To worlds unknown, p.1
To Worlds Unknown, page 1
FOREWORD
This is the seventh of a series of space-exploration books which began when Group-Captain "Tiger" Clinton and his son Rex, on holiday in the Highlands of Scotland, met by accident an eccentric but brilliantly clever scientist-inventor, Professor Lucius Brane, who was experimenting with a spacecraft of his own design using cosmic rays for the motive power. This was successful up to a point in that it became the means of making contact with a "flying saucer" from outer space. Later the Professor's ship was abandoned in favour of a more advanced machine, the Tavona, operated by new friends from other planets.
To avoid repetition which might irritate readers of the previous books, these events, in the present adventure, are assumed to be known. For the benefit of new readers the earlier books appeared in the following order:
Book .1. KINGS OF SPACE, in which the first experimental voyages are made in the Professor's own ship, The Space-master, and the reader is introduced to the science of Astronautics, commonly called space flight.
Book 2. RETURN TO MARS, in which the planet Mars is revisited, new friends are made, and the origin of the planetoids is learned.
Book 3. Now TO THE STARS, in which a tour is made of the planetoids in a spaceship of the Minoan Inter-stellar Exploration Squadron.
Book 4. To OUTER SPACE. Again in a Minoan ship, of the Remote Survey Fleet, a voyage is made into deep space and contact established with ships of even more distant worlds.
Book 5. THE EDGE OF BEYOND. More adventures on remote worlds, civilized and otherwise.
Book 6. THE DEATH RAYS OF ARDILLA, in which the friends find themselves involved in an interplanetary war waged with lethal rays.
Here also, for new readers, are the names of some of the people and places that occur in the earlier books and appear again in the following narrative.
People of other worlds
VARGO. A scientist-astronomer space traveller of great knowledge now living on the planetoid Mino. Now a close, friend, guide and counsellor of the explorers, he was the first man they met in space, finding him alone and in a dying condition on Mars, where he had been conducting experiments to make that planet once more habitable. It is in his ship Tavona that voyages are made. He and his crew have learned to speak English.
GATOR. Captain of the Tavona.
BORRON. Navigator of the Tavona.
MORINO. Daughter of Borron. She lives on Mino and is Rex's girl friend. She has taught him the Minoan sport of wing-flying (soaring flight over short distances by means of wings strapped to the arms) made easy by the low gravity of the planetoid.
ROLTO. A space pilot of the Minoan Remote Survey Fleet, who, having observed the explosions of hydrogen bombs and the launching of uncontrolled space rockets from Earth, holds them to be a danger to the entire Solar System. He is in favour of destroying the population of Earth before they destroy themselves and others.
MULTOVA. Born on Mino he is now an engineer on the great planet Terromagna. He is a friend of Vargo and the Earth party.
Planets, etc.
MINO and LENTOS. Two of the chief planetoids, of which there are many, most of them having orbits between Mars and Jupiter. According to Martian tradition they are the remains of a great planet named Kraka which in ages past went to pieces in an explosion so violent that all life on Mars was destroyed and the mighty planet Jupiter was set on fire. It is still burning.. The descendents of the few survivors, who happened to be away in spaceships at the time of the explosion, are now trying to restore life on Mars, a project which has been helped by the Earth party by means of the importation of fruit and vegetable seeds.
TERROMAGNA. A vast, ancient, super-civilized planet, in a distant galaxy. Being much older than Earth it is a long way ahead in culture, scientific knowledge and general civilization.
ARDILLA. Another old and mighty planet which tried to conquer others, in its constellation by means of universal rays which it is able to control. This was frustrated by counter-rays sent out by Terromagna. The Earth party was there at the time.
DACOONA. A little-known planet where the inhabitants live to an incredible age. The reason for this is not known, but doctors on Terromagna believe it to be the result of a peculiar gland and propose making an experiment to confirm this.
From all this it will be realized that Earth is not the only planet on which human life exists. The explorers have discovered that as a general rule the larger and older the planet the more advanced it is in knowledge. Each (like Earth) is striving for perfection. They have also proved that while on different planets the atmospheres may vary in composition, density and temperature, the basic physical laws that govern the Universe, such as gravity, are constant, and the same everywhere.
Many of the older planets have spacecraft of one form or another (as will Earth in the not very distant future) as well as other inventions and scientific devices compared with which those of Earth are in the primitive stage. In nearly every case the motive power is derived from cosmic or other rays, which occur everywhere. On Terromagna, for example, all disease has been conquered. Television, in colour and with large screens, has developed to become interplanetary. That is to say, Terromagna can see what its neighbour planets in the constellation are doing. Earth, they say, which in a few years has reached Eurovision, will one day be able to do that—if it does not destroy itself by its efforts to do too much too quickly. All these things take time.
Most of the friends the Earth party have made in space were able, by reason of a superior intelligence, to speak English quickly. Rex speaks Minoan fairly well.
Not all civilizations are alike, of course. Each has gone its own way to achieve the ultimate goal, which is happiness. The planet Ando, it was found, having passed through the Mechanical Age, is now seeking peace of mind by a return to simplicity.
