the _Shooting Star_ was peering intently out the windows of the rocket
ship. The commander had ordered all windows covered with filter screens
to cut out the blinding glare of the nucleus.
The comet arrived with the shocking brilliance of a gigantic fireball.
All Ted could see was an over-all blinding whiteness that made the
blackness of space like bright noonday. The stars were blotted out
completely in the glare. For hours the brilliance continued without
letup, and then it began to dim.
“The head is past,” Dr. Kenton said. “From now on, the light will grow
weaker and weaker as the tail goes by.”
Ted still could make out no detail of any kind, and this was
disappointing. As he and Jill and Randy kept their eyes glued to the
window, all they could see was a slow dimming of the comet’s original
brilliance. They grew weary of the sight and turned away from it. When
they returned to it many hours later, the heavens had a strange bluish
cast, and the stars began to burn through it weakly.
Still later, only the barest evidence of the celestial body remained.
The heavens were only slightly grayed, showing that the tip of the tail
alone had not passed.
“Will we see the comet after it swings around the sun, and heads out
into space again?” Ted asked.
“Yes, from a greater distance,” his father answered. “Then it will look
more like a comet to you.”
Several days later, Jill came running into their compartment, looking
concerned. “Father, I saw some of the passengers going forward into the
pilots’ roost. They stayed there a few minutes, then came out, and some
more people went in. What do you suppose it’s all about?”
“I have an idea the commander has a treat for us,” her father replied
with a knowing grin. “We’ll get our turn. Just wait.”
Their chance came shortly later. The Kentons and Randy were summoned
forward, and they entered the pilots’ roost.
“Want to see something?” the commander asked. “Look out the forward
window.”
They spoke first to the pilots they had met before, then peered out the
window. Ted’s breath came fast. Poised regally against the backdrop of
stars was a gleaming red-orange globe. It was the planet Mars, their new
home.
CHAPTER SEVEN
_Invisible Menace_
The Kentons studied the red planet in silent awe. Beneath the thin
cotton of atmosphere, they saw the crisscross markings of the canals
that had baffled Earthmen for many years. Two small globes hovered in
the deeps beyond. They were the two moons, Phobos and Deimos.
Randy unconsciously shoved forward ahead of the Kentons. “Isn’t it
beautiful!” he murmured.
“I wonder when we’ll be landing,” Jill said.
The commander, who had heard her, answered, “In fifty hours, young
lady.”
“I guess we’d better get back to our suite so that some of the other
passengers can come in,” Dr. Kenton said.
They thanked the commander and left the pilots’ roost. When they had
returned to their compartment, Ted asked Randy, “Have you ever been to
Earth?”
Randy shook his head. “It sounds like a terrific place, though. I’ve
studied a lot about it in our Earth Geography course in school, and Pops
has told me a lot about it. Imagine playing baseball outdoors without a
space suit on!”
Ted realized he had always taken the wonders of Earth for granted. It
was hard to understand that a boy such as Randy existed—a boy who had
never experienced such a free life. He tried to imagine how it would be
if he had lived all of his life on a world where all the breaths you
took were from tanks of artificial air, and where you could never feel
the cooling breezes of summer or the spicy winter winds in your lungs.
Thinking about these things made Ted thankful that he was not in Randy’s
shoes.
Suddenly an urgent voice came over the speaker in the Kentons’ suite:
“Attention, everyone. Act quickly but do not be frightened. A leak has
developed in our antiradiation shield. Everyone retire immediately to
the rear store compartment at the extreme end of the ship.”
“My goodness!” exclaimed Mrs. Kenton. “What does that mean?”
“There’ll be time for explanations later,” replied Dr. Kenton. “The
first thing is to do as he says.”
They hurried out of the compartment and down the corridor aft. There
were crewmen stationed along the aisle at intervals to calm the people’s
fears and keep them orderly. A warning bell signifying trouble was
pealing throughout the ship.
The Kentons and Randy crowded into the farthest rear room of the
_Shooting Star_ with the other passengers, all of whom were chattering
excitedly. When the last passenger was in, the transparent door was
fastened shut.
“Why did we have to come way back here, Father?” Jill asked.
“Because rays are loose in the ship,” her father replied. “The farther
we are from the atomic engines up front, the safer we are.”
“Are they dangerous?” his wife asked.
