freddy
E. EVERETT EVANS
DODD, MEAD & COMPANYNEW YORK, 1955
Copyright 1955By E. Everett Evans
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced in any formwithout permission in writing from the publisher
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 55-5211
Printed in the United States of AmericaBy The Cornwall Press, Inc., Cornwall, N. Y.
[Transcriber's Note: Extensive research did not uncover anyevidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Books by E. Everett EvansMAN OF MANY MINDSALIEN MINDSTHE PLANET MAPPERS
The characters and situations in this book are whollyfictional and imaginative: they do not portray and are notintended to portray any actual persons or parties.
To my boys—Carl, Dave,Tommy, Billy,Edward, Freddy
As he heard that dread yet telltalespangagainst the hull of their spaceboat, young Jon Carver dropped his reelbook and sprang to his feet. His eyes looked swiftly to help his ears trace the suddenhisshe knew was their precious air escaping.
In the back of his mind he heard the sudden grunt his father made, the sound of a falling body, his mother's frightened scream, and his brother's "What's wrong?" But he did not stop his own lanky, gangling body in its leap toward the outer bulkhead. And as he jumped, he pulled his handkerchief from his hip pocket.
"Leaping tuna! If that isn't fixed quick, we'll lose our air," was his near-panicked thought. "We won't be able to get where we're going. Be lucky if we come out of it alive!"
So, guided by the whistling, escaping air, Jon found the hole, nearly half an inch in diameter. Into it he wadded the corner of the cloth as best he could. The outward loss of their precious air slackened, although there was still some leakage he could not stop this way. He jumped to the nearest of the many emergency repair kits scattered about the ship. From it he grabbed a metal patch and an electric torch.
Swiftly he plugged the latter into a wall socket. With it he quickly welded the patch into place, after pulling—with considerable difficulty—his handkerchief from the hole. "It'll do for now," he decided, after carefully examining his work and listening closely to make sure there was no more whistling-out of air. "But we'll have to go outside and really fill in and weld-plug that hole in the hull, but quick."
He re-stowed the torch, then opened a flagon of emergency oxygen-helium mixture in front of the electric blowers that kept their air circulating—to replenish what had been lost. Only then—although it had been less than two minutes, really—did he turn back to the rest of the family. He had been somewhat surprised that his father had not come to help him; he had not been at all surprised that his brother had not. Jak was a grand guy—Jon thought the world of him—but he just wasn't worth a dead salmon in an emergency like this; he did not have a mechanical type of mind.
Now, as he turned, Jon saw his mother and brother kneeling beside the prone body of his father, and noted with astonishment that she was crying. There was something stiff and unnatural about the man's body, too, lying there on the deck beside his recline seat.
A sudden fear sent the boy leaping across the room. "What ... what happened? Pop isn't dead, is he?"
"No. Something made him fall, and he hit his head on the deck and knocked himself out," Jak said without looking up. "His foot caught in the footrest, and as he fell over the seat arm his leg broke."
Jon dropped to his knees beside his weeping mother and threw an arm about her. His eyes were wide and damp with swift tears, for, in spite of the rapid growth his body had undergone in the past few years, he was still only sixteen—and he loved this splendid father of his with genuine devotion.
It just couldn't be that Pop wouldn't live, he thought in panic. He couldn't make himself believe that he might no longer have the wonderful companionship and guidance and counsel of this grand man who had been his world.
His mother, seeming to realize what the boy was undergoing, forced back her own grief to turn and gather this younger son into her arms, comforting him as only mothers can.
They watched the elder brother's swift, competent hands as he bathed with soft cotton, soaked in some kind of medicine taken from the open first-aid kit beside him, the bruised place on the back of the father's head. Jak had already shaved away the hair about this bruise. Now he took an atomizer and sprayed on a clear, plastic bandage.
Mrs. Carver turned anxiously to her younger son. "Jon, you know how to run the ship. Turn it around and get us back to the nearest hospital as fast as it will go."
Jon looked at her in astonishment, for it had never before occurred to him that she did not know at least something about inter-stellar astrogation. "We can't, Mom. You don't run a ship in space like you do a ground car. We're on negative acceleration now, but it'll be close to two days before we've slowed enough for any kind of maneuvering."
"That's right, Mother," Jak came unexpectedly to his brother's aid. "You can't stop or turn a spaceship at will. But I don't think we need worry too much. Father's head wound is not serious, although there's a slight concussion. And we can set his leg so it will heal straight—it's a clean break."
"Besides, it would take at least a month to get back to the nearest colonized planet," Jon took up the explanation. "You know we're almost six weeks out of Terra."
Mrs. Carver still looked doubtful, but responded, as did Jon, when Jak began issuing instructions to them to help him in setting the broken leg. He had cut away the trousers and removed the boot and sock. Now he asked his mother to grasp his father's shoulders and hold tightly. He then showed Jon how to hold the toes and heel of the injured leg, and pull steadily downward while he manipulated the bone ends into place.
When the break had been adjusted, Jak dissolved certain plastics into a heavy, viscous liquid which he sprayed onto the leg. This mixture hardened almost instantly, forming a cast that was far stiffer and yet less weighty than either the ancient plaster casts or cumbersome splints.
When it was finished, they all rose, and while their mother hurried ahead to prepare the bunk, the boys stooped and lifted their father's inert body. Staggering a bit under the load, yet handling him tenderly, they carried him to his wall bunk and lowered him onto the sheeted mattress. After their mother had tucked in the top sheet and blankets, the boys buckled the acceleration straps about the bunk, and Jak made an extra binder with a folded blanket about the broken leg. Now, if their father regained consciousness, or moved about restlessly in partial awakening, he could not fall out and perhaps hurt himself more.
When all had been done to make the wounded man as comfortable as possible, Mrs. Carver turned to Jon questioningly.
"What happened, Son? Do you know?"
"Meteoroid broached the hull, then must have gone on and almost hit Pop. If it was a close miss, the force of its passage must have made him duck and fall."
"But I don't feel any air escaping."
"There isn't now. I patched the hole, inside. Temporary job, though. Pop'll—" He stopped in sudden realization, then straightened resolutely and his voice was calmer, more sure, as he went on. "I mean,I'll have to go outside and make a permanent weld. Might as well do it now."
His mother's face showed the pride she felt in this young son who could plan and do the things that had to be done, even while she knew he was upset by his father's accident.
"Yes, it should be done at once." But she gripped his arm convulsively. "Be sure your lifeline is fastened securely, Jon."
He patted her hand awkwardly. "I will, Mom. I've been outside a lot, you know, and understand just what to do."
He broke away and ran toward the airlock. From the closet just inside the inner lockdoor he took his spacesuit, and put it on as quickly as he could. He was still working on the zippered seam down the front, smearing on the quickly-drying plastic that made it doubly airtight, when his brother came in.
