at his disposal, especially if
he were certain of success? The disastrous failure of the experiment will
serve as a lesson. There has, however, been something gained that will, to a
certain extent, recompense us for the material losses; the experiment will
help solve a number of problems that the Academy of the Bounds of Knowledge
has only just begun to think about.
"We have long since given up petty economies when it comes to the
solution of great problems or the employment of our productive forces and
have abandoned the tendency to utilitarian adaptation typical of the old
economic system. Problems that arise during the reconstruction of production
processes or during research are solved on a grand scale. Even today,
however, the moment of success is sometimes incorrectly understood because
there are people who forget that the laws of development are immutable. It
seems to them that progress must be endless....
"The wisdom of a leader lies in his ability to recognize the highest
permissible level at a given stage and in his ability to stop, wait or
change his course. Mven Mass has proved incapable of such leadership. The
Council made a wrong choice and the Council are as much responsible as the
man they selected. In the first place I am at fault myself, since I
supported the proposal of two members of the Council to invite Mven Mass for
the post.
"I propose that the Council exonerate Mven Mass as having acted from
the highest motives but forbid him to occupy any post in the governing
bodies of the planet. I should also be removed from my position as President
of the Council and sent to make good the damage done by my unfortunate
selection-I should help build the new satellite."
Grom Orme cast a glance round the hall and saw the sincere regret
expressed on many faces. The people of the Great Circle Era, however, did
not try to persuade one another but respected other people's decisions and
trusted to their correctness.
Mir Ohm discussed the matter with the other members of the Council and
the calculating machine announced the result of the voting. Grom Orme's
proposal was accepted without dissension but with the proviso that he
conduct the present meeting to the end of the session.
He bowed and his face, controlled by his iron will, did not change its
expression.
"I must now explain my reason for postponing the discussion of the
Cosmic Expedition," continued the President in a calm voice. "It was obvious
that the matter would end favourably and I think the Control of Honour and
Justice will agree with us. I may now ask Mven Mass to take his seat in the
Council as we are faced with a serious discussion. His knowledge is
essential to us for the correct solution of our problems, especially as Erg
Noor cannot participate in today's discussion."
Mven Mass walked over to the Council seats and green lights of
good-will flashed up all over the hall, lighting his way.
The maps of the planets moved noiselessly aside and their place was
taken by grim black charts with the stars shown in coloured lights, the blue
lines of the interstellar routes proposed for the next century linking them
up. The President of the Council was a changed man. His cold passionless
attitude had vanished, a warm glow lit up his greyish cheeks, his steel-grey
eyes grew darker. Grom Orme mounted the rostrum.
"Every Cosmic expedition is a long-cherished dream; it is a new hope
that is carefully nurtured for many years, it is another step upward in the
great ascent. It is also the labour of millions of people for which there
must be due recompense, a very substantial economic or scientific gain,
otherwise our forward movement would cease and there would be no further
victories over nature. That is why we enter into such detailed discussions
and make such careful calculations before a new ship shoots off into
interstellar space.
"It was our duty to send out the 37th Cosmic Expedition to learn the
fate of Zirda instead of continuing our own exploration. To compensate for
this we have been able to discuss the 38th Expedition more thoroughly.
"A number of events that occurred last year have brought changes that
necessitate a re-examination of the route and objectives of the expedition
that had been approved by previous Councils and by a planet-wide discussion.
The discovery of methods of processing alloys under high pressure at
absolute zero temperature gives us material of higher durability for the
hulls of the ships. Anameson motors have been improved and are now more
economical which, of course, increases the ship's radius of activity. The
spaceships Aella and Tintagelle that had been earmarked for the 38th
Expedition are now out of date in comparison with the newly built Lebed, a
round-hulled vessel of the vertical type with four stability keels. Longer
flights are becoming possible.
