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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..714ebfc --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #50928 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50928) diff --git a/old/50928-h.zip b/old/50928-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 0170d50..0000000 --- a/old/50928-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/50928-h/50928-h.htm b/old/50928-h/50928-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index ad1ec50..0000000 --- a/old/50928-h/50928-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1605 +0,0 @@ -<!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=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Hot Planet, by Hal Clement. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - -.ph1, .ph2, .ph3, .ph4 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; } -.ph1 { font-size: xx-large; margin: .67em auto; } -.ph2 { font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; } -.ph3 { font-size: large; margin: .83em auto; } -.ph4 { font-size: medium; margin: 1.12em auto; } - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hot Planet, by Hal Clement - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Hot Planet - -Author: Hal Clement - -Release Date: January 14, 2016 [EBook #50928] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOT PLANET *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="392" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> -<h1>HOT PLANET</h1> - -<p>By HAL CLEMENT</p> - -<p>Illustrated by FINLAY</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Galaxy Magazine August 1963.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph3">Mercury had no atmosphere—everyone knew<br /> -that. Why was it developing one now?</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph3">I</p> - -<p>The wind which had nearly turned the <i>Albireo's</i> landing into a -disaster instead of a mathematical exercise was still playing tunes -about the fins and landing legs as Schlossberg made his way down to -Deck Five.</p> - -<p>The noise didn't bother him particularly, though the endless seismic -tremors made him dislike the ladders. But just now he was able to -ignore both. He was curious—though not hopeful.</p> - -<p>"Is there anything at all obvious on the last sets of tapes, Joe?"</p> - -<p>Mardikian, the geophysicist, shrugged. "Just what you'd expect ... on -a planet which has at least one quake in each fifty-mile-square area -every five minutes. You know yourself we had a nice seismic program set -up, but when we touched down we found we couldn't carry it out. We've -done our best with the natural tremors—incidentally stealing most of -the record tapes the other projects would have used. We have a lot of -nice information for the computers back home; but it will take all of -them to make any sense out of it."</p> - -<p>Schlossberg nodded; the words had not been necessary. His astronomical -program had been one of those sabotaged by the transfer of tapes to the -seismic survey.</p> - -<p>"I just hoped," he said. "We each have an idea why Mercury developed -an atmosphere during the last few decades, but I guess the high school -kids on Earth will know whether it's right before we do. I'm resigned -to living in a chess-type universe—few and simple rules, but infinite -combinations of them. But it would be nice to know an answer sometime."</p> - -<p>"So it would. As a matter of fact, I need to know a couple right now. -From you. How close to finished are the other programs—or what's left -of them?"</p> - -<p>"I'm all set," replied Schlossberg. "I have a couple of instruments -still monitoring the sun just in case, but everything in the revised -program is on tape."</p> - -<p>"Good. Tom, any use asking you?"</p> - -<p>The biologist grimaced. "I've been shown two hundred and sixteen -different samples of rock and dust. I have examined in detail twelve -crystal growths which looked vaguely like vegetation. Nothing was alive -or contained living things by any standards I could conscientiously -set."</p> - -<p>Mardikian's gesture might have meant sympathy.</p> - -<p>"Camille?"</p> - -<p>"I may as well stop now as any time. I'll never be through. Tape didn't -make much difference to me, but I wish I knew what weight of specimens -I could take home."</p> - -<p>"Eileen?" Mardikian's glance at the stratigrapher took the place of the -actual question.</p> - -<p>"Cam speaks for me, except that I could have used any more tape you -could have spared. What I have is gone."</p> - -<p>"All right, that leaves me, the tape-thief. The last spools are in the -seismographs now, and will start running out in seventeen hours. The -tractors will start out on their last rounds in sixteen, and should be -back in roughly a week. Will, does that give you enough to figure the -weights we rockhounds can have on the return trip?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The <i>Albireo's</i> captain nodded. "Close enough. There really hasn't been -much question since it became evident we'd find nothing for the mass -tanks here. I'll have a really precise check in an hour, but I can -tell right now that you have about one and a half metric tons to split -up among the three of you.</p> - -<p>"Ideal departure time is three hundred ten hours away, as you all know. -We can stay here until then, or go into a parking-and-survey orbit at -almost any time before then. You have all the survey you need, I should -think, from the other time. But suit yourselves."</p> - -<p>"I'd just as soon be space-sick as seasick," remarked Camille Burkett. -"I still hate to think that the entire planet is as shivery as the spot -we picked."</p> - -<p>Willard Rowson smiled. "You researchers told me where to land after ten -days in orbit mapping this rockball. I set you just where you asked. If -you'd found even five tons of juice we could use in the reaction tanks -I could still take you to another one—if you could agree which one. I -hate to say 'Don't blame me,' but I can't think of anything else that -fits."</p> - -<p>"So we sit until the last of the tractors is back with the precious -seismo tapes, playing battleship while our back teeth are being -shaken out by earthquakes—excuse the word. What a thrill! Glorious -adventure!" Zaino, the communications specialist who had been out of a -job almost constantly since the landing, spoke sourly. The captain was -the only one who saw fit to answer.</p> - -<p>"If you want adventure, you made a mistake exploring space. The only -space adventures I've heard of are second-hand stories built on -guesswork; the people who really had them weren't around to tell about -it. Unless Dr. Marini discovers a set of Mercurian monsters at the last -minute and they invade the ship or cut off one of the tractors, I'm -afraid you'll have to do without adventures." Zaino grimaced.</p> - -<p>"That sounds funny coming from a spaceman, Captain. I didn't really -mean adventure, though; all I want is something to do besides betting -whether the next quake will come in one minute or five. I haven't even -had to fix a suit-radio since we touched down. How about my going out -with one of the tractors on this last trip, at least?"</p> - -<p>"It's all right with me," replied Rowson, "but Dr. Mardikian runs the -professional part of this operation. I require that Spurr, Trackman, -Hargedon and Aiello go as drivers, since without them even a minor -mechanical problem would be more than an adventure. As I recall it, Dr. -Harmon, Dr. Schlossberg, Dr. Marini and Dr. Mardikian are scheduled to -go; but if any one of them is willing to let you take his or her place, -I certainly don't mind."</p> - -<p>The radioman looked around hopefully. The geologists and the biologist -shook their heads negatively, firmly and unanimously; but the -astronomer pondered for a moment. Zaino watched tensely.</p> - -<p>"It may be all right," Schlossberg said at last. "What I want to get -is a set of wind, gas pressure, gas temperature and gas composition -measures around the route. I didn't expect to be more meteorologist -than astronomer when we left Earth, and didn't have exactly the right -equipment. Hargedon and Aiello helped me improvise some, and this is -the first chance to use it on Darkside. If you can learn what has to be -done with it before starting time, though, you are welcome to my place."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The communicator got to his feet fast enough to leave the deck in -Mercury's feeble gravity.</p> - -<p>"Lead me to it, Doc. I guess I can learn to read a home-made -weathervane!"</p> - -<p>"Is that merely bragging, or a challenge?" drawled a voice which had -not previously joined the discussion. Zaino flushed a bit.</p> - -<p>"Sorry, Luigi," he said hastily. "I didn't mean it just that way. But I -still think I can run the stuff."</p> - -<p>"Likely enough," Aiello replied. "Remember though, it wasn't made just -for talking into." Schlossberg, now on his feet, cut in quickly.</p> - -<p>"Come on, Arnie. We'll have to suit up to see the equipment; it's -outside."</p> - -<p>He shepherded the radioman to the hatch at one side of the deck and -shooed him down toward the engine and air lock levels. Both were silent -for some moments; but safely out of earshot of Deck Five the younger -man looked up and spoke.</p> - -<p>"You needn't push, Doc. I wasn't going to make anything of it. Luigi -was right, and I asked for it." The astronomer slowed a bit in his -descent.</p> - -<p>"I wasn't really worried," he replied, "but we have several months yet -before we can get away from each other, and I don't like talk that -could set up grudges. Matter of fact, I'm even a little uneasy about -having the girls along, though I'm no misogynist."</p> - -<p>"Girls? They're not—"</p> - -<p>"There goes your foot again. Even Harmon is about ten years older than -you, I suppose. But they're girls to me. What's more important, they no -doubt think of themselves as girls."</p> - -<p>"Even Dr. Burkett? That is—I mean—"</p> - -<p>"Even Dr. Burkett. Here, get into your suit. And maybe you'd better -take out the mike. It'll be enough if you can listen for the next -hour or two." Zaino made no answer, suspecting with some justice that -anything he said would be wrong.</p> - -<p>Each made final checks on the other's suit; then they descended -one more level to the airlock. This occupied part of the same deck -as the fusion plants, below the wings and reaction mass tanks but -above the main engine. Its outer door was just barely big enough to -admit a spacesuited person. Even with the low air pressure carried -by spaceships, a large door area meant large total force on jamb, -hinges and locks. It opened onto a small balcony from which a ladder -led to the ground. The two men paused on the balcony to look over the -landscape.</p> - -<p>This hadn't changed noticeably since the last time either had been out, -though there might have been some small difference in the volcanic -cones a couple of miles away to the northeast. The furrows down the -sides of these, which looked as though they had been cut by water but -were actually bone-dry ash slides, were always undergoing alteration as -gas from below kept blowing fresh scoria fragments out of the craters.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The spines—steep, jagged fragments of rock which thrust upward from -the plain beyond and to both sides of the cones—seemed dead as ever.</p> - -<p>The level surface between the <i>Albireo</i> and the cones was more -interesting. Mardikian and Schlossberg believed it to be a lava sheet -dating from early in Mercury's history, when more volatile substances -still existed in the surface rocks to cut down their viscosity when -molten. They supposed that much—perhaps most—of the surface around -the "twilight" belt had been flooded by this very liquid lava, which -had cooled to a smoother surface than most Earthly lava flows.</p> - -<p>How long it had stayed cool they didn't guess. But both men felt sure -that Mercury must have periodic upheavals as heat accumulated inside -it—heat coming not from radioactivity but from tidal energy. Mercury's -orbit is highly eccentric. At perihelion, tidal force tries to pull it -apart along the planet-to-sun line, while at aphelion the tidal force -is less and the little world's own gravity tries to bring it back to -a spherical shape. The real change in form is not great, but a large -force working through even a small amount of distance can mean a good -deal of energy.</p> - -<p>If the energy can't leak out—and Mercury's rocks conduct heat no -better than those of Earth—the temperature must rise.</p> - -<p>Sooner or later, the men argued, deeply buried rock must fuse to magma. -Its liquefaction would let the bulk of the planet give farther under -tidal stress, so heat would be generated even faster. Eventually a -girdle of magma would have to form far below the crust all around the -twilight strip, where the tidal strain would be greatest. Sooner or -later this would melt its way to the surface, giving the zone a period -of intense volcanic activity and, incidentally, giving the planet a -temporary atmosphere.