Part 11 (1/2)
”Well, I guess that'll hold 'em for a while,” Stevens dropped their craft back into its original quarters in the canyon. ”Whether they ever believed before that this falls was inhabited by devils or not, they think so now. I'll bet that it will be six hundred Jovian years before any of them ever come within a hundred kilometers of it again. I'm glad of it, too, because they'll let our power plant alone now. Well, let's get going--we've got to make things hum for a while!”
”Why all the rush? You just said that we have scared them away for good.”
”The savages, yes, but not those others. We've just turned loose enough radiation to affect detectors all over the system, and it's up to us to get this beam projector set up, get away from here, and get our power shut off before they can trace us. Snap it up, ace!”
The transmitter unit was installed at the converters, the cable was torn out, and, having broken the last material link between it and Ganymede, Stevens hurled the ”Forlorn Hope” out into s.p.a.ce, using the highest acceleration Nadia could endure. Hour after hour the ma.s.sive wedge of steel bored outward, away from Jupiter; hour after hour Stevens' anxious eyes scanned his instruments; hour after hour hope mounted and relief took the place of anxiety as the screens remained blank throughout every inquiring thrust into the empty ether. But they knew they would have to keep sharp vigilance.
_Continuing a Thrilling New Serial of Interplanetary Life and Travel by Edward E. Smith, Ph.D._
_Author of ”Skylark of s.p.a.ce,” and ”Skylark Three”_
PART II
s.p.a.cehounds of IPC
_One of the most fascinating mysteries of the heavens is the comet.
It goes through s.p.a.ce, gets near enough to the earth to be seen, and then goes off and disappears in celestial distance. Often it has a hyperbolic orbit, which would make it impossible to come back.
Yet it may return--apparently contradicting the geometry of conic sections. This only goes to prove once more that it is risky to say anything is impossible--even that our hero of this story manages beautifully, with the aid of Cantrell's Comet, to avoid complete annihilation while stranded in interstellar s.p.a.ce._
_Read ”what went before” and then continue the second instalment._
What Went Before:
The Interplanetary Vessel Arcturus sets out for Mars, with Breckenridge as chief pilot, carrying on board, besides its regular crew and some pa.s.sengers, the famous Dr. Stevens, designer of s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+ps and computer. He checks computations made by astronomers stationed in floating observatories, and after he has located any trouble and suggests a plan for minimizing the hazards of the trip from the earth to Mars, he reports his findings and suggestions to Mr. Newton, chief of the Interplanetary Corporation.
Stevens then takes Nadia, Mr. Newton's beautiful young daughter, on a specially conducted sight-seeing tour of the Arcturus and thoroughly explains to her all of the works of the vessel. Nadia has herself had a good science education. While they are down at the bottom of the s.h.i.+p--nearing the end of their tour--Stevens feels a barely perceptible movement of the vessel from its course.
When he turns on the visiplate, he is horrified to find that a mysterious ray of unparalleled power has neatly sliced the Arcturus in several places.
Nadia and Stevens are completely separated from the rest of the crew and pa.s.sengers of the s.h.i.+p, so they get into a lifeboat, which is equipped for a limited amount of s.p.a.ce travel. Despite the strict and apparently effective vigilance of the enemy destroyer, Stevens and Nadia make their getaway in the lifeboat, which they aptly call ”Forlorn Hope,” and finally make a safe landing on Ganymede, where Stevens plans to build a power-plant and a radio transmitter, to enable him to communicate with the earth or with the IPV Sirius, which is used by Westfall and Brandon (two of the world's best scientists) as a floating laboratory.
With the very scant apparatus and material available, Stevens sets to work on his power plant. Just as they have it completed and ready to start for Cantrell's Comet, where Stevens believes he can obtain the necessary metal for his giant transmitting tube, they experience a close call with carnivorous plants on the satellite and later with savage inhabitants, which precipitates their trip to the comet.
CHAPTER V
Cantrell's Comet
Far out in s.p.a.ce, Jupiter, a tiny moon and its satellites mere pin-points of light, Stevens turned to his companion with a grin.
”Well, Nadia, old golf-shootist, here's where we turn s.p.a.cehounds again.
Hope you like it better this time, because I'm afraid that we'll have to stay weightless for quite a while.” He slowly throttled down the mighty flow of power, and watched the conflicting emotions play over Nadia's face in her purely personal battle against the sickening sensations caused by the decrease in their acceleration.
”I'm sorry as the d.i.c.kens, sweetheart,” he went on, tenderly, and the grin disappeared. ”Wish I could take it for you, but....”