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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/29133-h.zip b/29133-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c3ee587 --- /dev/null +++ b/29133-h.zip diff --git a/29133-h/29133-h.htm b/29133-h/29133-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..60b47a8 --- /dev/null +++ b/29133-h/29133-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1035 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Shipwreck in the Sky, by Eando Binder + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + h1,h2 {text-align: right; font-weight: normal; line-height: 2em;} + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .bk1 {margin: 1em auto 3em; border-top: solid 2px; border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bk2 {float: left; width: 15em; margin: 1em 2em 1em 0;} + .pr1 {line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 4em;} + p.cap:first-letter {float: left; margin-right: .05em; padding-top: .05em; font-size: 300%; line-height: .8em; width: auto;} + .figt {float: left; clear: left; margin: 15px; padding: 0; width: 140px;} + .trn {border: solid 1px; margin: 3em 15%; min-height: 230px;} + .trn p {margin: 15px;} + a:link,a:visited {text-decoration: none;} + img {border: none;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Shipwreck in the Sky, by Eando Binder + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Shipwreck in the Sky + +Author: Eando Binder + +Release Date: June 15, 2009 [EBook #29133] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHIPWRECK IN THE SKY *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="bk1"><p><i><small>There is a warm feeling about welcoming back into the pages of a science +fiction magazine the work of a writer who is a legend in the genre. So, +here's Binder and a neatly wrapped-up package of a folktale of the future.</small></i></p></div> + +<div class="bk2"><h1><b>shipwreck<br /> +in<br /> +the<br /> +sky</b></h1> + +<h2><small><i>by ... Eando Binder</i></small></h2> + +<p class="pr1"><big><b>The flight into space that made +Pilot-Capt. Dan Barstow famous.</b></big></p></div> + +<p class="cap"><span class="smcap">The flight</span> was listed at +GHQ as <i>Project Songbird</i>. It was +sponsored by the Space Medicine +Labs of the U.S. Air Force. And +its pilot was Captain Dan Barstow.</p> + +<p>A hand-picked man, Dan Barstow, +chosen for the AF's most +important project of the year because +he and his VX-3 had already +broken all previous records +set by hordes of V-2s, Navy +Aerobees and anything else that +flew the skyways.</p> + +<p>Dan Barstow, first man to +cross the sea of air and sight +open, unlimited space. Pioneer +flight to infinity. He grinned and +hummed to himself as he settled +down for the long jaunt. Too +busy to be either thrilled or +scared he considered the thirty-seven +instruments he'd have to +read, the twice that many records +to keep, and the miles of +camera film to run. He had been +hand-picked and thoroughly conditioned +to take it all without +more than a ten percent increase +in his pulse rate. So he worked +as matter-of-factly as if he were +down in the Gs Centrifuge of +the Space Medicine Labs where +he had been schooled for this trip +for months.</p> + +<p>He kept up a running fire of +oral reports through his helmet +radio, down to Rough Rock and +his CO. "All Roger, sir ... +temperature falling fast but this +rubberoid space suit keeps me +cozy, no chills ... Doc Blaine +will be happy to hear that! +Weightless sensations pretty queer +and I feel upside-down as much +as rightside-up, but no bad effects.... +Taking shots of the +sun's corona now with color +film ... huh? Oh, yes, sir, it's +beautiful all right, now that you +mention it. But, hell, sir, who's +got the time for aesthetics now?... +Oops, <i>that</i> was a close one! +Tenth meteor whizzing past. +Makes me think of flak back +on those Berlin bombing runs."</p> + +<p>Dan couldn't help wincing +when the meteors peppered down +past. The "flak" of space. Below +he could see the meteors +flare up brightly as they hit the +atmosphere. Most of those near +his position were small, none +bigger than a baseball, and Dan +took comfort in the fact that his +rocket was small too, in the immensity +around him. A direct +hit would be sheer bad luck, but +the good old law of averages was +on his side.