by Roland Starr
The last moments fled. Wayland reported ignition. Marr was watching his instruments with deadly intensity. With thirty seconds to go, Vonner alerted the crew, and could imagine the activity taking place in various parts of the ship as the men prepared for acceleration. Hanton began counting off the seconds, and when he reached zero the whole ship trembled imperceptibly. Vonner closed his eyes for a moment, offering a silent prayer to whatever benign Fate guarded them. Then Wayland’s voice came through, calm and deliberate, reporting that acceleration was proceeding according to the flight plan. Marr now became the central figure in the operation, feeding more calculations into the computer, and Vonner looked at the forward scanner screen and saw the tiny crescent that was Omina already beginning to edge back toward the center.
“Lapse Four!” Wayland reported.
“Give me Six,” Marr replied. He flipped a couple of switches and then looked toward Vonner. “We’ll be coming round any second now, Captain. You’ve lost almost a day. We’ve got to allow for Omina’s orbit. Stardrift Twenty now.”
Vonner nodded. He could feel a sense of relief sweeping through him, and he sighed heavily and relaxed a little in his seat. Wayland came through once more to report Lapse Six. Everything was fine.
“Hanton, you’d better go off duty now,” Vonner called to his new first officer. “I’ll be on duty for the next five hours. Get some sleep, and when you report back here we’ll have a talk about what happens when we reach orbit around Omina. Bardo was supposed to command the first landing party, but with him out of action, I shall have to go. You’ll remain in command of the ship while I’m away.”
“Yes, Captain!” Hanton turned and departed, and Vonner was satisfied as he returned his attention to his duties.
Marr came across to talk to him; the astrogator was looking pleased with himself. “Well, we finally made it,” he remarked. “I don’t mind telling you that my mathematics were strained to the very limit, but I’ve checked every figure, and it comes out the same. We’ll be orbiting Omina in a little under four days.”
“That’s the best news I’ve heard yet,” Vonner told him. “I was praying once or twice back there.”
“I think we all said our favorite prayer,” Marr retorted. “I don’t know about Dalus, but I was beginning to wish we were any place but right here.”
Vonner told the astrogator about the explosive device that Bardo had fixed to the atomic pile, and Marr’s pale face went a shade paler.
“Our reports are going to make interesting reading if we ever get back to Earth, Captain.”
“It won’t matter if we don’t.” Vonner smiled thinly. “Farrell is sending information back all the time, and news of what has been happening on board is already on its way home.”
“Well, they won’t be able to send any orders canceling the landing, that’s for sure,” Marr remarked. “We’ll be in orbit and on the way down before they’ll know what’s happened.”
“Perhaps that’s a good thing. I wouldn’t want to abort the mission now we’re this close.”
“Reid is certain we’re going to find conditions similar to Earth. Do you think they’ll ever colonize Omina?”
“If it is suitable, then it will be colonized. But we don’t know what we’re going to find down there, Aaron.”
“After the past twenty-four hours, we can face anything,” the astrogator reported.
Vonner silently agreed.
CHAPTER TEN
Three days later they were preparing to decelerate. Aaron Marr had worked out his coordinates, and the ship was under his control as they stood by. The main drive was cut by computer command, and shortly afterwards the first of a series of burns with reverse drive began to cut their headlong approach to Omina. Marr was jubilant after he had checked the graphs; he came to Vonner’s side and stared at the scanner screen showing Omina in more detail than they had ever seen it before.
“It’s out of my hands now, Captain,” Marr said. “It’s all on automatic. You’re going in now, and the next twelve hours will be the longest we’ve ever experienced.”
“There’s a lot to be done before we swing into orbit, Aaron,” Vonner replied. “I shall be taking down the initial landing party. That was Bardo’s job, but I’m not going to entrust him with any duty before we’re well on our way back to Earth.”
“I agree with that,” the chief astrogator said. “But what was Bardo talking about when he said we couldn’t get into orbit around Omina? Do you think there was any truth in his theory?”
“I don’t know, Aaron, and that’s a fact. I’m having a talk with Quillon shortly. At this distance he’s getting the clearest readings ever. He was so excited a short time ago when I called him that I couldn’t get any sense out of him. Do you want to go ashore with me?”
“I do! I wouldn’t miss it for anything. After coming such a long way, I want to be one of the first men to set foot on the only planet that might prove to be a second Earth.”
“Well, they’ve checked everything in our own solar system,” Vonner commented. “We’ve got nothing that compares. We’ll know in a few hours if Omina will prove to be the heaven scientists are all looking for.”
“Scientists and space men,” Marr said with a laugh. “Well, I’ll get back to my figures. I can’t be too careful at a time like this, eh, Captain?”
“We’re all depending on you, Aaron,” Vonner returned.
“Me and a whole army of computers!” Marr turned away, and Vonner called the engine room to check with Wayland that the orders were clear and true.