"Can I help, Chubby?"
"Sure, give me a hand with my helmet. Say, Owl, will Pop really be all OK?"
"I ... I think so. He got a bad smack when he fell. But his heart seems to be beating strongly, and I think the concussion'll wear off soon. The leg'll heal, but he'll be out of commission about six weeks."
He picked up the quartzite "fishbowl" and slipped it over Jon's head. They settled it firmly in place on the suit-ring, and screwed tight the lugs that held it in place. As Jon turned on his oxygen he motioned to the plastic, and Jak smeared it carefully all around the seam.
When he had finished, Jon increased the oxygen flow until the suit bulged, while Jak minutely inspected every point for any possible leakage. Finding none, he made the OK sign with thumb and bent forefinger, and Jon reduced his air-flow and opened the escape valve until the suit deflated enough so he could move about easily.
From a chest of repair supplies the younger boy took a can of metal-seal and a self-contained acetylene torch. These he fastened to his belt while Jak was getting, from a wall hook, a coil of thin but terrifically strong, light, plastic rope that would neither freeze nor lose its pliability in the utter cold of space. While spacesuits had magnetic shoe soles to keep their wearers in contact with the hull, a lifeline was a safety factor in case they happened to break that contact and drift away from the ship.
Jon checked his suit and equipment again, making sure he had all the tools he might need, and that they were firmly in place. He snapped one end of his lifeline into a ring at his belt, tugging strongly on it several times.
Then he turned and grinned through the helmet at his elder brother. He waved him away from the inner lockdoor, then pressed a button. The inner door swung open and air rushed in to fill the vacuum between the inner and outer lockdoors.
Jon stepped into the narrow space, skirted the handling mechanism there, then pressed another button to actuate the motor that closed and locked the inner door. When the red signal light told him it was airtight, he switched on the pump that returned the air to the body of the ship. The lock empty, he twisted the knob that opened the outer lockdoor, then snapped the other end of his lifeline to a ring just beside the opening doorway. He switched on his suit-heater as he felt the chill of space.
Slowly, ponderously, the mechanism swung the great eighteen-inch-thick outer door partially open, and Jon was facing deep space. Although he had spent nearly a third of his life out here, it was a sight that never tired the boy's active, imaginative mind, and even now he stood for a long minute, eagerly looking outward.
The awesome blackness of the void seemed alive with millions upon countless millions of tiny, distant, pinpointed lights he knew were giant suns. On and on they stretched, as far as the eye could see—and beyond. In the far, far distance were blotches of light Jon knew were the incredibly distant nebulae—other uncounted billions of suns that made up the far-off galaxies and universes.
He looked overhead, picking out against the backdrop of the nearer suns of our own galaxy—the Milky Way—some of the larger giant suns ... Canopus, Rigel, Deneb, Betelgeuse, Antares and others he knew by sight. The patterns familiar on Terra were somewhat distorted here because of the difference in distance and his line of sight, but those suns could not be mistaken.
He only stood there for a moment, then he reached out carefully and grasped the rung of the metal ladder welded onto the hull, and which ran completely around the ship. He pulled himself onto this, and held there while he estimated where that hole should be.
"About twenty-four feet to the left, and one or two lower than the doortop, I think," he muttered to himself. He climbed several rungs, then half-straightened and set first one foot and then the other firmly and flatly onto the hull beside the ladder rungs. He tried each of his shoes, making sure their magnetic soles were gripping tightly against the hull surface. Then he let loose the ladder and stood upright. Compared to the decks inside, he was at right angles, but there is no up, down or sideways in space—except that your feet always seem "down."
Assured that his shoes were holding firmly, he slid first one foot and then the other along the hull. In this way he walked ahead, always in full contact, yet able to progress almost at a normal pace. He counted his steps, and when he felt he was near the hole for which he was looking, stooped and began searching about the surface more minutely.
His estimate had been close, and it took him only a moment to find the place where the meteoroid had struck. He drew his lifeline taut and tied the loop to his belt, leaving the end of the line still snapped in place. Now, even though his knot might come loose, he was still fastened to the ship.
He took the can of metal-seal from his belt pouch, fumbling a bit because it was difficult working with such heavy gloves as those attached to his spacesuit. There was plenty of light from the billions of stars, nor did it matter what hour the ship's chronoms might indicate inside, it was always the same out here.
He squatted down, still keeping both feet flat against the outer skin of the ship. Carefully he poured some of the sluggish, viscous liquid metal into the funnel-shaped hole, which was over an inch wide at the hull surface. Then he unslung his torch. He snapped the lighter and adjusted the flame to a narrow, pencil beam.
With the beam he melted the metal-seal he had poured into the hole. In the cold depths of space, where the temperature was about absolute zero, the metal cooled almost instantly as he turned his torch away. He then added more seal, melted that, then more seal, and so on, a bit at a time, until the hole was completely filled, and the hull surface once again smooth and even.
Satisfied at last that the damage to the ship was completely repaired, he hooked his torch to his belt once more, recapped the can of remaining metal-seal and stored it in his belt pouch. He rose and stood again for a few short moments, looking at the glory of the universe as it can only be seen from a spaceship. Then he made his way back to the lock and entered the ship.
He touched the stud and the motor slowly closed the great outer door. When the red signal light showed it was airtight, he punched the other button, air filled the entry, and then the inner door opened. He went through into the ship, closed the inner door, and when that was tight, started the motor that pumped the precious air from the lock back into the ship.
His brother had not stayed around to help him, so Jon had to strip the plastic from his zipper and around the base of his helmet by himself. It was an awkward job, as was trying to unscrew the lugs at the back of his shoulders, and he growled a bit beneath his breath because Jak had not waited, nor come back to help him.
But his irritation quickly passed and he grinned to himself. He knew his brother so well—Jak simply had not thought to stay and help, or he would willingly have done so.
Jak's tastes and desires ran more to other things, Jon knew. To medicine, and to all growing things, whether plant, animal or human. Jak had always been far more interested in what madelifegrow and perform its miracles, than he had in how and whymachinesoperated.
And, Jon acknowledged honestly, it was a good thing for them all in this present emergency. If good old Jak wasn't half a doctor already, Pop would really be in a bad way ... and so would all of them, if they lost that steady and competent prop on whom they all leaned so confidently.
"I sure wouldn't have known what to do," Jon admitted to himself, as the thought of his father made him hurry the removing of his suit. "I probably would have run for my tool kit, not the first-aid one."
He finally got the suit off and hung it back in the closet. He gathered up the scraps of used plastic and stuffed them into the near-by trash disposal chute. Then he ran into the living room and on to the side of his father's bunk, where his mother and brother were standing, watching.
