Spacehounds of IPC

ell's

its satellites mere pin-points of light,

e'll have to stay weightless for quite a while." He slowly throttled down the mighty flow of power, and watched the conflicting emoti

went on, tenderly, and the grin disappear

ted, gamely. "Cut off the rest of that power! I'm not going to be sick-I won't be a-what do you s

t you ar

gether that time, anyway, and I feel lots better now. Have you found Cantrell's Comet yet? And why so sure all of a

st first-trippers, at this stage of the game, wouldn't be caring a whoop whether school kept or not, an

eturned, eyeing him intently. "Or maybe you just don't

f a horizontal tunnel. At intervals upon its roof there winked into being almost invisible points of

ft for a couple of days before we'll be anywhere near where I think it is. No, they can't trace us, because there is now nothing to trace, unless they can detect the slight power we a

u can't possibly have something that is nothing. It doesn't make sense. But lay off those integrations of yours, please," as now armed with a slate-pencil, Stevens began to draw a diagram upon a fo

there is a point source of light at your point of projection: it isn't really there. The shade, then, of which I am drawing a picture, has only a potential existence. You know exactly where it is, you can draw it, you can define it, compute it, and work with it-but still it doesn't exist; there is absolutely nothing to differentiate it from any other volume of air, and it cannot be detected by any physical or mechanical means. If, however, you place a light at the p

vy objects, you see only empty space with a few electrons and things floating around in it; and yet where we see only empty space, you can s

ss, while I get busy on the filament supports, plate brackets, and so on." Both fell to work w

en's hot," and the man left his bench. Taking up a long paddle and an even longer blo

oised weightless as she was. "I've got you foul now-I can say anything I want to, and you can't talk back, because your bubble will lo

ith a glowing wire, just above the fluid surface of the glass remaining in the pot. Pendant from the blowpipe, the bulb was placed over the hot-bench, where Stevens, now begoggled, begloved, and armed with a welding torch, proceeded to fuse into the still, almost plastic, glass sundry necks, side-tubes, supports and othe

d by the most commonplace article. Whenever they needed a thing they did not have-which happened every day-they had either to make it or else, failing in that, to go back and build something that would enable them to manufacture the required item.

and we'd better begin looking around for our heap of scrap metal," and, the girl at the communicator plate and

like plus twenty degrees declination. My figures aren't accurate, though, since I'm wor

will change as we go

use we're heading pretty nea

sting thereabouts except sta

sn't have much of a tail so far away from the sun. Hope it's g

red intently into their instruments, then Steven

spotted it before this. Time

ere's something! Yes, it is a comet, and quit

nd head pressed close to brown, the two wayfarers

eclared. "Steve, as a computer, you're

f. However, I could have done worse-I could easily have forgotten all the data on it, instead of only half of it." He applied a normal negative acceleration, a

t-fiend at that, Steve-this i

at times; but you're a spacehound just the sam

l body, altered his course sharply, then, after a m

acceleration by a third. "There-we'll be just about traveling with it when we get there," he said.

re soon attacking the savory Ganymedean goulash wh

sleep, Steve, or shoul

e before ten o'clock tomorrow, I-P time," and, tired out by the events of th

asing velocity; and far off to one side, plunging along a line making a sharp angle with their ow

apidity with which it sped past the incredibly brilliant background of infinitely distant stars. Apparently it was a wild jumble of separate fragments; a conglomerate, heterogeneous aggregation of rough and jagged masses varying in size from grains of sand up to enormous chunks, which upon Earth

ly going to visit a comet! It sort of scares me, Steve-it's

ast. But just to be on the safe side, maybe I'd better camp

eye upon the screen, watching closely

wide curve approaching the mountain of metal eve

e dirigible projector. Darting the beam here and there, he so corrected their flight that they were precisely stationary in relation to the comet. He then opened his switches, and

weight-fiends? I was watching you, an

t it-I was so busy studying that thing out t

t's go places and do things! You'd better put on a suit,

s, and Stevens snapped the locking plugs of th

asked. "Soun

ll

radio-

ll

heaters-they're all x. Bu

for the last year, but I didn't know you had to go through it every time

g to give you fresh air at normal pressure and to keep you warm in absolute space can't be either simple or fool-proof. They've worked on them for years, but they're pretty crude yet.

he careful checking and testing of ever

drag-line, built of a non-metallic fiber which could retain its flexibility and

the wreckage of the Arcturus was when I wouldn't let you climb up it-why, I

the asteroids. There's only a few cubic kilometers of matter there, an

faster than you can jump over there if any one of those l

et, he dove head foremost across the intervening space, a heavy pike held out ahead of him. Straight as a bullet he floated toward his obje

ing his line of retreat as well as that of his advance, until his exploring pike struck a lump of apparently solid metal. Hooking the fragment toward him, he thrust savagely with his weapon and was reassured-that object was not only me

ve?" Nadia's voice ca

about the size of an office desk. I can't break off an

made sure that the loops would not slip, and then

in my drag line as I said over t

into the shop, where Stevens clamped it immovably to

ow, and the whole room is getting

probably somewhere around minus two hundred and sixty degrees now. I'll have to throw a heater on it for half an hour before we can touch it. And since this is more or less new stuff to you, I'll caution you-don't try to touch anything that has

tacked it with his machine tools. Bit by bit the stubborn material was torn from the lump. Through heavy

ink you've got-

al of some kind, I think. Base metals mostly melt at around fifteen hun

the tantalum and the others you wan

series of successive liquations, I hope to separate out fractions that I can use. Platinum melts somewhere around seventeen-fifty, tantalum about twenty-nine hundred, and tungsten not until 'way up ar

t whole chunk b

dred! Platinum group coming out now, I think-platinum, rhodium, iridium, and that gang, you know.

