"We can find it," said Craven.
"But there are no familiar constellations," objected Chambers. "He
dragged us out so far that there isn't a single star that any one of us
can identify."
"I said I'd find the Solar System," Craven declared impatiently, "and I
will. Manning started out for it, didn't he? I saw the way he went. The
Sun is a type G star and all I'll do is look for a type G star."
"But there may be more than one type G star," objected the financier.
"Probably are," Craven agreed, "but there are other ways of finding the
Sun and identifying it."
He volunteered no further information, went back to work with the pad
and pencil. Chambers rose wearily from his chair.
"Tell me when you know what we can do," he said.
"Sure," Craven grunted.
* * * * *
"That's the Sun," said Craven. "That faint star between those two
brighter ones."
"Are you sure of it?" demanded Stutsman.
"Of course. I don't make blunders."
"It's the only type G star in that direction," suggested Chambers,
helpfully.
"Not that, either," declared Craven. "In fact, there are several type G
stars. I examined them all and I know I'm right."
"How do you know?" challenged Stutsman.
"Spectroscopic examination. That collector field of ours gathers energy
just like a burning glass. You've seen a burning glass, haven't you?"
He stared at Stutsman, directing the question at him.
Stutsman shuffled awkwardly, unhappily.
"Well," Craven went on, "I used that for a telescope. Gathered the light
from the suns and analyzed it. Of course it didn't act like a real
telescope, produce an image or anything like that, but it was ideal for
spectroscopic work."
They waited for him to explain. Finally, he continued:
"All of the stars I examined were just type G stars, nothing else, but
there was a difference in one of them. First, the spectroscope showed
lines of reflected light passing through oxygen and hydrogen, water
vapor and carbon dioxide. Pure planetary phenomena, never found on a
star itself. Also it showed that a certain per cent of the light was
polarized. Now remember that I examined it for a long time and I found
out something else from the length of observation which convinces me.
The light varied with a periodic irregularity. The chronometers aren't
working exactly right out here, so I can't give you any explanation in
terms of hours. But I find a number of regularly recurring changes in
light intensity and character ... and that proves the presence of a
number of planetary bodies circling the star. That's the only way one
could explain the fluctuations for the G-type star is a steady type. It
doesn't vary greatly and has no light fluctuations to speak of. Not like
the Cepheid and Mira types."
"And that proves it's our Sun?" asked Chambers.