Ganymedean Life
SLOW, hard, and as the work had been at first, Stevens had his pace, and after a time, as his increased, the in number and and his progress and faster. Large as the "Forlorn Hope" was, space was soon at a premium, for their peculiarly-shaped a factory, a of and unknown in any single plant. Nothing was ornamental—everything was to its necessities—but every part with a to the of any good mechanic.
In a under the was the great turbine, to be full-fed by the but tight which to the of the gorge, up to the of that cataract. Bedded upon solid there was a high-tension of the entire of the turbine. This turbo-alternator was to a set of from which the energy would along three great copper cables—the of the being too small to the load—to the now of the "Forlorn Hope." All high-tension was and grounded, so that no to the possible of the Jovians the presence of this power plant. Housings, frames, spiders, all parts were rough, and massive; but bearings, shafts, armatures, all moving parts, were of a and and that promised months and years of trouble-free operation. Everything for the test, Stevens took off his and leather and and up the penstock. He walked down. Opening the head-gate, he upon its and took off in a perfect swan-dive; toward that two hundred below. He the water with a sharp, "slup!" and ashore, his as he ran toward the turbo-alternator. It was smoothly, and, that was tight at the end, he about the power plant until he was that nothing would go and that his home oil and would keep those cool.
Hunger him, and at the sun, he noted that it was well past dinner-time.
"Wow!" he aloud. "The just loves to wait meals—she'll me up for this!"
He ran toward "home," to tell his that the long moment had arrived—that power was now into their accumulators.
"Hi, Diana of the bow!" he called. "How come you no the dinner bell? Power's on—come give it a look!"
There was no answer to his hail, and Stevens paused in amazement. He that of her own would she be out so late—Nadia was gone! A of that which he already only too well. Forgotten was his hunger, the power plant, the that his Nadia, the in his Universe, was or ... he not complete the thought, to himself.
Swiftly he came to a and off his suit, the of a Hercules—a for any he put upon it. Always in hard training, months of physical labor and of had him up to a point at which he would have himself, he have into a mirror. Mighty but and under his clear skin as he here and there, for what ahead of him. He the space-suit which they had prepared months before, while they were still of possible attack. It was with at every point, and the of the helmet, already of glass, had been re-enforced with thick bars. Tank and air at normal pressure, so that his powerful at full efficiency, not by the of Ganymede. The in steel-protected which left his hands free, yet from attack—wristlets tight to maintain the in pressure, yet not tight to cut off the circulation. He took up his war-bow and the full of arrows—full-feathered and pointed with barbed, of steel—and into their the long and razor-sharp and the double-edged dirk, which he had and ground long since for he not what emergency, and bell-shaped of protected his hands and wrists. Thus equipped, he had his normal weight; a which would to his advantage, than otherwise, in case of possible combat. With one last look around the "Forlorn Hope," every spoke to him of the who was gone, he a with water and food and opened the door.
"IT won't be long now; now it won't be long." Nadia happily, on her pack and taking up and for her daily hunt. "I that he do it, but what it takes to do things, he's got of," she to the song as she left the "Hope" with its very was a never-failing to her; as it did the ability of the man, brain and hands had almost a next-to-impossible task.
Through the and up a well-worn she climbed, and soon came out upon the bench that was her grounds. Upon this day, however, she was full of happy and her mind was upon her work. She was of Stevens, of their love, of the power which he might turn on that very day, and of the possible for which she had to hope. Thus it was that she walked miles her limits without having an arrow, and she was when she up at the sun to see that the was gone and that she was almost to the foothills, which rose a range of mountains.
"Snap out of it, girl!" she herself. "Go on wool-gathering like this and your man will go hungry—and he'll you right off at the ankles!" She again the huntress, and soon saw an animal along the of a hill. It was a six-legged, deer-like creature, much larger than anything she had as yet seen. But it was meat and her time was short, therefore she range and an with the full power of her bow. Unfamiliar as she was with the of the creature, the did not kill. The "hexaped," as she named it, away and she after it. She, like her companion, had in musculature, and were the of Ganymede, who equal her speed upon that small globe, with its force.
Up the it darted. Beyond the and into a two the Nadia's third the animal down. Bending over the game, she of a but sweet perfume and up, to see something which she had not noticed when the had fallen. It was an flower, at least a in and in its and splendor. Almost level with her the upon its stem; by a of enormous, smooth, dark green leaves. Entranced by this and display, Nadia of the fragrance—and upon the ground. Thereupon the plant moved over toward her, and the thick to her knees. This thing, however, did not like the cloth of her and to the hexaped. It of its into the upon the and fed, while two other together, sending out a call.
