He began by saying that while there was no immediate cause for alarm, a critical situation might arise as a result of the number of passengers in the ship. The rate of air con-sumption had, in fact, been almost doubled.
Water could be rationed, but not air. The conversion gear would not be able to translate back into oxygen such an excessive amount of carbon dioxide as would inevitably be produced. The supply of air was getting low when they had landed on Arcadia. While on the planetoid there had been ample for them to breathe, but it could not be stored; and to complicate matters they were farther from Mino than they had ever expected to be, the result of underestimating their velocity.
The present situation had been foreseen, but it had not been mentioned, Vargo said, because had the Andoans learned of it they would, as a matter of honour, have refused to jeopardize the lives of the whole party even though by remaining on Arcadia they would be certain to perish. But one of the first laws of space travel, Vargo asserted, was all or none.
Quite right,' broke in the Professor.
Wherefore, continued Vargo, their extra passengers had not yet been informed of the true state of affairs or they might still demand to be put back on Arcadia. They would regard that as the honourable thing to do. But the Minoans had a sense of honour, too, and for that reason had kept silent on the principle of all or none. However, the future was by no means hopeless. There was ample compressed air to see a limited number of the crew home, so should things become serious, if a planetoid could be found with a reasonable atmosphere, some of the passengers would be put off, to be picked up later after the ship had returned to Mino to re-charge its tanks and cylinders. As a matter of fact, Vargo concluded, Borron had considered taking the ship home while they were on Arcadia, leaving everyone there, until he became suspicious of the increasing temperature taken in conjunction with unusual movements among the stars, although this, it was now realized, was due to the phenomenal velocity of Arcadia itself. Borron would now put the position to the Andoans.
It was plain when he did so that the visitors had something to say about it, although Rex little suspected what it was. It transpired that they had good news. Over a long period of time their Exploration Fleet had been making dumps of air cylinders and provisions at various points for just such an emergency as the present one. All ships' officers knew where these dumps were, although as a matter of fact they had never - as far as the Andoans knew - been needed. Their navigator would take the ship to the nearest.
This welcome information put an entirely different com-plexion on the situation. Rex remembered the old saying: There's nothing new under the sun' when he recalled that in the old sailing ship days on Earth, Admiralty Survey Ships made similar dumps on remote islands for the benefit of mar-iners cast away on them. Actually, they went even further, put-ting ashore such livestock as goats, pigs and even rabbits.
With these thoughts passing through his mind he watched with fascinated admiration Borron and the Andoan Navi-gation Officer plotting their course by the stars. They seemed to know every constellation and every unit of it. It was, of course, their job, and they had been doing it for years, yet even so it amazed him when he looked at the thousand points of light that spangled the sky that they should know every one and have a name for it. A sailor, he mused, might recog-nize a particular piece of coast, or a lighthouse; but he was never called upon to look at a vast tangle of them at one dme.
Space pilots on Earth, presumably, when that time came, would be faced with the formidable task of learning their stars'.
It was with pardonable impatience that he awaited their arrival at the new objective, whereon was the dump on which so much depended. Vargo assured them that there would be no difficulty in finding the stores for their position was always marked with a high white pole set in a circle of white-painted boulders, the whole thing in the largest available open space. He said, too, that the planetoids selected for these stores were chosen for their positions on the regular space routes rather than for living amenities. For it was not in-tended that crews should stay at these places, but simply pick up what stores were required as occasion demanded.
It turned out that there was no question of their remaining on this particular store-planet.
They did not even land.
Even from a distance it was apparent from the frown that furrowed Borron's forehead that something was wrong; that something was different from what he expected. The shining white light of the planetoid's reflection, he said, could only mean that it was enveloped in dense white cloud. What had caused this was unimportant. It meant that they would be unable to land.
The cloud turned out to be a thick belt of carbon dioxide.
Where it had come from was a matter for surmise. It must have been of comparatively recent formation., for stores would not have been laid down in. such conditions. It was a bitter disappointment, for as Vargo said, there was no doubt about the much-needed stores being there. The fact that the cloud was composed of poison gas was not the trouble. They would have been safe in their spacesuits. The real difficulty was, with visibility nil they had no hope of finding the dump. It might be anywhere. They had reckoned on spotting it from above and landing beside it. A haphazard landing, trusting to luck, was out of the question. The dump might be miles from the spot where they touched down, and spacesuits, while efficient for short journeys, were never intended for long distance work.
So what do we do?' asked Tiger.
'We must go on and hope for better luck next time,' answered Vargo.
The Professor took a small paper bag from his pocket. 'Would anyone like a caramel?' he asked calmly. 13 All or none Conditions in the Tavona were still fairly comfortable when, remaining on a general course for Mino, they reached the next objective. They were making ultimately for Mino because it was there that the Professor had left much of his equipment, including undeveloped photographic film which he was naturally anxious to collect.