"How is he?"
"Just the same."
"You're sure he ... he isn't...?"
"No, he's still alive, and I'm sure he'll pull out in time. Only question is, how long it'll take?"
Jon's mind began churning with problems. What would they do while Pop was "out"? Who was to run the ship; make the calculations on orbits and trajectories? Who's to handle the controls of landing when we reach our destination, which won't be very long now? Who'll do the thousand and one things Pop has always done? Who'll make the decisions?
Again the sense and knowledge of his personal loss came home—and young Jon Carver sank onto the deck of the bunkroom. Again he was just a boy who had lost his dearest pal, his ideal. Pop just couldn't die! Who'd help him with his problems; teach him the many things he was always wanting to know?
It just couldn't be that there would be no more of those tussles of friendly play; those boxing matches or wrestling bouts by which his growing body adjusted to swift action and hard knocks. He could not make himself believe that there would be no more of those hours of practical instruction, or the long, pleasant evenings when the big man would talk of the places where he had been, the things he had seen and done in his travels about the galaxy.
For Tad Carver was one of the real pioneers of deep space. He had been an officer of the first ship to reach the stars—the planets of Sirius.
Deep-space travel was not yet a commonplace thing, although it was becoming so more swiftly with each passing year. Jon knew that there were now regular trips to the planets and some of the moons of his home solar system. One could have a two weeks' vacation trip from Terra to Luna for a thousand credits, or a month's cruise to Mars or Venus for forty hundred.
Merchant ships made fairly regular voyages to the planets of Sirius and Vega and, less often, to one or two other even more distant worlds which had been found to contain friendly and civilized beings—not all of them humanoid—who were glad to engage in inter-stellar commerce. Other spaceships plied between Terra and the many newly discovered worlds that were being colonized by Earth people.
But it had been men like Tad Carver who, co-operatively, had bought ships and surveyed the spaceways. It was they who had opened up those parts of the galaxy so far charted and who, incidentally, had made fortunes for themselves from the metals, strange jewels and other rare objects they had discovered and brought back, and for which the rich of Terra had paid so willingly and so handsomely.
That was why, after a number of years and many such trips, Carver had been able to buy his own small ship, outfit it for deep space travel, and take his family with him on his further voyages of exploration and survey. They were now en route to a new portion of the galaxy, one never—so far as they knew—visited by human beings.
"But what'll we do without Pop?" Jon's mind went back to his problem. "Who would be in command of their ship now? Mom didn't know a thing about the navigation of space. Look how she'd demanded he turn around 'right now'!" She was wonderful, and Jon loved her dearly. But he also knew she would be absolutely out of place trying to make their decisions about where to go, how to get there, how to run the ship, and so on. She had always seemed content to "keep house" on the ship, just as she had on Terra, and paid but little attention to what else was going on.
And Jak was just about as bad. The older boy was quick-and-logical thinking, and knew a lot—but not about such things. Jon had been the one who was always tagging their father around, forever asking questions about how to do this, why was that done, what did this machine do and what was the theory behind it, and so on? He had always been working with machines, almost since he could toddle. He took them apart, not destructively but questioningly, and was very soon able to put back together again correctly an endless succession of ever-more-complicated mechanisms.
Recently he had begun the study of astrogation—he had also long been a "math shark"—and now knew enough to realize how little he really did know about this complicated subject—although actually it was a great deal.
Sobered, and suddenly aware of a growing maturity brought on by the terrific problems they faced, Jon sat up. He rose and went over to his mother's side. He touched her softly on the shoulder, and she looked up at him. At sight of his anxious face she threw her arms about him.
"Jon, boy, what will we do now? How will we ever manage without Mr. C?"
At this echo of his own questionings and doubts, the boy straightened. "We'll make out all right, Mom," he said with a bravado he certainly did not feel, but which he hoped she would think was genuine. "We'll have to make up our minds what we're going to do, then do it. We'll keep on with Pop's plans, of course." This was a statement rather than a question.
"Why ... why...." She seemed startled by the realization that she had to make a decision. "I hadn't thought about that yet." She was silent a moment, then turned to her elder son, who had also risen and was listening intently. "What do you think, Jak? You're older, so you'll have to take charge now and be the man of the family."
The slender, studious eighteen-year-old looked startled. "I ... I don't know," he stammered, his eyes suddenly filled with strange fears. "I ... I suppose we might as well go home. We don't know where we're going, or what we were to do when we got there...." He suddenly looked like a little boy who has lost everything and everyone in whom he had looked for and found comfort and security. "Don't ask me, Mother. I don't know what we're going to do. We're apt to die, without Father to keep us going safely!"
Jon stared at him, this brother he had always loved and to whom he had looked up as a strong, elder companion ... in spite of their almost continuous, although friendly, bickerings, which never disturbed the warm affection underneath.
Now he just couldn't believe his eyes and ears. This couldn't be Jak—the strong, reliable Jak!
Suddenly he felt a surge of anger and distrust. Yet immediately he was ashamed of himself for such feelings. This wasn't any minnow of a predicament they were in—it was a very whale of a mess. He was scared, himself, and could understand just how Jak must feel. But, by the great horned catfish, he wasn't going to let himself cry about it any more—especially in front of Mom! Something had to be done, and it would be done!
A thought flashed through his mind, and he straightened with resolve. "Shut up!" he yelled at his brother ... and when Jak and their mother stared at him in amazement Jon grinned calmly and said, half apologetically, "Just trying to snap you out of the dumps. I say we've got to think this out carefully, and not make any snap decisions—or give up like this. The ship's on automatic drive and decelerating, so we don't have to worry about running it for some time. But Pop wouldn't like it if we didn't keep on. You know how important this trip is to him. Besides, he'll be waking up soon, and even if he has to stay in his bunk, he can tell us what to do."
"Do you know where we're going, and why?" Jak was still upset.
"Sure. Pop talked with me a lot about it."
Their mother looked from one to the other doubtfully, then smiled in a constrained manner. "You ... you're probably right, Jon. Mr. C. did say this would make or break us. I leave it up to my two big boys to discuss and suggest plans until your father is able to take charge again."
With an effort she pulled herself together, and now her smile was firmer, brighter. "Meanwhile, I think we'd better have something to eat. We have to keep up our strength for whatever is coming, you know."
When the boys woke up the next morning, their mother reported that their father had apparently had a restful night, coming out of his coma briefly a couple of times.
After breakfast the two boys went into the control room and began examining the various instruments and recorders on the panel, to see if they could figure out how much longer it would take them to reach the system their father was seeking. Through the visiplates they could now see not only the sun toward which Jon said they were heading, but even its nearer planets were beginning to show appreciable discs.
As they were studying these, Jak suddenly asked, "How do you suppose we happened to run into a meteor way out here in space like that?"