</p> - -<p>The idea was reasonable. It had, the astronomer admitted, been -suggested long before to account for supposed vulcanism on the moon. -It justified the careful examination that Schlossberg and Zaino gave -the plain before they descended the ladder; for it made reasonable -the occasional changes which were observed to occur in the pattern of -cracks weaving over its surface.</p> - -<p>No one was certain just how permanent the local surface was—though -no one could really justify feeling safer on board the <i>Albireo</i> than -outside on the lava. If anything really drastic happened, the ship -would be no protection.</p> - -<p>The sun, hanging just above the horizon slightly to the watcher's -right, cast long shadows which made the cracks stand out clearly; -as far as either man could see, nothing had changed recently. They -descended the ladder carefully—even the best designed spacesuits are -somewhat vulnerable—and made their way to the spot where the tractors -were parked.</p> - -<p>A sheet-metal fence a dozen feet high and four times as long provided -shade, which was more than a luxury this close to the sun. The -tractors were parked in this shadow, and beside and between them were -piles of equipment and specimens. The apparatus Schlossberg had devised -was beside the tractor at the north end of the line, just inside the -shaded area.</p> - -<p>It was still just inside the shade when they finished, four hours -later. Hargedon had joined them during the final hour and helped -pack the equipment in the tractor he was to drive. Zaino had had no -trouble in learning to make the observations Schlossberg wanted, and -the youngster was almost unbearably cocky. Schlossberg hoped, as they -returned to the <i>Albireo</i>, that no one would murder the communications -expert in the next twelve hours. There would be nothing to worry about -after the trip started; Hargedon was quite able to keep anyone in his -place without being nasty about it. If Zaino had been going with Aiello -or Harmon—but he wasn't, and it was pointless to dream up trouble.</p> - -<p>And no trouble developed all by itself.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph3">II</p> - -<p>Zaino was not only still alive but still reasonably popular when -the first of the tractors set out, carrying Eileen Harmon and Eric -Trackman, the <i>Albireo's</i> nuclear engineer.</p> - -<p>It started more than an hour before the others, since the -stratigrapher's drilling program, "done" or not, took extra time. The -tractor hummed off to the south, since both Darkside routes required a -long detour to pass the chasm to the west. Routes had been worked out -from the stereo-photos taken during the orbital survey. Even Darkside -had been covered fairly well with Uniquantum film under Venus light.</p> - -<p>The Harmon-Trackman vehicle was well out of sight when Mardikian and -Aiello started out on one of the Brightside routes, and a few minutes -later Marini set out on the other with the spacesuit technician, Mary -Spurr, driving.</p> - -<p>Both vehicles disappeared quickly into a valley to the northeast, -between the ash cones and a thousand-foot spine which rose just south -of them. All the tractors were in good radio contact; Zaino made sure -of that before he abandoned the radio watch to Rowson, suited up and -joined Hargedon at the remaining one. They climbed in, and Hargedon set -it in motion.</p> - -<p>At about the same time, the first tractor came into view again, now -traveling north on the farther side of the chasm. Hargedon took this as -evidence that the route thus far was unchanged, and kicked in highest -speed.</p> - -<p>The cabin was pretty cramped, even though some of the equipment had -been attached outside. The men could not expect much comfort for the -next week.</p> - -<p>Hargedon was used to the trips, however. He disapproved on principle -of people who complained about minor inconveniences such as having -to sleep in spacesuits; fortunately, Zaino's interest and excitement -overrode any thought he might have had about discomfort.</p> - -<p>This lasted through the time they spent doubling the vast crack in -Mercury's crust, driving on a little to the north of the ship on the -other side and then turning west toward the dark hemisphere. The -route was identical to that of Harmon's machine for some time, though -no trace of its passage showed on the hard surface. Then Hargedon -angled off toward the southwest. He had driven this run often enough -to know it well even without the markers which had been set out with -the seismographs. The photographic maps were also aboard. With them, -even Zaino had no trouble keeping track of their progress while they -remained in sunlight.</p> - -<p>However, the sun sank as they traveled west. In two hours its lower rim -would have been on the horizon, had they been able to see the horizon; -as it was, more of the "sea level" lava plain was in shadow than not -even near the ship, and their route now lay in semi-darkness.</p> - -<p>The light came from peaks projecting into the sunlight, from scattered -sky-light which was growing rapidly fainter and from the brighter -celestial objects such as Earth. Even with the tractor's lights it was -getting harder to spot crevasses and seismometer markers. Zaino quickly -found the fun wearing off ... though his pride made him cover this fact -as best he could.</p> - -<p>If Hargedon saw this, he said nothing. He set Zaino to picking up -every other instrument, as any partner would have, making no allowance -for the work the youngster was doing for Schlossberg. This might, of -course, have had the purpose of keeping the radioman too busy to think -about discomfort. Or it might merely have been Hargedon's idea of -normal procedure.</p> - -<p>Whatever the cause, Zaino got little chance to use the radio once they -had driven into the darkness. He managed only one or two brief talks -with those left at the ship.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The talks might have helped his morale, since they certainly must have -given the impression that nothing was going on in the ship while at -least he had something to do in the tractor. However, this state of -affairs did not last. Before the vehicle was four hours out of sight of -the <i>Albireo</i>, a broadcast by Camille Burkett reached them.</p> - -<p>The mineralogist's voice contained at least as much professional -enthusiasm as alarm, but everyone listening must have thought promptly -of the dubious stability of Mercury's crust. The call was intended for -her fellow geologists Mardikian and Harmon. But it interested Zaino at -least as much.</p> - -<p>"Joe! Eileen! There's a column of what looks like black smoke rising -over Northeast Spur. It can't be a real fire, of course; I can't see -its point of origin, but if it's the convection current it seems to -be the source must be pretty hot. It's the closest thing to a genuine -volcano I've seen since we arrived; it's certainly not another of those -ash mounds. I should think you'd still be close enough to make it out, -Joe. Can you see anything?"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus1.jpg" width="600" height="315" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>The reply from Mardikian's tractor was inaudible to Zaino and Hargedon, -but Burkett's answer made its general tenor plain.</p> - -<p>"I hadn't thought of that. Yes, I'd say it was pretty close to the -Brightside route. It wouldn't be practical for you to stop your run now -to come back to see. You couldn't do much about it anyway. I could go -out to have a look and then report to you. If the way back is blocked -there'll be plenty of time to work out another." Hargedon and Zaino -passed questioning glances at each other during the shorter pause that -followed.</p> - -<p>"I know there aren't," the voice then went on, responding to the words -they could not hear, "but it's only two or three miles, I'd say. Two -to the spur and not much farther to where I could see the other side. -Enough of the way is in shade so I could make it in a suit easily -enough. I can't see calling back either of the dark-side tractors. -Their work is just as important as the rest—anyway, Eileen is probably -out of range. She hasn't answered yet."</p> - -<p>Another pause.</p> - -<p>"That's true. Still, it would mean sacrificing that set of seismic -records—no, wait. We could go out later for those. And Mel could take -his own weather measures on the later trip. There's plenty of time!"</p> - -<p>Pause, longer this time.</p> - -<p>"You're right, of course. I just wanted to get an early look at this -volcano, if it is one. We'll let the others finish their runs, and when -you get back you can check the thing from the other side yourself. If -it is blocking your way there's time to find an alternate route. We -could be doing that from the maps in the meantime, just in case."</p> - -<p>Zaino looked again at his companion.</p> - -<p>"Isn't that just my luck!" he exclaimed. "I jump at the first chance -to get away from being bored to death. The minute I'm safely away, the -only interesting thing of the whole operation happens—back at the -ship!"</p> - -<p>"Who asked to come on this trip?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'm not blaming anyone but myself. If I'd stayed back there the -volcano would have popped out here somewhere, or else waited until we -were gone."</p> - -<p>"If it is a volcano. Dr. Burkett didn't seem quite sure."</p> - -<p>"No, and I'll bet a nickel she's suiting up right now to go out and -see. I hope she comes back with something while we're still near enough -to hear about it."</p> - -<p>Hargedon shrugged. "I suppose it was also just your luck that sent you -on a Darkside trip? You know the radio stuff. You knew we couldn't -reach as far this way with the radios. Didn't you think of that in -advance?"</p> - -<p>"I didn't think of it, any more than you would have. It was bad luck, -but I'm not grousing about it. Let's get on with this job." Hargedon -nodded with approval, and possibly with some surprise, and the tractor -hummed on its way.</p> - -<p>The darkness deepened around the patches of lava shown by the driving -lights; the sky darkened toward a midnight hue, with stars showing -ever brighter through it; and radio reception from the <i>Albireo</i> -began to get spotty. Gas density at the ion layer was high enough so -that recombination of molecules with their radiation-freed electrons -was rapid. Only occasional streamers of ionized gas reached far over -Darkside. As these thinned out, so did radio reception. Camille -Burkett's next broadcast came through very poorly.</p> - -<p>There was enough in it, however, to seize the attention of the two men -in the tractor.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>She was saying: "—real all right, and dangerous. It's the ... thing I -ever saw ... kinds of lava from what looks like ... same vent. There's -high viscosity stuff building a spatter cone to end all spatter cones, -and some very thin fluid from somewhere at the bottom. The flow has -already blocked the valley used by the Brightside routes and is coming -along it. A new return route will have to be found for the tractors -that ... was spreading fast when I saw it. I can't tell how much will -come. But unless it stops there's nothing at all to keep the flow away -from the ship. It isn't coming fast, but it's coming. I'd advise all -tractors to turn back. Captain Rowson reminds me that only one takeoff -is possible. If we leave this site, we're committed to leaving Mercury. -Arnie and Ren, do you hear me?"</p> - -<p>Zaino responded at once. "We got most of it, Doctor. Do you really -think the ship is in danger?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know. I can only say that <i>if</i> this flow continues the -ship will have to leave, because this area will sooner or later be -covered. I can't guess how likely ... check further to get some sort -of estimate. It's different from any Earthly lava source—maybe you -heard—should try to get Eileen and Eric back, too. I can't raise -them. I suppose they're well out from under the ion layer by now. -Maybe you're close enough to them to catch them with diffracted waves. -Try, anyway. Whether you can raise them or not you'd better start back -yourself."</p> - -<p>Hargedon cut in at this point. "What does Dr. Mardikian say about that? -We still have most of the seismometers on this route to visit."</p> - -<p>"I think Captain Rowson has the deciding word here, but if it helps -your decision Dr. Mardikian has already started back. He hasn't -finished his route, either. So hop back here, Ren. And Arnie, put that -technical skill you haven't had to use yet to work raising Eileen and -Eric."</p> - -<p>"What I can do, I will," replied Zaino, "but you'd better tape a recall -message and keep it going out on. Let's see—band F."</p> - -<p>"All right. I'll be ready to check the volcano as soon as you get back. -How long?"