The Planet Mappers by E. Everett Evans (books for new readers .TXT) 📕

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."

Their mother now reported, "All fast, Jon."

A moment while the younger boy glanced quickly at his various dials, then he said tensely, "Shoot."

"Check decelerometer."

"On the hairline."

"Check outside air pressure."

"Seven four two."

"Terrain indicator."

"Level."

"Altimeter."

"Four thousand three hundred. Going down a hundred per second."

"Let her down."

Anxious seconds of jockeying, Jon's eyes flashing from indicator to gauge to telltale to screen, his hands and feet moving here and there on the controls.

The two others gasped as they saw the ground rushing toward them so swiftly. The ship landed—but with a jar that shook them all.

"Off bow retarders," Jak yelled.

The roar of the tubes ceased and they were almost stunned by the sudden silence.

"Down landing props."

The grind of a motor, then a gentle jar and the ship seemed to straighten a bit.

"Props down."

"Close fuel petcocks."

"Closed."

"Shut off fuel pump."

"Shut."

"All controls in neutral."

Jon's hands flashed over several levers, knobs and switches.

"Everything neutral." He turned in his seat then, and his face wore a wide grin of triumph. "We did it. We're down."

He noticed his mother's white, strained face, and called to her, "Relax, Mom. I set you down in one piece, just as I said I would."

Jak broke in with a scoffing comment—although his eyes showed the secret pride he felt in his younger brother's ability—"Lousy landing. What's the big idea, jolting us all like that? Want to bust up the ship?"

"Now, Boys," their mother hastened to break up this incipient quarrel before it had the chance to get started—which was exactly what Jak intended—"I think Jon did exceptionally well, considering it was his first solo landing. I'm not hurt at all, and I'm sure the ship isn't, either."

Jak pretended to look ashamed, although neither of the boys could completely hide their grins, and had to face away from her. "Yes, I was just steaming off. It was really a swell job, Chubby."

But Jon had already pushed out of his seat and was at one of the window-ports, peering eagerly outside. However, he did fling back over his shoulder, "You helped a lot, Owl. Couldn't have done it without you."

The other two came up quickly to stand beside him, staring at this strange, new world. The clearing in which the ship rested, they could see now, was about a hundred acres in extent. Near the ship the strange grass with which the clearing was carpeted was seared and black from their landing blasts, and burning in places. But toward the huge trees that walled the clearing, the grass was in its natural green state, covered with tiny, whitish blossoms.

The trees visible from the ship were mostly very tall, averaging well over three hundred feet, the Carvers estimated. They looked somewhat like Douglas firs, but with a difference the Terrans could not at the moment figure out.

The three could see no animal or bird life, but guessed this did not mean there was none. The jungle might be teeming with life, but it would probably have been frightened away for the time being by this strange, fire-breathing monster that had descended from the skies to land on their world.

"Think it's safe to go out?" Jak asked.

"Now you listen to your mother, and don't take any chances."

"We won't," Jon told her, then answered his brother. "We'll wait an hour and see what we can see from here, then decide."

"I sure want a closer look at that plant Life." Jak's eyes glistened, and he ran to get his binoculars to see better.

"I ought to examine the hull and tubes, too, to make sure they aren't fouled or corroded," Jon told his mother.

"It's nearly time for lunch." She turned away. "At least you must stay in until after that." It was plain she was still worried, and the boys tried to reassure her and quiet her fears.

When she called they reluctantly left their vantage points at the ports and went in to eat the lunch she had prepared. Several times she had to caution them against bolting their food, as they talked eagerly of what they might find here.

Finally finished, Jon rose. "Come on, Owl," he urged, "let's go outside and give it the once-over lightly."

"Better break out our rifles first," the elder advised. "No telling what we'll run into."

"If it's dangerous enough for guns, I wish you wouldn't go." Their mother was worried again.

"They're just a precaution, same as Father would take if he was in charge," Jak soothed. "We won't go out of this clearing this first time."

"You'd better give Mr. C. another feeding first, hadn't you?"

Jak consulted his wrist-chronom. "Yes, it's nearly time, and we might not be back by the regular hour."