“They could be, in sufficient intensity. Right now, they’re closing all
the doors along the corridors. The doors have built-in screens to resist
the rays, if they are not too strong. Keep your eyes on the light bulb
out in the corridor. If it turns red, it means the rays have penetrated
that far!”
“Oh, dear!” groaned Mrs. Kenton. “I knew we shouldn’t have left Earth.
Now it looks like we’ll never reach our new home, after getting so
close, too!”
“Don’t worry,” Dr. Kenton said. “The ship’s crew knows how to handle
this. They have electronic instruments they turn on that attract the
rays like a magnet. They can clean out the entire ship in about half an
hour. That bulb in the corridor will light if even the slightest bit of
radiation is present. There’s another bulb in the corner of this room,
but let’s certainly hope this one doesn’t light up.”
Ted heard a groan from one of the passengers. The light in the corridor
was beginning to glow. That meant the radiation had penetrated all the
way to the rear of the ship. The next thing to watch was the bulb inside
the room, Ted thought. His father had not said so, but Ted guessed that
they would probably be in serious trouble if this last one should light.
Presently figures clothed in weird metallic suits and carrying shiny
instruments were seen in the corridor.
“The crew is protected by those suits,” Dr. Kenton explained. “The
things they are carrying are the magnetic ray catchers I was telling you
about.”
“Look!” Jill said suddenly. “The red light has gone out!”
“We’ve nothing to worry about, then.” The scientist spoke with relief.
“I would say those men got to us just in time.”
One of the curiously garbed men unfastened the door of the storeroom and
beckoned for the passengers to come out. Then he opened the front piece
of his helmet to speak to them: “Don’t go through the next door until
you hear the all-clear whistle,” he said. “It’ll be just a few minutes.”
[Illustration: _Figures in weird metallic suits._]
When the whistle blew, the corridor doors were opened and the passengers
returned to their sections. After the Kentons were back in their suite,
Mrs. Kenton sighed deeply and slumped in an air-cushioned chair.
“My goodness!” she said. “I’m still quivery. If it’s not one thing it’s
another on these space voyages! I’m surprised we’re still alive after
all that’s happened!”
“At least you can’t say the trip is boring, Mother,” Jill piped up, and
this brought a relaxing laugh from the others.
* * * * * * * *
Nearly two days later Mars was a giant world dead ahead. Ted looked out
the window with Jill and Randy and saw a close-up view of the strange
land that was to be their new home. A great network of deep, straight
gorges split the boundless stretches of red desert. These were the
fabulous canals built by the ancient Martians, now long dead.
“There’s the Prime Canal,” Randy said, pointing to the largest chasm of
all. “It feeds all the little canals in this section.”
“Aren’t those trees growing along the canals?” Jill asked.
Randy nodded. “Evergreens,” he said.
“What’s that white stuff in the bottom of the canals and near the roots
of the trees?” Ted wanted to know.
“That’s frost,” Randy answered. “The sun never melts it completely. It
never even gets up to zero in this latitude.”
Dr. Kenton, whose interest was beyond Mars at the moment, said, “Look,
kids, there’s our comet again!”
He pointed it out to them in the heavens. It was a long streak across
the sky. The nucleus burned brightly, like a heavenly torch.
“Now it really looks like a comet!” Ted declared.
“It’s beautiful!” Jill murmured.
“We’ll be able to see it from Mars for several days,” Dr. Kenton told
them. “Then it’ll gradually disappear from view.”
At this point the _Shooting Star_ began its turnabout for rearward
landing. Then, still later, the order that all those aboard the
_Shooting Star_ had been waiting a long time to hear came over the
loud-speakers. “Strap down on couches, everyone! Next stop—Lowell
Harbor!”
The end of their journey was at hand.
CHAPTER EIGHT
_The New World_
The Kentons had experienced their last landing for a while. After a
final gentle bump, Ted shook his head to clear it and waited for the
side wall to move into proper position. Then he began unfastening the
straps of his couch. He was the first to his feet. As the rest of his
family were unbuckling, he did what everyone always did after a
space-ship landing. He went over to the window and looked out.
Mars—their new home. At last they were here. From his height of several
hundred feet above the ground, Ted had the best view he would ever have
of Lowell Harbor, center of Earthmen’s activity on the ruddy planet. It
had been named in honor of Percival Lowell, the great astronomer of the
past century who had been so strongly interested in Martian geography.