</p> - -<p>"Seven hours—maybe six and a half," replied Hargedon. "We have to be -careful."</p> - -<p>"Very well. Stay outside when you arrive; I'll want to go right out in -the tractor to get a closer look." She cut off.</p> - -<p>"And <i>that</i> came through clearly enough!" remarked Hargedon as he swung -the tractor around. "I've been awake for fourteen hours, driving off -and on for ten of them; I'm about to drive for another six; and then -I'm to stand by for more."</p> - -<p>"Would you like me to do some of the driving?" asked Zaino.</p> - -<p>"I guess you'll have to, whether I like it or not," was the rather -lukewarm reply. "I'll keep on for awhile, though—until we're back in -better light. You get at your radio job."</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph3">III</p> - -<p>Zaino tried. Hour after hour he juggled from one band to another. Once -he had Hargedon stop while he went out to attach a makeshift antenna -which, he hoped, would change his output from broadcast to some sort -of beam; after this he kept probing the sky with the "beam," first -listening to the <i>Albireo's</i> broadcast in an effort to find projecting -wisps of ionosphere and then, whenever he thought he had one, switching -on his transmitter and driving his own message at it.</p> - -<p>Not once did he complain about lack of equipment or remark how much -better he could do once he was back at the ship.</p> - -<p>Hargedon's silence began to carry an undercurrent of approval not -usual in people who spent much time with Zaino. The technician made no -further reference to the suggestion of switching drivers. They came -in sight of the <i>Albireo</i> and doubled the chasm with Hargedon still at -the wheel, Zaino still at his radio and both of them still uncertain -whether any of the calls had gotten through.</p> - -<p>Both had to admit, even before they could see the ship, that Burkett -had had a right to be impressed.</p> - -<p>The smoke column showed starkly against the sky, blowing back over the -tractor and blocking the sunlight which would otherwise have glared -into the driver's eyes. Fine particles fell from it in a steady shower; -looking back, the men could see tracks left by their vehicle in the -deposit which had already fallen.</p> - -<p>As they approached the ship the dark pillar grew denser and narrower, -while the particles raining from it became coarser. In some places the -ash was drifting into fairly deep piles, giving Hargedon some anxiety -about possible concealed cracks. The last part of the trip, along the -edge of the great chasm and around its end, was really dangerous; -cracks running from its sides were definitely spreading. The two men -reached the <i>Albireo</i> later than Hargedon had promised, and found -Burkett waiting impatiently with a pile of apparatus beside her.</p> - -<p>She didn't wait for them to get out before starting to organize.</p> - -<p>"There isn't much here. We'll take off just enough of what you're -carrying to make room for this. No—wait. I'll have to check some of -your equipment; I'm going to need one of Milt Schlossberg's gadget's, I -think, so leave that on. We'll take—"</p> - -<p>"Excuse me, Doctor," cut in Hargedon. "Our suits need servicing, or at -least mine will if you want me to drive you. Perhaps Arnie can help you -load for a while, if you don't think it's too important for him to get -at the radio—"</p> - -<p>"Of course. Excuse me. I should have had someone out here to help me -with this. You two go on in. Ren, please get back as soon as you can. I -can do the work here; none of this stuff is very heavy."</p> - -<p>Zaino hesitated as he swung out of the cab. True, there wasn't too -much to be moved, and it wasn't very heavy in Mercury's gravity, -and he really should be at the radio; but the thirty-nine-year-old -mineralogist was a middle-aged lady by his standards, and shouldn't be -allowed to carry heavy packages....</p> - -<p>"Get along, Arnie!" the middle-aged lady interrupted this train of -thought. "Eric and Eileen are getting farther away and harder to reach -every second you dawdle!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He got, though he couldn't help looking northeast as he went rather -than where he was going.</p> - -<p>The towering menace in that direction would have claimed anyone's -attention. The pillar of sable ash was rising straighter, as though -the wind were having less effect on it. An equally black cone had -risen into sight beyond Northeast Spur—a cone that must have grown -to some two thousand feet in roughly ten hours. It had far steeper -sides than the cinder mounds near it; it couldn't be made of the same -loose ash. Perhaps it consisted of half-melted particles which were -fusing together as they fell—that might be what Burkett had meant by -"spatter-cone." Still, if that were the case, the material fountaining -from the cone's top should be lighting the plain with its incandescence -rather than casting an inky shadow for its entire height.</p> - -<p>Well, that was a problem for the geologists; Zaino climbed aboard and -settled to his task.</p> - -<p>The trouble was that he could do very little more here than he could -in the tractor. He could have improvised longer-wave transmitting -coils whose radiations would have diffracted a little more effectively -beyond the horizon, but the receiver on the missing vehicle would -not have detected them. He had more power at his disposal, but could -only beam it into empty space with his better antennae. He had better -equipment for locating any projecting wisps of charged gas which might -reflect his waves, but he was already located under a solid roof of the -stuff—the <i>Albireo</i> was technically on Brightside. Bouncing his beam -from this layer still didn't give him the range he needed, as he had -found both by calculation and trial.</p> - -<p>What he really needed was a relay satellite. The target was simply too -far around Mercury's sharp curve by now for anything less.</p> - -<p>Zaino's final gesture was to set his transmission beam on the lowest -frequency the tractor would pick up, aim it as close to the vehicle's -direction as he could calculate from map and itinerary and set the -recorded return message going. He told Rowson as much.</p> - -<p>"Can't think of anything else?" the captain asked. "Well, neither can -I, but of course it's not my field. I'd give a year's pay if I could. -How long before they should be back in range?"</p> - -<p>"About four days. A hundred hours, give or take a few. They'll be -heading back anyway by that time."</p> - -<p>"Of course. Well, keep trying."</p> - -<p>"I am—or rather, the equipment is. I don't see what else I can do -unless a really bright idea should suddenly sprout. Is there anywhere -else I could be useful? I'm as likely to have ideas working as just -sitting."</p> - -<p>"We can keep you busy, all right. But how about taking a transmitter up -one of those mountains? That would get your wave farther."</p> - -<p>"Not as far as it's going already. I'm bouncing it off the ion layer, -which is higher than any mountain we've seen on Mercury even if it's -nowhere near as high as Earth's."</p> - -<p>"Hmph. All right."</p> - -<p>"I could help Ren and Dr. Burkett. I could hang on outside the -tractor—"</p> - -<p>"They've already gone. You'd better call them, though, and keep a log -of what they do."</p> - -<p>"All right." Zaino turned back to his board and with no trouble raised -the tractor carrying Hargedon and the mineralogist. The latter had been -trying to call the <i>Albireo</i> and had some acid comments about radio -operators who slept on the job.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"There's only one of me, and I've been trying to get the Darkside -team," he pointed out. "Have you found anything new about this lava -flood?"</p> - -<p>"Flow, not flood," corrected the professional automatically. "We're -not in sight of it yet. We've just rounded the corner that takes us -out of your sight. It's over a mile yet, and a couple of more corners, -before we get to the spot where I left it. Of course, it will be closer -than that by now. It was spreading at perhaps a hundred yards an hour -then. That's one figure we must refine.... Of course, I'll try to get -samples, too. I wish there were some way to get samples of the central -cone. The whole thing is the queerest volcano I've ever heard of. Have -you gotten Eileen started back?"</p> - -<p>"Not as far as I can tell. As with your cone samples, there are -practical difficulties," replied Zaino. "I haven't quit yet, though."</p> - -<p>"I should think not. If some of us were paid by the idea we'd be pretty -poor, but the perspiration part of genius is open to all of us."</p> - -<p>"You mean I should charge a bonus for getting this call through?" -retorted the operator.</p> - -<p>Whatever Burkett's reply to this might have been was never learned; her -attention was diverted at that point.</p> - -<p>"We've just come in sight of the flow. It's about five hundred yards -ahead. We'll get as close as seems safe, and I'll try to make sure -whether it's really lava or just mud."</p> - -<p>"Mud? Is that possible? I thought there wasn't—couldn't be—any water -on this planet!"</p> - -<p>"It is, and there probably isn't. The liquid phase of mud doesn't have -to be water, even though it usually is on Earth. Here, for example, it -might conceivably be sulfur."</p> - -<p>"But if it's just mud, it wouldn't hurt the ship, would it?"</p> - -<p>"Probably not."</p> - -<p>"Then why all this fuss about getting the tractors back in a hurry?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The voice which answered reminded him of another lady in his past, who -had kept him after school for drawing pictures in math class.</p> - -<p>"Because in my judgment the flow is far more likely to be lava than -mud, and if I must be wrong I'd rather my error were one that left -us alive. I have no time at the moment to explain the basis of my -judgment. I will be reporting our activities quite steadily from now -on, and would prefer that you not interrupt unless a serious emergency -demands it, or you get a call from Eileen.</p> - -<p>"We are about three hundred yards away now. The front is moving about -as fast as before, which suggests that the flow is coming only along -this valley. It's only three or four feet high, so viscosity is very -low or density very high. Probably the former, considering where we -are. It's as black as the smoke column."</p> - -<p>"Not glowing?" cut in Zaino thoughtlessly.</p> - -<p>"<i>Black</i>, I said. Temperature will be easier to measure when we get -closer. The front is nearly straight across the valley, with just a few -lobes projecting ten or twelve yards and one notch where a small spine -is being surrounded. By the way, I trust you're taping all this?" Again -Zaino was reminded of the afternoon after school.</p> - -<p>"Yes, Ma'am," he replied. "On my one and only monitor tape."</p> - -<p>"Very well. We're stopping near the middle of the valley one hundred -yards from the front. I am getting out, and will walk as close as I -can with a sampler and a radiometer. I assume that the radio equipment -will continue to relay my suit broadcast back to you." Zaino cringed a -little, certain as he was that the tractor's electronic apparatus was -in perfect order.</p> - -<p>It struck him that Dr. Burkett was being more snappish than usual. It -never crossed his mind that the woman might be afraid.</p> - -<p>"Ren, don't get any closer with the tractor unless I call. I'll get a -set of temperature readings as soon as I'm close enough. Then I'll try -to get a sample. Then I'll come back with that to the tractor, leave it -and the radiometer and get the markers to set out."</p> - -<p>"Couldn't I be putting out the markers while you get the sample, -Doctor?"</p> - -<p>"You could, but I'd rather you stayed at the wheel." Hargedon made no -answer, and Burkett resumed her description for the record.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus3.jpg" width="600" height="203" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>"I'm walking toward the front, a good deal faster than it's flowing -toward me. I am now about twenty yards away, and am going to take a set -of radiation-temperature measures." A brief pause. "Readings coming. -Nine sixty. Nine eighty. Nine ninety—that's from the bottom edge near -the spine that's being surrounded. Nine eighty-five—" The voice -droned on until about two dozen readings had been taped. Then, "I'm -going closer now. The sampler is just a ladle on a twelve-foot handle -we improvised, so I'll have to get that close. The stuff is moving -slowly; there should be no trouble. I'm in reach now. The lava is very -liquid; there's no trouble getting the sampler in—or out again—it's -not very dense, either. I'm heading back toward the tractor now. No, -Ren, don't come to meet me."