"Erg Noor, now back from the 37th Expedition, has informed us of his
meeting with a black star of the T class, on whose planet his expedition
discovered a spaceship of unknown construction. Efforts made to enter it
nearly cost the whole party their lives but they managed to bring back a
piece of the metal of its hull. It is a substance that we do not know, here
on Earth, although it resembles the 14th isotope of silver discovered on the
planets of the very hot Os class star long since known by the name of Zeta
Carinae.
"The spaceship is a disc, convex on both sides, with a crudely spiral
surface, a design that has been discussed by the Academy of the Bounds of
Knowledge.
"Junius Antus has been through the information records of the Great
Circle for the entire eight hundred years since we joined it. A spaceship of
this type cannot be built by science and engineering that follow our line of
development and are at our present level of knowledge. Such ships are
unknown in those worlds of the Galaxy with whom we have exchanged
information.
"A disc spaceship of such gigantic proportions is undoubtedly a visitor
from some inconceivably distant planet, perhaps, even, from some
extragalactical world. It could have continued its journey millions of years
after the death of its crew before landing on the planet of the iron star in
our desert region on the fringe of the Galaxy.
"There is no need for me to enlarge on the importance of a study of
that ship by a special expedition to star T."
Grom Orme switched on the hemispherical screen and the hall
disappeared. The records of the memory machines moved slowly across the
screen.
"This is a recently received communication from planet CR 519,1 will
omit the detailed coordinates for the sake of brevity, about their
expedition to the Achernar system."
The positions of the stars seemed peculiar and even the most
experienced eye could not recognize well-known heavenly bodies. The screen
showed patches of dully luminous gas, dark clouds and, lastly, huge dead
planets that reflected the light of a terrifically bright star.
Achernar had a diameter only three and a half times that of our Sun but
its luminosity was 280 times greater:
it was an indescribably bright blue star belonging to spectral class
B5. The spaceship that had made the record had travelled a long
way to one side, dozens of years' journey, perhaps.
Another star appeared on the screen, a bright green star of class S. It
grew in size, became brighter and brighter as the spaceship from another
world drew nearer to it. The surface of a new planet then appeared. It
showed a country of high mountains clothed in every possible shade of green.
Deep canyons and steep slopes were marked by dark green, almost black
shadows, the gentler slopes and valleys were bathed in greens in which a
blue tint predominated, the snow on the mountain tops and high plateaux was
aquamarine and there were also patches of yellowish green where the sun had
scorched the earth. Rivers the colour of malachite ran down slopes to lakes
and seas hidden beyond the mountains.
Next came a plain dotted with round hills that stretched as far as a
sea that from a distance looked like a gleaming sheet of green iron. Blue
trees carried masses of dense foliage and the glades were bright with purple
strips and patches of unknown bushes and grasses. Gold-green rays came in a
mighty stream from the amethyst heavens. The earthlings were dazzled by the
beauty of the planet. Mven Mass searched his encyclopaedic memory for the
exact coordinates of the green star.
"Achernar is Alpha Eridani, it is high up in the southern sky not far
from Tucana ... distance-21 parsecs ... the return of a spaceship with the
same crew ia impossible," were the thoughts that flashed through his mind.
The screen was switched off and the sight of the closed hall, adapted
for contemplation and conferences by Earth-dwellers, seemed suddenly strange
to behold.
"That green star," the voice of the President continued, "with an
abundance of zirconium in its spectrum, is slightly larger than our Sun."
Here Grom Orme gave the coordinates of the zirconium star very rapidly.
"There are two planets in its system," he continued. "They are twins
revolving opposite each other at a distance from the star that ensures them
about the same amount of energy as Earth receives from the Sun.
"The depth and composition of the atmosphere and the amount of water
are similar to those of Earth. These are the preliminary data obtained by
the expedition sent out from planet CR 519. The same report speaks of the
absence of intelligent life on the twin planets. Higher forms of intelligent
life transform nature to such an extent that it is visible even from a
spaceship flying at a great height. We must assume that higher forms of life
have not been able to develop or have not yet developed there. This is
unusually favourable to us. If there were higher forms of life there the
planets would be closed to us. In year 72 of the Great Circle Era, over
seven centuries ago, our world discussed the question of settling a planet
with higher forms of intelligent life even if they had not reached our level
of civilization. It was then decided that any invasion of such a planet
would only lead to acts of violence due to the profoundest
misunderstandings.