In answer to the the crackled, and through it and upon the there a vegetable-animal nightmare—the parent of the thing perfume had the girl.
Its and was supported by a long, flexible, stem, and its was of many and leaves. There were and and mighty, but tendrils; there were which to some of perception; there was the of which by their and the along the ground. Parent and child upon the and soon and were all that The then about the girl in her covering, and as a of powerful about her and her into the air over the of the thing, its brain almost be as it that, now full fed, it should this other along, to its other when they should return to its side.
BARELY the door of the "Forlorn Hope" Stevens about with a imprecation. He had already time needlessly—with a plate he more ground in ten minutes than he in a week. He on the power and the out over the to the where he Nadia was to hunt. Not her there, he the in an circle around that district. Finally he saw a twigs, and the with care. He soon the of fresh blood which marked the path of the of the hexaped, and with the of the device he was using, it was not long until he was studying the where the had taken place. He when he saw the and three of Nadia's arrows, but soon saw that the was not and was reassured. Casting about in every direction, he Nadia's bow, and saw a peculiar, path leading from the kill, past the bow, the valley. He not the spoor, but it was easily followed, and he the along it at speed until he came up with the that was making it—until he saw what that was carrying.
He to the of the lifeboat, then his hand. While the of power now was to the plates, yet it would be many hours the would be in condition to drive the that distance.
"It'll take over an hour to there—here's I can check in all x," he savagely, as he took note of the and direction of the creature's and set off at a fast jog-trot.
The flower's that all was not well was when Stevens' steel-shod upon its and one cut of his off the and the two that still the Nadia. With a quick of his shoulder, he her into the smooth-beaten the had and to away—but the he had in the girl had been for the thing to him, and he himself for his very life. No soft-leaved this, but a full-grown monster, well with of and defense. Well it was for the man that he was in as those saw-edged, hard-spiked against him with force; well it was for him that he had his own air supply, so that that perfume about his head! Hard and as those terrible were, they do no more than his armor. His powerful left arm, the double-razor-edged in short, arcs, managed to keep the from about his right arm, which was the heavy, sword. Every time that it its length through and leaves; but more than once a about his and his as though in a vise, while those frightful, to their way through the to the the metal housing. Dirk and and triumphed, but it was not until each was from every other that the gave up the ghost.
NADIA had been out into pure air, the zone of the perfume, and she her in time to see the of the battle. Stevens, that his was du combat, toward the spot where he had Nadia's body. He saw that she was unharmed, and toward her in relief. He was measure, however, to see her away at a he not to equal, as he was; at him the while to keep away from her. He stopped, astounded, and started to his helmet, she toward him, him to his as it was. He still and at her, an question large upon his face, until she clear to him that he was to her at a safe distance, then she set off at a walk. She him to where the had fallen, where she her and arrows; then, a upon all sides, she on to a small of water. She the man go out into the middle of the and and roll over in the water, him immersions. She him continue the until she not the of the sweet, but of that terrible of Ganymedean life. Only then did she allow him to remove his helmet, so that she give him the for which they had and tell him what it was all about.
"So that's it, ace!" he exclaimed, still her in his iron embrace. "Great of fire! I maybe you were still a little cuckoo. Anaesthetic perfume, huh? Hot stuff, I'd say—no wonder you bit—I would, too. It's lucky for us I was air-tight—we'd be fee...."
"Stop it!" she him sharply, "Forget it—don't think of it!"
"All x, ace. It's out like the well light. What to do? It's than a hat, and we're a long way from home. Don't know I my way in the dark or not; and just you and me, I'm not particularly on night travel in these parts after what's just happened. Are you?"
"Anything else but," she him, fervently. "I'd until tomorrow."
"No need of that—I've along supper for of us. I'm as a wolf, too, now that I have time to think of it. We'll eat and up somewhere—or climb a tree. Those can't climb trees!"
"There's a little there about a hundred meters. We'll it's the Ritz," and they soon had a fire in of the retreat. There they ate of the Stevens had brought. Then, while the man rolled up the narrow entrance of the cave, Nadia and a soft upon its warm, floor.
"Good night, lover," and the girl, and secure now that Stevens was at her side, was almost asleep; but the man was not sleepy. He of the power plant, now sending its of energy into his accumulators. He of the radio—where he all the materials needed? He of his friends, or not they would his message. He of Breckenridge and the other beings who had been the Arcturus, as to their fate. He of Newton and of his own people, who had them up for long since.