The problem of keeping their father fed and in good health, apart from his head and leg injuries, had not proven too hard when they became convinced that he was not going to wake up often enough to eat normally.

Jak, while working as orderly in the Centropolitan Hospital the previous summer, had assisted the interns and nurses in giving intravenous feedings to unconscious patients. So he knew the general procedure, as well as the composition and quantity of the nutrient liquid to be administered.

"Will you come help me, Mother," he had asked when he was sure he was ready for that first feeding. "We've got to find certain things in our food stores."

"You're sure you know how to do it?"

"Yes, it's not hard. We need liquid proteins, salt, sugar and glucose." With his mother helping, he had gathered these from their stores, and taken them into the galley. There he had carefully measured out and mixed these ingredients in the proportions his books stated.

Then he and Jon had gone into the workshop and there the younger, under his brother's supervision, and with pictures of the apparatus as a guide, had rigged up a drip-regulator to go into the mouth of a large bottle. To this they had attached a long, slender, plastic tube, and to the far end of that a large, hollow feeding needle.

As the others watched anxiously, Jak had inserted the needle into the large vein on the inside of his father's left elbow. With his thumb Jak had softly rubbed the vein just above the needle's point, to assist the flow of the nutrient. Soon it was done. Mr. Carver had stirred and his eyelids had fluttered when the needle was inserted but he had not fully regained consciousness.

That first feeding so successfully accomplished, Mrs. Carver did not seem to worry quite so much about her husband, although she was careful to keep track of the feeding times, and to remind her sometimes forgetful son of his duty.

The feeding given this day, the boys consulted together.

"Shall we wear our spacesuits?" Jon asked.

"I don't see why. It's hot outside, but bearable, and the air's all right," Jak answered positively. "I not only tested it, but I breathed the sample I took in through the trap. It smells good, and hasn't hurt me any. We'll take our guns, and I want my magnifying glass and knapsack for specimens."

"And I'll put some multiform tools in my belt. Then, in case there's anything that needs doing on the tubes or hull, I can do it quickly."

The two brothers assembled their gear and Jon was just reaching for the button to open the inner door when they stopped short and shrank back.

For a terrific roar came from outside ... such a tremendous sound it penetrated even the hull of their ship!

3

At that horrid noise, the two boys stood frozen a moment, then with one accord raced to the control room, where they peered out of the quartzite ports.

"Great whales, look at that thing!" Jon shouted as they caught their first glimpse outside.

"Yeow!" Jak yelled in amazement. "What do you suppose it is?"

"Never saw anything like it before."

They stared in awe at the tremendous creature standing in the little clearing, looking belligerently toward their ship. It was so unlike any Earth beast it was no wonder the boys were startled. The huge body was covered with heavily matted fur. It must have been at least a dozen feet long, and stood about eight feet tall. But the striking thing was that the body was triangular, and the beast was three-legged—two at the back and one in front.

There was no tail, and the blocky legs—one at each corner of the weirdly triangular body—seemed to end in clawed feet. The head was shaped something like that of a horse, but the huge mouth, now partly open, was seen to contain great fangs, larger than those of any beast the boys had ever seen in Terran zoos or on any planet they had visited. Two of the tusks were almost like the ones they had seen in pictures of ancient saber-toothed tigers.

The whole getup gave such an effect of fierceness that both boys felt a shiver run down their spines. Jak's voice was tremulous as he spoke. "Yipe! I'm sure glad I'm not out there with that."

Jon was slow in answering. "Yet, if we're going out at all...." He hesitated, then continued, "We'll either have to chase it away, or kill it."

"If we can," his brother retorted.

"I think our guns'll handle it," Jon said. "The question is, how are we going to do it without exposing ourselves?"

Jak thought swiftly. "Maybe we could open the outer lock door a crack, just enough to see through and aim our guns."

"Yes, I guess that's it."

"Don't say anything to Mother," Jak cautioned.

"Of course not, silly. Come on, let's see if we can kill it."

The two ran to the airlock and opened the inner door. Leaving it open, they examined their guns