"We now know how great is the diversity of worlds in our Galaxy. There
are blue, green, yellow, white, red and orange stars; they are all of the
hydrogen-helium type but their mantles and cores are of different
composition- carbon, cyanogen, titanium, zirconium-and they have different
kinds of radiation, high or low temperatures and atmospheres of different
composition. There are planets whose volume, density, depth and composition
of atmosphere and hydrosphere, distance from their sun, conditions of
rotation all differ very greatly. We also know that our planet, with water
covering seventy per cent of its surface in combination with its proximity
to a sun that pours a tremendous amount of energy on to it, enjoys
conditions favouring the development of powerful living organisms, a rich
variety of biological forms that are undergoing constant transformation, a
case that is not often met with in the Universe.
"Life on our planet, therefore, developed more quickly than in other
worlds where it is hampered by a shortage of water or solar energy or by
insufficient dry land. And more quickly, too, than on the planets that have
too much water! In the Circle transmissions we have seen the evolution of
life on the planets that are under water, life that is crawling desperately
upwards on stems of plants sticking out of the water.
"Our planet also has large expanses of water and the area of the
continents is relatively small for the accumulation of solar energy through
food plants, trees or simply by means of thermoelectric installations.
"In the earliest periods of Earth's history life developed more slowly
in the swamps of the low-lying continents of the Palaeozoic Era than it did
on the high land of the Cainozoic where there was a struggle for water as
well as for food.
"We know that for an abundant and powerful life there must be a certain
ratio of land to water and our planet is very close to the optimum in its
composition. There are not many such planets in the Cosmos and every one of
them is an invaluable acquisition for mankind as new land where man can
settle and continue to develop.
"Man has long since ceased to fear the catastrophic over-population
that at one time greatly disturbed our distant ancestors, but still we
persist in our exploration of the Cosmos, extending the region settled by
our people, for this, too, is progress, this, too, is an unavoidable law of
development. So great are the difficulties involved in settling on a planet
with physical properties differing from those of Earth that there have long
been projects in existence to settle man in the Cosmos on gigantic,
specially constructed installations, something like our artificial
satellites magnified many times over. You will remember that an island of
this type was built on the eve of the Great Circle Era, Nadir, situated more
than 18 million kilometres from Earth. A small colony of people still live
there but the failure of such closely confined and restricted quarters to
satisfy the needs of human life if it is to spread boldly throughout the
Cosmos is so obvious that we can only express amazement at our ancestors
even though we admire the audacity of their engineering.
"The twin planets of the green zirconium star are very similar to ours.
They are unsuitable or difficult to settle for the fragile inhabitants of
planet CR 519 who discovered them and passed the information on to us in the
same way as we pass our discoveries on to them.
"The green star is situated at a greater distance from our planet than
any spaceship has yet covered. If we reach the planets of that star we shall
have moved far out into the Universe. We shall move forward, not on the tiny
world of an artificial island but on big planets where there is every
opportunity for the organization of comfortable life and for mighty
technical achievements.
"You now see why I have taken up so much of your time with a detailed
description of the planets of the green star-they seem to me to be important
objectives for exploration. The distance of seventy light years is feasible
for a spaceship of the Lebed type and I think that we should, perhaps, send
the 38th Cosmic Expedition to Achernar?"
Grom Orme finished at that point and returned to his place, pushing
over a switch on the rostrum as he did so.
A small screen rose up before the audience and on it appeared the head
and shoulders of Darr Veter, a massive figure known to many of those
present. The former Director of the Outer Stations smiled as he was silently
greeted with flashing green lights.
"Darr Veter is now in the Arizona Radioactive Desert from where he is
sending groups of rockets 57,000 kilometres into space to build a
satellite," explained Grom Orme. "He wishes to speak and give his opinion as
a member of the Council."