The chief engineer was happy in his control room, and Vonner switched off and set about his own routine. He had much to do, not the least of which was to get a clear report of ground conditions on Omina. He switched on general address and called for an officers’ conference, arranging for a time lapse of thirty minutes. Then he went to see Quillon Reid.
The space laboratory was the most complete hive of industry aboard the ship. White-coated assistants were busy checking readings and analyzing reports, and Reid himself was at a desk that was under a mound of papers and data sheets. The chief scientist got to his feet when he saw Vonner and came around to greet him.
“All our earlier findings are being substantiated, Captain. I don’t have to tell you that I’m the happiest man aboard the ship. There’s atmosphere down there that’s as good as any you’ve ever breathed on Earth. Vegetation abounds, and there is animal life.”
“Can you elaborate on the animal life?” Vonner demanded. “What can I expect to meet when I step out of the shutter-ship?”
“What can we expect to meet?” Reid amended with a smile. “I am afraid that detail is beyond me, but there is life down there; and with such an environment, so similar to Earth in many ways, I can say with some confidence that we can expect to find animal life in much the same form as ours.”
“Human people!” Vonner thought about it for a moment. “It’s quite a thought! But at what stage of progress? Will they be ahead of us in technology, or behind?”
“That we shan’t know until we land.” Reid was trembling with excitement. “All these readings point to a situation on Omina that exceeds our greatest hopes.”
“Well, keep me informed if your readings give some clue to what we can expect down there. Perhaps we should try to get in contact with Omina, in case we’re mistaken for enemies. There’s no telling what may happen.”
“Well, communications are not my department. I suggest you have a talk with Farrell about that.”
“Thank you, Quill.” Vonner smiled and nodded. “I’m holding a conference shortly. I’ll get down to brass tacks then. I know you’re busy right now, but hold yourself ready to attend if I should need you.”
“I’m ready to do anything and everything,” Reid said enthusiastically. He sounded like a schoolboy; Vonner had never seen his chief scientist so excited. Some of the man’s elation communicated itself to Vonner, and he departed, feeling exalted by his own anticipation of what la
y ahead.
Now there seemed to be so little time left, although the routine to be followed had been laid down according to a strict timetable. At the officers’ conference, Vonner got the facts of the situation, and they covered all aspects of the procedure for orbiting and then landing on the alien planet. Preparations went on unceasingly, and the computers carried out the work of controlling the ship, slowing it in stages as they approached the great ball that had been their target during two long years of flight.
Vonner snatched his rest in short naps, but the communicators were always buzzing for him, and with twenty-four hours to go until orbit, he found no time for anything but duty. He paced the control room when he was not busy, and his eyes were attracted to the forward scanner screen almost against his will. Omina lay before them, only a few hours away, and Vonner was struck by the planet’s apparent resemblance to Earth. Even at this still great distance, he could see that this planet was more like Earth than any other he had ever set eyes on.
As the hours passed, he became even more attracted to the sight. There was a bewitching quality about Omina, hanging there in the totally black sky, shining, drawing, attracting, pulling the ship ever closer despite the regularly fired reverse drive. The gravitational pull was having some effect upon the instruments, and more than once Vonner thought of what Bardo had said of Omina. Once they went into orbit they would never be able to get away again! Bardo had been so right about other things when Vonner had thought him to be raving that uncertainty began to take root in Vonner’s mind, but was pushed into the background by the sheer weight of work that fell upon his commanding shoulders. He missed Bardo, for Hanton, although a good officer, could not equal Bardo in experience, and Bardo had been specially trained to take the first shuttle-ship to the surface of Omina.
Instead of taking a nap when he found the time, with ten hours to go to orbit, with their speed down to a negligible fifty thousand miles per hour, Vonner went along to the sick bay to talk with Bardo. But first he wanted to see Adah. The doctor was in her office reading through a stack of reports. There was a worried expression on her beautiful face as she looked up at Vonner.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded instantly.
“Nothing that I can put my finger on, Max,” she replied slowly. “I’m checking through the readings from the brainwasher. There’s something wrong somewhere, but my analysis refuses to divulge it.”
“We’re not in for a repeat of what happened with Bardo, are we?” he demanded, dropping into a seat beside the desk.
“No. The brainwasher is working all right. I’ve had no one on sick report in the past two days. That’s normal, of course. But after the preceding week, when there were a dozen men a day reporting in here, I can’t help wondering. No one knew about the long-term effect this brainwashing would have upon the crew. I know the sequence was thoroughly tested on Earth before it was decided to use it on this trip, but tests on Earth have been known to supply solutions that differ from those arrived at in the same tests made in real space conditions.”
“Are you trying to tell me something, Adah?” Vonner was frowning. “If you are, then don’t spare me. Let me have it straight. I’m so worked up over everything else that I won’t have the time to take anything easy. Hit me with it and let me sort it out.”