e her way across to the short-w

ate task, she began to twitch uneasily,

bruptly, mouth open in amazement, as she turned toward Stevens. He had not been looking at her, but he turned a surprised face from hi

nd shot the beam out into space. "There's an answer, but that isn't it. You're a fine-tuned instrument yours

nd leaped out into the shop. He closed all the bulkhead doors and air-break openings, then closed and secured the massive insulating door of the lifeboat in which they had made their headquarters. Then, af

have worn these when they cut up the Arcturus, and saved us a lot of mental wear and

be expected to think of everything at o

r metal, same as we did, and find us accidentally? However, it all works out the same-they're apparently out to get us. I'm afraid this is going to be a who

eapons. Flaming ultra-violet and dully glowing infra-red, the twin beams lashed out; but their utmost force was of slight moment to the enormous power driving the enemy screens. Two circular spots

m his useless controls. "I'm sorrier than I can say, lover. But at least, I'm glad

y want to capture us alive, as they did before; if so, we may be able to hide out on them somewhere and pull off anot

while the air shrieked outward into space and their suits bulged suddenly with the abrupt increase in pressure differential. While they were in midflight, the frightful blade of destruction cleaved its way throug

s absolutely blind and helpless. As it is, they've clipped off all our projectors, so we can't move, but I think we'

their cruiser as yet undamaged. They found an airlock in working order, and were soon in th

e the insensately vicious intelligences within the sphere brought its every force to bear upon another and larger sphere which was now so close as to be plainly visible. Like a gigantic drop of quicksilver this second globe appeared-its smooth a

hout them they don't stand a chance. No possible substance can stand up under that be

in coruscating, blinding torrents. And neither was the monster globe inoffensive. The straining watchers saw a port open suddenly, emit a flame-erupting something, and close as rapidly as it had opened. That something was a projectile, its propelling rockets fiercely aflame; as smoothly brilliant as its mother-ship and seemingly as impervious t

egan dodging, darting hither and thither with a stupendous acceleration; but the tiny pursuers could not be shaken off. At every dodge and turn, steering rockets burst into furious activity and the projectiles rushed ever nearer. Knowing that she had at last encountered a superior force, the sphere turned in mad flight; but, prodigious as was her acceleration, the torpedoes

out from the great sphere, touched the wreckage of the F

Stevens, still at the plate. "Eve

fight a bit an

us up, they aren't active enemies of ours, and may be friendly. I haven't any idea who or what they are, since even our communicator ray

ere had halted only a few yards from them, and that an indistinct figure stood in

we, S

d of driving power, so we can't run-and we probably couldn't get away from those folks if we had all our power. They haven't

something inside that suit-a shadowy, weirdly-transparent being, staring at them with large, black eyes. The door clanged shut behind them; they heard the faint hiss of inrushing air, and the inner door opened; but their enveloping suits remained stretched almost as tightly as ever. They felt the floor lurch beneath their feet, and a little weight was granted them as the space-ship got under way. Stevens waved his arms v

y were undoubtedly human-but what humans! Tall and reedy they were, with enormous barrel chests, topped by heads which, though really large, appeared insignificant because of the prodigious chests and because of the huge, sail-like, flapping ear

r. He handed the headsets to the first officer, who in turn placed two of them at the feet of the Terrestrials, indicating to them that they were to follow his example in placing them upon their heads, outside the helmets. They did so, and even through the almost perfect insulation

xclaimed involuntarily, and Nadia smiled as Barkovis a

ce-ship which we found some distance outside of the orbit of Jupiter. Its source of power had been destroyed by the cold of outer space, but re-powering it was, of course, a small matter. The crew of the vessel were all dead. They were, however, of human sto

the events leading up to their present situation, concluding: "The people in the other sphere were, we believe, natives of Jupiter or of on

ry back to Titan, for two reasons. First, because we are already at the extreme limit of our power range and Jupiter is getting further and further away from Saturn. Second because our mirrors, which we had thought perfect reflectors of all frequencies possible of generation, are not perfect. Enough of those forces came throug

s of our ship along-we do

power. In fact, we are now employing the highest accele

t. But it was a mighty long stretch to Saturn and this acceleration wasn't so much. How long would it take to get there? Could they get back? Wouldn't they save time by casting themselves adrift, making the repairs most ur

mitting tube, in which we shall be deeply interested. Our power plants shall supply you with energy for your return journey until you

thout any trouble-the pieces aren't grinding

tly insulated as those suits are, yet your incandescent body temperature makes our rooms unbearably hot-so

of their lifeboat upon a wand of force, and soon had prepared a long ove

p.' Nevertheless I think that we were both considerably surprised to discover that we are both h

ng in one lovely brown cheek. "Looking right through anybody is too ghastly for words, but I t