“I don’t know why, but that unusual blackness ahead of us bothers me. It seems to me that our ship is diving straight into a dark nebula.”
“There should be a dark cloud here,” Kay Bear agreed, “but we shall only scratch the edge of it. That’s what was calculated! The strength of the gravitational field is increasing slowly and regularly. On our way through this area we should pass close to some centre of gravity. What does it matter whether it’s light or dark?”
“That’s true enough,” admitted Ingrid, more calmly.
“We’ve got the finest commander and officers there are. We’re proceeding along a set course even faster than was computed. If there are no changes we’ll be out of our trouble and we’ll get safely to Triton despite our short supply of anameson.”
Even at the thought of the spaceship’s station on Triton, Neptune’s satellite on the fringe of the solar system, Ingrid felt much happier. To reach Triton would mean that they were home.
“I was hoping we’d be able to work on the symphony together but Lynn’s asleep. He’ll sleep six or seven hours so I’ll think over the orchestration of the coda of the second movement — you know, the place where we couldn’t find a means of expressing the integrated accession of the menace. This piece….” Kay sang a few notes.
“Tee-ee-e, tee-ee-e, ta-rara-ra,” came the immediate response from the very walls of the control tower. Ingrid started and looked round, but a moment later realized what it was. There had been an increase in the force of gravity and the instruments had responded by changing the melody of the artificial gravitation apparatus.
“What an amusing coincidence,” laughed Ingrid, with an air of guilt.
“There is stronger gravitation, as there should be in a black cloud. Now you can calm yourself altogether and let Lynn sleep.”
Kay Bear left the control tower and entered the brightly-lit library where he sat down at a tiny electronic violin-piano. He was soon deeply immersed in his work and, no doubt, several hours must have passed before the hermetically sealed door of the library flew open and Ingrid appeared.
“Kay, please wake up Lynn.”
“What’s wrong?”
“The strength of the gravitation field is much more than was computed.”
“What is ahead of us?”
“The same blackness!” Ingrid went out.
Kay Bear woke the astronavigator, who jumped up and ran to the instruments in the control tower.
“There’s nothing especially dangerous. Only where does such a gravitational field come from in this area? It’s too strong for a black cloud and there are no stars here.” Lynn thought for a time and then pressed the knob to awaken the commander of the expedition and after another moment’s thought pressed the knob of Nisa Creel’s cabin as well.
“If nothing extraordinary happens they can simply take over their watch,” Lynn explained to the anxious Ingrid.
“And if something does happen? Erg Noor won’t return to normal for another five hours. What shall we do?”
“Wait quietly,” answered the astronavigator. “What can happen here in five hours when we are so far from all stellar systems?”
The tone of the measuring instruments grew lower and lower telling of the constantly changing conditions of the flight. The tense waiting dragged out endlessly. Two hours dragged by so slowly that they seemed like a whole watch. Outwardly Pel Lynn was still calm but Ingrid’s anxiety had already infected Kay Bear. He kept looking at the control-tower door expecting Erg Noor to appear with his usual rapid movements although he knew that the awakening from prolonged sleep is a lengthy process.
The long ringing of a bell caused them all to start. Ingrid grasped hold of Kay Bear.
Tantra was in danger! The gravitation was double the computed figure!
The astronavigator turned pale. The unexpected bad happened and an immediate decision was essential. The fate of the spaceship was in his hands. The steadily increasing gravitational pull made a reduction in speed necessary, both because of increasing weight in the ship and an apparent accumulation of solid matter in the ship’s path. But after reducing speed what would they use for further acceleration? Pel Lynn clenched his teeth and turned the lever that started the ion trigger motors used for braking. Gong-like sounds disturbed the melody of the measuring instruments and drowned the alarming ring of those recording the ratio of gravitational pull to velocity. The ringing ceased and the indicators showed that speed had been reduced to a safe level and was normal for the growing gravitation. But no sooner had Pel Lynn switched off the brake motors than the bells began ringing again. Obviously the spaceship was flying directly into a powerful gravitation centre which was slowing it down.
The astronavigator did not dare change the course that had been plotted with such great difficulty and absolute precision. He used the planetary motors to brake the ship again although it was already clear that there had been an error in plotting the course and that it lay through an unknown mass of matter.
“The gravitational field is very great,” said Ingrid softly, “perhaps….”
“We must slow down still more so as to be able to turn,” exclaimed the navigator, “but what can we accelerate with after that?…” There was a note of fatal hesitancy in his words.
“We have already passed the zone of outer vortices,” Ingrid told him, “gravitation is increasing rapidly all the time.’’
The frequent clatter of the planet motors resounded through the ship; the electronic ship’s pilot switched them on automatically as it felt a huge accumulation of solid matter in front of them. Tantra began to pitch and toss. No matter how much the ship’s speed was reduced the people in the control tower began to lose consciousness. Ingrid fell to her knees. Pel Lynn, sitting in his chair, tried to raise a head as heavy as lead. Kay Bear experienced a mixture of unreasoning brute fear and puerile hopelessness.
