"You listen to your mother, and don't study too hard," she warned,
knowing how he was apt to "lose himself" in his books. "You need plenty
of rest for tomorrow."
"All right, Mom."
But when she went into the control room long after dinner, he was still
deep in his reelbook. She took it away from him. "Get to bed, Jon. You
promised."
"I'm sorry, Mom. Just got so interested I forgot time." He kissed her.
"'Night, Mom. And don't worry. We'll make out swell."
"I'm sure of it." Her words were brave but he could see the tears were
perilously close.
"You'd better ask Jak for some barbit, or you won't sleep any better
than you did last night," he counseled. "Remember, he and I are going
to take turns watching Pop."
"Thank you, Son. Good night."
He touched a switch and the glolights dimmed and went dark as he
followed her out.
All the next morning Mrs. Carver and her two sons were in the control
room--except for their frequent trips to Mr. Carver's bunk, to see
how their patient was getting along. They were studying through the
telescopic visiplates the solar system they were rapidly approaching.
Jon had figured the sun was a Type G Dwarf, much like Sol, but a little
larger. It had, they now knew, only five planets. Three of these--Two,
Three and Four--had seven satellites among them. From their distances
from the sun, the boys figured that probably Two and Three would have
climates that human colonists, with some adaptation, could stand.
Now they were peering even more closely into their plates, as their
ship circled the globe beneath them. Jon had maneuvered it into a
spiral course about Planet Two, in such a manner that, from a height of
about a hundred miles, they could get a good view of the world beneath
them, in their telescopic plates.
"Lots of plant life, but I haven't seen anything that looks like
cities," Jak said at last.
"Nor I," from their mother and, "Me neither," Jon added.
Their first measurements of this new planet had shown it to be almost
the size of Terra, and they had been delighted to see that there was a
moon of considerable size, although not as large as Luna. It was about
one hundred and fifty thousand miles out.
"There's a number of large seas or oceans," Jak commented without
taking his eyes from his visiplate. "Look at that plant life,
though--it evidently coats the whole planet. From here it looks like
jungle."
"Lots of lakes and rivers on it, and in those plains we saw." Jon was
excited. "It sure looks like a wonderful world where men can live."
As they crisscrossed the planet from pole to pole, they saw small ice
fields about each.
"That means there'll be varied seasons here," Jon stated.
"Not necessarily," Jak argued. "In fact, while possible, it's not even
probable."
"Says you," Jon sniffed. Then later, "I figure the year here at about
three hundred days. Just an approximation, of course, but probably
within five per cent. I'm not too good at such things."
"You're probably wrong," Jak snorted, and their mother interrupted
what she thought was the beginning of another of their interminable
arguments.
"Are you going to land here, or go on to another planet first?" she
asked Jon.
"I'm going low enough to test atmosphere and temperature before I
decide," he told her.
"Well," resignedly, "do as you boys think best."
Jon manipulated his controls and as the ship tilted slightly, they
could see in their plates the ground coming closer. Slowly, under the
increased reaction of the powerful bow tubes, the ship slowed until it
was cruising at about one thousand miles an hour and about a mile above
the surface--or the tops of the vegetation, at least. Then Jon leveled
it off.
"You know how to test atmosphere, Jak?" he asked. "The temp now is
about 99.4 degrees Fahrenheit, so it probably isn't over 110 at ground
level."
"Yes, Father taught me that." Jak moved over to the hull wall where
there was an atmosphere-trap and the mechanism that tested and recorded
the contents of any air they might encounter on a new planet. He worked
this and studied the results.
This latest invention of Terran aeroscopic technies was simple to
operate. A chart, already prepared to show the constituents of Earth's
atmospheric limits compatible to human needs, was placed beneath a
stylus. The latter drew a curve showing the components of the new air,
and if the lines did not go above or below the red one on the prepared
chart, the atmosphere was safe for human consumption.
"Carbon dioxide a little higher, and when I tested density with a
spring balance the ten-pound weight showed nine and a half," Jak
reported. "That means we'll feel a trifle lighter, and won't find
walking and lifting as hard."
Their mother had been hovering nervously in the background. Now she
stepped up and asked, "Are you sure it is safe here?"
"We will be before we go outside, Mother," Jak assured her, then turned
to Jon. "Where are you going to land?"
"Soon as I find a good spot. Keep your eyes peeled for a large
clearing."
But they had gone only a few more miles when Jak yelled, "There, Jon!
Off to the left a mile or so."
At his first words Jon had increased the negative acceleration. His
darting eyes spotted the clearing, and he put the ship into a circle
and elevated the nose so they climbed to a height of some twenty miles.
"Grab that astrogation book and get ready to read me the checks, Owl.
Mom, you strap in. Is Pop all right?"
Mrs. Carver assured him that on her recent trip to her husband's bunk
she had seen to it that he was safely fastened down, in anticipation of
their landing.
Jak picked up the book and opened it to the book-marked page. He sank
into the co-pilot's seat, and fastened the safety belt. "Ready when you
are."