</p> - -<p>There was a minute of silence, while Zaino pictured the spacesuited -figure with its awkwardly long burden, walking away from the -creeping menace to the relative safety of the tractor. "It's frozen -solid already; we needn't worry about spilling. The temperature is -about—five eighty. Give me the markers, please."</p> - -<p>Another pause, shorter this time. Zaino wondered how much of that -could be laid to a faster walk without the ladle and how much to the -lessening distance between flow and tractor. "I'm tossing the first -marker close to the edge—it's landed less than a foot from the lava. -They're all on a light cord at ten-foot intervals; I'm paying out the -cord as I go back to the tractor. Now we'll stand by and time the -arrival at each marker as well as we can."</p> - -<p>"How close are you to the main cone?" asked Zaino.</p> - -<p>"Not close enough to see its base, I'm afraid. Or to get a sample of -it, which is worse. We—goodness, what was that?"</p> - -<p>Zaino had just time to ask, "What was what?" when he found out.</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph3">IV</p> - -<p>For a moment, he thought that the <i>Albireo</i> had been flung bodily into -the air. Then he decided that the great metal pillar had merely fallen -over. Finally he realized that the ship was still erect, but the ground -under it had just tried to leave.</p> - -<p>Everyone in the group had become so used to the almost perpetual ground -tremors that they had ceased to notice them; but this one demanded -attention. Rowson, using language which suggested that his career -might not have been completely free of adventure after all, flashed -through the communication level on his way down to the power section. -Schlossberg and Babineau followed, the medic pausing to ask Zaino if he -were all right. The radioman merely nodded affirmatively; his attention -was already back at his job. Burkett was speaking a good deal faster -than before.</p> - -<p>"Never mind if the sample isn't lashed tight yet—if it falls off -there'll be plenty more. There isn't time! Arnie, get in touch with Dr. -Mardikian and Dr. Marini. Tell them that this volcano is explosive, -that all estimates of what the flow may do are off until we can make -more measures, and in any case the whole situation is unpredictable. -Everyone should get back as soon as possible. Remember, we decided that -those big craters Eileen checked were not meteor pits. I don't know -whether this thing will let go in the next hour, the next year, or at -all. Maybe what's happening now will act as a safety valve—but let's -get out. Ren, that flow is speeding up and getting higher, and the ash -rain is getting a lot worse. Can you see to drive?"</p> - -<p>She fell silent. Zaino, in spite of her orders, left his set long -enough to leap to the nearest port for a look at the volcano.</p> - -<p>He never regretted it.</p> - -<p>Across the riven plain, whose cracks were now nearly hidden under the -new ash, the black cone towered above the nearer elevations. It was -visibly taller than it had been only a few hours before. The fountain -from its top was thicker, now jetting straight up as though wind no -longer meant a thing to the fiercely driven column of gas and dust. The -darkness was not so complete; patches of red and yellow incandescence -showed briefly in the pillar, and glowing sparks rather than black -cinders rained back on the steep slopes. Far above, a ring of smoke -rolled and spread about the column, forming an ever-broadening blanket -of opaque cloud above a landscape which had never before been shaded -from the sun. Streamers of lightning leaped between cloud and pillar, -pillar and mountain, even cloud and ground. Any thunder there might -have been was drowned in the howl of the escaping gas, a roar which -seemed to combine every possible note from the shrillest possible -whistle to a bass felt by the chest rather than heard by the ears. -Rowson's language had become inaudible almost before he had disappeared -down the hatch.</p> - -<p>For long moments the radioman watched the spreading cloud, and wondered -whether the <i>Albireo</i> could escape being struck by the flickering, -ceaseless lightning. Far above the widening ring of cloud the smoke -fountain drove, spreading slowly in the thinning atmosphere and beyond -it. Zaino had had enough space experience to tell at a glance whether -a smoke or dust cloud was in air or not. This wasn't, at least at the -upper extremity....</p> - -<p>And then, quite calmly, he turned back to his desk, aimed the antenna -straight up, and called Eileen Harmon. She answered promptly.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The stratigrapher listened without interruption to his report and the -order to return. She conferred briefly with her companion, replied -"We'll be back in twelve hours," and signed off. And that was that.</p> - -<p>Zaino settled back with a sign, and wondered whether it would be -tactful to remind Rowson of his offer of a year's pay.</p> - -<p>All four vehicles were now homeward bound; all one had to worry about -was whether any of them would make it. Hargedon and Burkett were -fighting their way through an ever-increasing ash rain a scant two -miles away—ash which not only cut visibility but threatened to block -the way with drifts too deep to negotiate. The wind, now blowing -fiercely toward the volcano, blasted the gritty stuff against their -front window as though it would erode through; and the lava flow, -moving far faster than the gentle ooze they had never quite measured, -surged—and glowed—grimly behind.</p> - -<p>A hundred miles or more to the east, the tractors containing Mardikian, -Marini and their drivers headed southwest along the alternate route -their maps had suggested; but Mardikian, some three hours in the lead, -reported that he could see four other smoke columns in that general -direction.</p> - -<p>Mercury seemed to be entering a new phase. The maps might well be out -of date.</p> - -<p>Harmon and Trackman were having no trouble at the moment, but they -would have to pass the great chasm. This had been shooting out daughter -cracks when Zaino and Hargedon passed it hours before. No one could say -what it might be like now, and no one was going out to make sure.</p> - -<p>"We can see you!" Burkett's voice came through suddenly. "Half a mile -to go, and we're way ahead of the flow."</p> - -<p>"But it's coming?" Rowson asked tensely. He had returned from the power -level at Zaino's phoned report of success.</p> - -<p>"It's coming."</p> - -<p>"How fast? When will it get here? Do you know whether the ship can -stand contact with it?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know the speed exactly. There may be two hours, maybe five -or six. The ship can't take it. Even the temperature measures I got -were above the softening point of the alloys, and it's hotter and much -deeper now. Anyway, if the others aren't back before the flow reaches -the ship they won't get through. The tractor wheels would char away, -and I doubt that the bodies would float. You certainly can't wade -through the stuff in a spacesuit, either."</p> - -<p>"And you think there can't be more than five or six hours before the -flow arrives?"</p> - -<p>"I'd say that was a very optimistic guess. I'll stop and get a better -speed estimate if you want, but won't swear to it."</p> - -<p>Rowson thought for a moment.</p> - -<p>"No," he said finally, "don't bother. Get back here as soon as you can. -We need the tractor and human muscles more than we need even expert -guesses." He turned to the operator.</p> - -<p>"Zaino, tell all the tractors there'll be no answer from the ship for a -while, because no one will be aboard. Then suit up and come outside." -He was gone.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Ten minutes later, six human beings and a tractor were assembled in the -flame-lit near-darkness outside the ship. The cloud had spread to the -horizon, and the sun was gone. Burkett and Hargedon had arrived, but -Rowson wasted no time on congratulations.</p> - -<p>"We have work to do. It will be easy enough to keep the lava from the -ship, since there seems to be a foot or more of ash on the ground and -a touch of main drive would push it into a ringwall around us; but -that's not the main problem. We have to keep it from reaching the -chasm anywhere south of us, since that's the way the others will -be coming. If they're cut off, they're dead. It will be brute work. -We'll use the tractor any way we can think of. Unfortunately it has no -plow attachment, and I can't think of anything aboard which could be -turned into one. You have shovels, such as they are. The ash is light, -especially here, but there's a mile and a half of dam to be built. I -don't see how it can possibly be done ... but it's going to be."</p> - -<p>"Come on, Arnie! You're young and strong," came the voice of the -mineralogist. "You should be able to lift as much of this stuff as I -can. I understand you were lucky enough to get hold of Eileen—have you -asked for the bonus yet?—but your work isn't done."</p> - -<p>"It wasn't luck," Zaino retorted. Burkett, in spite of her voice, -seemed much less of a schoolmistress when encased in a spacesuit and -carrying a shovel, so he was able to talk back to her. "I was simply -alert enough to make use of existing conditions, which I had to observe -for myself in spite of all the scientists around. I'm charging the -achievement to my regular salary. I saw—"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus4.jpg" width="351" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>He stopped suddenly, both with tongue and shovel. Then, "Captain!"</p> - -<p>"What is it?"</p> - -<p>"The only reason we're starting this wall here is to keep well ahead -of the flow so we can work as long as possible, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, I suppose so. I never thought of trying anywhere else. The valley -would mean a much shorter dam, but if the flow isn't through it by now -it would be before we could get there—oh! Wait a minute!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir. You can put the main switch anywhere in a D. C. circuit. -Where are the seismology stores we never had to use?"</p> - -<p>Four minutes later the tractor set out from the <i>Albireo</i>, carrying -Rowson and Zaino. Six minutes after that it stopped at the base of the -ash cone which formed the north side of the valley from which the lava -was coming. They parked a quarter of the way around the cone's base -from the emerging flood and started to climb on foot, both carrying -burdens.</p> - -<p>Forty-seven minutes later they returned empty-handed to the vehicle, to -find that it had been engulfed by the spreading liquid.</p> - -<p>With noticeable haste they floundered through the loose ash a few -yards above the base until they had outdistanced the glowing menace, -descended and started back across the plain to where they knew the -ship to be, though she was invisible through the falling detritus. -Once they had to detour around a crack. Once they encountered one -which widened toward the chasm on their right, and they knew a detour -would be impossible. Leaping it seemed impossible, too, but they did -it. Thirty seconds after this, forty minutes after finding the tractor -destroyed, the landscape was bathed in a magnesium-white glare as the -two one-and-a-half kiloton charges planted just inside the crater rim -let go.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Should we go back and see if it worked?" asked Zaino.</p> - -<p>"What's the use? The only other charges we had were in the tractor. -Thank goodness they were nuclear instead of H. E. If it didn't work -we'd have more trouble to get back than we're having now."</p> - -<p>"If it didn't work, is there any point in going back?"</p> - -<p>"Stop quibbling and keep walking. Dr. Burkett, are you listening?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Captain."</p> - -<p>"We're fresh out of tractors, but if you want to try it on foot you -might start a set of flow measures on the lava. Arnie wants to know -whether our landslide slid properly."</p> - -<p>However, the two were able to tell for themselves before getting back -to the <i>Albireo</i>.</p> - -<p>The flow didn't stop all at once, of course; but with the valley -feeding it blocked off by a pile of volcanic ash four hundred feet high -on one side, nearly fifty on the other and more than a quarter of a -mile long, its enthusiasm quickly subsided. It was thin, fluid stuff, -as Burkett had noted; but as it spread it cooled, and as it cooled it -thickened.</p> - -<p>Six hours after the blast it had stopped with its nearest lobe almost a -mile from the ship, less than two feet thick at the edge.</p> - -<p>When Mardikian's tractor arrived, Burkett was happily trying to analyze -samples of the flow, and less happily speculating on how long it would -be before the entire area would be blown off the planet. When Marini's -and Harmon's vehicles arrived, almost together, the specimens had been -loaded and everything stowed for acceleration. Sixty seconds after the -last person was aboard, the <i>Albireo</i> left Mercury's surface at two -gravities.