“There’s nothing I can bolster with any definite proof, but I think you should be prepared for a breakdown in the efficiency of the process that has kept you all sane for the last two years.”
“You mean the effects of the process might suddenly wear off?” Vonner demanded.
“I don’t know what I mean. All I do know is that a lot of these readings aren’t right. I’ve checked all the data. I’ve tested the circuits on the brainwasher, and there’s nothing wrong. But I’ve got readings here which don’t apply.”
“Aren’t you thinking that this is why Bardo went crazy as he did?” Vonner demanded. “Wasn’t it the result of someone tampering with that terminal?”
“This unknown force could have been the start of it, and all the other incidents might have fallen into a pattern that released Bardo from his specially induced mental state.”
Vonner considered for a moment. He eyed the woman, love showing on his face, but he was trying to maintain his control over his personal feelings. Her face showed concern, and that worried him more than her words.
“Would it help if the entire crew received another processing session?” he asked.
“I wouldn’t dare risk it after the past incidents. Everyone, including yourself, and Bardo most of all, has been subjected to brainwashing far in excess of the safety margin.”
“But you’re not getting complaints from any of the crew?”
“No, and that’s what is so baffling. According to these readings, some of the crew ought to be in trouble, one way or another.”
“What am I going to do?” The question forced itself from Vonner’s lips, and he knew an agony of indecision. “There are so many tricky duties to be performed in the next hours. What happens if a man suddenly loses his skills in the middle of a maneuver? Supposing Marr forgets about mathematics as he is working out his orbital coordinates? What about Wayland doing a series of retro-blasting with the engines? Are you telling me I shouldn’t trust them now, Adah?”
“You have to trust them,” she replied seriously. “We’re so close to Omina now that you can’t abort. Even if you didn’t want to go into orbit now, you would have to go round the planet. All I can do is warn you to be careful, Max. Don’t take any chances. Try to check everything that is done by your officers.”
“That’s impossible,” he replied, shaking his head. “If there is any danger of the crew forgetting their duties, then we’ll have to take a chance and reprocess them. The mission can’t fail at this late stage.”
“I wouldn’t be responsible for their mentality afterwards, Max.”
“It will be better to take that risk than have anything go wrong during the dangerous moments of going into orbit or attempting to land.” He shook his head as he considered the prospect. There was a frown upon his face, and she could guess at the weight of worry burdening him.
“I wish I could do something to help you, Max,” she said softly, and he forgot his troubles for a moment and reached across the desk to caress her hand.
“Thanks, Adah,” he said. “You’re a great comfort to me as it is. I’ll have to think about this business. I’ve got an hour or two yet. But what about Bardo? What’s his condition right now? He’s been subjected to more brainwashing recently than the entire crew together. Have you had a look at him lately?”
“He seems to be in pretty good shape, but he doesn’t act normally. He’s retreated into silence, and there’s tension and fear registering on his electronic checks.”
“Perhaps I’d better make the time to have a look at him,” Vonner said. “You’d better stand by to reprocess the whole crew, Adah. If I decide that it’s necessary, will you carry it out?”
“Of course!” She nodded instantly. “You’re the captain. You have to consider the safety of the entire ship. If we cause permanent damage to some of the crew, it will be a small price to pay for the success of the mission.”
“You sound cynical,” he observed.
“I’m not being cynical. I’m speaking from an objective point of view. I’m looking at it from your angle. You’re the captain, and you have your duty to do regardless of the cost. I’m here to back you up, Max, and that’s what I’ll do. My personal feelings don’t enter into it.”
“Thanks, Adah. I won’t make any rash decision. If the crew have to be reprocessed, then you can bet that I’ll be first in line.” He stifled a sigh and shook his head as he got to his feet. “I’ll go and take a look at Bardo. I’m worried by this, and I hope we can figure something out before I give the order that will commit us to orbit and landing.”
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you, Max. It’s little enough. Do what you have to.”
“Th
anks.” He smiled and turned to leave the room.
“Max!” she called to him. When he paused, she came around the desk to stand before him, looking into his eyes with an open, loving expression on her face. “Kiss me before you go,” she said. “You won’t have the time to see me between now and landing. You’ll be too busy to think of me, but I shall be in an agony of suspense until this mission is behind us.”
“Don’t worry too much.” He took her into his arms and kissed her. “I think it will go off okay. After all this, we’ll be able to concentrate upon each other. It won’t be long now before we’re on that long, boring run back to Earth.”
“I’ll pray for that moment to come,” she told him, and he had to lake his leave, although every instinct tried to prevent him from doing his duty.
He was thoughtful as he went to the security ward, and the sight of the guard at the door cheered him a little. He was glad that the security arrangements hadn’t been lifted. The guard opened the cell door for him, and Vonner entered, to find Bardo asleep on his bed.
“Wake up, Ed!” Vonner touched the man’s shoulder, and Bardo opened his eyes instantly, peering up at Vonner for a moment before recognizing him.