"I propose the simplest possible solution," came his jolly voice to
which the portable transmitter had added some metallic tones. "We should
send out three expeditions and not just one!"
The members of the Council and the visitors were taken completely by
surprise. Darr Veter was no orator and did not take advantage of the
effective pause.
"Our first plan was to send both spaceships of the 38th Expedition to
the triple star EE7723...."
Mven Mass immediately pictured the triple star that had been known as
Omicron 2 Eridani in olden times. It was situated less than five parsecs
from the Sun and was a system of yellow, blue and red stars with two
lifeless planets which in themselves were of no interest. The blue star in
this system was a white dwarf as big as one of the larger planets but with a
mass half that of the Sun. The average specific weight of matter in that
star was 2,500 times greater than of Earth's heaviest metal, iridium.
Gravitation, electromagnetic fields, thermal processes and the creation
of heavy chemical elements on that star were of colossal interest and the
importance of studying them at close quarters was very great, especially as
the 10th Cosmic Expedition that had been sent to Sirius had been lost but
had managed to send a warning of the danger. Sirius, a double blue star and
near neighbour of the Sun, also possessed a white dwarf of lower temperature
and larger dimensions than Omicron 2 Eridani and with a density twenty-five
times that of water. It proved impossible to reach this near star owing to
gigantic streams of meteorites crossing each other and encircling the star;
they were so widely dispersed that it was found impossible to determine the
area over which these treacherous fragments were spread. It was then that
the expedition to Omicron 2 Eridani had first been mooted, 315 years
before....
"... now, after the experiment made by Mven Mass and Renn Bose, it is
of such importance that it cannot be rejected.
"But then, the study of a strange spaceship from a far distant world
may give us knowledge that will by far exceed that acquired at the first
examination.
"We may ignore former safety regulations and send the ships out
separately. Aella can be sent to Omicron 2 Eridani and Tintagelle to star T.
They are both first class spaceships like Tantra that managed alone against
overwhelming odds."
"Romanticism!" said Pour Hyss loudly and unceremoniously but cringed in
his seat when he noticed the disapproval of the audience.
"Yes, it is, it's genuine romanticism!" exclaimed Darr Veter, jauntily.
''The very romanticism that was not properly appreciated in the past when it
was killed by literature, education and experience. Romanticism is nature's
luxury but in a well-ordered society it is indispensable! A craving for
something new, for frequent changes, is engendered in every person by a
superfluity of physical and spiritual strength. From this emerges a
particular attitude to the phenomena of life, a desire to see more than the
even tread of humdrum everyday existence, the expectation that life will
provide a greater quota of trials and impressions.
"I can see Evda Nahl in the hall," continued Darr Veter, "and she'll
tell you that romanticism is not only psychology but physiology as well! It
is the task of our epoch to make romanticists of all the inhabitants of the
planet. But let me continue: let us send the new spaceship Lebed to
Achernar, to the green star, because we shall only know the result in a
hundred and seventy years' time. Grom Orme is right in saying that the
exploration of similar planets and the establishment of bases for advance
into the Cosmos is our duty to posterity."
"We have anameson supplies for two ships only," objected Mir Ohm, the
Council Secretary. "It will take ten years to build up supplies for a third
ship without interfering with our economy. I must also remind you that a
large part of our production potential is going into the restoration of the
satellite."
"I have foreseen all that," answered Darr Veter, "and propose, if the
Economic Council will agree, to appeal to the population of the planet. Let
everybody abandon all pleasure trips and holiday journeys for one year, let
us switch off the television cameras in our aquariums and in the ocean
depths, let us stop bringing precious stones and rare plants from Venus and
Mars and stop the factories producing clothing and ornaments. The Economic
Council can tell you better than I what must be stopped in order to
economize energy to make anameson. Which of us would refuse to curtail his
needs for one year only in order to make a wonderful gift to our
children-two new planets in the vitalizing rays of a green sun so pleasant
to terrestrial eyes!"