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Colonel, this tin can I'm +riding is holding together okay," +Dan continued to Rough Rock. +If he paused even a second in his +reports a top-sergeant's yell from +the Colonel's throat came back +for him to keep talking. Every +bit of information he could transmit +to them was a vital revelation +in this USAF-Alpha +exploration of open space beyond +Earth's air cushion, with ceiling +unlimited to infinity.</p> + +<p>"Cosmic rays, sir? Sure, the +reading shot up double on the +Geiger ... huh? Naw, I don't +feel a thing ... like Doc Baird +suspected, we invented a lot of +Old Wives' Tales in <i>advance</i>, before +going into space. I feel fine, +so you can put down cosmic ray +intensity as a Boogey Man.... +What's that? Yeah, yeah, sir, the +stars shine without winking up +here. What else?... Space is +inky black—no deep purples or +queer more-than-blacks like some +jetted-up writers dreamed up—just +plain old ordinary dead +black. Earth, sir?... Well, it +does look dish-shaped from up +here, concave.... Sure, I can +see all the way to Europe and—say! +Here's something unexpected. +I can see that hurricane +off the coast of Florida.... You +said it, sir! Once we install +permanent space stations up here +it will be easy to spot typhoons, +volcano eruptions, tidal waves, +earthquakes, what have you, the +moment they start. If you ask +me, with a good telescope you +could even spot forest fires the +minute they broke out, not to +mention a sneak bombing on a +target city—uh, sorry, sir, I forgot."</p> + +<p>Dan broke off and almost +retched as his stomach turned a +flip-flop to end all flip-flops. The +VX-3 had reached the peak of +its trajectory at over 1000 miles +altitude and now turned down, +lazily at first. He gulped oxygen +from the emergency tube at his +lips and felt better.</p> + +<p>"Turning back on schedule, +Rough Rock. Peak altitude 1037 +miles. Everything fine, no danger. +This was all a cinch.... +HEY! Wait.... Something not +in the books has popped up ... +stand by!"</p> + +<p>Dan had felt the rocket swing +a bit, strangely, as if gripped by +a strong force. Instead of falling +directly down toward Earth with +a slight pitch, it slanted sideways +and spun on its long axis. And +then Dan saw what it was....</p> + +<p>Beneath, intercepting his trajectory, +coming around fast over +the curvature of Earth, was a tiny +black worldlet, 998 miles above +Earth. It might be an enormous +meteor, but Dan felt he was +right the first time. For it wasn't +falling like a meteor but swinging +parallel to Earth's surface on +even keel.</p> + +<p>He stared at the unexpected +discovery, as amazed as if it were +a fire-breathing dragon out of +legend. For it was, actually, he +realized in swift, stunned comprehension, +more amazing than +any legend.</p> + +<p>Dan kept his voice calm. +"Hello, Rough Rock.... Listen ... +nobody expected <i>this</i> ... +hold your hat, sir, and sit down. +I've discovered a <i>second moon</i> +of Earth!... Uhhuh, you heard +me right! a second moon! Tie +that, will you?... Sure, it's +tiny, less than a mile in diameter +I'd say. Dead black in color. +Guess that's why telescopes never +spotted it. Tiny and black, +blends into the black backdrop +of space. It has terrific speed. +And that little maverick's gravitational +field caught my rocket.... +Of course it can't yank me +away from Earth gravity, but the +trouble is—yipe! my rocket and +that moonlet may be in for a +mutual <i>collision</i> course...."</p> + +<p>Dan's trained eye suddenly saw +that grim possibility. Barreling +around Earth in a narrow orbit +with a speed of something near +or over 12,000 miles an hour the +tiny new moon had, since his +ascent, charged directly into his +downward free fall. It was a +chance in a thousand for a direct +hit, except for one added factor—the +moonlet exerted enough +gravity pull out of its many-million +ton bulk to warp the rocket +into its path. And the thousand-to-one +odds were thus wiped out, +becoming even money.</p> + +<p>"Nip and tuck," reported Dan, +answering the excited pleadings +and questions from Rough Rock. +"It won't be a head-on crash. I +may even miss entirely.... Oh, +Lord! Not with that spire of rock +sticking up from it.... I'm going +to hit that ..."</p> + +<p>Dan had heard an atomic +bomb blast once and it sounded +like a string of them set off at +once as the rocket smashed into +the rocky prominence. The rock +splintered. The rocket splintered. +But Dan was not there to be +splintered likewise. He had +jammed down a button, at the +critical moment, and the rocket's +emergency escape-hatch had +ejected him a split-second before +the violent impact.