'The first suitable day now. I'm all ready. Indeed, I should have gone by now had there been a suitable cloud layer to hide my departure. Judkins will come with me. After all these years of work he is as thrilled by the prospect as I am.'
'It should be a wonderful experience.'
'You think so?'
'I do indeed. In fact, I envy you. What airman wouldn't?'
The Professor hesitated, looking at Tiger over his spectacles. `Do I take that to mean you would like to come with me?'
Ì can't imagine anything giving me a greater thrill.'
'Then come by all means,' invited the Professor warmly. 'With your experience of aerodynamics you might be a useful passenger. You realize that you may lose your life?
Remember, I don't know what's going to happen. I only think I know.'
'The experience promised is worth any risk,' asserted Tiger. 'After all, I've been taking risks for years to test my theories.'
'You won't be able to smoke your pipe.'
Tiger laughed. 'Maybe I'll have a smoke on the Moon.' Ìf there's no air, how are you going to light it? You can't get a flame without oxygen.'
They all laughed.
'What about this boy of yours?' asked the Professor. 'Will he go home or would he rather stay at the castle?'
Ìf you don't mind, sir, I'd rather go with you,' said Rex promptly. If Tiger's going to be killed, I'd rather be killed with him. Imagine how I'd feel if he went up and never came down? I'd spend the rest of my life staring at the sky, wondering where he was.'
The Professor smiled and offered his little bag of sweets. 'We'll try to see that doesn't happen.' He looked at Tiger. 'It's for you to say. May he come?'
'I don't see why not if it's all right with you, Professor,' decided Tiger, puffing at his pipe.
The Professor looked at both of them over his glasses and spoke earnestly. 'Make no mistake, either of you. This project isn't one to be undertaken lightly. I've given you an indication of the physical dangers likely to be encountered. There may be others. We talk calmly of the great vacuum over our heads, but who is to say that it is a vacuum? For all we know there may be deadly gases as yet unknown to us, cast off by the stars; or mysterious rays discharged by the Sun, powerful enough to batter us to death or scorch us to a cinder. And there is yet another factor which so far I haven't mentioned, and that is psychological. It's all very well to be enthusiastic here, never doubting your courage in your own element with your feet on solid ground. It's all very well to fly an aeroplane with the good old familiar Earth just below. But the sensation may be very different when you realize that you're out in the utterly lonely spaces with the meteors, hurtling into the unknown at thousands of miles an hour, perhaps not even knowing where the world is.
If that doesn't make a man afraid, nothing ever will. Do you still want to come?'
'Yes,' assented Tiger and Rex together.
So be it,' said the Professor quietly. 'Now let us go in. Judkins will bring us a cup of coffee. I'll tell you just what I hope to do so that you may think about it.'
They walked back to the study in silence. It was as if something in the Professor's words, or in the quiet way he said them, had revealed to the full the magnitude of the undertaking.
4 Prelude to adventure
Presently, in the study, over coffee, the Professor resumed.
'I can't state the actual zero hour of departure because, as I told you, that will to some extent be decided by the weather. But the Moon is now in an ideal position and I shall take advantage of it at the earliest opportunity. Early morning mist or cloud overcast, likely to disperse later, would suit me best. That would enable us to get away without being seen during the first few minutes, which is all that matters, because we should soon be out of sight. Observation of a machine as unorthodox as mine, near the ground, would inevitably result in inquiries being made, and I don't want word of my experiment to leak out until I'm ready to write a paper on the whole subject. The government might intervene. They might stop me, take everything out of my hands. Realization of the mili-tary value of the Spacemaster would mean the imposition of security officers, who would interfere with my work.'
You don't intend to make an announcement even if the first ffight is successful?'
'Certainly not.'
Tiger looked astonished.
On the contrary, before I do that I may destroy my machine and all papers that refer to it,
' stated the Professor calmly. 'That is a matter on which I haven't yet reached a decision, possibly because, should the flight end in disaster, the question wouldn't arise.'
I see,' said Tiger slowly. 'Most people would be only too anxious to claim credit for such discoveries as you anticipate.'
I dare say, but I don't come into the category of most people.' The Professor's expression hardened. 'My dear Group Captain,' he went on curtly, 'you know perfectly well what would happen were Ito release information about the Space-master. It would instantly be adapted for warfare.
Men will destroy the good Earth soon enough without any assistance from me. You may not have realized that I could destroy the world tomorrow.
Fortunately for the world I am sane, and cherish no ambitions outside my laboratory. You will agree that it is a shocking thought that civilization has reached a point where it is within the power of one man to set the world on fire and destroy all his fellow creatures, and every other form of life, in a few hours. The knowledge that that awful power is in my hands frightens me more than the fear of death, and sometimes makes me wonder would it not be a good thing if I were to destroy myself and my inventions.'
Both Rex and Tiger stared. This was a new, an unsuspected mood, thought Rex.
'How would you destroy the world?' asked Tiger.
Simply by taking a reflector of sodium plates beyond the limit of the air and directing concentrated solar rays on any spot I wished — the old principle of the burning-glass.