Ted felt a breath on his cheek. He turned, and there was Randy right
behind him. There were tears of joy in his eyes, and Ted knew that this
must be one of the happiest days of Randy’s life.
“What a beautiful spaceport!” said Mrs. Kenton, who had come over to the
window with the other members of the family.
A huge waterway cut the landscape in two at the edge of the spaceport.
Beyond this stood two large square buildings of transparent plastic
substance. Still farther out was a sprinkling of houses, one of which
the Kentons would occupy. As far as Ted could see, the ground was
rust-red.
“What makes Mars so red?” Jill asked her father.
“It’s believed that Mars once contained much more oxygen than it does
now,” the scientist replied, “and the ground was nearer the color we’re
used to seeing it at home. But over the centuries the oxygen was
absorbed by the soil, forming iron oxide, which is the redness we see
now.”
“Is there any oxygen left?” Ted asked.
“Very little,” replied Dr. Kenton. “That may be what caused the Martian
races to disappear. This is the greatest mystery about Mars and is one
of the main reasons I’m here—to discover why there are no Martians here
now.”
“But there’re birds and animals and insects,” Ted said. “Why didn’t they
suffocate too?”
Dr. Kenton shrugged helplessly. “Another mystery. Maybe they were able
to adapt themselves to the change over the thousands of years by growing
larger breathing apparatuses or something like that. Apparently, man was
the one who lost out in the battle of survival.”
The command to disembark came over the speaker, and the Kentons gathered
up what small luggage they had kept with them and retired to the
dressing room. When they had suited up with the other passengers, they
entered the air lock and waited for the escalator to roll into position.
As soon as Randy’s feet touched the soil moments later, Ted saw him
stoop down and seize a handful of red dust and let it trickle slowly
through his gloved fingers.
[Illustration]
The commander addressed the group that was gathered around him. “It’s
been a pleasure to have you people with us. This is where we part. A
steward will take you over the bridge across the canal to one of the
large buildings on the other side where you will register. A truck will
bring your luggage over later.”
As the party walked buoyantly over the ground toward the bridge, Jill
said, “I sure feel light-footed.”
“You should be,” her father said. “You weigh less than half of your
Earth weight here. Wait until you go back to Earth after this
low-gravity life. You’ll be tired for about six months.”
“I won’t mind that,” Jill answered earnestly. “I’ll be so glad to get
back.” Ted could see that despite the excitement of their new
surroundings, Jill’s thoughts were still on her distant home in the Blue
Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
Crossing the bridge, Ted looked over the side at the calm waters of the
canal.
“This bridge is five hundred feet across and took quite a bit of
engineering work,” Dr. Kenton said, “but it still wasn’t as big a job as
the Martians did on this canal and the others all over the planet. How
they built these giant waterways is another great mystery we may never
know.”
“Look! Aren’t those the little boats you were telling us about?” Jill
asked, pointing.
There were a number of tributaries extending out from the canal. It was
along these that the individual houses were located.
“That’s right,” her father said. “We’ll have a boat of our own, too.”
Before leaving Earth, Dr. Kenton had explained to his family about the
transportation system that connected the people with the main
headquarters building of Lowell Harbor. When the colony had first been
built, it was figured that the cost of fuel and cars for each individual
family could be saved by making use of the natural waterways. A simple
aluminum boat could run on cheaper fuel.
The new arrivals entered the nearer of the two largest buildings in the
colony, and because of the compressed air inside, dared remove their
helmets. In here were housed all facilities that had to do with the
running of the settlement.
As they walked down the corridor to the registration room, Dr. Kenton
said, “You see, the building is made entirely of panes of heavy plastic
so that a hundred per cent sunlight gets in.”
After registering, the Kentons were assigned their new home.
“I’m afraid you’ve got the house farthest out, Dr. Kenton,” the clerk
said. “You’re the last family to arrive, and they’re not building any
more until more materials are sent from Earth.”
“That’s all right,” Dr. Kenton replied. “I knew about that.”
“Your boat is waiting for you outside the building at Air Lock
Forty-seven,” the clerk went on. “One of our men will show you how it
operates and take you home. Your baggage and certain equipment for your
home will be sent out later.”
The Kentons walked down a long corridor to the air lock. On their way
they had time to see just how many kinds of service were carried on in
this most important center on Mars. If anything should happen to the
functions of this building, none of the homes could survive for very
long.