Some worlds have no life. Some have no human form, as it is generally understood. On some of the newer planets life is still in the Stone Age. And there are some on which another form of life, insect or animal, has become dominant, in the same way that on Earth, aeons ago, the great lizards were masters.
DEFINITIONS YOU SHOULD KNOW
STAR. A body that shines with its own fire. Our sun is a star.
PLANET. A body which has no fire of its own but shines with reflected light.
PLANETOIDS. The name given to a great swarm of nearly 3,00o minor planets that have orbits in, our Solar System. None has a greater diameter than 50o miles.
CONSTELLATION. A group of fixed stars and planets.
GALAXY. A luminous band of innumerable stars too distant to be seen separately with the naked eye. The Milky Way is a galaxy. Our Solar System is part of it.
SATELLITE. A secondary body revolving round a greater one, known as a primary. Thus, our moon is a satellite of Earth. The diameters of known satellites vary between 5 miles (as in the case of Deimos, a moon of Mars), and 3,55o miles (as Titan, a moon of Saturn).
UNIVERSE. The whole system of stars, planets, etc. existing in space. This comprises millions of galaxies, each containing millions of constellations and solar systems. Our own Solar System, with its sun in the centre, is a microscopic part of the whole. How far the Universe extends, or if it has an end, is not known, and probably never will be known.
CHAPTER 1
THE PROFESSOR SPOTS A STRANGER
THROUGH a night-dark sky, surrounded by countless points of light, some bright, some dim, that were the suns, the moons, the stars and planets of the eternal Universe, the Minoan interplanetary ship Tavona sped on through the cold, silent void, which on Earth is known as "space".
In his heavily-cushioned seat by an observation porthole, gazing into the vast emptiness around the ship as an ocean voyager will sometimes regard a lonely expanse of sea, sat Rex Clinton, now aged seventeen, tall, lean, fair, grey-eyed, citizen of England, part of an insignificant island on the planet Earth. His expression, if his face revealed one at all, was of thoughtful resignation, with perhaps a little apprehension; for although he had made many interstellar journeys he had never been able quite to conquer the heart-chilling fear that came from knowing he was detached from the world of things he knew and understood. He was also aware that he might never see them again.
There was nothing physical about this fear. He was not afraid of death. That was bound to happen sooner or later wherever he might be; but he would have preferred this, when his time came, to occur on his home planet. There was something repugnant in the idea of leaving his bones on a distant star, or in a metal coffin, in a spaceship, whirling for all time in some remote region of the infinite Universe.
He had long ago analysed this peculiar form of fear.
Ordinary fear, he perceived, arose from the presence of a peril that could be seen, heard, or felt. In such cases the chances of survival could be calculated. In space there was nothing, no particular object, to fear. The emotion sprang from the unknown, the awful immensity, the utter loneliness, the majestic solemnity of the Universe itself. It was this alone that caused the brain to reel and the heart to quail.
Perils there were, of course. He had encountered many and would, he had no doubt, experience more; but these had invariably been of such a nature that not by the widest stretch of imagination could they have been foreseen Therefore there had been no anticipation of the event; and physical fear is, after all, nothing more than the expectation of death.
Rex was ageing faster than his years, the result of the burden of the tremendous knowledge he possessed. Of this he was certain: no man having made a v oyage in space could ever be quite the same again. The discovery on Earth of the power of steam had changed the face of that particular globe, for every invention since had stemmed from it. The splitting of the atom and the invention of the hydrogen bomb had again altered the outlook of the population.
When these same people knew, beyond all shadow of doubt, reflected Rex, that there were other worlds in the Universe inhabited not only by intelligent beings, but by civilizations compared with which Earth had barely emerged from primitive barbarism, the shock might be so great as to throw everything into a state of chaos. It was for this reason that the space explorers had remained silent.
Perhaps the people of Earth would never know the truth. One day, and it could happen at any time, there would be a blinding flash and Earth, and possibly the whole Solar System, would be no more than a few cinders drifting in space. Rex had seen this happen to other worlds.
Astronomers on Earth could see it happening, too; they called it "nova" ; but either they had not grasped the entire significance of it or preferred to ignore it in fond belief that while this could happen to other worlds it could not happen to theirs. Collision between worlds and worlds and their moons, or satellites, were by no means uncommon.
What would be even worse, Earth could die a slow death. It needed such a small thing to bring that about. A slight change in the orbit, taking Earth farther away from its sun, and the water would turn to ice and then to the hardness of granite. A movement nearer to sun would scorch from its face every form of life, animal and vegetable. Rex had seen worlds after such disaster He also knew there were civilizations so far advanced in science and astronautics that they could, should they decide, destroy all life on another planet. Rolto, Capt of a Minoan Remote Survey Fleet, was in favour of liquidating Earth, holding its careless experiments with bombs and rockets to be a danger to every other world in the Galaxy. Fortunately he had been overruled by prudent statesmen.