Jon shook his head helplessly. "Darned if I can figure it out. I always supposed such stuff was only found inside a planetary system. Must be there's some in deep space, though, since we sure as perch got hit by one." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small marble-sized stone. "Here it is. I hunted around and found it last night. It dented the farther bulkhead, but must have lost so much momentum it couldn't penetrate."
"Just one of those billions-to-one chances, eh?" Jak looked up from his examination of the stone.
"Yes, there's still so much about space nobody knows yet."
Jak thought silently for a moment, then asked, "Well, what do you think we should do next?"
"Keep going, natch." Jon's voice was earnest. "We can't be more than a couple of days away from the nearest planets—and we're over six weeks out of Terra. Pop said this system we're heading for has four or five planets, at least, and that probably Two and Three, and maybe Four, would be fairly Earthlike and habitable. So long as we're so close, it would be wrong if we didn't at least take a close-up looksee at them."
"Yes," slowly, "Father'd want us to do that."
"You know darned well he would. He's sunk almost everything he's got into this ship and this trip, and if we miss now, the government probably wouldn't give us another exclusive crack at it, even if we could scrape up the credits to come out here again."
"Didn't Father say something the other day about his spectro-analyzer—you know, 'Annie'—showing there was...?"
"Yes, 'Annie' popped up strong on that, and that's another reason we've got to keep going—especially since you think Pop'll snap out of it in a few days. You're sure of that, aren't you?" He peered intently into his brother's eyes.
"Yes, as far as I can tell. There's a concussion where his head hit the floor, but I don't think it's too bad, and it should wear off soon."
Jon sighed with relief. "If ... if he was dead, or dying, it would be different, and I'd say go home. But there's another thing. Before we left Terra we heard a rumor Slik Bogin was chasing around out in this sector, and we don't want to let him beat us to this system."
"Bogin? That's the notorious pirate, isn't it? No, if he's out here, we don't want to let him beat us—though what we could do if he did try, I don't know."
"We'll figure that out if he tries to hijack us."
"You hope!" There was a long silence while the boys studied their instruments again. Then, "What about landing, Chubby? Can you do it?"
"I've been studying up on it—put on the sleep-instructor last night." Jon was suddenly half-frightened with the prospect, but determined to keep his voice level. "I've helped Pop land the crate several times—even handled the controls under his instructions—so I think I can do it, with you reading off the manual to me. Anyway, if—if Pop gets worse, we've got to land some time, so we might as well try it here as any time or anywhere."
Jak stood silent a long moment, rubbing his hand through his hair as he did when concentrating. Then he looked up with determination. "Jon, you and I have got ourselves a job to do." And now his voice was steady and earnest. "It's up to us to take care of Mother and keep her from worrying. So, whenever we're where she can hear us, we've got to act brave and sure of ourselves, no matter how we feel inside."
"Yes, she's all broken up about Pop. We ought to do most of the work, too, so she...."
"No," Jak shook his head, "that'd be the worst thing we could do. She isn't sick, physically, and if she keeps busy, she won't have time to worry so much. So we must keep her from having too much idle time."
"Oh ... maybe you're right, Owl ... yes, guess you are, at that—that's more your dish. But we can act like everything's going to jet fair. It's a deal." He held out his hand, and the two brothers clasped in agreement.
They went into the living quarters. "Hi, Mom, lunch ready yet? I'm starved."
"As usual," Jak bantered.
Mrs. Carver looked up apathetically from the recline seat where she had been sitting, worrying, during the several hours the boys had been in the control room. She looked as though she were almost shocked at their seemingly heartless question, forgetting that she, herself, had used the same excuse the night before.
But in a moment she smiled tremulously. "I guess I let myself forget my job, and that we have to go through the motions of living." She rose slowly, and the boys came and put their arms about her. "Mr. C. wouldn't want me to break down like this. I'll try to do better."
She gave her sons a quick hug and went into the little galley, where they heard her moving about from the deep-freeze to cupboards to induction-cooker. Soon the smells of appetizing food spread throughout the ship.
Jon had gone back into the control room and picked up the reelbook on astrogation, opening it to the chart of the pilot panel. He was still studying this and tracing, from the diagrams in the book, the controls, switches and recorders on the panel itself. He memorized each one as he went along, and made sure he knew its functions.
When Jak called him to lunch, Jon carried the reel with him and continued studying it as he absentmindedly ate. His preoccupation with it raised his mother's fears again. "Can you make anything out of it, Son?"
"Huh?" He roused himself then, and grinned at her. "Sure, Mom, it's easy. Pop taught me most of it already, and I'm just refreshing my mind. I'll set us down in one piece, don't you fear."
"How soon will we arrive?"
"About tomorrow noon, I think, by our clocks. No telling what time it'll be there. I'll take measurements again and make sure, right after I'm through eating. We must be about ready to step up our deceleration."
He looked at his mother more intently, and his voice was so earnest it broke from baritone to a childish treble in places. "Mom, I'm not questioning your authority or anything, but you said yesterday that Jak was to be in charge until Pop wakes up. Now, Jak doesn't know anything at all about astrogation, and while I don't know it all, I do know more than he does, and I'll have to handle it. So what about me being in charge of the ship when we're in flight or on landings and take-offs, and Jak in charge other times? Though whatever you say goes, of course," he added hastily.
Somewhat to his surprise, his brother sided with him. The elder seemed to realize this was no time for one of their friendly squabbles about which was to be "top man"; that their very safety depended on the fact that whichever knew the most about any one thing should be the one to have the say about it.
Their mother looked from one to the other helplessly. "I ... I guess that will be all right. You two figure out things between you. You're all the men I have now until your father...." She almost broke into tears then, but pulled herself together. "Yes, you do whatever you think is best about such things."
"We'll handle it," Jak assured her. "But you'll still be boss in chief."
"You say 'when' and 'what,' and Jak and I'll figure out 'how.'" Jon grinned.
She stretched out her arms and grasped each by a hand. "My big boys! I'm sure we'll come through safely. You're getting to be real men." Then she changed her tone and asked, "You're going to land on one of those planets, then, as Mr. C. planned?"
"Being so close, it seems best," Jak answered. "How long we stay will depend on what we do or don't find there."
"Yes, we need a few days' rest on firm ground before we start back to Terra, at least. We want to freshen our air, if we can, and maybe get some fresh food. Besides, we ought to try to get all the necessary data to prove Pop's discovery, if the planets are uninhabited but worth colonizing."
"I agree," seconded Jak, "even if we have to land in some secluded spot and just rest."
"I'll leave it up to you, then." Their mother appeared more like her usual happy self than the boys had seen her since the accident. "I'll keep house like I always have, and you boys do whatever else you think best."
