Rogue Ship

5

Watch duty became a nightmare. The three chief officers and Lesbee divided it into three-hour shifts that ran consecutively. They wore semispace suits for protection when they were on the bridge, but Lesbee's eyes never stopped aching.

During his sleep period, he dreamed of sparks dancing with an unsteady beat under his eyelids, and there was a picture of a successful mutiny led by Ganarette, surprising them in spite of their preknowledge. It was miraculous that his father knew as much as he did about the plot.

The speed of the ship came down to interplanetary levels. And, slowly, they drew near the planet they had selected for a first landing. It was the only possible selection. Of the seven planets in the system, six had already been measured as being of Jupiter size; this seventh one had a diameter of ten thousand miles. At 120 million miles from Alpha A, a sun 15 per cent hotter than Sol, it almost approximated Earth conditions. There was the added complication of the pale but sun-sized star, Alpha B, visible in the blackness little more than a billion miles from Alpha A, and the almost invisible C, too, would have its effect. But that scarcely mattered beside the fact that here was a planet of approximately the right size, and even at a distance it glowed with a jewel-like atmosphere.

Orbiting at four thousand miles from the surface of the planet, the giant Hope of Man maintained a velocity befitting its closeness – and the preliminary study began of a planet that was instantly observed to have cities on it.

What should have been the thrill, literally, of a lifetime, was a fearful fight against mounting tension. The instruments on the bridge, and in the alternative control room, in their quiet way reported surface and atmospheric conditions at least partially unfavorable to human life. Yet it was understood by everyone that readings taken at a distance were only indicative.

Once, when Lesbee II accompanied his father to the bridge, aging chemist Kesser came dragging over. 'The sooner we get down there into the atmosphere for the final testing, the better I'll like it,' he said.

Lesbee II had the same feeling, but his father only shook his head. 'You were just out of college, Mr. Kesser, when you signed up for the voyage. You have not that awareness of the standards of precaution by which we must act. That's the trouble aboard this ship. Those who were born during the trip will never begin to understand what efficiency is. I don't intend to inspect this planet directly for at least two weeks, possibly even longer.'

As the days passed, the initial information was confirmed by new readings. The planet's atmosphere had a strong greenish tinge that was identified as chlorine. There was a great deal of oxygen in the stratosphere, and the comparison that everybody made was to a habitable Venus, but here masks would have to be worn against the irritating chlorine. Kesser and his assistants were uncertain about the exact composition of the hydrogen and nitrogen in the air below, but this merely increased their desire to go down and examine it.

At four thousand miles, the difference between water and land was sufficiently distinguishable for a photographic map to be made. Cameras, taking thousands of pictures a second, obtained a view entirely free of sparks.

There were four main continents, and uncountable islands. Fifty-nine hundred cities were large enough to show clearly, despite the distance. They were not lighted at night, but that could have been because there was no night in the Earth sense. When Alpha A was not shining down on the continents below, either Alpha B or Alpha C, or both, were shedding some equivalent of daylight.

'We mustn't assume,' said Captain Lesbee, in one of his daily talks on the intercoms, 'that the civilization here has not discovered electricity. Individual lights in houses would not necessarily be visible if they weren't used often.'

These talks, Lesbee discovered, did not serve the function that his father intended. There was a great deal of criticism, a feeling that the commander was becoming too cautious.

'Why don't we dive down,' said one man, 'collect some samples of the atmosphere, and end this uncertainty? If we can't breathe that stuff down there, let's find it out, and get started home.'

In spite of his confidence in his father, Lesbee found himself sharing the sentiment. Surely, the people below would not take violent offense. And, besides, if they departed immediately -

Privately, his father told him that the mutiny had been called off pending developments. The rebel plan, to settle for ever, was shaken by the possibility that the planet might not be suitable for human beings, and that, in any event, permission to settle would have to be secured from the present inhabitants.

'And though they won't admit it,' said the commander, 'they're afraid.'

Lesbee was afraid, too. The idea of an alien civilization made his mind uneasy. He went around with an empty feeling in his stomach, and wondered if he looked as cowardly as he felt. There was only one satisfaction. He was not alone. Everywhere were pale, anxious faces and voices that quivered. At least he had his father's strong, confident voice to encourage him.

He began to build up pictures of a nonmechanical civilization that would be dazzled and dominated by the tremendous and wonderful ship from Earth. He had visions of himself walking among the awed creatures Like a god come down from the sky.

That vision ended forever on the ninth day after the orbit was established, when a general warning was sounded from every speaker on the ship.

'This is Captain Lesbee. Observers have just reported sighting a superspaceship entering the atmosphere below us. The direction the ship was traveling indicates that it must have passed within a few miles of us, and that we were seen.

'All officers and men will therefore take up action stations.

'I will keep you informed.'