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus2.jpg" width="600" height="319" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>The haste, it turned out, wasn't really necessary. She had been in -parking orbit nearly forty-five hours before the first of the giant -volcanoes reached its climax, and the one beside their former site was -not the first. It was the fourth.</p> - -<p>"And that seems to be that," said Camille Burkett rather tritely as -they drifted a hundred miles above the little world's surface. "Just a -belt of white-hot calderas all around the planet. Pretty, if you like -symmetry."</p> - -<p>"I like being able to see it from this distance," replied Zaino, -floating weightless beside her. "By the way, how much bonus should I -ask for getting that idea of putting the seismic charges to use after -all?"</p> - -<p>"I wouldn't mention it. Any one of us might have thought of that. We -all knew about them."</p> - -<p>"Anyone <i>might</i> have. Let's speculate on how long it would have been -before anyone <i>did</i>."</p> - -<p>"It's still not like the other idea, which involved your own specialty. -I still don't see what made you suppose that the gas pillar from the -volcano would be heavily charged enough to reflect your radio beam. How -did that idea strike you?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Zaino thought back, and smiled a little as the picture of lightning -blazing around pillar, cloud and mountain rose before his eyes.</p> - -<p>"You're not quite right," he said. "I was worried about it for a while, -but it didn't actually strike me."</p> - -<p>It fell rather flat; Camille Burkett, Ph.D., had to have it explained -to her.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hot Planet, by Hal Clement - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOT PLANET *** - -***** This file should be named 50928-h.htm or 50928-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/9/2/50928/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Hot Planet - -Author: Hal Clement - -Release Date: January 14, 2016 [EBook #50928] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOT PLANET *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - HOT PLANET - - By HAL CLEMENT - - Illustrated by FINLAY - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Galaxy Magazine August 1963. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - - - - Mercury had no atmosphere--everyone knew - that. Why was it developing one now? - - -I - -The wind which had nearly turned the _Albireo's_ landing into a -disaster instead of a mathematical exercise was still playing tunes -about the fins and landing legs as Schlossberg made his way down to -Deck Five. - -The noise didn't bother him particularly, though the endless seismic -tremors made him dislike the ladders. But just now he was able to -ignore both. He was curious--though not hopeful. - -"Is there anything at all obvious on the last sets of tapes, Joe?" - -Mardikian, the geophysicist, shrugged. "Just what you'd expect ... on -a planet which has at least one quake in each fifty-mile-square area -every five minutes. You know yourself we had a nice seismic program set -up, but when we touched down we found we couldn't carry it out. We've -done our best with the natural tremors--incidentally stealing most of -the record tapes the other projects would have used. We have a lot of -nice information for the computers back home; but it will take all of -them to make any sense out of it." - -Schlossberg nodded; the words had not been necessary. His astronomical -program had been one of those sabotaged by the transfer of tapes to the -seismic survey. - -"I just hoped," he said. "We each have an idea why Mercury developed -an atmosphere during the last few decades, but I guess the high school -kids on Earth will know whether it's right before we do. I'm resigned -to living in a chess-type universe--few and simple rules, but infinite -combinations of them. But it would be nice to know an answer sometime." - -"So it would. As a matter of fact, I need to know a couple right now. -From you. How close to finished are the other programs--or what's left -of them?" - -"I'm all set," replied Schlossberg. "I have a couple of instruments -still monitoring the sun just in case, but everything in the revised -program is on tape." - -"Good. Tom, any use asking you?" - -The biologist grimaced. "I've been shown two hundred and sixteen -different samples of rock and dust. I have examined in detail twelve -crystal growths which looked vaguely like vegetation. Nothing was alive -or contained living things by any standards I could conscientiously -set." - -Mardikian's gesture might have meant sympathy. - -"Camille?" - -"I may as well stop now as any time. I'll never be through. Tape didn't -make much difference to me, but I wish I knew what weight of specimens -I could take home." - -"Eileen?" Mardikian's glance at the stratigrapher took the place of the -actual question. - -"Cam speaks for me, except that I could have used any more tape you -could have spared. What I have is gone." - -"All right, that leaves me, the tape-thief. The last spools are in the -seismographs now, and will start running out in seventeen hours. The -tractors will start out on their last rounds in sixteen, and should be -back in roughly a week. Will, does that give you enough to figure the -weights we rockhounds can have on the return trip?" - - * * * * * - -The _Albireo's_ captain nodded. "Close enough. There really hasn't been -much question since it became evident we'd find nothing for the mass -tanks here. I'll have a really precise check in an hour, but I can -tell right now that you have about one and a half metric tons to split -up among the three of you. - -"Ideal departure time is three hundred ten hours away, as you all know. -We can stay here until then, or go into a parking-and-survey orbit at -almost any time before then. You have all the survey you need, I should -think, from the other time. But suit yourselves." - -"I'd just as soon be space-sick as seasick," remarked Camille Burkett. -"I still hate to think that the entire planet is as shivery as the spot -we picked." - -Willard Rowson smiled. "You researchers told me where to land after ten -days in orbit mapping this rockball. I set you just where you asked. If -you'd found even five tons of juice we could use in the reaction tanks -I could still take you to another one--if you could agree which one. I -hate to say 'Don't blame me,' but I can't think of anything else that -fits." - -"So we sit until the last of the tractors is back with the precious -seismo tapes, playing battleship while our back teeth are being -shaken out by earthquakes--excuse the word. What a thrill! Glorious -adventure!" Zaino, the communications specialist who had been out of a -job almost constantly since the landing, spoke sourly. The captain was -the only one who saw fit to answer. - -"If you want adventure, you made a mistake exploring space. The only -space adventures I've heard of are second-hand stories built on -guesswork; the people who really had them weren't around to tell about -it. Unless Dr. Marini discovers a set of Mercurian monsters at the last -minute and they invade the ship or cut off one of the tractors, I'm -afraid you'll have to do without adventures." Zaino grimaced. - -"That sounds funny coming from a spaceman, Captain. I didn't really -mean adventure, though; all I want is something to do besides betting -whether the next quake will come in one minute or five. I haven't even -had to fix a suit-radio since we touched down. How about my going out -with one of the tractors on this last trip, at least?" - -"It's all right with me," replied Rowson, "but Dr. Mardikian runs the -professional part of this operation. I require that Spurr, Trackman, -Hargedon and Aiello go as drivers, since without them even a minor -mechanical problem would be more than an adventure. As I recall it, Dr. -Harmon, Dr. Schlossberg, Dr. Marini and Dr. Mardikian are scheduled to -go; but if any one of them is willing to let you take his or her place, -I certainly don't mind." - -The radioman looked around hopefully. The geologists and the biologist -shook their heads negatively, firmly and unanimously; but the -astronomer pondered for a moment. Zaino watched tensely. - -"It may be all right," Schlossberg said at last. "What I want to get -is a set of wind, gas pressure, gas temperature and gas composition -measures around the route. I didn't expect to be more meteorologist -than astronomer when we left Earth, and didn't have exactly the right -equipment. Hargedon and Aiello helped me improvise some, and this is -the first chance to use it on Darkside. If you can learn what has to be -done with it before starting time, though, you are welcome to my place." - - * * * * * - -The communicator got to his feet fast enough to leave the deck in -Mercury's feeble gravity. - -"Lead me to it, Doc. I guess I can learn to read a home-made -weathervane!" - -"Is that merely bragging, or a challenge?" drawled a voice which had -not previously joined the discussion. Zaino flushed a bit. - -"Sorry, Luigi," he said hastily. "I didn't mean it just that way. But I -still think I can run the stuff." - -"Likely enough," Aiello replied. "Remember though, it wasn't made just -for talking into." Schlossberg, now on his feet, cut in quickly. - -"Come on, Arnie. We'll have to suit up to see the equipment; it's -outside." - -He shepherded the radioman to the hatch at one side of the deck and -shooed him down toward the engine and air lock levels. Both were silent -for some moments; but safely out of earshot of Deck Five the younger -man looked up and spoke. - -"You needn't push, Doc. I wasn't going to make anything of it. Luigi -was right, and I asked for it." The astronomer slowed a bit in his -descent. - -"I wasn't really worried," he replied, "but we have several months yet -before we can get away from each other, and I don't like talk that -could set up grudges. Matter of fact, I'm even a little uneasy about -having the girls along, though I'm no misogynist." - -"Girls? They're not--" - -"There goes your foot again. Even Harmon is about ten years older than -you, I suppose. But they're girls to me. What's more important, they no -doubt think of themselves as girls." - -"Even Dr. Burkett? That is--I mean--" - -"Even Dr. Burkett. Here, get into your suit. And maybe you'd better -take out the mike. It'll be enough if you can listen for the next -hour or two." Zaino made no answer, suspecting with some justice that -anything he said would be wrong. - -Each made final checks on the other's suit; then they descended -one more level to the airlock. This occupied part of the same deck -as the fusion plants, below the wings and reaction mass tanks but -above the main engine. Its outer door was just barely big enough to -admit a spacesuited person. Even with the low air pressure carried -by spaceships, a large door area meant large total force on jamb, -hinges and locks. It opened onto a small balcony from which a ladder -led to the ground. The two men paused on the balcony to look over the -landscape. - -This hadn't changed noticeably since the last time either had been out, -though there might have been some small difference in the volcanic -cones a couple of miles away to the northeast. The furrows down the -sides of these, which looked as though they had been cut by water but -were actually bone-dry ash slides, were always undergoing alteration as -gas from below kept blowing fresh scoria fragments out of the craters. - - * * * * * - -The spines--steep, jagged fragments of rock which thrust upward from -the plain beyond and to both sides of the cones--seemed dead as ever. - -The level surface between the _Albireo_ and the cones was more -interesting. Mardikian and Schlossberg believed it to be a lava sheet -dating from early in Mercury's history, when more volatile substances -still existed in the surface rocks to cut down their viscosity when -molten. They supposed that much--perhaps most--of the surface around -the "twilight" belt had been flooded by this very liquid lava, which -had cooled to a smoother surface than most Earthly lava flows. - -How long it had stayed cool they didn't guess. But both men felt sure -that Mercury must have periodic upheavals as heat accumulated inside -it--heat coming not from radioactivity but from tidal energy. Mercury's -orbit is highly eccentric. At perihelion, tidal force tries to pull it -apart along the planet-to-sun line, while at aphelion the tidal force -is less and the little world's own gravity tries to bring it back to -a spherical shape. The real change in form is not great, but a large -force working through even a small amount of distance can mean a good -deal of energy. - -If the energy can't leak out--and Mercury's rocks conduct heat no -better than those of Earth--the temperature must rise. - -Sooner or later, the men argued, deeply buried rock must fuse to magma. -Its liquefaction would let the bulk of the planet give farther under -tidal stress, so