it is no trouble to us, and it will comfort his friends at home; maybe yes? After all, speaking in terms of atoms, we do not even wish to send ourselves back. Only copies.ф He laughed.
╬Will you stop that giggling!ф
уPlease.ф Nakamura pushed himself away, lifting astonished hands. уPlease, if I have offended you, I am so sorry.ф
уSo sorry! So sorry! Get out of here! Get out, both of you! Iтve seen more of you than I can stand!ф
Nakamura started to leave, still bobbing his head, smiling
and hissing in the shaftway. Maclaren launched himself between the other two. He snapped a hand onto either wrist.
уThat will do!ф They grew suddenly aware, it was shocking, how the eyes burned green in his dark face. His words fell like axes. уDave, youтre a baby, screaming for mother to come change you. Seiichi, you think itтs enough to make polite noises at the rest of the world. If you ever want to see sunlight again, youтll both have to mend your ideas.ф He shook them a little. уDave, youтll keep yourself clean. Seiichi, youтll dress for dinner and talk with us. Both of you will stop feeling sorry for yourselves and start working to survive. And the next step is to become civilized again. We havenтt got the size, or the time, or the force to beat that star: nothing but manhood. Now go off and start practicing how to be men!ф
They said nothing, only stared at him for a few moments and then departed in opposite directions. Maclaren found himself gazing stupidly at his guitar case. Iтd better put that away till itтs requested, he thought. If ever. I didnтt stop to think, my own habits might possibly be hard to live with.
After a long time: Seems Iтm the captain nOw, in fact if not in name. But how did it happen? What have I done, what have I got? Presently, with an inward twisting: It must be Iтve less to lose. I can be more objective because Iтve no wife, no children, no cause, no God. Itтs easy for a hollow man to remain calm.
He covered his eyes, as if to deny he floated among a million unpitying stars. But he couldnтt hunch up that way for long. Someone might come back, and the captain mustnтt be seen afraid.
Not afraid of death. Of life.
XIV.
SEEN from a view turret on the observation deck, the planet looked eerily like its parent star which had murdered it. Ryerson crouched in darkness, staring out to darkness. Against strewn constellations there lay a gigantic outline with wan streaks and edgings of gray. As he watched, Ryerson saw it march across the Milky Way and out of his sight. But it was the Cross which moved, he thought, circling her hope in fear.
I stand on Mount Nebo, he thought, and down there is my Promised Land.
Irrationallyўbut the months had made them all odd, silent introverts, Trappists because meaningful conversation was too rare and precious to spill without due heedўhe reached into his breast pocket. He took forth Tamaraтs picture and held it close to him. Sometimes he woke up breathing the fragrance of her hair. Have a look, he told her. We found it. In a heathen adoration: You are my luck, Tamara. You found it.
As the black planet came back into sight, monstrously swallowing sunsўit was only a thousand or so kilometers awayў Ryerson turned his wifeтs image outward so she could see what they had gained.
уAre you there, Dave?ф
Maclarenтs voice came from around the cylinder of the living section. It had grown much lower in this time of search. Often you could scarcely hear Maclaren when he spoke. And the New Zealander, once in the best condition of them all, had lately gotten thinner than the other two, until his eyes stared from caves. But then, thought Ryerson, each man aboard had had to come to terms with himself, one way or another, and there had been a price. In his own case, he had paid with youth.
уComing.ф Ryerson pulled himself around the deck, between the instruments. Maclaren was at his little desk, with a clipboard full of scrawled paper in one hand. Nakamura had just joined him. The Saraian had gone wholly behind a mask, more and more a polite unobtrusive robot. Ryerson wondered whether serenity now lay within the man, or the loneliest circle of hell, or both.
уIтve got the data pretty well computed,ф said Maclaren.
Ryerson and Nakamura waited. There had been curiously little exultation when the planet finally revealed itself. I, thought Ryerson, have become a plodder. Nothing is quite real out hereўthere is only a succession of motions, in my body and my brainўbut I can celebrate no victory, because there is none, until the final and sole victory: Tamara.
But I wonder why Terangi and Seiichi didnтt cheer?
Maclaren ruffled through his papers. уIt has a smaller mass and radius than Earth,ф he said, уbut a considerably higher density suggesting itтs mostly nickel-iron. No satellite, of
course. And, even though the surface gravity is a bit more than Earthтs, no atmosphere. Seems to be bare rock down there
or metal, I imagine. Solid, anyhow.ф
уHow large was it once?ф murmured Nakamura.