</p> + +<p>But Dan blacked out, receiving +some of the concussion of +the exploding rocket. When his +eyes snapped open he was floating +like a feather in open, airless +space. His rubberoid space +suit, living up to its rigid tests, +had inflated to its elastic limit. +But it held and within its automatic +units began feeding him +oxygen, heat and radio-power. +He had a chance, now, because +he had been ejected cleanly from +the rocket, without damage to the +protective suit.</p> + +<p>The stars wheeled dizzily +around him. Dan finally saw the +reason why. He was not just +floating as a free agent in space. +He was circling the black moonlet, +at perhaps a thousand yards +from its pitted surface.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Rough Rock," he +called. "Still alive and kicking, +sir. Only now, of all crazy-mad +things, <i>I'm</i> a moon of <i>this</i> moon! +The collision must have knocked +me clear out of my down-to-Earth +orbit.... I must have been +ejected in the same direction as +the moonlet's course, in its gravity +field.... I don't know. Let +an electronic brain figure it out +some time.... Anyway, now +I'm being dragged along in the +orbit of the moonlet—how about +<i>that</i>? Yes, sir, I'm circling down +closer and closer to the moonlet.... +No, don't worry, sir. It +was a weak gravity pull, only a +fraction of an Earth-g. So I'm +drifting down gently as a cloud.... +Stand by for my landing on +Earth's second moon!"</p> + +<p>The bloated figure in the +bulging space suit circled the +black stony surface several more +times, in a narrowing spiral, and +finally landed with a soft skidding +bump that didn't even jar +Dan's teeth. He bounced several +times from a diminishing height +of fifty-odd feet in grotesque +slow-motion before he finally +came to a stop.</p> + +<p>He sat still for a moment, adjusting +to the fantastic fact of +being shipwrecked on an unchartered +moonlet, crowding down +his pulse rate which might be +over ten percent normal now.</p> + +<p>"Okay, Rough Rock, I hear +you.... You're telling me, sir?... +Obviously, I'm <i>marooned</i> +here. No rocket to leave with. +No way to get back to terra +firma ... what? If you'll pardon +my saying so, sir, that's a +silly question.... Of course I'm +scared! Scared green. Sorry about +the rocket, sir, losing it for you.... +Me, sir? Thank you, sir. +But stop apologizing, will you? +I know you haven't got any +duplicates of the VX-3 ready, +no rescue rocket...."</p> + +<p>Dan listened a moment longer +then broke in roughly. "Oh, +for Pete's sake, will you stop crying +over me, sir? So I get mine +here. I might have gotten it +over Berlin, too. Forget it—sir."</p> + +<p>Dan grinned suddenly. "Look, +what have I got to kick about? +I'll go out in a flash of glory—at +least one headline will put it +that way—and I'll get credit in +the history books as the man who +discovered that Earth has <i>two</i> +moons! What more could I ask, +really?"</p> + +<p>Dan blushed at the reply from +Rough Rock. "Will you lay off +please, Colonel? How else should +a man take it? I'm still scared +silly inside. But, look, I've really +got something to report now. +This little runt moon makes +tracks around Earth in probably +two hours minus. If I remember +my Spacenautics right I'm already +looking down over the +Grand Canyon, heading west. +I'm going to get a pretty terrific +bird's-eye view of the whole +world in two more hours, which +is just about how much oxygen +I've got left.... Lucky, eh?"</p> + +<p>Dan looked down, watching in +fascination the majestic wheeling +of the Earth below him. His little +moonlet did not rotate, or +rather it rotated once for each +revolution around Earth, as the +Moon did, keeping one face +earthward, giving him an uninterrupted +view. The Sierras on +Earth hove into clear view and +the broad Pacific. There would +follow Hawaii, then Japan, Asia, +Europe.... No, he saw he was +slanting southwest. It would be +across the equator, past Australia, +perhaps near the South +Pole, then up around over the +top of the world past Greenland, +following that great circle around +the globe. In any case, his was +the speediest trip around the +world ever made by man!</p> + +<p>"Before we're out of mutual +range, Rough Rock, I'm going to +explore this new moon. Me and +Columbus! Stand by for reports."</p> + +<p>Dan did his walking in huge +leaps that propelled him fifty feet +at a step with slight effort, due +to the extremely feeble gravity of +the tiny body. What did he weigh +here? Probably no more than +an ounce or two.