Darr Veter spread out his arms as he appealed to the whole world,
knowing that thousands of millions of eyes were on him; he nodded and
disappeared, leaving a nickering bluish light behind. Out there, in the
Arizona Desert, a dull thunder shook the earth periodically as the rockets
bore their loads way out beyond the blue vault of heaven. In the Council
hall the whole audience rose to their feet and raised their left hands as an
open expression of agreement with the speaker.
The President of the Council turned to Evda Nahl.
"Will our visitor from the Academy of Sorrow and Joy please let us know
her opinion from the standpoint of human happiness?"
Evda Nahl went to the rostrum again.
"The human psyche is so organized that it is incapable of lengthy
excitation or frequent repetitions of excitation. This constitutes its
defence against the rapid exhaustion of the nervous system. Our distant
ancestors almost annihilated mankind by ignoring the fact that frequent rest
is physiologically essential to man. We were at first afraid of repeating
the mistake and began to take too much care of the psyche because we did not
understand that the best way to get rid of impressions and to rest is to be
found in work. A change of employment is essential but that is not all-there
must be a regular alternation of work and rest. The heavier the work the
longer must be the rest and it will be seen that the harder the task
performed the greater the pleasure it will bring, the more fully the worker
will be absorbed in his task.
'"We may speak of happiness as a constant sequence of work and rest, of
difficulties and pleasures. The longevity of man has widened the bounds of
his world and he feels the urge to get out into the Cosmos. The struggle for
the new-that's where we find real happiness! From this we may conclude that
the dispatch of a spaceship to Achernar would bring more direct happiness to
mankind than any two other expeditions because the planets of the green sun
will make a gift of a new world to our senses while the investigation of the
physical phenomena of the Cosmos, despite all its significance, is so far
perceived only by the intellect. In the struggle to increase the sum of
human happiness, the Academy of Sorrow and Joy would no doubt find the
expedition to Achernar the most beneficial, but if it is possible to
dispatch all three expeditions, so much the better!"
The excited audience rewarded Evda Nahl with a shower of green lights.
Grom Orme rose to speak.
''The question and the Council's decision have already been made clear
so that my speech will, apparently, be the last. We are going to ask mankind
to curtail consumption for the year 809 of the Great Circle Era. Darr Veter
did not mention the golden horse dating back to the Era of Disunity that the
historians found. These hundreds of tons of pure gold can be used for the
production of anameson so that a supply sufficient for the flights will soon
be ready. For the first time in world history we are sending out three
simultaneous expeditions to different stellar systems and for the first time
we are trying to reach worlds that are seventy light years away!"
The President closed the meeting requesting only the members of the
Council to remain. A demand for all requirements had to be drawn up for the
Economic Council and a request had to be made to the Academy of Stochastics
and Prognostication to investigate all possible hazards on the way to
Achernar.
Weary Chara plodded along behind Evda wondering how it was that the
famous psychiatrist's pale cheeks were as fresh as ever. The girl wanted to
be alone as quickly as possible so that she could quietly enjoy the
exoneration of Mven Mass. It had been a red-letter day! It is true the
African had not been crowned as a hero in the way Chara had secretly hoped;
he had been removed from the list of leaders for a long time, if not for
ever. But he had been allowed to remain in society! Was not the wide and
tortuous road of love, research and labour open to them both?
Evda Nahl forced the girl to go to the nearest dining-room. Chara
stared at the menu so long that Evda decided to take action, and called the
numbers of the dishes and the index of their table into the speaking tube.
They sat down at a little oval table for two in the centre of which a
trapdoor opened almost immediately and a container with their order
appeared. Evda Nahl offered Chara a glass containing the opalescent
invigorating drink Lio but was herself satisfied with a glass of cold water
and a baked pudding of chestnuts, walnuts and bananas served with whipped
cream. Chara ate a dish made from the minced meat of the rapt, a bird that
has replaced both the domestic fowl and game birds in the modern cuisine.
