Einstein's Planetoid E-Book

C.M. Kornbluth

• Herausgeber: Black Cat Weekly
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 47

Beschreibung

When the Orion expedition vanished without a trace, Nick Hartnett refused to believe his father was gone forever. Driven by hope and a need for answers, he cobbles together a crew of skilled specialists and sets out to unravel the mystery. Their search leads them to Hastur, an otherworldly planetoid where the laws of physics bend in unexpected ways. Upon discovering the wreckage of the Orion, the team is shocked to find Nick's father, Steve Hartnett, alive amidst the ruins.

As they delve deeper into Hastur's secrets, the crew must contend with the planetoid's bizarre and treacherous nature, which seems to defy scientific explanation. Faced with mounting challenges and a growing sense of unease, they must uncover the truth behind the Orion's fate -- while seeking a means of escape from Hastur's grasp.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

EINSTEIN’S PLANETOID by C.M. Kornbluth, Robert A.W. Lowndes, and Frederik Pohl

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

EINSTEIN’S PLANETOIDby C.M. Kornbluth, Robert A.W. Lowndes,and Frederik Pohl

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

Originally published in Science Fiction Quarterly, Spring 1942,under the pseudonym “Paul Dennis Lavond.”

Published by Black Cat Weekly.

blackcatweekly.com

CHAPTER 1

HEIRS OF SPACE FLIGHT

Nick Hartnett stepped off the upper lip of the thousand-foot shaft and floated gently downwards. When he had fallen about half the distance, he reached out for a stanchion, grasped it easily and pulled himself gracefully into the lounge-room of the Columbia.

What he saw there was precisely what he expected to see. There was Dorothy Gilbert, curled in a spring-hammock, reading a book. Nick was looking over’ her shoulder before she knew he had entered.

“Bodie’s ‘Parecliptic Orbits,’ ” he read aloud. “Dorothy, don’t you ever think of anything but your job?”

She looked up, smiling, brushing aside a lock of tousled hair that sought her eye. “Often, Nick. But where would we be if I didn’t check my courses against those plotted by a competent authority?”

“Just about where we’ll be if you do,” he guessed, tugging at his ear with long, knobby fingers. “You’re my idea of a competent authority yourself.”

“Thanks, Nick. How are the contracels holding out?”

“Wonderfully!” he grinned. “It seems as if my father did a fair job of inventing there—though maybe not quite good enough.” He knelt and touched a button inset in the floor; instantly the metallic luster of it dulled and clouded, then the clouds seemed to vanish as the floor became transparent. In an instant it appeared to have vanished entirely, revealing an immense sweep of blackness interspersed with white-hot, tiny specks of light that were stars and planets.

Nick stared out at them. The whole field of stars was moving, it seemed, though, in actuality, it was the ship itself that spun on its axis, providing them with the illusion of gravity they required. It was hard for Hartnett to realize that this view was almost brand-new to human eyes, that only twenty or thirty people could ever have seen stars and the solar system from this vantage point, outside the plane of the ecliptic. There were seven persons in the Columbia now, and there had been eighteen or twenty in its predecessor which had been reported lost some years before. Those two ships, the only ones in the System’s great armada to be equipped with the counter-acceleration devices that made it possible to venture out of the confines of the Solar System, were also the only ones to leave the plane of the ecliptic.

“Where’s Earth?” Nick asked absently without looking up.

Dorothy closed the book on a finger and leaned over the edge of the hammock to look. “It’s not in sight now,” she said. “Wait until we spin a little farther. Of course, I can’t guarantee you’ll be able to see it then, either, because the ship may hide it. But we’ll see. We’re looking out one side of the ship and Earth is directly in back of us.”

He snapped off the vision and the floor returned to normal. “As soon as we get the reports from the two goops,” he mused, “we can start making definite plans for the outing.”

* * * *

“We heard you,” came a voice from just outside the lounge, and, a second later, Bob Vickers appeared, climbing hand-over-hand against the slight pull of the acceleration that managed to seep through the not-quite-perfect guard of the contracels. He pulled himself into the lounge and turned back, extending a hand to Fred Marquis, who followed him in.

The two glared at Nick with injured expressions. “So this,” stated Vickers sadly, “is how you refer to your loyal aides behind their backs.” He turned to Marquis: “Colleague, we may as well tear up that paper and save ourselves further humiliation.”

Dorothy Gilbert closed her book with a snap. “Far be it from me to poke my pretty nose into your little brawls, but haven’t you two been rather long in getting the data?”

Marquis made a sweeping bow. “Fair lady,” he replied softly, “I appeal to your innate sense of justice and fair play. Did or did not our noble captain, on two occasions, call us all away from our gruelling labor to strain our ears trying to hear an alleged distress signal?”

Dorothy laughed gaily, shaking her hair away from her forehead. “Indeed, our noble captain did. Not only was your invaluable time wasted, but mine as well. I was rechecking the course and had to start from scratch after the interruption.”

“My lady is as gracious as she is charming,” bowed Vickers. He faced Nick. “We will be generous, sir, and accept your apology.”

“The ship’s company,” sighed Nick, “is reminded that the original Hartnett expedition was not entirely lost. It is to be assumed that they are still trying to contact someone, us in particular. Thus the careful attention to what appeared to be distress signals. Now may I suggest that you save your precious time by letting me know what you found?”

“That,” murmured Marquis to Vickers, “is as close to an apology as he’ll ever get.”

* * * *

Marquis unrolled a small chart, holding it so both Dorothy and Nick could see. “This,” he explained, “you can check at your leisure, though I’m a monkey’s uncle if you find anything wrong with it. To sum it up briefly, the Columbia is not only the largest spaceship ever made but also the fastest and most powerful.”