heat would be generated even faster. Eventually a -girdle of magma would have to form far below the crust all around the -twilight strip, where the tidal strain would be greatest. Sooner or -later this would melt its way to the surface, giving the zone a period -of intense volcanic activity and, incidentally, giving the planet a -temporary atmosphere. - -The idea was reasonable. It had, the astronomer admitted, been -suggested long before to account for supposed vulcanism on the moon. -It justified the careful examination that Schlossberg and Zaino gave -the plain before they descended the ladder; for it made reasonable -the occasional changes which were observed to occur in the pattern of -cracks weaving over its surface. - -No one was certain just how permanent the local surface was--though -no one could really justify feeling safer on board the _Albireo_ than -outside on the lava. If anything really drastic happened, the ship -would be no protection. - -The sun, hanging just above the horizon slightly to the watcher's -right, cast long shadows which made the cracks stand out clearly; -as far as either man could see, nothing had changed recently. They -descended the ladder carefully--even the best designed spacesuits are -somewhat vulnerable--and made their way to the spot where the tractors -were parked. - -A sheet-metal fence a dozen feet high and four times as long provided -shade, which was more than a luxury this close to the sun. The -tractors were parked in this shadow, and beside and between them were -piles of equipment and specimens. The apparatus Schlossberg had devised -was beside the tractor at the north end of the line, just inside the -shaded area. - -It was still just inside the shade when they finished, four hours -later. Hargedon had joined them during the final hour and helped -pack the equipment in the tractor he was to drive. Zaino had had no -trouble in learning to make the observations Schlossberg wanted, and -the youngster was almost unbearably cocky. Schlossberg hoped, as they -returned to the _Albireo_, that no one would murder the communications -expert in the next twelve hours. There would be nothing to worry about -after the trip started; Hargedon was quite able to keep anyone in his -place without being nasty about it. If Zaino had been going with Aiello -or Harmon--but he wasn't, and it was pointless to dream up trouble. - -And no trouble developed all by itself. - - -II - -Zaino was not only still alive but still reasonably popular when -the first of the tractors set out, carrying Eileen Harmon and Eric -Trackman, the _Albireo's_ nuclear engineer. - -It started more than an hour before the others, since the -stratigrapher's drilling program, "done" or not, took extra time. The -tractor hummed off to the south, since both Darkside routes required a -long detour to pass the chasm to the west. Routes had been worked out -from the stereo-photos taken during the orbital survey. Even Darkside -had been covered fairly well with Uniquantum film under Venus light. - -The Harmon-Trackman vehicle was well out of sight when Mardikian and -Aiello started out on one of the Brightside routes, and a few minutes -later Marini set out on the other with the spacesuit technician, Mary -Spurr, driving. - -Both vehicles disappeared quickly into a valley to the northeast, -between the ash cones and a thousand-foot spine which rose just south -of them. All the tractors were in good radio contact; Zaino made sure -of that before he abandoned the radio watch to Rowson, suited up and -joined Hargedon at the remaining one. They climbed in, and Hargedon set -it in motion. - -At about the same time, the first tractor came into view again, now -traveling north on the farther side of the chasm. Hargedon took this as -evidence that the route thus far was unchanged, and kicked in highest -speed. - -The cabin was pretty cramped, even though some of the equipment had -been attached outside. The men could not expect much comfort for the -next week. - -Hargedon was used to the trips, however. He disapproved on principle -of people who complained about minor inconveniences such as having -to sleep in spacesuits; fortunately, Zaino's interest and excitement -overrode any thought he might have had about discomfort. - -This lasted through the time they spent doubling the vast crack in -Mercury's crust, driving on a little to the north of the ship on the -other side and then turning west toward the dark hemisphere. The -route was identical to that of Harmon's machine for some time, though -no trace of its passage showed on the hard surface. Then Hargedon -angled off toward the southwest. He had driven this run often enough -to know it well even without the markers which had been set out with -the seismographs. The photographic maps were also aboard. With them, -even Zaino had no trouble keeping track of their progress while they -remained in sunlight. - -However, the sun sank as they traveled west. In two hours its lower rim -would have been on the horizon, had they been able to see the horizon; -as it was, more of the "sea level" lava plain was in shadow than not -even near the ship, and their route now lay in semi-darkness. - -The light came from peaks projecting into the sunlight, from scattered -sky-light which was growing rapidly fainter and from the brighter -celestial objects such as Earth. Even with the tractor's lights it was -getting harder to spot crevasses and seismometer markers. Zaino quickly -found the fun wearing off ... though his pride made him cover this fact -as best he could. - -If Hargedon saw this, he said nothing. He set Zaino to picking up -every other instrument, as any partner would have, making no allowance -for the work the youngster was doing for Schlossberg. This might, of -course, have had the purpose of keeping the radioman too busy to think -about discomfort. Or it might merely have been Hargedon's idea of -normal procedure. - -Whatever the cause, Zaino got little chance to use the radio once they -had driven into the darkness. He managed only one or two brief talks -with those left at the ship. - - * * * * * - -The talks might have helped his morale, since they certainly must have -given the impression that nothing was going on in the ship while at -least he had something to do in the tractor. However, this state of -affairs did not last. Before the vehicle was four hours out of sight of -the _Albireo_, a broadcast by Camille Burkett reached them. - -The mineralogist's voice contained at least as much professional -enthusiasm as alarm, but everyone listening must have thought promptly -of the dubious stability of Mercury's crust. The call was intended for -her fellow geologists Mardikian and Harmon. But it interested Zaino at -least as much. - -"Joe! Eileen! There's a column of what looks like black smoke rising -over Northeast Spur. It can't be a real fire, of course; I can't see -its point of origin, but if it's the convection current it seems to -be the source must be pretty hot. It's the closest thing to a genuine -volcano I've seen since we arrived; it's certainly not another of those -ash mounds. I should think you'd still be close enough to make it out, -Joe. Can you see anything?" - -The reply from Mardikian's tractor was inaudible to Zaino and Hargedon, -but Burkett's answer made its general tenor plain. - -"I hadn't thought of that. Yes, I'd say it was pretty close to the -Brightside route. It wouldn't be practical for you to stop your run now -to come back to see. You couldn't do much about it anyway. I could go -out to have a look and then report to you. If the way back is blocked -there'll be plenty of time to work out another." Hargedon and Zaino -passed questioning glances at each other during the shorter pause that -followed. - -"I know there aren't," the voice then went on, responding to the words -they could not hear, "but it's only two or three miles, I'd say. Two -to the spur and not much farther to where I could see the other side. -Enough of the way is in shade so I could make it in a suit easily -enough. I can't see calling back either of the dark-side tractors. -Their work is just as important as the rest--anyway, Eileen is probably -out of range. She hasn't answered yet." - -Another pause. - -"That's true. Still, it would mean sacrificing that set of seismic -records--no, wait. We could go out later for those. And Mel could take -his own weather measures on the later trip. There's plenty of time!" - -Pause, longer this time. - -"You're right, of course. I just wanted to get an early look at this -volcano, if it is one. We'll let the others finish their runs, and when -you get back you can check the thing from the other side yourself. If -it is blocking your way there's time to find an alternate route. We -could be doing that from the maps in the meantime, just in case." - -Zaino looked again at his companion. - -"Isn't that just my luck!" he exclaimed. "I jump at the first chance -to get away from being bored to death. The minute I'm safely away, the -only interesting thing of the whole operation happens--back at the -ship!" - -"Who asked to come on this trip?" - -"Oh, I'm not blaming anyone but myself. If I'd stayed back there the -volcano would have popped out here somewhere, or else waited until we -were gone." - -"If it is a volcano. Dr. Burkett didn't seem quite sure." - -"No, and I'll bet a nickel she's suiting up right now to go out and -see. I hope she comes back with something while we're still near enough -to hear about it." - -Hargedon shrugged. "I suppose it was also just your luck that sent you -on a Darkside trip? You know the radio stuff. You knew we couldn't -reach as far this way with the radios. Didn't you think of that in -advance?" - -"I didn't think of it, any more than you would have. It was bad luck, -but I'm not grousing about it. Let's get on with this job." Hargedon -nodded with approval, and possibly with some surprise, and the tractor -hummed on its way. - -The darkness deepened around the patches of lava shown by the driving -lights; the sky darkened toward a midnight hue, with stars showing -ever brighter through it; and radio reception from the _Albireo_ -began to get spotty. Gas density at the ion layer was high enough so -that recombination of molecules with their radiation-freed electrons -was rapid. Only occasional streamers of ionized gas reached far over -Darkside. As these thinned out, so did radio reception. Camille -Burkett's next broadcast came through very poorly. - -There was enough in it, however, to seize the attention of the two men -in the tractor. - - * * * * * - -She was saying: "--real all right, and dangerous. It's the ... thing I -ever saw ... kinds of lava from what looks like ... same vent. There's -high viscosity stuff building a spatter cone to end all spatter cones, -and some very thin fluid from somewhere at the bottom. The flow has -already blocked the valley used by the Brightside routes and is coming -along it. A new return route will have to be found for the tractors -that ... was spreading fast when I saw it. I can't tell how much will -come. But unless it stops there's nothing at all to keep the flow away -from the ship. It isn't coming fast, but it's coming. I'd advise all -tractors to turn back. Captain Rowson reminds me that only one takeoff -is possible. If we leave this site, we're committed to leaving Mercury. -Arnie and Ren, do you hear me?" - -Zaino responded at once. "We got most of it, Doctor. Do you really -think the ship is in danger?" - -"I don't know. I can only say that _if_ this flow continues the -ship will have to leave, because this area will sooner or later be -covered. I can't guess how likely ... check further to get some sort -of estimate. It's different from any Earthly lava source--maybe you -heard--should try to get Eileen and Eric back, too. I can't raise -them. I suppose they're well out from under the ion layer by now. -Maybe you're close enough to them to catch them with diffracted waves. -Try, anyway. Whether you can raise them or not you'd better start back -yourself." - -Hargedon cut in at this point. "What does Dr. Mardikian say about that? -We still have most of the seismometers on this route to visit." - -"I think Captain Rowson has the deciding word here, but if it helps -your decision Dr. Mardikian has already started back. He hasn't -finished his route, either. So hop back here, Ren. And Arnie, put that -technical skill you haven't had to use yet to work raising Eileen and -Eric." - -"What I can do, I will," replied Zaino, "but you'd better tape a recall -message and keep it going out on. Let's see--band F." - -"All right. I'll be ready to check the volcano as soon as you get back. -How long?" - -"Seven hours--maybe six and a half," replied Hargedon. "We have to be -careful." - -"Very well. Stay outside when you arrive; I'll want to go right out in -the tractor to get a closer look." She cut off. - -"And _that_ came through clearly enough!" remarked Hargedon as he swung -the tractor around. "I've been awake for fourteen hours, driving off -and on for ten of them; I'm