But above all he of the beautiful, steel-true there asleep at his feet, and he at her, his in his eyes. The through the the boulders, a light the little cavern. Nadia there her upon one strong, little hand. Her were red and curved, her was and as so much velvet. She was with and with perfect health; and the man reflected, as he her hungrily, that this wild life had with her—she was more with every day.
"You little trump—you wonderful, lovely, square little brick!" he silently, and over to touch her with his lips. Slight as the was, it her, and in her sleep her mind sent out an hand, to touch her Steve and thus be reassured. He pressed her hand and she settled comfortably, with a long, breath; and he his iron-clad length her and closed his eyes, not to waste a minute of this night in sleep.
When he opened them an later, it was daylight, the had been rolled away, the of meat the atmosphere, and Nadia was making a clamor, his with the of his saber.
"Daylight in the swamp, you sleeper!" she exclaimed. "Roll out or roll up! Come and it, I it away!"
"I must have been of tired," he said sheepishly, when he saw that she had a bird and had for them while he had been in oblivion.
"Peculiar, too, isn't it?" Nadia asked, pointedly. "You only did about ten days' work yesterday in ten minutes, this of yours. Why, you played with it as though it were a knitting-needle, and when I wanted to wake you up with it, I it."
"Thought you didn't want that mentioned?" he to the talk away from his with the broadsword.
"That was yesterday," airily. "Besides, I don't mind talking about you—it's about us being ... you know ... that I can't stand."
"All x, ace. I you right. Let's eat."
BREAKFAST over, they started the valley, Stevens his under his arm. Hardly had they started however, than Nadia's saw a movement through the trees, and, she stopped and pointed. Stevens looked once, then hand in hand they to their cave.
"We'll up some of the and you low," he her as he on his helmet. She open his face-plate.
"But what about you? Aren't you in, too?" she demanded.
"Can't—they'd us and us out. I'm safe in this armor—thank Heaven we it as solid as we did—and I'll 'em in the open. I'll 'em what the did to the buckwheat!"
"All right, I guess, but I wish I had my armor, too," she as he his plate and her into the with the same great he had used the night before. Then, Nadia safe from attack, he his of war-arrows into position over his shoulder, one at the on his bow-string and to the of up the toward him. Wild animals he had them, but as he and his in the throng, and he as he that those must be beings, for not only did they to each other, but he saw that they were with and arrows, spears, and slings!
Six-limbed they were, of a purplish-red color, with huge, and with staring, green, eyes. Two of the six were always legs, two always arms; the two, to a mid-section of the six-foot-long, almost body, be used at will as either or arms. Now, out of range, as they supposed, they and about one who was their leader; some and four hands while their in Stevens' direction, others around on four legs, of size for their slings.
Too away to use their own and only one small four-limbed creature, they their game already in the bag, but they had no of muscles, any of the power and range of a hundred-pound a steel-headed arrow. Thus, while they were arguing, Stevens took the offensive, and a war-head through the of their leader and the next him. Though surprised, they were not to be off, but with wild, to the attack. Stevens had no to waste, and every time that a yard-long at least one of the red horde—and a through which had one of those ghastly, hand-forged arrow-heads was of very little use thereafter. Accurately-sped against the re-enforced of his and against the protecting his hands. He was almost by the as the of the from his of steel, but he carefully, steadily, and powerfully until his last had been loosed. Then, the in his left hand and the long and a path of in the sun, he a of to meet the attackers. For a moments nothing that blade—severed heads, limbs, and of the air, but weight of numbers him down. As he fell, he saw the white of one of Nadia's hunting-arrows past his and itself to the in the of one of the above him. Nadia that her not her lover, and through a two she was into the of the her light with the full power of her bow.
Though down, the soon that Stevens was not out. In such close he not use his sword, but the fourteen-inch of the dirk, needle-pointed as it was and with two razor-sharp, edges, was itself no weapon, and time after time he it deep, taking life at every thrust. Four more red themselves upon the man, but not in to out its joints, their did no damage. Presently four more still and Stevens, with his, to them incredible, strength, was once more upon his in of their to his limbs, and was again his weapon. Half their upon the field, out by a small, but and being, the and ran, by Stevens to the point where the red had halted. He his and returned to the cave, opening his face-plate as he came.
"All x, sweetheart?" he asked, away the boulders. "Didn't anything through to you, did they?"
"No, they didn't that I was taking part in the battle, I guess. Did they you while they had you down? I was to death for a minute."