Jak laughed. "We'll be like those Musketeers in that old book I read some time ago. 'All for one and one for all.'" He held out his hand dramatically. "Put your hands on mine, and we'll all swear to it."
Laughing, they did as he suggested, although their mother pretended severity. "You know I don't like swearing, Boys."
Jak grinned. "But I meant this in the sense of 'taking an oath,' not of 'cussing.'"
"Oh," she krinkled her nose at him, grinning with her old-time impishness, "that's different."
Jon rose from the table. "I'll get back to my studying."
"You listen to your mother, and don't study too hard," she warned, knowing how he was apt to "lose himself" in his books. "You need plenty of rest for tomorrow."
"All right, Mom."
But when she went into the control room long after dinner, he was still deep in his reelbook. She took it away from him. "Get to bed, Jon. You promised."
"I'm sorry, Mom. Just got so interested I forgot time." He kissed her. "'Night, Mom. And don't worry. We'll make out swell."
"I'm sure of it." Her words were brave but he could see the tears were perilously close.
"You'd better ask Jak for some barbit, or you won't sleep any better than you did last night," he counseled. "Remember, he and I are going to take turns watching Pop."
"Thank you, Son. Good night."
He touched a switch and the glolights dimmed and went dark as he followed her out.
All the next morning Mrs. Carver and her two sons were in the control room—except for their frequent trips to Mr. Carver's bunk, to see how their patient was getting along. They were studying through the telescopic visiplates the solar system they were rapidly approaching. Jon had figured the sun was a Type G Dwarf, much like Sol, but a little larger. It had, they now knew, only five planets. Three of these—Two, Three and Four—had seven satellites among them. From their distances from the sun, the boys figured that probably Two and Three would have climates that human colonists, with some adaptation, could stand.
Now they were peering even more closely into their plates, as their ship circled the globe beneath them. Jon had maneuvered it into a spiral course about Planet Two, in such a manner that, from a height of about a hundred miles, they could get a good view of the world beneath them, in their telescopic plates.
"Lots of plant life, but I haven't seen anything that looks like cities," Jak said at last.
"Nor I," from their mother and, "Me neither," Jon added.
Their first measurements of this new planet had shown it to be almost the size of Terra, and they had been delighted to see that there was a moon of considerable size, although not as large as Luna. It was about one hundred and fifty thousand miles out.
"There's a number of large seas or oceans," Jak commented without taking his eyes from his visiplate. "Look at that plant life, though—it evidently coats the whole planet. From here it looks like jungle."
"Lots of lakes and rivers on it, and in those plains we saw." Jon was excited. "It sure looks like a wonderful world where men can live."
As they crisscrossed the planet from pole to pole, they saw small ice fields about each.
"That means there'll be varied seasons here," Jon stated.
"Not necessarily," Jak argued. "In fact, while possible, it's not even probable."
"Says you," Jon sniffed. Then later, "I figure the year here at about three hundred days. Just an approximation, of course, but probably within five per cent. I'm not too good at such things."
"You're probably wrong," Jak snorted, and their mother interrupted what she thought was the beginning of another of their interminable arguments.
"Are you going to land here, or go on to another planet first?" she asked Jon.
"I'm going low enough to test atmosphere and temperature before I decide," he told her.
"Well," resignedly, "do as you boys think best."
Jon manipulated his controls and as the ship tilted slightly, they could see in their plates the ground coming closer. Slowly, under the increased reaction of the powerful bow tubes, the ship slowed until it was cruising at about one thousand miles an hour and about a mile above the surface—or the tops of the vegetation, at least. Then Jon leveled it off.
"You know how to test atmosphere, Jak?" he asked. "The temp now is about 99.4 degrees Fahrenheit, so it probably isn't over 110 at ground level."
"Yes, Father taught me that." Jak moved over to the hull wall where there was an atmosphere-trap and the mechanism that tested and recorded the contents of any air they might encounter on a new planet. He worked this and studied the results.
This latest invention of Terran aeroscopic technies was simple to operate. A chart, already prepared to show the constituents of Earth's atmospheric limits compatible to human needs, was placed beneath a stylus. The latter drew a curve showing the components of the new air, and if the lines did not go above or below the red one on the prepared chart, the atmosphere was safe for human consumption.
"Carbon dioxide a little higher, and when I tested density with a spring balance the ten-pound weight showed nine and a half," Jak reported. "That means we'll feel a trifle lighter, and won't find walking and lifting as hard."
Their mother had been hovering nervously in the background. Now she stepped up and asked, "Are you sure it is safe here?"
"We will be before we go outside, Mother," Jak assured her, then turned to Jon. "Where are you going to land?"
"Soon as I find a good spot. Keep your eyes peeled for a large clearing."
But they had gone only a few more miles when Jak yelled, "There, Jon! Off to the left a mile or so."
At his first words Jon had increased the negative acceleration. His darting eyes spotted the clearing, and he put the ship into a circle and elevated the nose so they climbed to a height of some twenty miles.
"Grab that astrogation book and get ready to read me the checks, Owl. Mom, you strap in. Is Pop all right?"
Mrs. Carver assured him that on her recent trip to her husband's bunk she had seen to it that he was safely fastened down, in anticipation of their landing.
Jak picked up the book and opened it to the book-marked page. He sank into the co-pilot's seat, and fastened the safety belt. "Ready when you are."
Their mother now reported, "All fast, Jon."
A moment while the younger boy glanced quickly at his various dials, then he said tensely, "Shoot."
"Check decelerometer."
"On the hairline."
"Check outside air pressure."
"Seven four two."
"Terrain indicator."
"Level."
"Altimeter."
"Four thousand three hundred. Going down a hundred per second."
"Let her down."
Anxious seconds of jockeying, Jon's eyes flashing from indicator to gauge to telltale to screen, his hands and feet moving here and there on the controls.
The two others gasped as they saw the ground rushing toward them so swiftly. The ship landed—but with a jar that shook them all.
"Off bow retarders," Jak yelled.
The roar of the tubes ceased and they were almost stunned by the sudden silence.
"Down landing props."
The grind of a motor, then a gentle jar and the ship seemed to straighten a bit.
"Props down."
"Close fuel petcocks."
"Closed."
"Shut off fuel pump."
"Shut."
"All controls in neutral."
Jon's hands flashed over several levers, knobs and switches.
"Everything neutral." He turned in his seat then, and his face wore a wide grin of triumph. "We did it. We're down."
He noticed his mother's white, strained face, and called to her, "Relax, Mom. I set you down in one piece, just as I said I would."
Jak broke in with a scoffing comment—although his eyes showed the secret pride he felt in his younger brother's ability—"Lousy landing. What's the big idea, jolting us all like that? Want to bust up the ship?"