After Chara had eaten, Evda let her go and watched her as she ran down the
staircase, with a grace that was astonishing even in the Great Circle Era,
passing between statues of black metal and lanterns on posts of the most
whimsical shapes.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN. ANGELS OF HEAVEN
Erg Noor held his breath as he followed the manipulations of the
skilled laboratory workers. The mass of instruments reminded him of a
spaceship's control tower, but the huge area of the room with its big,
bluish windows, immediately took his mind off the Cosmic ship.
On a metal table in the middle of the room stood a special chamber made
of thick sheets of rutholucite, a material that is transparent to visible
and to infrared rays. A network of pipes and wires encircled the brown
enamel water-tank from the spaceship in which the two black jelly-fish from
the planet of the iron star were still imprisoned.
Eon Thai, erect as though doing gymnastics but with his arm still
helplessly hanging in a sling, looked from a distance at the slowly
revolving drum of a recording instrument. Above the biologist's black brows
there appeared beads of perspiration.
Erg Noor licked his dry lips.
'"Nothing there. There can't be anything left but dust after five
years' journey," said the astronaut hoarsely.
"If so, that's bad luck for Nisa and me," answered the biologist, "we
shall probably have to fumble for years to find out the nature of our
injuries."
"Do you still think that the 'medusae' and the 'crosses' have the same
organs for killing victims?"
"I do. Grimm Schar and all the others have come to the same conclusion.
Before that I had the most unexpected ideas. I imagined that the black cross
had nothing at all to do with the planet...."
"I thought so, too; if you remember, I spoke about it. I got the idea
that it was a being from the disc-shaped spaceship and was on guard over it.
If you think about it seriously there's no reason to guard an invincible
fortress from the outside, is there? When we tried to open the disc we had
proof of the foolishness of such ideas."
"My idea was that the 'cross' wasn't alive but was just a robot placed
there to guard the spaceship."
"That's what I thought. But now, of course, I've given up all such
ideas. The black cross is a living being engendered by the world of
darkness. The beasts probably live down below, on the plain. This one came
from the direction of the gap in the cliffs. The medusae are lighter and
more mobile, they live on the platean where we landed. The connection
between the black cross and the spiral disc is a pure coincidence due to the
fact that our protective arrangements did not reach the far corner of the
plain and it was all the time in the shadow behind the disc."
"And do you think the lethal organs of the 'cross' and the 'medusa' are
identical?"
"Yes. Animals living in similar conditions should evolve similar
organs. The iron star is a sun that radiates heat and electricity. The whole
atmosphere of the planet is strongly saturated with electricity. Grimm Schar
believes that the animals gathered energy from the atmosphere and created
condensations like our fire-balls. Do you remember how the brown lights
moved along the tentacles of the medusae?"
"The cross had tentacles, too, but there was no...." "Simply because
nobody had time to take note of them. The nature of the injury to the nerve
column accompanied by paralysis of the higher centre concerned--we all agree
on this-is the same in my case and Nisa'8. That is the chief proof and the
main hope!" "Hope?" Erg Noor showed signs of agitation. "Of course. Look at
this," said the biologist showing him the regular line of the recording
instrument. "The sensitive electrodes placed in the trap with the jelly-fish
do not show anything. The monsters had a full charge of energy when they
went in there and it could not have escaped from the tank after it was
sealed. I do not think that the insulation of the cosmic food containers
could be broken down, it's much stronger than our light biological
spacesuits. If you remember, the 'cross' that injured Nisa did not do you
any harm. Its supersonic waves penetrated into the super-protective
spacesuit you wore and broke down your will-power but the paralyzing chargea
were powerless to inflict harm. They penetrated Nisa'B light spacesuit in
the same way as the jelly-fish's penetrated mine."
"You mean that the charges of globular lightning or whatever it is that
went into the tank should still be there, is that it? But the instruments
don't record anything."
"That's why I say there is hope: it means that the jelly-fish have not
been reduced to dust. They...."
"Now I understand. They have sealed themselves up in something like a
cocoon!"