The thuds of the motors increased in frequency until they merged into a continual roar — the electronic brain had taken up the struggle in place of its semi-conscious masters; it was a powerful brain but it had its limits, it could not foretell all possible complications and find a way out of unusual situations.
The tossing abated. The indicators showed that the supply of ion charges for the motors was dropping with catastrophic rapidity. As Pel Lynn came to he realized that the strange increase of gravity was taking place so fast that urgent measures had to be taken to stop the ship and then make a complete change of course away from the black void.
Pel Lynn turned the handle switching on the anameson motors. Four tall cylinders of boron nitride that could be seen through a slit in the control desk were lit up from inside. A bright green flame beat inside them with lightning speed, it flowed and whirled in four tight spirals. Up forward, in the nose of the spaceship, a strong magnetic field enveloped the motor jets, saving them from instantaneous destruction.
The astronavigator moved the handle farther — through the whirling green wall of light a directing ray appeared, a greyish stream of K-particles[9].” Another movement and the grey stream was cut by a blinding flash of violet lightning, a signal that the anameson had begun its tempestuous emission. The huge bulk of the spaceship responded with an almost inaudible, unbearable, high-frequency vibration….
Erg Noor had eaten the necessary amount of food and was lying half asleep enjoying the indescribably pleasurable sensation of an electric nerve massage. The veil of forgetfulness that still covered mind and body left him very slowly. The music of animation changed to a major key and to a rhythm that increased in rapidity….
Suddenly something evil coming from without interrupted the joy of awakening from a ninety-day sleep. Erg Noor realized that he was commander of the expedition and struggled desperately to get back to normal consciousness. At last he recognized the fact that the spaceship was being braked and that the anameson motors were switched on, all of which meant that something serious had occurred. He tried to get up. His body still would not obey his will
, his legs doubled under him and he collapsed like a sack on the floor of his cabin. After some time he managed to crawl to the door and open it. Consciousness was breaking through the mist of sleep — in the corridor he rose on all fours and made his way into the control tower.
The people staring at the screens and instrument dials looked round in alarm and then ran to their commander. He was not yet able to stand but he muttered:
“The screens… the forward screen… switch over to infrared… stop the motors!”
The borason cylinders were extinguished at the same time as the vibration of the ship’s hull ceased. A gigantic star, burning with a dull reddish-brown light, appeared on the forward starboard screen. For a moment they were all flabbergasted and could not take their eyes off the enormous disc that emerged from the darkness directly ahead of the spaceship.
“Oh, what a fool!” exclaimed Pel Lynn bitterly, “I was sure we were in a dark nebula! And that’s….”
“An iron star!” exclaimed Ingrid Dietra in horror.
Erg Noor, holding on to the back of a chair, stood up. His usually pale face had a bluish tinge to it but his eyes gleamed brightly with their usual fire.
“Yes, that’s an iron star,” he said slowly and the eyes of all those in the room turned to him in fear and hope, “the terror of astronauts! Nobody suspected that there would be one in this area.”
“I only thought about a nebula,” Pel Lyn said softly and guiltily.
“A dark nebula with such a gravitational field would contain comparatively large solid particles and Tantra would have been destroyed already. It would be impossible to avoid a collision in such a swarm,” said the commander in a calm firm voice.
“But these sharp gravitational changes and these vortex things — aren’t they a direct indication of a cloud?”
“Or that the star has a planet, perhaps more than one….”
The astronavigator bit his lip so badly that it began to bleed. The commander nodded his head encouragingly and himself pressed the buttons to awaken the others.
“A report of observations as quickly as possible! We’ll work out the gravitation contours.”
The spaceship began to rock again. Something flashed across the screen with colossal speed, something of terrific size that passed behind them and disappeared.
“There’s the answer, we’ve overtaken the planet. Hurry up, hurry up, get the work done!” The commander’s glance fell on the fuel supply indicator. His hands gripped the back of the chair more tightly, he was going to say something but refrained.
CHAPTER TWO
EPSILON TUCANAE
The faint tinkle of glass that came from the table was accompanied by orange and blue lights. Varicoloured lights sparkled up and down the transparent partition. Darr Veter, Director of the Outer Stations of the Great Circle, was observing the lights on the Spiral Way. Its huge arc curved into the heights and scored a dull yellow line along the sea-coast. Keeping his eyes on the Way, Darr Veter stretched out his hand and turned a lever to point M, ensuring himself solitude for meditation. A great change had on that day come into his life. His successor Mven Mass, chosen by the Astronautical Council, had arrived that morning from the southern residential belt. They would carry out his last transmission round the Circle together and then… it was precisely this “then” that had not yet been decided upon. For six years he had been doing a job that required superhuman effort, work for which the Council selected special people, those who were outstanding for their splendid memories and encyclopaedic knowledge. When attacks of complete indifference to work and to life began recurring with ominous frequency — and this is one of the most serious ailments in man — he had been examined by Evda Nahl, a noted psychiatrist. A tried remedy — sad strains of minor music in a room of blue dreams saturated with pacifying waves — did not help. The only thing left was to change his work and take a course of physical labour, any sort of work that required daily, hourly muscular effort. His best friend, Veda Kong, the historian, had offered him an opportunity to do archaeological work with her. Machines could not do all the excavation work, the last stages required human hands. There was no lack of volunteers but still Veda had promised him a long trip to the region of the ancient steppes where he would be close to nature.