The simple truth was, pondered Rex, everything had its day, its hour of perfection, before decline and death. That was a basic law of the Universe and planets were no exception. What amazed him was the folly of men on Earth who behaved as if there were no end to life or anything else. If they knew what he knew, had seen what he had seen, they might renounce war as futile and cease their frenzied rush to acquire wealth, power, or whatever it was they imagined could produce happiness. Other worlds had learned their lesson and he could only hope Earth would come to its senses before it was too late.
Apart from Rex there were eight persons in the Tavona, his usual companions and a skeleton crew. In their customary places were Group-Captain "Tiger" Clinton, one time of the R.A.F., Rex's father, an older edition of his son, going grey at the temples but still agile and clear-eyed, Professor Lucius Brane, elderly, thin, below average height, mild-looking, clean shaven with unruly hair and steel-rimmed spectacles usually balanced on the end of his nose. His eyes, under bushy brows and a high forehead, were blue and curiously bright. Also, as usual, he was carelessly dressed and from time to time dipped into a paper bag for one of the caramels he preferred to tobacco. The third member of the Earth party was Squadron-Leader (Medical) Paul, also ex-R.A.F., in which Service, by reason of a burly physique and humorous expression, he had been known to his friends as "Toby". At the moment he was passing the time by rearranging his medicine cabinet.
The crew, all men of wide experience in space travel, comprised Gator, the Tavona’s regular commander, Borron, the navigator, and Vargo Lentos, who had now assumed the position of interstellar relations officer. The other two were crewmen-engineers, both from the planetoid Mino: Nibo, a signals expert, and Lesta, a mechanic. All spoke English fluently from long association with their friends from Earth. These were sufficient to operate the ship in view of its simple mission, which had been no more than to pay a call on the Professor at his Highland home, Glensalich Castle in its remote glen.
After their last perilous voyage* Rex had a feeling that it might be the last. All agreed they had been lucky and it was unreasonable to suppose that such good fortune could continue indefinitely. Moreover, the Professor, who was keeping a detailed record of their flights and discoveries, had as much work to do as was likely to keep him fully occupied for the rest of his days.
*see The Death Rays of Ardilla.
But after a few months on Earth there had come the usual restlessness, the desire to see more, to know more. It is a disorder common to most explorers and well described by the German word wanderlust. The only cure for it is to set off on another voyage, and Rex knew it was only a question of time before the Professor announced his intention of making contact with the Tavona with the object of making "one last trip". Every flight was to be the last. But Rex knew in his heart there would be no last flight until the day came, as he was sure it must, when they would "fail to return". They would, he was convinced, face the dangers of the Unknown once too often. For that he had long been prepared and had ceased to worry about it. He had only one regret. He would have liked to see the effect on Earth of the publication of the Professor's papers, which on his death, not before, were to be handed to the Royal Society.
In the event, the necessity of putting out visual signals to bring down the Tavona had not arisen. One night Vargo had merely walked in to see how they were getting on. He brought no news of particular importance, but the result was inevitable. When at dawn the Tavona had taken off they had departed with it.
There was no immediate danger, or so it was assumed, for the object of the voyage was no more than a run to Mars to see how the work of restoration, for which the Professor had largely been responsible, was progressing.* As a matter of fact, signs of this were now visible through the Professor's telescope, and Rex found himself wondering how long it would be before the astronomers in the big observatories on Earth noticed the changes brought about by the cultivation resulting from the clearance of the old irrigation canals.
*see previous books in this series.
Not for a moment did Rex expect the flight to end there. Under the pressure of the Professor's insatiable curiosity it would continue to the planetoids Mino and Lentos, and from thence to the Second or Third Region of the Galaxy. It was not unlikely that they would go on to that amazing planet, Terromagna, on the far fringe of it, the excuse being to call on their friend, the super-scientist, Multova.
That was the trouble, pondered Rex. There was no end to the business. With millions of planets in the Universe space exploration could go on indefinitely. Even with space travel achieved, no one man could in his lifetime hope to see more than a microscopic section of the everlasting heavens. It was significant that the Professor had taken to misquoting the saying often heard in the Victorian Era, "Out of Africa always something new." His version of it was: "Out of the Universe there will always come something new."
That, of course, was what the Professor adored. Something new. Even Rex had to admit that there was an irresistible fascination about a new planet. It was the same curiosity multiplied a hundredfold which from the earliest times on Earth had lured explorers on to see round the next bend of an unknown river, or beyond the next range of mountains. Rex hoped there would be no new planets to distract them, for a while, anyhow. Although he could not have suspected it, these hopes were doomed even earlier than he had imagined possible. In the meantime there was nothing to do except sit and think. There were books in the Tavona, but Rex had found it almost impossible to concentrate on reading while in transit through space. The doings of people on Earth seemed so trivial compared with what was going on elsewhere.
After a long period of silence the Professor suddenly exclaimed: "Do my eyes deceive me or is there a newcomer in the zone of planetoids?"
"It is new," answered Borron, who by this time spoke English fluently. "I have been watching it for some time."
"You didn't mention it."
"I thought it better not to."
"You were afraid I might want to go to it, you rascal."
"Yes. My orders were to return to Mars."
"How do you account for the appearance of a new planetoid almost directly on our course ?"