</p> + +<p>"Nothing much to report, +Colonel. It's a dead, airless pip-squeak +planetoid, just a big mile-thick +rock, probably. No life, no +vegetation, no people, no nothing. +Guess you might call me the Man +in the Second Moon—and the +joke's on me! Well, one and +three-quarter hours of oxygen left, +by the gauge, or 105 minutes—sounds +like more that way.... +What's that, sir? Your voice is +getting faint. Any last requests +from me? Well, one favor maybe. +Pick up my body some day +with another rocket.... Yeah, +it'll stay preserved up here in +this deep-freeze of space.... +Thanks, sir.... Can't hear you +much now. Going out of range. +Give Betty my fondest. You +know, the blonde.... Well, sir—goodbye +now."</p> + +<p>Dan was glad that Rough +Rock's radio voice faded to a +whispery nothingness. It wasn't +easy to stay casual now. There +was nothing more to say, really, +and he didn't want to hear any +more crying from the CO. The +Old Man had sounded almost +hysterical. He wanted just to be +alone with his thoughts now, +making his final peace with the +universe....</p> + +<p>He checked the gauge with his +watch—ninety minutes of oxygen +to zero. Or, he thought with a +grin, eternity minus ninety +minutes.</p> + +<p>He was beginning to have +trouble breathing. But it was +awesomely grand, watching the +sweep of Earth beneath him, the +procession of dots that were +islands strung across the Pacific +South Seas like a necklace of +green beads. He was still within +radio range of ships below at sea. +Yet he didn't contact them. He +had nothing to say, like a ghost +in the sky.</p> + +<p>Idly, he kept pitching loose +stones, watching their rifle-like +speed away from him. Again a +phenomenon of the weak gravity +of the moonlet. Actually, he was +able to pick up a boulder ten feet +across and heave it away with +ease. <i>We who are about to die +amuse ourselves</i>, he thought. +Then, because a thread of stubborn +hope still clung in a corner +of his mind, he got an idea. It +had lurked just beyond his mental +grasp for some time now. Something +significant....</p> + +<p>Abruptly, face alight, Dan +switched on his radio and contacted +a ship below, asking them +to relay him to Rough Rock with +their more powerful transmitter.</p> + +<p>"Ahoy, Rough Rock! Stop +adding up my insurance, Colonel! +I'm coming back.... No, sir, I +haven't gone out of my head, +sir. It's so simple it's a laugh, +sir.... See you in a few hours, +sir!"</p> + +<p>And he did.</p> + +<p>Dan grinned when they hauled +his dripping form from the sea. +Aboard the search plane they cut +him out of the space suit to which +was still attached his emergency +twin parachute. But his helmet +was gone, ripped loose, for Dan +had been breathing fresh Earth +air during the long parachute +descent.</p> + +<p>They stared at him as at a dead +man come alive.</p> + +<p>"Impossible to escape?" He +chuckled, repeating their babble. +"That's what <i>I</i> thought too, until +I remembered those data tables +on gravity and Escape Velocity +and such—how, on the Moon, +the Escape Velocity is much less +than on Earth. And on that tiny +second moon—well, my clue was +when I threw a stone into the air +<i>and it never came back</i>."</p> + +<p>Dan gulped hot coffee.</p> + +<p>"I got off the moonlet myself +then, got up to more than a mile +above it where I was free of its +feeble gravity. But I was still in +the same orbit circling Earth. +I'd have continued revolving as +a human satellite forever, of +course, but for this emergency +gadget hooked to my belt."</p> + +<p>Dan held up the metal gun with +its empty tank and needle-nose +half burned away.</p> + +<p>"Reaction pistol. Fires hydrazine +and oxidizer, ordinary jet-rocket +principle. Aiming it toward +the stars, opposite earth, its reactive +blasts shoved me Earthward, +thanks to Newton. I needed +a speed of about one-half mile a +second. The powerful little jet +gun had only my small mass to +shove in free space, without +gravity or friction. That broke +me from free-fall <i>around</i> Earth +to gravity-fall <i>toward</i> Earth.</p> + +<p>"Then I spiraled down under +gravity pull. I reached lung-filling +air density just in time, before my +oxygen gave out. One more +danger was that I began heating +up like a meteor due to air friction. +I flung out a prayer first, +followed by my twin parachutes, +designed for extreme initial shock. +They held. Slowed me to a paratrooper's +drift the rest of the way +down."