If only Veda Kong… but of course, he knew the whole story. Veda was in love with Erg Noor, Member of the Astronautical Council and Commander of Cosmic Expedition No. 37. There should have been a message from Erg Noor — from the planet Zirda he should have reported and said whether he was going farther. But if no message had come — and all space nights were computed with the greatest precision — then… but no, he must not think of winning Veda’s love! The Vector of Friendship, that was all, that was the greatest tie that there could be between them. Nevertheless he would go and work for her.
Darr Veter moved a lever, pressed a button and the room was flooded with light. A crystal glass window formed one of the walls of a room situated high above land and sea, giving a view over a great distance. With a turn of another lever Darr Veter caused the window to drop inwards leaving the room open to the starry sky; the metal frame of the window shut out from his view the lights of the Spiral Way and the buildings and lighthouses on the sea-coast.
Veter’s eyes were fixed on the hands of the galactic clock with three concentric rings marked in subdivisions. The transmission of information round the Great Circle followed galactic time, once in every hundred-thousandth of a galactic second, or once in eight days, 45 times a year according to terrestrial time. One revolution of the Galaxy around its axis was one day of galactic time.
The next and, for him, the last transmission would be at 9 a.m. Tibetan Mean Time or at 2 a.m. at the Mediterranean Observatory of the Council. A little more than two hours still remained.
The instrument on the table tinkled and flashed again. A man in light-coloured clothing made of some material with a silk-like sheen appeared from behind the partition.
“We are ready to transmit and receive,” he said briefly, showing no outward signs of respect although in his eyes one could read admiration for his Director. Darr Veter did not say a word, nor did his assistant who stood there in a proud, unrestrained pose.
“In the Cubic Hall?” asked Veter, at last, and, getting an answer in the affirmative, asked where Mven Mass was.
“He is in the Morning Freshness Room, getting tuned up after his journey and, apart from that, I think he’s a bit excited.”
“I’d be excited myself if I were in his place!” said Darr Veter, thoughtfully. “That’s how I felt six years ago.”
The assistant was flushed from his effort to preserve his outward calm. With all the fire of youth he was sorry for his chief, perhaps he even realized that some day he, too, would live through the joys and sorrows of great work and great responsibility. The Director of the Outer Stations did not in any way show his feelings for to do so at his age was not considered decent. “When Mven Mass appears, bring him straight to me.” The assistant left the room. Darr Veter walked over to one corner where the transparent partition was blackened from floor to ceiling and with an easy movement opened two shutters in a panel of polished wood. A light appeared, coming from somewhere in the depths of a mirror-like screen. It did not, however, possess the gloss of a mirror — it gave the impression of a long corridor leading into the far distance.
Using selected switches the Director of the Outer Stations switched on the Vector of Friendship, a system of direct communication between people linked by the ties of profound friendship that enabled them to contact each other at any moment. The Vector of Friendship was connected with a number of places where the person concerned was likely to be — his house, his place of work, his favourite recreation centre.
The screen grew light and in the depths there appeared familiar panels with columns of coded titles of electronic films that had succeeded the ancient photocopies of books.
When all mankind adopted a single alphabet — it was call
ed the linear alphabet because there were no complicated signs in it — it became easy to film even the old books, so that eventually the process was fully mechanized. The blue, green and red stripes were the symbols of the central film libraries where scientific research works were stored, works that had for centuries been published only in a dozen copies. It was merely necessary to select the a code number and symbols and the film library would transmit, automatically, the full text of the book. This machine was Veda’s private library. A snap of switches and the picture faded, it was followed by another room which was also empty. Another switch connected the screen with a hall in which stood a number of dimly lighted desks. The woman seated at the nearest desk raised her head and Darr Veter recognized the thick, widely separated eyebrows and the sweet, narrow face with its grey eyes. As she smiled, white teeth flashed in a big mouth with bold lines and her cheeks were chubbily rounded on either side of a slightly snub nose with a childish, round tip to it that made the face gentle and kindly.
“Veda, there are two hours left. You have to change and I would like you to come to the observatory a little before time.”
The woman on the screen raised her hands to her thick, ash-blonde hair.
“I obey, my Veter,” she smiled. “I’m going home.” Veter’s ear was not deceived by the gayness of her tones.
“Brave Veda, calm yourself. Everybody who speaks to the Great Circle had to make a first appearance.”
“Don’t waste words consoling me,” said Veda Kong, raising her head with a stubborn gesture. “I’ll be there soon."
The screen went dark. Darr Veter closed the shutters and turned to meet his successor. Mven Mass entered the room with long strides. The cast of his features and his smooth, dark-brown skin showed that he was descended from African ancestors. A white mantle fell from his powerful shoulders in heavy folds. Mven Mass took both Darr Veter’s hands in his strong, thin ones. The two Directors of the Outer Stations, the new and the old, were both very tall. Veter, whose genealogy led back to the Russian people, seemed broader and more massive than the graceful African.
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