Outside the air lock, the Kentons found their boat awaiting them beyond
a narrow strip of ground. The space-suited man inside the boat
introduced himself as Martin Cooper. The Kentons climbed in and took
their seats in the bottom of the boat, which was long and deep.
Ted was anxious to see how the boat was operated. He saw Mr. Cooper take
a marble-sized tablet out of a box and drop it into a small tube at the
rear of the boat. Then the man turned some switches. In a moment a
steady popping was heard underwater, and the boat glided off.
“Is that all there is to it?” Ted asked in amazement.
“That’s all,” Mr. Cooper answered.
“But how does it work?” Ted wanted to know.
“The pill dissolves in the tank of water, generating a lot of pressure,”
Mr. Cooper replied. “It’s the jet pressure that moves us along.”
There was a steering wheel to guide the boat and a “gas pedal” to
control the release of pressure and their speed. Mr. Cooper turned the
boat into Main Canal, which was filled with other craft like their own
coming and going. Presently the pilot turned out of Main Canal into a
narrow waterway scarcely wider than the boat.
“This is like the ‘Old Mill’ run at the carnival!” Jill said, as the
craft wound in and out along the irregular course.
“This boat is great fun!” Ted said. “May Jill and I run it some time,
Dad?”
“I guess you’ll have to when I’ve gone off on my expedition,” Dr. Kenton
answered.
“Why doesn’t this water freeze?” Ted asked.
“It contains a kind of antifreeze mineral supplied by nature herself,”
his father said. “It never freezes, no matter how cold it gets. It’s
another one of the marvels of this planet.”
[Illustration]
As they rode along, Ted was intrigued by the strange glow of the Martian
sky. The thin, purplish atmosphere permitted the more brilliant stars to
burn through even in the bright daylight. But then, Ted decided, it
wasn’t such bright daylight after all, because the faraway sun looked
incredibly tiny to him, and there was a sort of twilight glow to the
whole scene.
Mr. Cooper guided the boat the last few feet of its journey into a
little dock beside the sprawling bungalow which was to be their new
home.
“End of the line!” Mr. Cooper sang out gaily. “Everyone out!”
As Mrs. Kenton was helped out by her husband, she exclaimed in a shocked
tone, “Goodness! The house is made of glass! We won’t have any privacy!”
“It’s not glass—it’s strong plastic like that in the main buildings,”
Dr. Kenton explained.
“And as for privacy, Mrs. Kenton, you’ll have that,” Mr. Cooper said.
“There’s a diffusing light inside the walls that makes them
solid-looking when you turn on certain lights.”
“I’m glad to hear that!” Mrs. Kenton said with relief.
As Mr. Cooper led them over a few feet of ground from the waterway to
the house, Ted, who had been noticing the queer fixtures atop the
building, asked, “What are those things up there, Mr. Cooper?”
“The network of rods and wires are the television antenna,” was the
reply. “That shiny disk on a pole that looks like an oversized dinner
plate is your solar mirror.”
Jill wanted to know what the solar mirror was.
“It collects the energy from the sun,” Mr. Cooper answered patiently.
“That energy in turn is what runs the generator in your home and gives
you electric power.”
While these explanations were going on, Randy stood fidgeting. All this
was old stuff to him, and the explanations seemed to bore him.
Mr. Cooper led the party over the few feet of ground that separated the
watercourse from the house. They entered a small alcove at the front of
the house; this was an air lock. Mr. Cooper closed the outer door and
threw a switch on the wall. Ted heard air hissing into the cramped
quarters.
When this was done, the inner door was opened and the Kentons looked
around the front room of their new home. The house was already
oxygen-pressurized for immediate occupancy. All the furniture was of
beautiful colored plastic, and waterproof, much like the styles that
were popular back on Earth. The floor likewise was of poured plastic, so
that the whole interior could be cleaned with a hose.
Mr. Cooper prepared to take his leave. “The things you brought from
Earth and your months’ food supply will be sent out in a little while.
New oxygen drums are brought around once a week. If you ever need to
call the headquarters building, just use the radiophone over there on
the wall. Every home has its own broadcast band.”
The Kentons said good-by to their guide and turned with interest to the
wonders of their home. Mr. Cooper had offered to show them over the
entire house, but Dr. Kenton said he had seen the plans and knew what
the rest of the house was like.
There were three bedrooms in the one-floor building. Since Randy had
come to live with them, Jill gave up her bedroom to the boys and agreed
to take the smaller guest room.