But let us not torture ourselves with such uneasy thoughts. I will show you the controls and instruments in the Spacemaster before we start so that you would be able to take over in an emergency. Now let us pass on to the order of the proposed experiments.' The Professor pushed forward a bag of caramels. 'Help yourselves.'
'On my first ffight,' he continued, 'I shall devote myself to the practical application of the theory of circular or orbital velocity. To be specific, if my calculations are correct, travelling at 18,000 miles an hour we should engage it at an altitude of about 1,500 miles.
We should then become a satellite of the Earth — a microscopic moon.' The Professor chuckled. Should some inquisitive fellow pick us up on a radar screen he'll wonder what the dickens has drifted in. If this experiment turns out as I hope it will I may go on to further tests. From an altitude of 22,000 miles we should be in a position to observe a curious effect. We should then be in the twenty-four hour orbit. That is to say, we should be travelling at such a speed in relation to the Earth that we shall always be opposite the same spot, going round and round with it without any effort on our part. There will be no risk of our escaping from the Earth because a much higher velocity would be necessary —
certainly not less than 25,000 miles an hour. As I said before, don't be startled by these speeds. Once clear of the Earth's atmosphere they could easily be achieved. You'll be quite unaware of them
— unless, of course, you look at the instruments. Only sudden acceleration is likely to affect us. At the end of Operation Orbit, as we might term it in the modern style, we shall return to Earth, to see what effect, if any, the trip has had on the structure of the machine.
Some modifications may be necessary. The actual landing will be interesting; possibly quite a delicate business; for we may collect a lot of static electricity, and it will be necessary to discharge this before stepping out ourselves. To earth it through our bodies might prove an uncomfortable experience.'
'Very,' said Tiger.
'If this experiment is concluded successful
ly the next step will be to find the neutral gravitational zone between the Earth and the Moon. It has been calculated that this should be about nine-tenths of the way to the Moon — say, 24,000 miles from it, or 215, 000 miles from Earth.
Beyond that point we should shake off the last embrace of our old friend, the Earth, and begin to fall towards our new love, Selena, as the ancients called the Moon. It gets less with distance, though. To be the fast men to set eyes on the far side of the Moon will be a milestone in human history. We should be able to get some dramatic photographs of both Earth and Moon while we are in transit. They should teach us much. I obtained some spectacular results on the trial flight I told you about.
You shall see them.' The Professor looked up, his eyes gleaming. 'Then will come the great event
— a landing on the Moon, which has been the dream of men since men were able to think. Imagine it! Think of standing with your feet on that shining blue disc, as it appears to us!'
Rex was thinking about it — or trying to, for it was not easy.
'That will be the end of the first phase, and the beginning of the next, an even greater one; the unveiling of the face of Venus herself. What will she be like? For centuries men have wondered. We, perhaps, will solve the mystery — and what a mystery! Could anything on Earth compare with it?'
Rex drew a deep breath. Again a feeling began to grow on him that he was dreaming.
But the Professor's enthusiasm was infectious, and he felt his pulses quicken. He knew, now, how the great navigators of old must have felt when they looked at their primitive charts and read on the great blank spaces that magnetic word 'Unknown'.
The Professor went to a drawer and returned with a series of photographic enlargements which he spread out on the table. 'Here, gentlemen, is the objective. Here are the photographs I told you about, those I took on my first test flight.'
Rex stared. He had seen pictures of the Moon before, but none like these, and it was not without misgivings that his eyes roved over the appalling scenes of desolation represented. The most outstanding features had had their names roughly printed on them, presumably by the Professor.
Strange-sounding names they were, too. Mare nubium . . .
Palus nebularum . . . Sinus iridum, he read.
'As you will see, there are five main types of features,' went on the Professor. 'They are mountains, craters, rills, rays and what are called maria — plural of the Latin word mare, meaning sea. For a long time those dark areas were thought to be seas. Now we don't know what they are. The same with the rills and the rays; and we're by no means sure of the craters. The word rill is adapted from the German word Rille, meaning a groove, which is what it resembles. See how they cut across the landscape, even through the mountains, as if someone had slashed a lump of mud with a knife. We've nothing like that on Earth. The rays are another mystery. Notice how they radiate always from a crater like the spokes of a wheel. It will be interesting to examine them at close range.'
'There seem to be an awful lot of craters,' remarked Rex.
'More than 30,000,' returned the Professor. 'Astronomers have been arguing about them -
or rather what caused them - for centuries. At first they were thought to be the craters of extinct volcanoes, although a crater 150 miles across would suggest a colossal volcano.
Anyway, that is why they were called craters, although strictly speaking they are not.
The general belief today is that they are the result of bombardment by meteors, possibly when the Moon was soft. We have one or two similar craters on Earth, but nothing that size.'
'Why not?' asked Rex. 'I'd have thought that if the Moon got such a terrific battering, the Earth, having a stronger gravity, would have got it even worse.'
Well done!' exclaimed the Professor warmly. 'That's sound reasoning. No one can answer that question, but in my opinion the Earth did receive a battering, but wind, water and vegetation over millions of years have smoothed out the wounds.'