"No, the old held. One of them must have on my some, the and the heel-plate, but he couldn't through. 'Sa small opening there, too—must have my 'way around to in at all. Have to that joint up a little, I guess. I'll I've got a black spot and spot there the size of my hand—maybe it's only the size of yours, though."
"You won't die of that, probably. Heavens, Steve, that of yours is a thing in action! Suppose it's safe for us to go home?"
"Absolutely—right now is the best we'll have, and something tells me that we'd make it snappy. They'll be back, and next time they won't be so easy to take."
"All x, then—hold me, Steve, I can't the of that—-let alone through it. I'm going to or something, sure."
"As you were!" he snapped. "You aren't going to pass out now that it's all over! It's a mess, I know, but your and I'll you out of sight."
"Aren't we out of of that place yet?" she after a time.
"I have been for a while," he confessed, "but you're pretty, aren't you? And you aren't very heavy—not here on Ganymede, anyway!"
"PUT me down!" she commanded. "After that I won't play with you any more at all—I'll up my marbles and go home!"
He her and they toward their waterfall, sharp-set for in any form, animal or vegetable. On the way across the Stevens another hexaped, and upon the above the river Nadia and small animals, but it was not until they were actually in their own little that their and their relaxed.
"After this, ace, we together and we go to while we're hunting. It me out of a year's when you up missing."
"We sure do, Steve," she emphatically. "I'm not going to more than a away from you from now on. What do you those are?"
"Which?"
"Both."
"Those flowers aren't like anything Tellus saw, so we have no of comparison. They may be a of a plant, or they may be a link the animal and the vegetable kingdom. However, we don't to study 'em, so let's 'em. Those animals were beings; they are a of of this satellite."
"Then the are probably...."
"Not necessarily—there may well be different types, each toward civilization. They are on Venus, and they once were on Mars."
"Why haven't we anything like that before, in all these months? Things have been so and peaceful that we we had the whole world to ourselves, as as or men were concerned."
"We saw them we where they lived—you were a long from your stamping-grounds, you know. That animal-vegetable flower is a high-altitude organism, in the and as low as we are here. As for the savages—whatever they are—they come five of the falls. Many think that are by demons, and maybe these are the same way."
"We don't know much about our new world yet, do we?"
"We sure don't—and I'm not particularly on out much more about it until we for trouble, either. Well, here we are—just like home to see the 'Hope,' isn't it?"
"It is home, and will be until we one of our own on earth," and after Stevens had read his meters, learning with that the full was still into the accumulators, he to cut up the meat.
"Now that you've got the power-plant at last, what next?" asked Nadia, the in the freezer.
"Brandon's ultra-radio comes next, but it's got more to it than a cubist's picture of a set of prisms; so many that I don't know where to begin. There, that job's done—let's and I'll talk at you awhile. Maybe us we can out where to start. I've got to it up for the tube, but that's got me stopped cold. You see, of are all right in most places, but I've got to have one tube, and it's got to have the possible vacuum. That means a mercury-vapor super pump. Mercury is the only thing that will do the and the is one thing that is by its in these parts. So are for filaments, for plates, and for leads; and I haven't anything that I can use as a getter, either—a metal, you know, to the to clean up the last of in it."
"I didn't that such a thing as a radio you up, after the perfectly that you have done already—but I see now how it could. Of course, the in our over there are too small?"
"Yes, they are only and tubes, and I need a high-power tube—a fifty-kilowatter, at least. I'd give my left leg to the joint for one of those big water-cooled, sixty-kilowatt ten-nineteens right now—it would save us a of grief."
"Maybe you up those and use the plates and so on?"
"I of that, but it won't work—there isn't metal in the lot, and the in particular are so that I couldn't possibly work them over into a big one. Then, too, we haven't got many tubes, and if I the ones we're using, I put our out of for good, so that we can't for help if we have to home—and I still don't any mercury."
"Do you to tell me there's no on this whole planet?"
"Not exactly; but I do that I haven't been able to any, and that it's scarce. And since all the other I want are also very and of high weight, they're here, too. Why? Because we're on a satellite, and no what you accept for the of satellites, you come to the same conclusion—that are either or most and toward the center. There are of in Jupiter somewhere, but we couldn't them. Jupiter's is one of fog, and we couldn't see, since we haven't got an infra-red transformer. I one, in time, but it would take a while—and we couldn't work on Jupiter, anyway, of its and of its atmosphere. And if we work there, we don't want to the of our for mercury." Stevens silent, in thought.