about to drive for another six; and then -I'm to stand by for more." - -"Would you like me to do some of the driving?" asked Zaino. - -"I guess you'll have to, whether I like it or not," was the rather -lukewarm reply. "I'll keep on for awhile, though--until we're back in -better light. You get at your radio job." - - -III - -Zaino tried. Hour after hour he juggled from one band to another. Once -he had Hargedon stop while he went out to attach a makeshift antenna -which, he hoped, would change his output from broadcast to some sort -of beam; after this he kept probing the sky with the "beam," first -listening to the _Albireo's_ broadcast in an effort to find projecting -wisps of ionosphere and then, whenever he thought he had one, switching -on his transmitter and driving his own message at it. - -Not once did he complain about lack of equipment or remark how much -better he could do once he was back at the ship. - -Hargedon's silence began to carry an undercurrent of approval not -usual in people who spent much time with Zaino. The technician made no -further reference to the suggestion of switching drivers. They came -in sight of the _Albireo_ and doubled the chasm with Hargedon still at -the wheel, Zaino still at his radio and both of them still uncertain -whether any of the calls had gotten through. - -Both had to admit, even before they could see the ship, that Burkett -had had a right to be impressed. - -The smoke column showed starkly against the sky, blowing back over the -tractor and blocking the sunlight which would otherwise have glared -into the driver's eyes. Fine particles fell from it in a steady shower; -looking back, the men could see tracks left by their vehicle in the -deposit which had already fallen. - -As they approached the ship the dark pillar grew denser and narrower, -while the particles raining from it became coarser. In some places the -ash was drifting into fairly deep piles, giving Hargedon some anxiety -about possible concealed cracks. The last part of the trip, along the -edge of the great chasm and around its end, was really dangerous; -cracks running from its sides were definitely spreading. The two men -reached the _Albireo_ later than Hargedon had promised, and found -Burkett waiting impatiently with a pile of apparatus beside her. - -She didn't wait for them to get out before starting to organize. - -"There isn't much here. We'll take off just enough of what you're -carrying to make room for this. No--wait. I'll have to check some of -your equipment; I'm going to need one of Milt Schlossberg's gadget's, I -think, so leave that on. We'll take--" - -"Excuse me, Doctor," cut in Hargedon. "Our suits need servicing, or at -least mine will if you want me to drive you. Perhaps Arnie can help you -load for a while, if you don't think it's too important for him to get -at the radio--" - -"Of course. Excuse me. I should have had someone out here to help me -with this. You two go on in. Ren, please get back as soon as you can. I -can do the work here; none of this stuff is very heavy." - -Zaino hesitated as he swung out of the cab. True, there wasn't too -much to be moved, and it wasn't very heavy in Mercury's gravity, -and he really should be at the radio; but the thirty-nine-year-old -mineralogist was a middle-aged lady by his standards, and shouldn't be -allowed to carry heavy packages.... - -"Get along, Arnie!" the middle-aged lady interrupted this train of -thought. "Eric and Eileen are getting farther away and harder to reach -every second you dawdle!" - - * * * * * - -He got, though he couldn't help looking northeast as he went rather -than where he was going. - -The towering menace in that direction would have claimed anyone's -attention. The pillar of sable ash was rising straighter, as though -the wind were having less effect on it. An equally black cone had -risen into sight beyond Northeast Spur--a cone that must have grown -to some two thousand feet in roughly ten hours. It had far steeper -sides than the cinder mounds near it; it couldn't be made of the same -loose ash. Perhaps it consisted of half-melted particles which were -fusing together as they fell--that might be what Burkett had meant by -"spatter-cone." Still, if that were the case, the material fountaining -from the cone's top should be lighting the plain with its incandescence -rather than casting an inky shadow for its entire height. - -Well, that was a problem for the geologists; Zaino climbed aboard and -settled to his task. - -The trouble was that he could do very little more here than he could -in the tractor. He could have improvised longer-wave transmitting -coils whose radiations would have diffracted a little more effectively -beyond the horizon, but the receiver on the missing vehicle would -not have detected them. He had more power at his disposal, but could -only beam it into empty space with his better antennae. He had better -equipment for locating any projecting wisps of charged gas which might -reflect his waves, but he was already located under a solid roof of the -stuff--the _Albireo_ was technically on Brightside. Bouncing his beam -from this layer still didn't give him the range he needed, as he had -found both by calculation and trial. - -What he really needed was a relay satellite. The target was simply too -far around Mercury's sharp curve by now for anything less. - -Zaino's final gesture was to set his transmission beam on the lowest -frequency the tractor would pick up, aim it as close to the vehicle's -direction as he could calculate from map and itinerary and set the -recorded return message going. He told Rowson as much. - -"Can't think of anything else?" the captain asked. "Well, neither can -I, but of course it's not my field. I'd give a year's pay if I could. -How long before they should be back in range?" - -"About four days. A hundred hours, give or take a few. They'll be -heading back anyway by that time." - -"Of course. Well, keep trying." - -"I am--or rather, the equipment is. I don't see what else I can do -unless a really bright idea should suddenly sprout. Is there anywhere -else I could be useful? I'm as likely to have ideas working as just -sitting." - -"We can keep you busy, all right. But how about taking a transmitter up -one of those mountains? That would get your wave farther." - -"Not as far as it's going already. I'm bouncing it off the ion layer, -which is higher than any mountain we've seen on Mercury even if it's -nowhere near as high as Earth's." - -"Hmph. All right." - -"I could help Ren and Dr. Burkett. I could hang on outside the -tractor--" - -"They've already gone. You'd better call them, though, and keep a log -of what they do." - -"All right." Zaino turned back to his board and with no trouble raised -the tractor carrying Hargedon and the mineralogist. The latter had been -trying to call the _Albireo_ and had some acid comments about radio -operators who slept on the job. - - * * * * * - -"There's only one of me, and I've been trying to get the Darkside -team," he pointed out. "Have you found anything new about this lava -flood?" - -"Flow, not flood," corrected the professional automatically. "We're -not in sight of it yet. We've just rounded the corner that takes us -out of your sight. It's over a mile yet, and a couple of more corners, -before we get to the spot where I left it. Of course, it will be closer -than that by now. It was spreading at perhaps a hundred yards an hour -then. That's one figure we must refine.... Of course, I'll try to get -samples, too. I wish there were some way to get samples of the central -cone. The whole thing is the queerest volcano I've ever heard of. Have -you gotten Eileen started back?" - -"Not as far as I can tell. As with your cone samples, there are -practical difficulties," replied Zaino. "I haven't quit yet, though." - -"I should think not. If some of us were paid by the idea we'd be pretty -poor, but the perspiration part of genius is open to all of us." - -"You mean I should charge a bonus for getting this call through?" -retorted the operator. - -Whatever Burkett's reply to this might have been was never learned; her -attention was diverted at that point. - -"We've just come in sight of the flow. It's about five hundred yards -ahead. We'll get as close as seems safe, and I'll try to make sure -whether it's really lava or just mud." - -"Mud? Is that possible? I thought there wasn't--couldn't be--any water -on this planet!" - -"It is, and there probably isn't. The liquid phase of mud doesn't have -to be water, even though it usually is on Earth. Here, for example, it -might conceivably be sulfur." - -"But if it's just mud, it wouldn't hurt the ship, would it?" - -"Probably not." - -"Then why all this fuss about getting the tractors back in a hurry?" - - * * * * * - -The voice which answered reminded him of another lady in his past, who -had kept him after school for drawing pictures in math class. - -"Because in my judgment the flow is far more likely to be lava than -mud, and if I must be wrong I'd rather my error were one that left -us alive. I have no time at the moment to explain the basis of my -judgment. I will be reporting our activities quite steadily from now -on, and would prefer that you not interrupt unless a serious emergency -demands it, or you get a call from Eileen. - -"We are about three hundred yards away now. The front is moving about -as fast as before, which suggests that the flow is coming only along -this valley. It's only three or four feet high, so viscosity is very -low or density very high. Probably the former, considering where we -are. It's as black as the smoke column." - -"Not glowing?" cut in Zaino thoughtlessly. - -"_Black_, I said. Temperature will be easier to measure when we get -closer. The front is nearly straight across the valley, with just a few -lobes projecting ten or twelve yards and one notch where a small spine -is being surrounded. By the way, I trust you're taping all this?" Again -Zaino was reminded of the afternoon after school. - -"Yes, Ma'am," he replied. "On my one and only monitor tape." - -"Very well. We're stopping near the middle of the valley one hundred -yards from the front. I am getting out, and will walk as close as I -can with a sampler and a radiometer. I assume that the radio equipment -will continue to relay my suit broadcast back to you." Zaino cringed a -little, certain as he was that the tractor's electronic apparatus was -in perfect order. - -It struck him that Dr. Burkett was being more snappish than usual. It -never crossed his mind that the woman might be afraid. - -"Ren, don't get any closer with the tractor unless I call. I'll get a -set of temperature readings as soon as I'm close enough. Then I'll try -to get a sample. Then I'll come back with that to the tractor, leave it -and the radiometer and get the markers to set out." - -"Couldn't I be putting out the markers while you get the sample, -Doctor?" - -"You could, but I'd rather you stayed at the wheel." Hargedon made no -answer, and Burkett resumed her description for the record. - -"I'm walking toward the front, a good deal faster than it's flowing -toward me. I am now about twenty yards away, and am going to take a set -of radiation-temperature measures." A brief pause. "Readings coming. -Nine sixty. Nine eighty. Nine ninety--that's from the bottom edge near -the spine that's being surrounded. Nine eighty-five--" The voice -droned on until about two dozen readings had been taped. Then, "I'm -going closer now. The sampler is just a ladle on a twelve-foot handle -we improvised, so I'll have to get that close. The stuff is moving -slowly; there should be no trouble. I'm in reach now. The lava is very -liquid; there's no trouble getting the sampler in--or out again--it's -not very dense, either. I'm heading back toward the tractor now. No, -Ren, don't come to meet me." - -There was a minute of silence, while Zaino pictured the spacesuited -figure with its awkwardly long burden, walking away from the -creeping menace to the relative safety of the tractor. "It's frozen -solid already; we needn't worry about spilling. The temperature is -about--five eighty. Give me the markers, please." - -Another pause, shorter this time. Zaino wondered how much of that -could be laid to a faster walk without the ladle and how much to the -lessening distance between flow and tractor. "I'm tossing the first -marker close to the edge--it's landed less than a foot from the lava. -They're all on a light cord at ten-foot intervals; I'm paying out the -cord as I go back to the tractor. Now we'll stand by and time the -arrival at each marker as well as we can." - -"How close are you to the main cone?" asked Zaino. - -"Not close enough to see its base, I'm afraid. Or to get a sample of -it, which is worse. We--goodness, what was that?" - -Zaino had just time to ask, "What was what?" when he found out. - - -IV - -For a moment, he thought that the _Albireo_ had been flung bodily into -the air. Then he decided that the great metal pillar had merely fallen -over. Finally he realized that the ship was still erect, but the