'Another world war, with people dropping atom bombs on each other, and the Earth will begin to look like the Moon,' observed Rex thoughtfully.
The Professor looked at him over his glasses. 'It would be a good thing if everyone realized that.'
'Do you think that the Moon might have been battered to death in an atomic war?'
'I think it most improbable, but who are we to say such a thing never happened? It has certainly been battered, as you put it.'
By another moon,' suggested Rex, warming to his subject. 'Could there have been a war between two moons, close to each other?' 'But there is only one Moon.'
'Now, but there might have been another. You said yourself that some of the other planets have several moons.'
'What happened to the other moon?'
'It lost the war and got knocked to fragments.'
'Can you give any reason for thinking there might have been another moon at one time?'
'Yes. I've always wondered why there aren't two, or even three moons.'
'Proceed.'
'Well, when I was at school I was taught that the Moon was once part of the Earth. When the whole thing was soft and spinning, a lump was torn off the Earth and sent whirling into space, leaving the enormous hole where the Pacific Ocean now is.'
'Quite right. That is now the generally accepted theory.'
'Then what's happened to the lumps that left the similar great holes now filled by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans? When I asked the master that he told me not to try to be clever.'
'He should have made you a prefect on the spot for such an intelligent question,' declared the professor. 'But as you get older you will learn that people hate having their pet theories upset. Where indeed have the enormous lumps gone that left those holes now filled by the other oceans?
My answer to that would be, there may have been other satellites back in the remote ages; but either they were hurled into distant orbits or broke into fragments too small for us to see.'
'Like the asteroids you told us about?'
'Exactly. It could have happened. You make a very interesting point there, Rex, and I shall devote some thought to it.' The Professor flashed one of his quick smiles. 'Of course there's always a chance that we may find the answer when we start exploring space. To return to the present, and more practical matters, there is little more I can tell you about the actual
conditions that will prevail during our flight. For a short while, after the initial take-off, we may be subject to the uncomfortable forces of acceleration, although you may be sure I shall exert no more pressure on our bodies than is unavoidable. I shall check the speed if we look like getting what in the RAF they call a blackout. Don't attempt to move.
Indeed, it is unlikely that you will be able to. Take up a prone position on the floor if you wish; you feel pressure less that way; but I think you'll find the padded seats fairly comfortable. We shall be strapped in, of course. You should be able to watch the instruments in front of me.
Once we gain the necessary velocity for our orbital experiment the pressure will relax, and there will be no more sensation of speed. The very absence of speed and weight may induce sensations at present unsuspected. I don't know. We shall find out. But if we have no weight we shall have inertia so be careful if you try to move. There will be cords stretched across the cabin to facilitate movement.
There will also be food and water within reach. I will keep you informed of our position.
There should be no difficulty about hearing me. If it should happen that we are punctured by a small meteor the hole must be covered as quickly as possible with one of the suction pads which will be handy.'
'How long do you reckon we shall be away?' asked Tiger.
It's hard to say exactly. I plan to return to Earth before dark. Not that it is really important. The red lights which you saw will show us our base. I can arrange for them to come on automatically or switch them on by remote control, as I wish. Well, now that I have given you the general plan, do you stil
l want to come with me?'
'More than ever,' answered Tiger without hesitation. 'I'm looking forward to it as much as you are.'
The Professor shook his head. 'I doubt it. When you have spent years looking through a telescope, trying to identify a particular object, imagine the satisfaction of being able to see clearly at last what it is.
Before our eyes will be the answers to the fascinating riddles that have perplexed men from the dawn of time.'
'What sort of riddles?' asked Rex curiously.
'Oh, all sorts. Hyginus Castle, for example. But you may not know about that. A famous German astronomer once declared that he could see a great castle on a mountain of the Moon called Hyginus. Certainly there is a formation there that looks artificial, although few now believe it to be a castle. And then later on, what of the celebrated canals on Mars? But I mustn't go on like this. Group Captain, don't you think it would be advisable for you to put your private affairs in order before we start?'
Tiger agreed. It shouldn't take me long. As a test pilot I've always kept my affairs ship-shape in case anything went wrong. I'll go back to our lodge, collect some clothes and small kit, and write a letter to my lawyer telling him that I may be away for some time. I'
ll get back as quickly as possible.'
'Capital! We shall then be ready when the moment comes. After lunch Judkins shall show you the nearest way to the road.' The Professor popped a caramel into his mouth. '
Have one? Jolly good. Most sustaining.'
Rex accepted the invitation. He felt he needed sustaining, although somehow spaceships and caramels seemed more like a combination from Alice in Wonderland.
5 Operation Orbit
Three days after the conversation narrated in the previous chapter Rex and his father were awakened by a tap on their door, which was opened by Judkins bringing early morning tea. A glance at the window told Rex that it was still grey dawn, and he guessed the reason for the early call.
Confirmation was forthcoming.
'Professor Brane sends his compliments, gentlemen, and would be obliged if you would join him, ready for flying, in the study as early as convenient. I was also asked to suggest that you put on your blood-control bands now, as that will save you undressing again for the purpose.'
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