When all had gotten acquainted with their bedrooms, Dr. Kenton took them
into the basement, which was just as large as the main floor.
“Down here are all the things that have to do with the running of our
home,” the scientist said. “Over there is the water tank that draws from
the canal outside. The tank has a purifier in it so that the water is
good to drink.”
In the next room Ted found a mass of whirring dynamos and turbines. His
father told them that this provided their electricity by drawing on the
energy from the solar mirror. They passed down a narrow corridor. Inside
one of the walls was a niche containing a large gray tank with dials on
it.
“What’s this?” Jill asked.
“The most precious article in the house,” her father answered. “It’s our
oxygen drum. The air from it enters a blower that carries it evenly
through the building.”
The last room was the most surprising of all. Dr. Kenton opened a heavy
door, and Ted, standing in front of it, gasped as a blast of frigid air
hit him. He saw his father grinning. “That gives you an idea of how cold
the ground is,” Dr. Kenton said. “This is a natural deepfreeze. It never
varies more than a few degrees all year ’round.”
His shivering companions took a moment to look inside. Ted saw a room as
large as the upstairs living room. It was empty.
“When they bring our food, this place will be a third full,” Dr. Kenton
said.
“Do you mean to say I have to come downstairs and go into that cold
place every time I want a stick of butter?” Mrs. Kenton asked unhappily.
Dr. Kenton merely grinned at her. He led them back upstairs and into the
kitchen. He opened one of several doors built right into the wall.
Frigid air seeped out of the compartment just as it had downstairs.
“This is our regular refrigerator,” Dr. Kenton said. “It connects by
pipe to the basement freezer.”
“I’m glad to know that,” Mrs. Kenton returned, with a smile of relief.
“I thought I’d have to trot myself to death going up and down those
basement steps.”
Ted thought what fun it was going to be living in their very own home on
this distant planet. Wouldn’t he have exciting things to tell the kids
back on Earth when he returned?
CHAPTER NINE
_A Cry in the Night_
Hours later, Ted lay awake in the upper bunk of the double-deck bed he
shared with Randy. The foam-rubber mattress under him was soft as a
cloud, and the cool artificial air of the house inflated his lungs
satisfyingly.
But though he was comfortable, Ted could not sleep. He had lain awake
for an hour. He guessed it was because of the excitement of the past few
days and the fact that this was his first night on solid ground after
months of life in space.
He climbed down the ladder to the floor, quietly so as not to disturb
Randy. He stared through the clear plastic walls of his room at the
hushed Martian night. The sky was a glittering canopy of starlight.
Phobos, the fleet closer moon, cast a weak light over the landscape.
Beyond their desert back yard, Ted saw the dark spreading mass of the
sand bog which he had been warned about. It was like quicksand and would
draw anything that touched it down to destruction. Ringing the bog Ted
saw thick clusters of white flowers, which his father had said was a
favorite food of the little Martian color bears.
Ted had also learned that the animals fed at night. He wondered if any
of the creatures were in these parts, and if there were any chance he
would see one of them. He kept his eyes on the bog for what seemed an
hour, but he caught no sign of movement down there. At last his eyes
grew blurry and he thought he could sleep. He turned away and climbed
the ladder.
Just as his lids closed, something startled him, and he jerked up in
bed. He wasn’t sure what had aroused him. He sat there in the
semidarkness, his heart bumping rapidly, his ears alerted.
Then he heard a sound. It seemed far off. It was like a wail, a cry. He
came down the ladder again. In his haste, he tripped on the bottom rung
and went sprawling. He turned anxiously toward the bed and saw Randy sit
up.
“I’m sorry, Randy,” Ted said. “I thought I heard something outdoors.”
[Illustration]
“I heard it, too,” Randy said.
The two looked outside, straining their eyes to pierce the shadowy
night. Suddenly Randy Whispered tensely, “There!”
Ted stared where he pointed. There was a figure at the edge of the bog.
They heard the sound repeated. It seemed to be coming from the moving
figure. Ted suddenly remembered his father’s field glasses lying on a
table in his parents’ room. Before going to bed, all of them had used
them to study the stars.
Ted tiptoed down the hall into his parents’ room. Carefully he lifted
the glasses from the table and returned to his own room. He could hardly
wait to train the glasses on the mysterious thing beside the bog.
“Did you hear it again?” Ted asked as he swept his glasses over the
landscape.