"Now, Boys," their mother hastened to break up this incipient quarrel before it had the chance to get started—which was exactly what Jak intended—"I think Jon did exceptionally well, considering it was his first solo landing. I'm not hurt at all, and I'm sure the ship isn't, either."
Jak pretended to look ashamed, although neither of the boys could completely hide their grins, and had to face away from her. "Yes, I was just steaming off. It was really a swell job, Chubby."
But Jon had already pushed out of his seat and was at one of the window-ports, peering eagerly outside. However, he did fling back over his shoulder, "You helped a lot, Owl. Couldn't have done it without you."
The other two came up quickly to stand beside him, staring at this strange, new world. The clearing in which the ship rested, they could see now, was about a hundred acres in extent. Near the ship the strange grass with which the clearing was carpeted was seared and black from their landing blasts, and burning in places. But toward the huge trees that walled the clearing, the grass was in its natural green state, covered with tiny, whitish blossoms.
The trees visible from the ship were mostly very tall, averaging well over three hundred feet, the Carvers estimated. They looked somewhat like Douglas firs, but with a difference the Terrans could not at the moment figure out.
The three could see no animal or bird life, but guessed this did not mean there was none. The jungle might be teeming with life, but it would probably have been frightened away for the time being by this strange, fire-breathing monster that had descended from the skies to land on their world.
"Think it's safe to go out?" Jak asked.
"Now you listen to your mother, and don't take any chances."
"We won't," Jon told her, then answered his brother. "We'll wait an hour and see what we can see from here, then decide."
"I sure want a closer look at that plant Life." Jak's eyes glistened, and he ran to get his binoculars to see better.
"I ought to examine the hull and tubes, too, to make sure they aren't fouled or corroded," Jon told his mother.
"It's nearly time for lunch." She turned away. "At least you must stay in until after that." It was plain she was still worried, and the boys tried to reassure her and quiet her fears.
When she called they reluctantly left their vantage points at the ports and went in to eat the lunch she had prepared. Several times she had to caution them against bolting their food, as they talked eagerly of what they might find here.
Finally finished, Jon rose. "Come on, Owl," he urged, "let's go outside and give it the once-over lightly."
"Better break out our rifles first," the elder advised. "No telling what we'll run into."
"If it's dangerous enough for guns, I wish you wouldn't go." Their mother was worried again.
"They're just a precaution, same as Father would take if he was in charge," Jak soothed. "We won't go out of this clearing this first time."
"You'd better give Mr. C. another feeding first, hadn't you?"
Jak consulted his wrist-chronom. "Yes, it's nearly time, and we might not be back by the regular hour."
The problem of keeping their father fed and in good health, apart from his head and leg injuries, had not proven too hard when they became convinced that he was not going to wake up often enough to eat normally.
Jak, while working as orderly in the Centropolitan Hospital the previous summer, had assisted the interns and nurses in giving intravenous feedings to unconscious patients. So he knew the general procedure, as well as the composition and quantity of the nutrient liquid to be administered.
"Will you come help me, Mother," he had asked when he was sure he was ready for that first feeding. "We've got to find certain things in our food stores."
"You're sure you know how to do it?"
"Yes, it's not hard. We need liquid proteins, salt, sugar and glucose." With his mother helping, he had gathered these from their stores, and taken them into the galley. There he had carefully measured out and mixed these ingredients in the proportions his books stated.
Then he and Jon had gone into the workshop and there the younger, under his brother's supervision, and with pictures of the apparatus as a guide, had rigged up a drip-regulator to go into the mouth of a large bottle. To this they had attached a long, slender, plastic tube, and to the far end of that a large, hollow feeding needle.
As the others watched anxiously, Jak had inserted the needle into the large vein on the inside of his father's left elbow. With his thumb Jak had softly rubbed the vein just above the needle's point, to assist the flow of the nutrient. Soon it was done. Mr. Carver had stirred and his eyelids had fluttered when the needle was inserted but he had not fully regained consciousness.
That first feeding so successfully accomplished, Mrs. Carver did not seem to worry quite so much about her husband, although she was careful to keep track of the feeding times, and to remind her sometimes forgetful son of his duty.
The feeding given this day, the boys consulted together.
"Shall we wear our spacesuits?" Jon asked.
"I don't see why. It's hot outside, but bearable, and the air's all right," Jak answered positively. "I not only tested it, but I breathed the sample I took in through the trap. It smells good, and hasn't hurt me any. We'll take our guns, and I want my magnifying glass and knapsack for specimens."
"And I'll put some multiform tools in my belt. Then, in case there's anything that needs doing on the tubes or hull, I can do it quickly."
The two brothers assembled their gear and Jon was just reaching for the button to open the inner door when they stopped short and shrank back.
For a terrific roar came from outside ... such a tremendous sound it penetrated even the hull of their ship!
At that horrid noise, the two boys stood frozen a moment, then with one accord raced to the control room, where they peered out of the quartzite ports.
"Great whales, look at that thing!" Jon shouted as they caught their first glimpse outside.
"Yeow!" Jak yelled in amazement. "What do you suppose it is?"
"Never saw anything like it before."
They stared in awe at the tremendous creature standing in the little clearing, looking belligerently toward their ship. It was so unlike any Earth beast it was no wonder the boys were startled. The huge body was covered with heavily matted fur. It must have been at least a dozen feet long, and stood about eight feet tall. But the striking thing was that the body was triangular, and the beast was three-legged—two at the back and one in front.
There was no tail, and the blocky legs—one at each corner of the weirdly triangular body—seemed to end in clawed feet. The head was shaped something like that of a horse, but the huge mouth, now partly open, was seen to contain great fangs, larger than those of any beast the boys had ever seen in Terran zoos or on any planet they had visited. Two of the tusks were almost like the ones they had seen in pictures of ancient saber-toothed tigers.
The whole getup gave such an effect of fierceness that both boys felt a shiver run down their spines. Jak's voice was tremulous as he spoke. "Yipe! I'm sure glad I'm not out there with that."
Jon was slow in answering. "Yet, if we're going out at all...." He hesitated, then continued, "We'll either have to chase it away, or kill it."
"If we can," his brother retorted.
"I think our guns'll handle it," Jon said. "The question is, how are we going to do it without exposing ourselves?"
Jak thought swiftly. "Maybe we could open the outer lock door a crack, just enough to see through and aim our guns."
"Yes, I guess that's it."
"Don't say anything to Mother," Jak cautioned.
"Of course not, silly. Come on, let's see if we can kill it."
The two ran to the airlock and opened the inner door. Leaving it open, they examined their guns to make sure they were fully loaded. Then Jon punched the button to open the outer lockdoor. It was possible to do this while the inner one was still open, since there was now air outside to equalize the pressure. When the door had swung open a couple of feet, Jon stopped the motor, and joined his brother, who was peering through the opening.
