The people staring at the screens and instrument dials looked round in alarm and then ran to their commander. He was not yet able to stand but he muttered:
“The screens… the forward screen… switch over to infrared… stop the motors!”
The borason cylinders were extinguished at the same time as the vibration of the ship’s hull ceased. A gigantic star, burning with a dull reddish-brown light, appeared on the forward starboard screen. For a moment they were all flabbergasted and could not take their eyes off the enormous disc that emerged from the darkness directly ahead of the spaceship.
“Oh, what a fool!” exclaimed Pel Lynn bitterly, “I was sure we were in a dark nebula! And that’s….”
“An iron star!” exclaimed Ingrid Dietra in horror.
Erg Noor, holding on to the back of a chair, stood up. His usually pale face had a bluish tinge to it but his eyes gleamed brightly with their usual fire.
“Yes, that’s an iron star,” he said slowly and the eyes of all those in the room turned to him in fear and hope, “the terror of astronauts! Nobody suspected that there would be one in this area.”
“I only thought about a nebula,” Pel Lyn said softly and guiltily.
“A dark nebula with such a gravitational field would contain comparatively large solid particles and Tantra would have been destroyed already. It would be impossible to avoid a collision in such a swarm,” said the commander in a calm firm voice.
“But these sharp gravitational changes and these vortex things — aren’t they a direct indication of a cloud?”
“Or that the star has a planet, perhaps more than one….”
The astronavigator bit his lip so badly that it began to bleed. The commander nodded his head encouragingly and himself pressed the buttons to awaken the others.
“A report of observations as quickly as possible! We’ll work out the gravitation contours.”
The spaceship began to rock again. Something flashed across the screen with colossal speed, something of terrific size that passed behind them and disappeared.
“There’s the answer, we’ve overtaken the planet. Hurry up, hurry up, get the work done!” The commander’s glance fell on the fuel supply indicator. His hands gripped the back of the chair more tightly, he was going to say something but refrained.
CHAPTER TWO
EPSILON TUCANAE
The faint tinkle of glass that came from the table was accompanied by orange and blue lights. Varicoloured lights sparkled up and down the transparent partition. Darr Veter, Director of the Outer Stations of the Great Circle, was observing the lights on the Spiral Way. Its huge arc curved into the heights and scored a dull yellow line along the sea-coast. Keeping his eyes on the Way, Darr Veter stretched out his hand and turned a lever to point M, ensuring himself solitude for meditation. A great change had on that day come into his life. His successor Mven Mass, chosen by the Astronautical Council, had arrived that morning from the southern residential belt. They would carry out his last transmission round the Circle together and then… it was precisely this “then” that had not yet been decided upon. For six years he had been doing a job that required superhuman effort, work for which the Council selected special people, those who were outstanding for their splendid memories and encyclopaedic knowledge. When attacks of complete indifference to work and to life began recurring with ominous frequency — and this is one of the most serious ailments in man — he had been examined by Evda Nahl, a noted psychiatrist. A tried remedy — sad strains of minor music in a room of blue dreams saturated with pacifying waves — did not help. The only thing left was to change his work and take a course of physical labour, any sort of work that required daily, hourly muscular effort. His best friend, Veda Kong, the historian, had offered him an opportunity to do archaeological work with her. Machines could not do all the excavation work, the last stages required human hands. There was no lack of volunteers but still Veda had promised him a long trip to the region of the ancient steppes where he would be close to nature.
If only Veda Kong… but of course, he knew the whole story. Veda was in love with Erg Noor, Member of the Astronautical Council and Commander of Cosmic Expedition No. 37. There should have been a message from Erg Noor — from the planet Zirda he should have reported and said whether he was going farther. But if no message had come — and all space nights were computed with the greatest precision — then… but no, he must not think of winning Veda’s love! The Vector of Friendship, that was all, that was the greatest tie that there could be between them. Nevertheless he would go and work for her.
Darr Veter moved a lever, pressed a button and the room was flooded with light. A crystal glass window formed one of the walls of a room situated high above land and sea, giving a view over a great distance. With a turn of another lever Darr Veter caused the window to drop inwards leaving the room open to the starry sky; the metal frame of the window shut out from his view the lights of the Spiral Way and the buildings and lighthouses on the sea-coast.
Veter’s eyes were fixed on the hands of the galactic clock with three concentric rings marked in subdivisions. The transmission of information round the Great Circle followed galactic time, once in every hundred-thousandth of a galactic second, or once in eight days, 45 times a year according to terrestrial time. One revolution of the Galaxy around its axis was one day of galactic time.
The next and, for him, the last transmission would be at 9 a.m. Tibetan Mean Time or at 2 a.m. at the Mediterranean Observatory of the Council. A little more than two hours still remained.
The instrument on the table tinkled and flashed again. A man in light-coloured clothing made of some material with a silk-like sheen appeared from behind the partition.
“We are ready to transmit and receive,” he said briefly, showing no outward signs of respect although in his eyes one could read admiration for his Director. Darr Veter did not say a word, nor did his assistant who stood there in a proud, unrestrained pose.
“In the Cubic Hall?” asked Veter, at last, and, getting an answer in the affirmative, asked where Mven Mass was.
“He is in the Morning Freshness Room, getting tuned up after his journey and, apart from that, I think he’s a bit excited.”
“I’d be excited myself if I were in his place!” said Darr Veter, thoughtfully. “That’s how I felt six years ago.”
The assistant was flushed from his effort to preserve his outward calm. With all the fire of youth he was sorry for his chief, perhaps he even realized that some day he, too, would live through the joys and sorrows of great work and great responsibility. The Director of the Outer Stations did not in any way show his feelings for to do so at his age was not considered decent. “When Mven Mass appears, bring him straight to me.” The assistant left the room. Darr Veter walked over to one corner where the transparent partition was blackened from floor to ceiling and with an easy movement opened two shutters in a panel of polished wood. A light appeared, coming from somewhere in the depths of a mirror-like screen. It did not, however, possess the gloss of a mirror — it gave the impression of a long corridor leading into the far distance.