Maclaren shrugged. уThat would be pure guesswork,ф he said. уI donтt know which planet of the original system this is. One or two of the survivors may have crashed on the primary by now, you see. My personal guess, though, is that it was the 61 Cygni C typeўmore massive than Jupiter, though of less bulk because of core degeneracy. It had an extremely big orbit. Even so, the supernova boiled away all its hydrogen and probably some of the heavier elements, too. But that took time, and the planet still had this much mass left when the star decayed into a white dwarf. Of course, with the pressure of the outer layers removed, the core reverted to normal density, which must have been a pretty spectacular catastrophe in itself. Since then, the residual stellar gases have been making the planet spiral slowly inward, for hundreds of megayears. And nowўф
уNow we found it,ф said Ryerson. уWith three weeksт food supply to spare.ф
уAnd the germanium still to get,ф said Maclaren.
Nakamura drew a breath. His eyes went to the deck уbeneathф his feet. Far aft was a storage compartment which had been left open to the bitterness of space; and a dead man, lashed to a stanchion.
уHad there been four of us,ф he said, уwe would have consumed our supplies already and be starving. I am most humbly grateful to Engineer Sverdlov.ф
Maclarenтs tone was dry. уHe didnтt die for that reason.ф
уNo. But has he given us less merely because it was an accident?ф
THEY floated a while in stillness. Then Maclaren shook himself and said: уWeтre wasting time. This ship was never intended to land on a planet. Since Iтve already informed you any world we found might very likely use vacuum for sky, and you didnтt object, I assume the aircraft can make a landing.ф
Nakamura crossed his legs and rested impassively, hands
folded on his lap. уHow familiar are you with the standard exploratory technique?ф he inquired.
уNot very,ф confessed Maclaren. уI gather that aircraft are preferred for reasons of mass economy.ф
уAnd even more for maneuverability. A nuclear-powered vessel, using wings and turbojets, can rise high into an atmosphere, above the worst air resistance, without having to expend the reaction mass of a rocket. Likewise it can land more easily and safely in the first place. The aircraft which we carry, dismantled, are intended to leave their orbiting mother ship with a short rocket burst, slip into the atmosphere of a new planet, and descend. The return is more difficult, of course, but they get into the stratosphere before applying the non-ionic rocket drive. This in turn takes them into space proper, where their ion accelerators will work. Naturally, the cabins being sealed, any kind of atmosphere will serve them.
уNow, this is for exploration purposes. But these auxiliary craft are also capable of landing on rockets alone. When the time has come to establish a beam-relay station, some airless lifeless satellite is chosen, to avoid the necessity of quarantine. The craft shuttle back and forth, carrying the shipтs dismantled transceiver. This is reassembled on the surface. Thereby the satelliteтs own mass becomes available to the matterbank, and any amount of material can be reconstructed according to the signals from the home station. The first things sent through are usually the parts for a much larger transceiver station, which can handle many tons of mass at a time.ф
уWell, good,ф said Maclaren. уThat was more or less what I thought. Letтs land andўoh, oh.ф
Ryerson felt a smile tugging his lips, though it was not a happy one. уYou see?ф he murmured.
Maclaren regarded him closely. уYou donтt seem too discouraged,ф he said. уThere must be an answer.ф
Ryerson nodded. уIтve already spoken with Seiichi about it, while you were busy determining the exact characteristics of the planet. Itтs not going to be fun, butўWell, let him tell you.ф
Maclaren said slowly: уI had hoped, it was at least possible, that any planet we found would have a surviving satellite, small enough to land the whole ship on, or lay alongside, if you want to consider it that way. It would have been the best thing
for us. But Iтm sure now that this lump has no companion of any kind. So weтll have to get our germanium down there.ф
уWhich we could also have done, had we been fortunate enough to locate the planet sooner,ф Nakamura told him. уWe can take aircraft down to the surface even now. But we would have to transship all the mining and separating equipment, establish a working space and an airdomeўIt is too much work for three men to do before our three weeks of supplies are eaten up, and then the actual mining would still remain.ф
Maclaren nodded. уI should have thought of this myself,ф he said. уI wonder how sane and sensible we areўhow can we measure rationality, when we are all the human race we know for tens of light-years? Well. So I didnтt think and you didnтt talk. Nevertheless, I gather thereтs a way out of our dilemma.ф