"That's it. Such forms of adaption are widespread among living
organisms that have to go through long periods of unfavourable climatic
conditions-like the long, icy nights of the black planet and the hurricanes
at 'sunrise' and 'sunset.' As these conditions on the planet alternate very
quickliy I imagine the jelly-fish can come out of their state of lethargy as
quickly as they go into it. If our assumptions are correct it will be fairly
easy to restore the lethal propensities of the black medusae."
"By providing the temperature, atmospheric, lighting and other
conditions of the black planet, I suppose?"
"Yes, we've made all the calculations and preparations. Soon Grimm
Schar will be here and we'll start filling the tank with a mixture of neon,
oxygen and nitrogen until the pressure reaches three atmospheres. But first
let's make sure of our ground."
Eon Thai conferred with his two assistants. Some sort of a machine
began crawling slowly towards the brown tank. The sheet of rutholucite that
formed the front of the protective housing moved to one side opening up a
passage for the machine.
The electrodes inside the tank were changed for micro-mirrors with
cylindrical lamps to provide light for them. One of the assistants stood at
the remote control panel:
a concave surface appeared on the screen; it was covered with a sort of
granular coating that reflected light very dully-this was the interior wall
of the tank.
"X-rays won't be of much use," said Eon Thai, "the insulation is too
thick. We'll have to use a more complicated method."
The revolutions of the mirror revealed, on the bottom of the tank, two
white masses of irregular spherical shape and with a spongy, fibrous
surface. The balls bore some resemblance to the fruit of the bread-tree that
had shortly before been developed and were about 70 centimetres in diameter.
"Switch the televisophone on to Grimm Schar's vector," said the
biologist to an assistant. The scientist, as soon as he was sure of the
correctness of the general assumptions, hurried to the laboratory. He
screwed up his eyes near-sightedly, but merely from habit and not from weak
sight, and looked over the apparatus. Grimm Schar did not have the
impressive appearance and imperative character one would expect in a
prominent scientist. Erg Noor remembered Renn Bose, whose bashful, boyish
appearance was also deceptive and belied the greatness
of his mind.
"Open the welded seam," ordered Grimm Schar. A mechanical hand cut
through the hard enamel mass without moving the heavy lid. Hoses with the
gaseous mixture were attached to the stop-cocks. A strong infrared ray
projector took the place of the iron star.
"Temperature ... pressure ... electrical charge ..." called out an
assistant reading off the dials of the instruments.
Half an hour later Grimm Schar turned to the astronauts.
"Let's go to the rest-room, there's no way of guessing how long those
capsuled beasts will take to revive. If
Eon's right it won't be long. The assistant will call __, "
The Institute of Nerve Currents was situated far from the inhabited
zone, on the fringe of the steppe reservation. At the end of summer the
earth was dry and the wind had a peculiar rustle to it that came through the
open windows together with a faint odour of sun-dried grasses.
The three scientists, seated in comfortable armchairs, kept silent as
they stared out of the windows over the tops of wide-spreading trees towards
the haze of the distant horizon. From time to time one or the other of them
would close his tired eyes but the waiting was too tense for anybody to
doze. This time, however, the patience of the scientists was not too
severely tried. Before three hours had passed the screen giving direct
communication with the laboratory lit up and an assistant appeared, scarcely
able to contain himself.
"The lid's moving!"
In an instant all three of them were in the laboratory.
"Shut the rutholucite chamber tight, check up on its hermetic sealing!"
ordered Grimm Schar. "Arrange planet conditions in the chamber."
The powerful pumps hissed faintly, the pressure regulators whistled and
in a moment the transparent cage was filled with the atmosphere of the world
of darkness.
376
"Increase gravitation, humidity and atmospheric electricity," continued
Grimm Schar. The laboratory was filled with the acrid odour of ozone.
Nothing happened. The scientist knitted his brows as he studied the
instruments and tried to imagine what had been omitted.
"They need darkness!" came Erg Noor's measured tones.
Eon Thai even jumped in the air.
"How could I have forgotten? Grimm Schar, you haven't been on the blade
planet, but I have!"
"The polarizing shutters!" ordered the scientist instead of answering
him.