"You mean, dear, that we're..." Nadia off, the unfinished.
"Gosh, no! There's of not yet, and we can always set out to it. I was only of the tube. And I'm trying to think ... say, Nadia, what do you know about Cantrell's Comet?"
"Not a thing, that I reading in the newspapers that it was for something or other. But what has Cantrell's Comet got to do with the high cost of living—or with radio tubes? Have you gone all of a sudden?"
"You'll be surprised!" Stevens at her puzzled expression. "Cantrell's Comet is one of Jupiter's family and is in being the most one to science. It was until after they those thousand-foot on the Moon, where the is always perfect, but it has been a since then. Its is small, but heavy—it to have an of around sixteen. There's and else that's there, girl! They ought to be there in such quantity that such a as I am them!"
"HEAVENS, Steve!" A look of over Nadia's face, then as as it had come into being. "But of course, aren't dangerous."
"Sure not. A comet's tail, which so many people are of as being gas, is almost a perfect vacuum, at its thickest, and we'd have to wear space-suits anyway. And speaking of ... whoopee! We don't need any more than a needs a gas-mask. When we Mr. Tube done, we'll take him out into space, his mouth open, and very he'll be as empty as a flapper's skull. Then we'll seal him up, him out, come here, and start our into Brandon's shell-like ear!"
"Wonderful, Steve! You do an idea occasionally, don't you? But how do we out there? Where is this Cantrell's Comet?"
"I don't know, exactly—there's one rub. Another is that I haven't started the and units. But we've got some field-generators here on that I can use, so it won't be so bad. And our is in this part of the close. Wish we had an Ephemeris, a of I-P charts, and a telescope."
"You can't do much without an Ephemeris, I should think. It's a good thing you the going. You know the I-P time, day, and dates, anyway."
"I'll have to do without some things, that's all," and the man at the wall. "I something about its orbit, since it is one thing that all I-P have to clear of. Think I can it close so that we'll be able to it in our little telescope, or on our plate, since we'll be out of this atmosphere. And it might not be a idea for us to away, anyway. I'm of those on that space-ship, they were, and they must live around here somewhere. Cantrell's Comet about fifty Jupiter's at aphelion—close for us to reach, and yet too for them to us easily. By the time we here, they will have looking for us, if they look at all. Then too, I these to us up. What say, little ace—do we try it or do we here?"
"You know best, Steve. As I said before, I'm with you from now on, in you think best to do. I know that you think it best to go out there. Therefore, so do I."
"Well," he said, finally, "I'd busy, then—there's a to do we can start. The radio doesn't come next, after all—the and come ahead of it. They won't labor, in any event, since we'll have to have them in case the radio fails. You'd in a of while I'm on that stuff, but don't go out of sight, and like if you see anything. We'd wear full every time we go out-of-doors—unless I'm all out of we aren't done with those yet. Even though they may be of the of the falls, I think they'll have at least one more try at us."
While Nadia in meat and vegetables and them away, Stevens the problem of the pair of tight-beam, auto-dirigible and which would his great turbo-alternator to the of their craft, it might be in space. From the force-field of the "Forlorn Hope" he the two most for his purpose, them to the exact he required, and around them a of and coils.
Day after day passed. Their was full, the was finished, and the was almost to to the turbo-alternator the was broken.
"Steve!" Nadia shrieked. Glancing into the plate, she had been the territory. "They're coming! Thousands of them! They're all over the bench up there, and just the and up the valley!"
"Wish they'd waited a hours longer—we'd have been gone. However, we're just about for them," he grimly, as he over her into the plate. "We'll make a of those Indians wish that they had at home with their papooses."
"Have you got all those and up?"
"Not as many as I'd like to have. You see, I don't know the of the I-P ray, since it is to the police. Of I have out from Brandon, but paid any attention to it. I've got some ultra-violet, though, and a short-wave that'll cook an elephant to a in about eight seconds. We'll keep them amused, no fooling! Glad we had time to our open sides, and it looks as though that we put over the may be useful, too."
On and on the came, in some of discipline. This time there was neither yelling; the and methodically. Here and there were groups of hundreds, them which Stevens with interest.
"Hm ... m ... m. Catapults," he mused. "You were right, girl of my dreams—armor and and wouldn't help us much right now. They're going to at us that'll have and momentum. With those they can in our side-armor, and might our roof. When one of those hits, we want to know where it ain't, that's all."