The huge creature was still facing them, about forty yards from the ship. One of its rear feet was now pawing at the ground, tearing up great chunks of sod, while it roared its mighty challenge time and again.
"I'll kneel and aim for the left eye. You stand over me and try to hit the other." Jak took swift command. "Then try for the brain or heart, and keep pumping while our ammo lasts or until we kill it."
"Right." Jon took his place and aimed his gun. "Count three and we'll fire together."
Jak knelt and steadied his rifle with one elbow on his extended knee. "One ... two ... three ... fire!"
As the two shots crashed out the creature sprang into the air a couple of feet. A great scream of pain and rage shook the very ground and made the air tremble. It hesitated only a moment, then charged toward the ship at terrific speed.
The boys pumped shots as fast as they could. Both had hit the head, but neither had put out an eye as they had hoped. They kept firing as fast as they could work their guns. Blood spouted from numerous wounds on the beast. But still it came on madly, with swift though lumbering bounds.
"Back quick, and shut the door," Jak yelled as his hammer clicked on an empty gun. He pushed backward and scrambled to his feet as Jon leaped to the door controls. The heavy door swung shut ... and the boys breathed a sigh of relief.
But almost at once their eyes filled with fear. They cringed back when they felt the ship itself shudder as that heavy body struck against it.
As swiftly as their trembling legs would carry them, they raced back to the control room. They reached it just in time to see the huge triped lunge against the side of the ship a second time ... and again held their breaths as it did so once more.
The beast's slow mind evidently realized, then, that it could not so easily overthrow this strange, great thing that had appeared so mysteriously in its jungle clearing. It backed away some little distance, still roaring out in that horrible voice.
Once again the beast bunched its mighty muscles for another attack ... when it seemed to stop in the middle of a roar. It wobbled a bit. Slowly its mighty legs buckled, and it sprawled on the ground. A few spasmodic shudders, a convulsive shiver that ran through the tremendous frame, then it was still.
The boys let out their breaths. They were just beginning to congratulate themselves when the door of the control room opened and their mother's frightened face appeared.
"What was that, Boys? I was taking a nap, but your shooting woke me, than I felt the ship shake as though there was an earthquake or something."
"It was noth...." Jon began, but Jak went up to her and put his arm about her.
"It was just a big animal, Mother. Jon and I killed it."
"An animal? Big enough to jar the ship that way? Where is it?" she gasped.
Jak pointed silently toward the port, and she hurried to look out. At sight of that huge mountain of flesh she cried out, and her face became ever more white and strained.
"What a horrible beast! Are you sure it's dead?"
"Quite sure. It wasn't hard to kill." Jak minimized the danger and made himself grin encouragingly. "I'm going out and hack off some steaks. Bet they'll be good, too."
"You'll do no such thing!" she cried, shocked. "Now you boys listen to your mother. You're not to budge outside the ship. I want you to leave this awful world at once."
The two boys looked at their mother, and suddenly they seemed to feel strength and maturity growing within them. As though the act had been discussed and rehearsed, they both came up and, taking their mother each by an arm, led her out of the control room and back to their living quarters. There they sat her down in her favorite recline seat.
"Look, Mother, you know how much we both love you and want to obey you always," Jak said earnestly. "But we're in a peculiar situation here...."
"On a strange planet, and Pop out of commission," Jon broke in.
"I know Jon and I are still boys," Jak continued, "but we're all the men here right now. We think you've got to begin trusting us to make the decisions."
"Jak's right," Jon chimed in. "We're not going to take any fool chances, but I say we've got to go ahead and do things just as we think Pop would if he was well and in command. As best we can, that is."
Mrs. Carver looked from one son to the other doubtfully for a long minute, then smiled tremulously.
"I keep forgetting you're not my babies any longer," she said slowly. "Mothers do that, you know. You're both almost grown men; I know you have good minds, almost mature minds. The various things you've been through have done that. So I release you from my apron strings. You two take charge, and do whatever you feel necessary."
They threw themselves on their knees, one on either side of her, their arms about her.
"Oh, Mother, we didn't mean it like that!"
"We never felt you had us tied to your apron strings, Mom," Jon added. "We still want to be your boys, even though we do have to act like men—at least until Pop takes charge again."
Her smile now was warm and tender, all hesitancy and most of the fears gone. "Mr. C. and I have tried to make you self-reliant and resourceful, and he'll be as proud of you as I am. You're right—you are the men of the party and must do whatever you decide should be done. But be careful," she could not help adding.
"We will, Mother."
"We think just as much of us as you do," Jon quipped.
They left her sitting there, then, and went back to the control room. As they came close to the window-ports they peered through eagerly, and were surprised to see the huge carcass of the triped literally covered with strange looking winged, featherless but fur-covered, bird-things. The latter had large, sharp beaks, with which they were tearing great gobs of flesh from the hulk, gulping them down with ravenous relish.
"Scavengers!" Jon exclaimed, his eyes glued to the scene.
"Yes, there go our steaks." Jak's tone was so lugubrious that Jon looked up and laughed. "I had hoped for some fresh meat."
"There'll be plenty later on," Jon consoled his brother. "Probably this one would've been too tough, anyway."
Jak suddenly chuckled. "Yes, like the fox said, the grapes were probably sour."
They grinned companionably at each other, then turned back to watch through the port again. So numerous and so voracious were the scavenger birds that within a few minutes they had even that mammoth carcass stripped of flesh, leaving only the huge bones. One by one, the birds then flew into the forest, the last ones fighting among themselves for the few remaining scraps of stringy flesh or entrails before they, too, took wing.
"Shall we try it now?" Jak asked after the last of the bird-things had gone.
"Might as well. We sure don't want to be cooped up here forever."
They went back to the airlock again, making sure their guns were reloaded and their ammo belts filled. When both boys were in the lock, Jon punched the button that closed the inner door, then opened the outer one. "Safer for Mom to have one of them shut," he exclaimed.
The two stood there a moment, looking all about them. Except for that strange pile of huge bones, now covered thickly with some sort of reddish, chitinous-covered, ant-like insects, the clearing seemed empty of all life except the peculiar, flower-like grasses.
Jon climbed down to the ground and Jak followed closely. They walked a short distance away, then turned and looked back, scanning carefully in all directions to make sure no enemy was at their backs.
"Let's go over and study that jungle a bit," Jak suggested when they were sure their rear was not, apparently, menaced.
Jon had been looking at the remains of the beast. "I'd like to try to salvage those tusks," he said, and with Jak at his side went up to them. The two boys managed, after considerable work, to get the great fangs out of the jaws. They brushed off the clinging insects, then ran back and placed the tusks inside the lock.