The light went out. The laboratory was illuminated only by the lights
in the instruments. The assistants pulled blinds over the control desk and
complete darkness ensued. Here and there faint stars twinkled-the-luminous
dials of some indicators.
The breath of the black planet wafted in the faces of the astronauts
bringing with it memories of the awful but thrilling days of hard struggle.
There was silence for some minutes that was broken only by the cautious
movements of Eon Thai who was tuning in the demonstration screen for
infrared reception and arranging the polarizing shield so that light from
the screen would not be reflected.
First came a faint sound and then a heavy thud as the lid from the tank
fell down inside the chamber. It was followed by the familiar flickering of
brown lights as the tentacles of the black monster appeared over the edge of
the tank. With a sudden jump it leaped upwards spreading darkness over the
whole area of the rutholucite chamber and banged against the transparent
ceiling. Thousands of brown stars spread over the body of the jellyfish, its
black cloak bulged and formed a dome as if the wind were blowing from below
and then rested on the floor of the chamber with all its tentacles gathered
in a bunch. The second monster rose out of the tank like another black
phantom, its swift and silent movement inspiring fear in the onlookers.
Here, however, within the walls of the experimental chamber and surrounded
by remote-controlled instruments, the spawn of the planet of darkness was
powerless.
Instruments measured, photographed, drew intricate curves, determined
the nature of the animals and broke down their structure into various
physical, chemical and biological indicants. The human intellect gathered
these qualitatively different data together again and mastered the structure
of the awe-inspiring monsters in order to subordinate them to himself.
As hour after hour passed almost unnoticed Erg Noor became sure of
victory.
Eon Thai was becoming more and more radiant, Grimm Schar grew as
vivacious as his youthful assistants.
At last the scientist approached Erg Noor.
"You may go now with an easy heart. We shall stay here until the
investigation is finished. I'm afraid to switch on visible light as these
black medusae can't hide from it here as they would on their own planet.
They must first be made to tell us all we want to know."
"And how long will it take to find out?"
"In three or four days our investigation will have become exhaustive
for the level of knowledge we possess. We can already imagine how their
paralysing organs function."
"And will you be able to cure ... Nisa ... Eon?"
"Yes!"
Only then did Erg Noor realize what a heavy burden he had been bearing
since that black day. Day or night... what did it matter! Wild joy filled
the whole of that man of great restraint. He had difficulty in overcoming a
mad desire to throw Grimm Schar up into the air, to shake the little
scientist and embrace him. Erg Noor was astounded at himself, began to calm
down and a minute later had returned to his normal state of concentration.
"Your studies will be a tremendous help to the future expedition that
will have to fight against the black jellyfish and crosses!"
"Of course! We shall know the enemy now. But is there going to be
another expedition to that world of heavy weight and darkness?"
"I don't doubt it."
The warm morning of a northern autumn was just beginning.
Erg Noor, without his usual hustle, was walking barefoot on the soft
grass. In front of him, at the forest fringe, the green wall of the cedars
was interspersed with already leafless maples that looked like columns of
thin smoke. On the reservation man did not interfere with nature-there was
beauty in the disorderly growths of tall grasses, in their mixed,
contradictory, pleasant and pungent odours.
A cold stream barred his way and Erg Noor turned on to a foot-path. The
ripples caused by the wind on the sunlit surface of the transparent water
gave it the appearance of an undulating network of wavy golden lines thrown
on the pebbles of the river-bed. Unnoticeable strands of moss and
water-weeds floated on the water casting shadows that ran like blue patches
along the bottom. On the far bank big pale-blue harebells swayed in the
wind. The aroma of damp meadows and red autumn leaves promised the joy of
labour to man, for tucked away in a far corner of his heart everyone had
hidden something of the experience of the first ploughman.
A bright yellow oriole alighted on a branch and emitted its mocking
self-confident whistle.
The clear sky over the cedar forest was turned to silver by the
far-spreading wing of a cirrus cloud. Erg Noor dived into the gloom of the
forest with its odours of cedar needles and resin, cam