ground -under it had just tried to leave. - -Everyone in the group had become so used to the almost perpetual ground -tremors that they had ceased to notice them; but this one demanded -attention. Rowson, using language which suggested that his career -might not have been completely free of adventure after all, flashed -through the communication level on his way down to the power section. -Schlossberg and Babineau followed, the medic pausing to ask Zaino if he -were all right. The radioman merely nodded affirmatively; his attention -was already back at his job. Burkett was speaking a good deal faster -than before. - -"Never mind if the sample isn't lashed tight yet--if it falls off -there'll be plenty more. There isn't time! Arnie, get in touch with Dr. -Mardikian and Dr. Marini. Tell them that this volcano is explosive, -that all estimates of what the flow may do are off until we can make -more measures, and in any case the whole situation is unpredictable. -Everyone should get back as soon as possible. Remember, we decided that -those big craters Eileen checked were not meteor pits. I don't know -whether this thing will let go in the next hour, the next year, or at -all. Maybe what's happening now will act as a safety valve--but let's -get out. Ren, that flow is speeding up and getting higher, and the ash -rain is getting a lot worse. Can you see to drive?" - -She fell silent. Zaino, in spite of her orders, left his set long -enough to leap to the nearest port for a look at the volcano. - -He never regretted it. - -Across the riven plain, whose cracks were now nearly hidden under the -new ash, the black cone towered above the nearer elevations. It was -visibly taller than it had been only a few hours before. The fountain -from its top was thicker, now jetting straight up as though wind no -longer meant a thing to the fiercely driven column of gas and dust. The -darkness was not so complete; patches of red and yellow incandescence -showed briefly in the pillar, and glowing sparks rather than black -cinders rained back on the steep slopes. Far above, a ring of smoke -rolled and spread about the column, forming an ever-broadening blanket -of opaque cloud above a landscape which had never before been shaded -from the sun. Streamers of lightning leaped between cloud and pillar, -pillar and mountain, even cloud and ground. Any thunder there might -have been was drowned in the howl of the escaping gas, a roar which -seemed to combine every possible note from the shrillest possible -whistle to a bass felt by the chest rather than heard by the ears. -Rowson's language had become inaudible almost before he had disappeared -down the hatch. - -For long moments the radioman watched the spreading cloud, and wondered -whether the _Albireo_ could escape being struck by the flickering, -ceaseless lightning. Far above the widening ring of cloud the smoke -fountain drove, spreading slowly in the thinning atmosphere and beyond -it. Zaino had had enough space experience to tell at a glance whether -a smoke or dust cloud was in air or not. This wasn't, at least at the -upper extremity.... - -And then, quite calmly, he turned back to his desk, aimed the antenna -straight up, and called Eileen Harmon. She answered promptly. - - * * * * * - -The stratigrapher listened without interruption to his report and the -order to return. She conferred briefly with her companion, replied -"We'll be back in twelve hours," and signed off. And that was that. - -Zaino settled back with a sign, and wondered whether it would be -tactful to remind Rowson of his offer of a year's pay. - -All four vehicles were now homeward bound; all one had to worry about -was whether any of them would make it. Hargedon and Burkett were -fighting their way through an ever-increasing ash rain a scant two -miles away--ash which not only cut visibility but threatened to block -the way with drifts too deep to negotiate. The wind, now blowing -fiercely toward the volcano, blasted the gritty stuff against their -front window as though it would erode through; and the lava flow, -moving far faster than the gentle ooze they had never quite measured, -surged--and glowed--grimly behind. - -A hundred miles or more to the east, the tractors containing Mardikian, -Marini and their drivers headed southwest along the alternate route -their maps had suggested; but Mardikian, some three hours in the lead, -reported that he could see four other smoke columns in that general -direction. - -Mercury seemed to be entering a new phase. The maps might well be out -of date. - -Harmon and Trackman were having no trouble at the moment, but they -would have to pass the great chasm. This had been shooting out daughter -cracks when Zaino and Hargedon passed it hours before. No one could say -what it might be like now, and no one was going out to make sure. - -"We can see you!" Burkett's voice came through suddenly. "Half a mile -to go, and we're way ahead of the flow." - -"But it's coming?" Rowson asked tensely. He had returned from the power -level at Zaino's phoned report of success. - -"It's coming." - -"How fast? When will it get here? Do you know whether the ship can -stand contact with it?" - -"I don't know the speed exactly. There may be two hours, maybe five -or six. The ship can't take it. Even the temperature measures I got -were above the softening point of the alloys, and it's hotter and much -deeper now. Anyway, if the others aren't back before the flow reaches -the ship they won't get through. The tractor wheels would char away, -and I doubt that the bodies would float. You certainly can't wade -through the stuff in a spacesuit, either." - -"And you think there can't be more than five or six hours before the -flow arrives?" - -"I'd say that was a very optimistic guess. I'll stop and get a better -speed estimate if you want, but won't swear to it." - -Rowson thought for a moment. - -"No," he said finally, "don't bother. Get back here as soon as you can. -We need the tractor and human muscles more than we need even expert -guesses." He turned to the operator. - -"Zaino, tell all the tractors there'll be no answer from the ship for a -while, because no one will be aboard. Then suit up and come outside." -He was gone. - - * * * * * - -Ten minutes later, six human beings and a tractor were assembled in the -flame-lit near-darkness outside the ship. The cloud had spread to the -horizon, and the sun was gone. Burkett and Hargedon had arrived, but -Rowson wasted no time on congratulations. - -"We have work to do. It will be easy enough to keep the lava from the -ship, since there seems to be a foot or more of ash on the ground and -a touch of main drive would push it into a ringwall around us; but -that's not the main problem. We have to keep it from reaching the -chasm anywhere south of us, since that's the way the others will -be coming. If they're cut off, they're dead. It will be brute work. -We'll use the tractor any way we can think of. Unfortunately it has no -plow attachment, and I can't think of anything aboard which could be -turned into one. You have shovels, such as they are. The ash is light, -especially here, but there's a mile and a half of dam to be built. I -don't see how it can possibly be done ... but it's going to be." - -"Come on, Arnie! You're young and strong," came the voice of the -mineralogist. "You should be able to lift as much of this stuff as I -can. I understand you were lucky enough to get hold of Eileen--have you -asked for the bonus yet?--but your work isn't done." - -"It wasn't luck," Zaino retorted. Burkett, in spite of her voice, -seemed much less of a schoolmistress when encased in a spacesuit and -carrying a shovel, so he was able to talk back to her. "I was simply -alert enough to make use of existing conditions, which I had to observe -for myself in spite of all the scientists around. I'm charging the -achievement to my regular salary. I saw--" - -He stopped suddenly, both with tongue and shovel. Then, "Captain!" - -"What is it?" - -"The only reason we're starting this wall here is to keep well ahead -of the flow so we can work as long as possible, isn't it?" - -"Yes, I suppose so. I never thought of trying anywhere else. The valley -would mean a much shorter dam, but if the flow isn't through it by now -it would be before we could get there--oh! Wait a minute!" - -"Yes, sir. You can put the main switch anywhere in a D. C. circuit. -Where are the seismology stores we never had to use?" - -Four minutes later the tractor set out from the _Albireo_, carrying -Rowson and Zaino. Six minutes after that it stopped at the base of the -ash cone which formed the north side of the valley from which the lava -was coming. They parked a quarter of the way around the cone's base -from the emerging flood and started to climb on foot, both carrying -burdens. - -Forty-seven minutes later they returned empty-handed to the vehicle, to -find that it had been engulfed by the spreading liquid. - -With noticeable haste they floundered through the loose ash a few -yards above the base until they had outdistanced the glowing menace, -descended and started back across the plain to where they knew the -ship to be, though she was invisible through the falling detritus. -Once they had to detour around a crack. Once they encountered one -which widened toward the chasm on their right, and they knew a detour -would be impossible. Leaping it seemed impossible, too, but they did -it. Thirty seconds after this, forty minutes after finding the tractor -destroyed, the landscape was bathed in a magnesium-white glare as the -two one-and-a-half kiloton charges planted just inside the crater rim -let go. - - * * * * * - -"Should we go back and see if it worked?" asked Zaino. - -"What's the use? The only other charges we had were in the tractor. -Thank goodness they were nuclear instead of H. E. If it didn't work -we'd have more trouble to get back than we're having now." - -"If it didn't work, is there any point in going back?" - -"Stop quibbling and keep walking. Dr. Burkett, are you listening?" - -"Yes, Captain." - -"We're fresh out of tractors, but if you want to try it on foot you -might start a set of flow measures on the lava. Arnie wants to know -whether our landslide slid properly." - -However, the two were able to tell for themselves before getting back -to the _Albireo_. - -The flow didn't stop all at once, of course; but with the valley -feeding it blocked off by a pile of volcanic ash four hundred feet high -on one side, nearly fifty on the other and more than a quarter of a -mile long, its enthusiasm quickly subsided. It was thin, fluid stuff, -as Burkett had noted; but as it spread it cooled, and as it cooled it -thickened. - -Six hours after the blast it had stopped with its nearest lobe almost a -mile from the ship, less than two feet thick at the edge. - -When Mardikian's tractor arrived, Burkett was happily trying to analyze -samples of the flow, and less happily speculating on how long it would -be before the entire area would be blown off the planet. When Marini's -and Harmon's vehicles arrived, almost together, the specimens had been -loaded and everything stowed for acceleration. Sixty seconds after the -last person was aboard, the _Albireo_ left Mercury's surface at two -gravities. - -The haste, it turned out, wasn't really necessary. She had been in -parking orbit nearly forty-five hours before the first of the giant -volcanoes reached its climax, and the one beside their former site was -not the first. It was the fourth. - -"And that seems to be that," said Camille Burkett rather tritely as -they drifted a hundred miles above the little world's surface. "Just a -belt of white-hot calderas all around the planet. Pretty, if you like -symmetry." - -"I like being able to see it from this distance," replied Zaino, -floating weightless beside her. "By the way, how much bonus should I -ask for getting that idea of putting the seismic charges to use after -all?" - -"I wouldn't mention it. Any one of us might have thought of that. We -all knew about them." - -"Anyone _might_ have. Let's speculate on how long it would have been -before anyone _did_." - -"It's still not like the other idea, which involved your own specialty. -I still don't see what made you suppose that the gas pillar from the -volcano would be heavily charged enough to reflect your radio beam. How -did that idea strike you?" - - * * * * * - -Zaino thought back, and smiled a little as the picture of lightning -blazing around pillar, cloud and mountain rose before his eyes. - -"You're not quite right," he said. "I was worried about it for a while, -but it didn't actually strike me." - -It fell rather flat; Camille Burkett, Ph.D., had to have it explained -to her. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hot Planet, by Hal Clement - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOT PLANET *** - -***** This file should be named 50928.txt or 50928.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/9/2/50928/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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