From above, the planetoid, when. they came within sight of it, looked a black, cold place, mostly rock, with grey plains covered with what appeared to be moss or lichen. A test showed that there was practically no atmosphere - just faint traces of helium. It was a small place, having a diameter of only a few miles.
Three times Borron circumnavigated the inhospitable globe on a zig-zag course while all eyes watched from the windows seeking the white pole.
They failed to find it.
'Are you sure this is the right place?' asked the Professor. Quite sure,'
answered Vargo.
Borron took the ship down to a few feet and continued the search, quartering the ground to make sure that every square yard of it was covered.
It was Tiger who first spotted a white object and called attention to it.
Borron took the ship directly over it. It was the pole - or a piece of it. Smaller pieces lay about, splintered, on the front edge of what looked like a glacial moraine. Behind, at a steep incline, rose a great mass of boulders and detritus. What had happened was all too plain to see.
Vargo, in his usual dispassionate voice, said: I There has been a landslide. The dump has been buried.'
For some seconds no other comment was made. It was quite obvious, and therefore unnecessary to say, that to start to move the mass, rock by rock, hoping to find the dump, was futile. Even if by an amazing stroke of luck they did find it, it would certainly have been crushed flat.
'Now what?' asked Rex, in a hollow voice.
We must go on,' replied Vargo. 'There is nothing else we can do.'
The ship swung away to resume a quest that was beginning to look hopeless. Borron's expression did not change but Rex noticed that he was now looking more and more often at his gauges. No need to ask why.
Before long the atmosphere in the ship was becoming noticeably unpleasant. Everyone must have been aware of it, certainly the Andoans, who now asked to be put overboard.
They were the intruders, they said. Without them the others would have a better chance
.
Borron refused. 'All or none,' he said curtly. I am the captain of this ship.'
Rex suggested that those who had spacesuits should put them on, and by using their individual air supply conserve what was in the ship.
Borron rejected the proposal.
Vargo explained. The cylinders attached to the spacesuits constituted their special reserve. When the time came they would be opened at intervals so that all could share.
Rex said no more.
The atmosphere was, he knew, fast deteriorating. He also knew that nothing could be done about it. He had known from the outset that the failure of oxygen apparatus was one of the main risks of space travel, and it now looked as if this was to be their fate. One day, perhaps in a million years, millions of miles away, someone would find the ship and wonder who they were.
They were all beginning to suffer from the first pangs of suffocation when the next store base was reached. There, plain to see, was the pole that meant salvation. But alas, when they staggered out, gasping, into a thin, strange-smelling atmosphere, all that remained of the cylinders was a heap of rust. Something, apparently, had acted on the metal and eaten through it. For Rex, this third disappointment was the last straw. This, he thought, must be the end. There was an atmosphere on the planetoid but not enough to support life for long.
Borron ordered everyone back into the ship.
Vargo said they had one chance left. At no great distance away, the Andoan navigator had told him, there was a plane-toid with a reasonable atmosphere. If they could reach it, Borron and one other man would go on alone, leaving them there, to return as quickly as possible. If they failed to reach it . . . Vargo shrugged his shoulders.
'Don't forget we have oxygen in the spacesuit cylinders,' reminded Rex.
If we use that no one will get home,' said Vargo simply. `Borron. will need it to get to Mino.'
Now began a nightmare journey. No one spoke. No one moved. They sat still, staring at each other, taking long, quick breaths as their lungs fought for the oxygen that was not there. The scene began to blur in front of Rex's eyes. His jaw sagged. So this was what suffocation was like.
On Borron's order one of the crew opened a spacesuit valve. This brought relief, but Rex felt it was only postponing the inevitable end. The awful feeling of suffocation returned.
He began to gasp. The inside of the ship was growing dark and he slumped forward, his head between his hands. In a vague sort of way he saw Toby slide quietly to the floor.
When the ship's legs bumped he was hardly aware of it, but when cold sweet air suddenly poured into his lungs and he looked up to see that the doors were open, he could hardly believe his eyes; and it took his reeling faculties some seconds to grasp the fact that they had landed.
Some of the crew were applying artificial respiration to the others.
Vargo was working on Toby who appeared to be dead, although, as it transpired, he was only unconscious. Tiger lurched to the door and fell out. Rex followed him, to stagger, stumble and fall flat, sucking in air in great gulps. All he could think was, they had reached the objective, they were saved - for the dme being, at any rate. That was enough to go on with. He was satisfied to be out of the ship, which had become a death chamber.
In a few minutes, such was the swift effect of the life-giving air, they were all practically back to normal, although somewhat pale from shock and reaction.
Dear - dear. That was a near thing,' observed the Pro-fessor, peering at the others over his spectacles.