Stevens off the heavily-insulated the power plant leads to his now almost accumulators, himself and Nadia into place at the controls, and waited, into the plate. Catapult after was to the lip of the little canyon, until six of them upon the target. The of hair, fiber, and were up to the limit, and of were rolled upon the platforms. Each "gunner" his trip, and as the leader his the six of into the air as one. But they did not their objective, for as the was given, Stevens power into his projectors. The "Forlorn Hope" out of the and high into the air over the open meadow, just as the six great into the ground upon the spot which, an before, she had occupied.
RUDIMENTARY forgotten, the into the and the valley, in full of their urgings. Horns and arms fiercely, rent the air, and upon plate as the and upon the plain gave to their feelings.
"Look, Nadia! A whole of them are around that power plug. Pretty soon somebody's going to touch a spot, and when he does, we'll cut on the of them."
The plug, the ends of the three great leading to the of the turbo-alternator, upon the ground, its three open to arms. The chief, who had been the power-plant, walked along the lead and joined his at its terminus. Pointing with his horns, he orders and three red monsters, one at each cable, to the plug, while the leader himself an arm into each of the three holes. There was a of and the of flesh—those three arms had taken the no-load of the three-phase system, and the full power of the had been directly to ground through the small of his body.
Stevens had the "Forlorn Hope" in mid-air, so that the gleaming, of his projectors, upon the leading of the fortress, the below. As the of the to the ground, it to the six-limbed that the of the had been by their intrusion; for, as if in response to the of fire from the power plug, that so and so in the air came toward them. From it there fans of death and destruction: one and almost which at the and brain and tissues; the other an red, at the touch of which temperature to and into flame.
In their hundreds, the where they stood, life away by the ultra-violet, away by the blast of pure heat, or by the that that wide-sweeping material. In the of power they all of attack or of conquest, and only and to escape. Weapons were away, the were abandoned, and, every man for himself, the in disorder, each to put as much as possible himself and that place of mystery, the waterfall.
"Well, I that'll 'em for a while," Stevens their into its original in the canyon. "Whether they that this was by or not, they think so now. I'll that it will be six hundred Jovian years any of them come a hundred of it again. I'm of it, too, they'll let our power plant alone now. Well, let's going—we've got to make for a while!"
"Why all the rush? You just said that we have them away for good."
"The savages, yes, but not those others. We've just to affect all over the system, and it's up to us to this set up, away from here, and our power off they can us. Snap it up, ace!"
The unit was at the converters, the was out, and, having the last material link it and Ganymede, Stevens the "Forlorn Hope" out into space, using the Nadia endure. Hour after hour the of outward, away from Jupiter; hour after hour Stevens' his instruments; hour after hour and took the place of as the screens blank every into the empty ether. But they they would have to keep vigilance.
Continuing a Thrilling New Serial of Interplanetary Life and Travel by Edward E. Smith, Ph.D.
Author of "Skylark of Space," and "Skylark Three"
PART II
Spacehounds of IPC
ONE of the most of the is the comet. It goes through space, near to the earth to be seen, and then goes off and in distance. Often it has a orbit, which would make it to come back. Yet it may return—apparently the of sections. This only goes to prove once more that it is to say anything is impossible—even that our hero of this beautifully, with the of Cantrell's Comet, to avoid complete while in space.
Read "what before" and then continue the second instalment.
What Went Before:
THE Interplanetary Vessel Arcturus sets out for Mars, with Breckenridge as pilot, on board, its regular and some passengers, the famous Dr. Stevens, of space ships and computer. He by in observatories, and after he has any trouble and a plan for the of the from the earth to Mars, he reports his and to Mr. Newton, of the Interplanetary Corporation.
Stevens then takes Nadia, Mr. Newton's daughter, on a sight-seeing of the Arcturus and to her all of the of the vessel. Nadia has herself had a good science education. While they are at the of the ship—nearing the end of their tour—Stevens a movement of the from its course. When he on the visiplate, he is to that a of power has the Arcturus in places.
Nadia and Stevens are from the of the and of the ship, so they into a lifeboat, which is for a limited amount of space travel. Despite the and of the enemy destroyer, Stevens and Nadia make their in the lifeboat, which they call "Forlorn Hope," and make a safe landing on Ganymede, where Stevens plans to a power-plant and a radio transmitter, to him to with the earth or with the IPV Sirius, which is used by Westfall and Brandon (two of the world's best scientists) as a laboratory.
With the very and material available, Stevens sets to work on his power plant. Just as they have it and to start for Cantrell's Comet, where Stevens he can obtain the necessary metal for his tube, they a close call with plants on the and later with inhabitants, which their to the comet.