</p> + +<p>"Wait," a puzzled pilot objected. +"Your story doesn't hang +together. <i>How</i> did you get off +that moonlet? How did you get +up there, a mile above it, away +from its gravity? There was nobody +to throw <i>you</i>, like a stone."</p> + +<p>"I threw myself," said Dan. +"First I ran as fast as I could, +maybe halfway around that moonlet, +to get a good running start. +And then—"</p> + +<p>Dan Barstow's grin then was +undoubtedly the biggest grin in +history....</p> + +<p>"Well, then, since the feeble +gravity couldn't pull me back +again, what I really did was to +<i>jump clear off that moon</i>."</p> + +<div class="trn"><div class="figt"><a href="images/001-2.jpg"><img src="images/001-1.jpg" width="140" height="200" alt="" title="" /></a></div> + +<p><b><big>Transcriber's Note:</big></b></p> + +<p>This etext was produced from <i>Fantastic Universe</i> March 1954. +Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. +copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and +typographical errors have been corrected without note.</p></div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Shipwreck in the Sky, by Eando Binder + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHIPWRECK IN THE SKY *** + +***** This file should be named 29133-h.htm or 29133-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/1/3/29133/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Shipwreck in the Sky + +Author: Eando Binder + +Release Date: June 15, 2009 [EBook #29133] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHIPWRECK IN THE SKY *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + _There is a warm feeling about welcoming back into the pages of a + science fiction magazine the work of a writer who is a legend in the + genre. So, here's Binder and a neatly wrapped-up package of a + folktale of the future._ + + + shipwreck + in + the + sky + + _by ... Eando Binder_ + + + The flight into space that made + Pilot-Capt. Dan Barstow famous. + + +The flight was listed at GHQ as _Project Songbird_. It was sponsored by +the Space Medicine Labs of the U.S. Air Force. And its pilot was Captain +Dan Barstow. + +A hand-picked man, Dan Barstow, chosen for the AF's most important +project of the year because he and his VX-3 had already broken all +previous records set by hordes of V-2s, Navy Aerobees and anything else +that flew the skyways. + +Dan Barstow, first man to cross the sea of air and sight open, unlimited +space. Pioneer flight to infinity. He grinned and hummed to himself as +he settled down for the long jaunt. Too busy to be either thrilled or +scared he considered the thirty-seven instruments he'd have to read, the +twice that many records to keep, and the miles of camera film to run. He +had been hand-picked and thoroughly conditioned to take it all without +more than a ten percent increase in his pulse rate. So he worked as +matter-of-factly as if he were down in the Gs Centrifuge of the Space +Medicine Labs where he had been schooled for this trip for months. + +He kept up a running fire of oral reports through his helmet radio, down +to Rough Rock and his CO. "All Roger, sir ... temperature falling fast +but this rubberoid space suit keeps me cozy, no chills ... Doc Blaine +will be happy to hear that! Weightless sensations pretty queer and I +feel upside-down as much as rightside-up, but no bad effects.... Taking +shots of the sun's corona now with color film ... huh? Oh, yes, sir, +it's beautiful all right, now that you mention it. But, hell, sir, who's +got the time for aesthetics now?... Oops, _that_ was a close one! Tenth +meteor whizzing past. Makes me think of flak back on those Berlin +bombing runs." + +Dan couldn't help wincing when the meteors peppered down past. The +"flak" of space. Below he could see the meteors flare up brightly as +they hit the atmosphere. Most of those near his position were small, +none bigger than a baseball, and Dan took comfort in the fact that his +rocket was small too, in the immensity around him. A direct hit would be +sheer bad luck, but the good old law of averages was on his side. + +"Yes, Colonel, this tin can I'm riding is holding together okay," Dan +continued to Rough Rock. If he paused even a second in his reports a +top-sergeant's yell from the Colonel's throat came back for him to keep +talking. Every bit of information he could transmit to them was a vital +revelation in this USAF-Alpha exploration of open space beyond Earth's +air cushion, with