If we ever have a nearer it'll be the last,' asserted Toby grimly.
There was no dump on Vana, as Borron called their haven of refuge, the reason being, the Andoans had told him, because an atmosphere made one unnecessary. Anyone landing there could survive without artificial aid until a rescue party arrived, although it might be a long time before that happened.
This meant that Borron would have to rely on the oxygen in the cylinders of the spacesuits in order to reach home. With only two persons on board, himself and the navigator, starting with a ship of sweet air that would last them for some time, he hoped to get through, although this was by no means certain. He would start forthwith and get back as quickly as possible. There was no point in delaying departure.
Rex watched the preparations being made, aware that Borron and his companion had accepted an awful risk without hesitation. If the air supply proved insufficient their fate was a foregone conclusion. Some of their few remaining stores, foodstuffs, water and emergency capsules, were put out. Tiger collected his rifle, saying he felt uncomfortable without it. If he left it in the ship it might fall into hands which, not understanding the purpose of it, could do some damage.
As Borron, without any dramatic farewells, entered the ship, Rex went over to him. If you get home all right you might give Morino my kind regards,' he said, with deliberate nonchalance to cover his embarrassment.
Borron said he would. She will be angry with me for coming home without you,' he said, with a suspicion of a smile.
Those who were to remain, standing on a little sandy plain dotted with tufts of coarse grass, watched the ship go, watched it until, swiftly diminishing in size, it was lost to sight in the great ocean of space over their heads. As it went up so Rex's stomach seemed to go down, for he could not cast off the fear that he might never see it again. If Borron reached home all would no doubt be well; but should he fail there would be no other prospect than all of them ending their days on the sphere on which they stood, lost for eternity in the infinite void. Why it should seem more terrible to die on a planetoid in space than on a remote island in an Earthly ocean he did not know; but there it was.
With such depressing thoughts as these laying a cold hand on his heart he gazed around to see on what sort of world they had been marooned. Good or bad there had been no choice; and whatever else it might lack it had at least an atmosphere, a thin one judging from the temperature, which was too cold to be comfortable, although, as he perceived, this might be due to the time, which was dawn. He hoped, and thought, it would become warmer as the sun rose - or to be accurate, when the planetoid turned its full face to the SU.11.
A preliminary inspection was far from reassuring. A more dreary, desolate landscape he had never seen - at all events, on a world boasting an atmosphere. Under a sky of pale mauve, as far as he could see in one direction rolled an un-dulating wilderness of black volcanic sand, littered with clinkers, pieces of shell, and with outcrops of grey pumice-stone, as full of holes as a honeycomb. The only living vegetation, apart from some tufts of coarse, spiky, dead-looking grass, was a bloated growth of cactus, purple in colour with dark green berries.
In the opposite direction was a field of pumice, piled in ridges, like waves, as it had solidified from its original form of liquid lava. Beyond this rose a savage-looking massif, cloven by ravines, as black as coal except where it was stained with livid streaks of red and yellow. Around the top of this for-midable mass of rock floated wreaths of vapour, smoke or cloud, it was not known which. That the whole place had once been subjected to great heat was apparent. Over it all, weigh-ing on the ground like a blanket, hung a heavy, brooding silence. If ever a place told visitors that they were not wanted, this one certainly did, mused Rex.
A movement caught his eyes, causing him to start, for so far he had seen no living thing, and in view of the nature of the planetoid, did not expect to see one.
It was a crab, a fairly large one, emerging slowly from the sand. Its shell was bright yellow, and its protruding goggle eyes, and mouth set vertically instead of horizontally, gave it a most diabolical expression of ferocity. Drawing clear of the sand it stood up on its hind legs and waved its claws threateningly.
I see we have company,' remarked the Professor, cynically.
'A most unattractive little monster, too. I wonder why he hid in the sand.'
To keep warm during the night, which must have been chilly, as it's chilly now,'
suggested Tiger.
> I'd say it's more likely that he was afraid of something,' returned the Professor. 'As you must have observed on our travels, where there is one form of life there is usually another. In some cases, I suspect, there may have been several, but that law of nature which insists on the survival only of the fittest reduces the number to two or three.'
'A good many have survived on Earth,' Rex pointed out.
'Yes, but look at the size of Earth, and its great variety of physical conditions, compared with the average planetoid. Everything must eat, and on a place this size, the weaker, those unable to fight, have small chance of escape. It would be safe to say, I think, that the smaller the world the fewer the varieties of life likely to be found on it.'
'Let us hope the crabs are good to eat. They'll help out the stores,' put in Toby, practically.
'If there is life there should be water somewhere, so as soon as we have settled on a spot to make camp we should start looking for it,' advised Vargo.
03 Now To The Stars Page 12