"Thanks, Owl. Now we'll go take a look at your trees. Then I want to examine the tubes and the outside of the ship. But we'd better stick together, at least this first time. So I'll sort of cover you, then when you've had a looksee, we'll go back and you keep guard while I see what shape the boat's in."
"Right. Let's get going."
Once past the seared place, they found that the peculiar, flower-tipped grasses were as stiff as wheat stubble. The grass-blades were knife sharp, but unable to penetrate the heavy, knee-high leather boots the boys wore.
Jak stooped to examine and study them. "The blossoms all seem to have three of these whitish petals," he said as he rose at last, "and that yellowish bulb in the center will be the seed pod."
When they started on again, they found walking difficult until they learned the trick of scuffling along without trying to raise their feet above the tops of the grasses each step. Then it was easier, particularly since the gravity here was about five per cent less than that of Terra, so they weighed less and their strength consequently seemed greater.
The trees were closely clustered for the most part, and after studying them for some time Jak said, "They're a lot like some of the pines back home, although not too much like any I ever saw."
"Notice how there're no limbs until you get up thirty feet or so?" Jon asked. "They'd be hard to climb without spurs." Indeed, after anyone did reach the first low limbs he would not be in much better shape for climbing, for the branches were ten to fifteen feet apart all the way up.
"Don't see any fruits, though maybe we're just not where any fruit trees are growing," Jak said after a bit.
"Yes, lots of woods back home don't have any fruit or nut trees in them."
The strange grasses grew only in small, occasional clusters inside the forest, but the ground was so deeply covered with fallen twigs, rotted branches and the needle-like leaves of previous years, that walking was extremely difficult, almost impossible in places.
"There're probably trails somewhere—that triped would've made some sort of path."
"He sure was heavy enough, and if this was part of his regular stamping ground, he undoubtedly used the same route."
"Maybe, but not necessarily. He might've been attracted by our descent. Anyway, we can look for that later. Let's go back now so you can look over the ship while it's still light. We should be ready for a quick take-off, if we run into anything too hot to handle."
Jon looked the surprise he felt. This sudden responsibility was making Jak more practical than he had ever been before ... just the same as it was making him. After all, it was to be expected. Jon knew Jak had an excellent mind—the elder brother had just used it for what Jon had previously felt were unimportant things—not mechanics, math, or such practical interests.
But the way Jak had taken care of Pop; the way he had figured out how to feed him, and the right medicines to use on the bruise on his head—that must have injured Pop inside—and had known how to set his leg—it was a danged good thing, after all, that Jak had spent so much time studying those other subjects. Maybe mechanics and such sciences were not the main things in life, after all. Other things had their uses, too.
Now the two went back to the ship and around to the stern. There, while Jak stayed on the ground on guard, watching in all directions in turn for any possible dangers, Jon surveyed the great driving tubes.
He climbed the metal rungs set into the ship for that purpose, so he could reach each of the tubes. With his glotorch he studied the lining of each tube, crawling partially inside each one in turn.
Finally he backed out of the last one and down to the ground. "They're all in fine shape," he reported happily to his brother. "Can't find a single thin spot in any of them. That new alloy is really something."
Although the older brother did not know too much about such things, he felt a sudden relief at this report, for he felt that Jon did know, and he had real confidence in him. He had long realized the differences in their temperaments, and for several years had known his brother was almost a genius in the mechanical field.
He remembered mentioning this matter to their father one time, and how his eyes had shone with pride as he answered, "Jon's really remarkable. Some day, if he keeps on like this, he's going to be known all over the galaxy because of what he'll do in mechanics."
Nor had Jak been jealous at this high praise of his younger brother. "Jon's just a kid," he had said, "and he's thoughtless rather than conceited. But sometimes he makes me so darned mad."
His father laughed. "Yes, like all kids, he hates the thought of letting anyone get ahead of him. That's particularly true of younger brothers. They feel, within themselves, that they are just as good or better than the older members of the family, and sometimes can't help showing it."
Jak grinned. "I'll bust him one yet, some day, though, if he doesn't watch out."
But he knew, and so did his father, that he never would. For both knew the real love that existed between the two brothers. Jak realized that his swiftly growing brother—now several inches taller and many pounds heavier than he—had a terrific mind. So, as now, he generally respected Jon's ideas, and shrugged away any momentary angers when Jon was particularly "bossy."
Jak followed as Jon walked slowly along the side of the ship, giving it a careful survey, especially toward the bottom, to see if anything on the lower surfaces appeared wrong.
"I'll climb up and give the top a going-over tomorrow," Jon said as they went ahead.
TheStar Roverwas really a space-yacht. It was seventy-two feet long, and about eighteen feet in diameter at its thickest part, which was about a third of the way back from the bow. The front of the ship was bluntly rounded, and contained the control room with its thick, quartzite window-ports, and just outside that room the four bow-retarding tubes, which Jon also carefully examined when the boys reached them.
Just aft of the control room were the living quarters. These consisted of the large, comfortable living room, and two small but compact bunkrooms, the bath-toilet, the kitchen and many ingeniously designed closet and drawer spaces for stowing personal belongings, clothing and supplies.
Beyond these were the storerooms for food, tools and other supplies and equipment. The stern two-fifths of the ship was devoted to the storage of fuel and the various machines that drove the space-yacht and kept it a self-contained world while in space.
Here were the refrigerators and heaters, the air- and water-purifiers, the generators of electricity for light and cooking and for their auxiliary motors, such as the ones controlling the airlock doors and pumps. In the lower part of the hull, under their living and control rooms and storerooms, were hydroponic tanks which not only grew vegetables and greens for their table, but which furnished oxygen to replace that unavoidably lost when the locks were opened.
At the far stem were the driving mechanisms. The latter were the latest development in the atomic-powered field, and were surprisingly small for the tremendous work they did.
Even Jon did not yet fully understand how they operated, although he knew how to run them. He did know they took specially-treated copper, in the form of small nuggets, and utilized the tremendous force locked within their atoms as the propelling medium by which the ship operated.
In some manner these nuggets were vaporized inside the generators, into which they were automatically fed from the storage bins as needed—the power-controls regulating the speed with which they were fed into the generators. This vaporized copper was run through some sort of a modified cyclotron-type mechanism, where the binding-force of its atoms was liberated. That indescribable power then forced its vaporized particles out through the tubes—using the Newtonian law of action and reaction to propel the ship.
Suddenly Jon turned to his brother. "Hey, I just happened to think. We ought to rig up a siren or something, so Mom can call us if she needs us when we're away from the ship."
"Sounds like a swell idea. Can fix?"
"Sure, nothing to it. We may even have one among the stores. If not, it's just a diaphragm inside a tube, oscillated by electricity. I'll see if we've got one, or else make one and install it."