ceiling unlimited to infinity. + +"Cosmic rays, sir? Sure, the reading shot up double on the Geiger ... +huh? Naw, I don't feel a thing ... like Doc Baird suspected, we invented +a lot of Old Wives' Tales in _advance_, before going into space. I feel +fine, so you can put down cosmic ray intensity as a Boogey Man.... +What's that? Yeah, yeah, sir, the stars shine without winking up here. +What else?... Space is inky black--no deep purples or queer +more-than-blacks like some jetted-up writers dreamed up--just plain old +ordinary dead black. Earth, sir?... Well, it does look dish-shaped from +up here, concave.... Sure, I can see all the way to Europe and--say! +Here's something unexpected. I can see that hurricane off the coast of +Florida.... You said it, sir! Once we install permanent space stations +up here it will be easy to spot typhoons, volcano eruptions, tidal +waves, earthquakes, what have you, the moment they start. If you ask me, +with a good telescope you could even spot forest fires the minute they +broke out, not to mention a sneak bombing on a target city--uh, sorry, +sir, I forgot." + +Dan broke off and almost retched as his stomach turned a flip-flop to +end all flip-flops. The VX-3 had reached the peak of its trajectory at +over 1000 miles altitude and now turned down, lazily at first. He gulped +oxygen from the emergency tube at his lips and felt better. + +"Turning back on schedule, Rough Rock. Peak altitude 1037 miles. +Everything fine, no danger. This was all a cinch.... HEY! Wait.... +Something not in the books has popped up ... stand by!" + +Dan had felt the rocket swing a bit, strangely, as if gripped by a +strong force. Instead of falling directly down toward Earth with a +slight pitch, it slanted sideways and spun on its long axis. And then +Dan saw what it was.... + +Beneath, intercepting his trajectory, coming around fast over the +curvature of Earth, was a tiny black worldlet, 998 miles above Earth. It +might be an enormous meteor, but Dan felt he was right the first time. +For it wasn't falling like a meteor but swinging parallel to Earth's +surface on even keel. + +He stared at the unexpected discovery, as amazed as if it were a +fire-breathing dragon out of legend. For it was, actually, he realized +in swift, stunned comprehension, more amazing than any legend. + +Dan kept his voice calm. "Hello, Rough Rock.... Listen ... nobody +expected _this_ ... hold your hat, sir, and sit down. I've discovered a +_second moon_ of Earth!... Uhhuh, you heard me right! a second moon! Tie +that, will you?... Sure, it's tiny, less than a mile in diameter I'd +say. Dead black in color. Guess that's why telescopes never spotted it. +Tiny and black, blends into the black backdrop of space. It has terrific +speed. And that little maverick's gravitational field caught my +rocket.... Of course it can't yank me away from Earth gravity, but the +trouble is--yipe! my rocket and that moonlet may be in for a mutual +_collision_ course...." + +Dan's trained eye suddenly saw that grim possibility. Barreling around +Earth in a narrow orbit with a speed of something near or over 12,000 +miles an hour the tiny new moon had, since his ascent, charged directly +into his downward free fall. It was a chance in a thousand for a direct +hit, except for one added factor--the moonlet exerted enough gravity +pull out of its many-million ton bulk to warp the rocket into its path. +And the thousand-to-one odds were thus wiped out, becoming even money. + +"Nip and tuck," reported Dan, answering the excited pleadings and +questions from Rough Rock. "It won't be a head-on crash. I may even miss +entirely.... Oh, Lord! Not with that spire of rock sticking up from +it.... I'm going to hit that ..." + +Dan had heard an atomic bomb blast once and it sounded like a string of +them set off at once as the rocket smashed into the rocky prominence. +The rock splintered. The rocket splintered. But Dan was not there to be +splintered likewise. He had jammed down a button, at the critical +moment, and the rocket's emergency escape-hatch had ejected him a +split-second before the violent impact. + +But Dan blacked out, receiving some of the concussion of the exploding +rocket. When his eyes snapped open he was floating like a feather in +open, airless space. His rubberoid space suit, living up to its rigid +tests, had inflated to its elastic limit. But it held and within its +automatic units began feeding him oxygen, heat and radio-power. He had a +chance, now, because he had been ejected cleanly from the rocket, +without damage to the protective suit. + +The stars wheeled dizzily around him. Dan finally saw the reason why. He +was not just floating as a free agent in space. He was circling the +black moonlet, at perhaps a thousand yards from its pitted surface. + +"Hello, Rough Rock," he called. "Still alive and kicking, sir. Only now, +of all crazy-mad things, _I'm_ a moon of _this_ moon! The collision must +have knocked me clear out of my down-to-Earth orbit.... I must have been +ejected in the same direction as the moonlet's course, in its gravity +field.... I don't know. Let an electronic brain figure it out some +time.... Anyway, now I'm being dragged along in the orbit of the +moonlet--how about _that_? Yes, sir, I'm circling down closer and closer +to the moonlet.... No, don't worry, sir. It was a weak gravity pull, +only a fraction of an Earth-g. So I'm drifting down gently as a +cloud.... Stand by for my landing on Earth's second moon!" + +The bloated figure in the bulging space suit circled the black stony +surface several more times, in a narrowing spiral, and finally landed +with a soft skidding bump that didn't even jar Dan's teeth. He bounced +several times from a diminishing height of fifty-odd feet in grotesque +slow-motion before he finally came to a stop. + +He sat still for a moment, adjusting to the fantastic fact of being +shipwrecked on an unchartered moonlet, crowding down his pulse rate +which might be over ten percent normal now. + +"Okay, Rough Rock, I hear you.... You're telling me, sir?... Obviously, +I'm _marooned_ here. No rocket to leave with. No way to get back to +terra firma ... what? If you'll pardon my saying so, sir, that's a silly +question.... Of course I'm scared! Scared green. Sorry about the rocket, +sir, losing it for you.... Me, sir? Thank you, sir. But stop +apologizing, will you? I know you haven't got any duplicates of the VX-3 +ready, no rescue rocket...." + +Dan listened a moment longer then broke in roughly. "Oh, for Pete's +sake, will you stop crying over me, sir? So I get mine here. I might +have gotten it over Berlin, too. Forget it--sir." + +Dan grinned suddenly. "Look, what have I got to kick about? I'll go out +in a flash of glory--at least one headline will put it that way--and +I'll get credit in the history books as the man who discovered that +Earth has _two_ moons! What more could I ask, really?" + +Dan blushed at the reply from Rough Rock. "Will you lay off please, +Colonel? How else should a man take it? I'm still scared silly inside. +But, look, I've really got something to report now. This little runt +moon makes tracks around Earth in probably two hours minus. If I +remember my Spacenautics right I'm already looking down over the Grand +Canyon, heading west. I'm going to get a pretty terrific bird's-eye view +of the whole world in two more hours, which is just about how much +oxygen I've got left.... Lucky, eh?" + +Dan looked down, watching in fascination the majestic wheeling of the +Earth below him. His little moonlet did not rotate, or rather it rotated +once for each revolution around Earth, as the Moon did, keeping one face +earthward, giving him an uninterrupted view. The Sierras on Earth hove +into clear view and the broad Pacific. There would follow Hawaii, then +Japan, Asia, Europe.... No, he saw he was slanting southwest. It would +be across the equator, past Australia, perhaps near the South Pole, then +up around over the top of the world past Greenland, following that great +circle around the globe. In any case, his was the speediest trip around +the world ever made by man! + +"Before we're out of mutual range, Rough Rock, I'm going to explore this +new moon. Me and Columbus! Stand by for reports." + +Dan did his walking in huge leaps that propelled him fifty feet at a +step with slight effort, due to the extremely feeble gravity of the tiny +body. What did he weigh here? Probably no more than an ounce or two. + +"Nothing much to report, Colonel. It's a dead, airless pip-squeak +planetoid, just a big mile-thick rock, probably. No life, no vegetation, +no people, no nothing. Guess you might call me the Man in the Second +Moon--and the joke's on me! Well, one and three-quarter hours of oxygen +left, by the gauge, or 105 minutes--sounds like more that way.... What's +that, sir? Your voice is getting faint. Any last requests from me? Well, +one favor maybe. Pick up my body some day with another rocket.... Yeah, +it'll stay preserved up here in this deep-freeze of space.... Thanks, +sir.... Can't hear you much now. Going out of range. Give Betty my +fondest. You know, the blonde.... Well, sir--goodbye now." + +Dan was glad that Rough Rock's radio voice faded to a whispery +nothingness. It wasn't easy to stay casual now. There was nothing more +to say, really, and he didn't want to hear any more crying from the CO. +The Old Man had sounded almost hysterical. He wanted just to be alone +with his thoughts now, making his final peace with the universe.... + +He checked the gauge with his watch--ninety minutes of oxygen to zero. +Or, he thought with a grin, eternity minus ninety minutes. + +He was beginning to have trouble breathing. But it was awesomely grand, +watching the sweep of Earth beneath him, the procession of dots that +were islands strung across the Pacific South Seas like a necklace of +green beads. He was still within radio range of ships below at sea. Yet +he didn't contact them. He had nothing to say, like a ghost in the sky. + +Idly, he kept pitching loose stones, watching their rifle-like speed +away from him. Again a phenomenon of the weak gravity of the moonlet. +Actually, he was able to pick up a boulder ten feet across and heave it +away with ease. _We who are about to die amuse ourselves_, he thought. +Then, because a thread of stubborn hope still clung in a corner of his +mind, he got an idea. It had lurked just beyond his mental grasp for +some time now. Something significant.... + +Abruptly, face alight, Dan switched on his radio and contacted a ship +below, asking them to relay him to Rough Rock with their more powerful +transmitter. + +"Ahoy, Rough Rock! Stop adding up my insurance, Colonel! I'm coming +back.... No, sir, I haven't gone out of my head, sir. It's so simple +it's a laugh, sir.... See you in a few hours, sir!" + +And he did. + +Dan grinned when they hauled his dripping form from the sea. Aboard the +search plane they cut him out of the space suit to which was still +attached his emergency twin parachute. But his helmet was gone, ripped +loose, for Dan had been breathing fresh Earth air during the long +parachute descent. + +They stared at him as at a dead man come alive. + +"Impossible to escape?" He chuckled, repeating their babble. "That's +what _I_ thought too, until I remembered those data tables on gravity +and Escape Velocity and such--how, on the Moon, the Escape Velocity is +much less than on Earth. And on that tiny second moon--well, my clue was +when I threw a stone into the air _and it never came back_." + +Dan gulped hot coffee. + +"I got off the moonlet myself then, got up to more than a mile above it +where I was free of its feeble gravity. But I was still in the same +orbit circling Earth. I'd have continued revolving as a human satellite +forever, of course, but for this emergency gadget hooked to my belt." + +Dan held up the metal gun with its empty tank and needle-nose half +burned away. + +"Reaction pistol. Fires hydrazine and oxidizer, ordinary jet-rocket +principle. Aiming it toward the stars, opposite earth, its reactive +blasts shoved me Earthward, thanks to Newton. I needed a speed of about +one-half mile a second. The powerful little jet gun had only my small +mass to shove in free space, without gravity or friction. That broke me +from free-fall _around_ Earth to gravity-fall _toward_ Earth. + +"Then I spiraled down under gravity pull. I reached lung-filling air +density just in time, before my oxygen gave out. One more danger was +that I began heating up like a meteor due to air friction. I flung out a +prayer first, followed by my twin parachutes, designed for extreme +initial shock. They held. Slowed me to a paratrooper's drift the rest of +the way down." + +"Wait," a puzzled pilot objected. "Your story doesn't hang together. +_How_ did you get off that moonlet? How did you get up there, a mile +above it, away from its gravity? There was nobody to throw _you_, like a +stone." + +"I threw myself," said Dan. "First I ran as fast as I could, maybe +halfway around that moonlet, to get a good running start. And then--" + +Dan Barstow's grin then was undoubtedly the biggest grin in history.... + +"Well, then, since the feeble gravity couldn't pull me back again, what +I really did was to _jump clear off that moon_." + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from _Fantastic Universe_ March 1954. + Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. + copyright on this publication was renewed. 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