controls functioned flawlessly, controlled by the computers that had been pre-programmed. After some four light years—as measured in the normal three-dimensional universe—had been traversed, the Ultra dropped back into normal space. Its speed was now the same as it had been just before the dimensional transition—a fraction below the speed of light. Then the forward rockets began firing, gradually slowing their speed before the Alpha system would be reached.
Abna stirred slowly, and immediately he did so, he felt his pulses racing as life began to surge through him. For a long moment he lay looking at the softly glowing yellow lights in the curved metal ceiling overhead, then moving his gaze he assessed the situation.
Nearby, in their sprung beds, the Amazon and Viona were also slowly recovering consciousness and, like Abna, their bodies were strained upwards now against the withholding straps. No longer was acceleration or deceleration pinning them down: that had ceased and, a constant velocity having been attained, everything had become weightless.
Moving with featherweight ease, Abna unbuckled the straps from about him and literally floated from his bed to the switchboard. Here he pressed a button and there gradually came into being the artificial gravity that made movement normal. This done, Abna moved to the observation port and gazed steadily out into space upon the great backdrop of the First Galaxy—the Milky Way—and ahead and to one side of them, so flawlessly had the course been mapped, there lay the glimmering point of Alpha Centauri. Abna looked at it for a long time, until at length he was able to determine that Alpha was not one point but two. The first evidence of its binary nature was becoming evident, which indicated their enormous distance from Earth.
“How are we making out?” Abna turned as the Amazon came to his side. rubbing her arms briskly to restore long-impeded circulation.
“Pretty well from the look of things. I haven’t checked on the instruments yet, but we’re plainly moving in normal space and approaching our destination.”
Abna turned to the main computer, and for a moment or two busied himself with feeding readings into it. “Twenty thousand billion miles.” Abna said, turning. “We are now just over four light years away from Earth. Which means we will soon be entering the Alphan system.”
Viona and the Amazon nodded silently, digesting the incredible facts of their accomplishment.
“The best thing will be a meal, a check-up telescopically, and then continue onwards,” Abna decided—and this was the plan they adopted.
Abna made a routine check of the power plant while the Amazon again checked the figures for the course. Everything seemed to be in order and, surprisingly enough, space ahead was completely empty of stray bodies. Even the super-radar system, flashing out to millions of miles ahead of their position, did not rebound from any object. It looked as though the remaining gulf separating them from Alpha Centauri was indeed free of all dangerous or damaging objects.
Viona took over the task of studying Alpha through the telescopic equipment, securing a view of the binary closer than any ever known before. The absolute separateness of Alpha and Proxima was now clearly marked. But this was by no means enough for Viona. She switched on the stereoscopic apparatus and studied the result intently.
“What,” she asked her father, “do you make of this?”
Abna came over to her and after a momentary study of the spectro-screen he smiled in satisfaction. The most dominant color element in Alpha and Proxima was green. Bright, clear cut, emerald green.
“Copper!” Abna exclaimed. “In the gaseous state. It is therefore a foregone conclusion that any planets of Alpha must also possess copper in the solidified state. Like father, like son.”
“No sign of any planets yet,” Viona commented. “Probably too early to expect it, though.”
CHAPTER THREE
PLANETFALL
Their observations satisfied them that they were still on course and vastly nearer Alpha and Proxima than they had formerly been.
“It gives one some idea of how enormously empty space really is,” Abna said thoughtfully, loading another copper bar into the power plant. “In all the light-years we’ve covered, we have not encountered a single obstacle, yet to look at the heavens from Earth one would think it difficult to dodge collision.…”
“Planets!” Viona gasped out excitedly. “I can see planets around the Alpha-Proxima luminary!”
The Amazon raised her head sharply from contemplating the navigation instruments.
“How many of them?”
“As near as I can tell, there are three. Two fairly close to the luminary, and one a long way out. The farthest one looks queer, somehow: misty, phosphorescent. Better take a look for yourselves.”
The Amazon looked first, silently contemplating the disks of two quite clearly defined worlds bathed in the twin lights of Alpha and Proxima. At a rough estimate she decided that these worlds were probably about 180 million miles from their dual primary—twice as far as Earth from her own sun. But obviously, they would be worlds of intense heat due to the much vaster size of Alpha compared to the Earthly sun. Added to this there would be the not inconsiderable light and warmth of Proxima as well.
But that farther world was indeed strange. Either it was enveloped in highly luminous mist, or else it was indeed oddly phosphorescent in nature. It was too far away to be reflecting the light of the dual primary, therefore the glow must be something inherent in its own structure.
“Definitely a bit of a mystery,” Abna admitted, when he, too, had looked. “Might make it our first port of call and see if we can decide what’s the matter with it. I never saw a world like it before.…”
Silent, they sat before the observation window and contemplated their goal. To each one of them there was a thrilling satisfaction in having covered 20,000 billion miles of empty space without mishap and—relatively—within a reasonable time, too.
“Have to start slowing down even further,” Abna said after a while, as their still stupendous velocity caused the Alpha-Proxima system to leap nearer even as they watched it. “If we start decelerating again now, we’ll be at just about the right velocity when we reach that outermost luminous world.”
He moved over to the switchboard and converted the power of the replacement copper bar to the forward jets on full blast. By this means their terrific onrush was slowly but relentlessly slowed down by the opposite pressure striving to force the Ultra backwards as it hurtled forwards. With the passage of time, the ‘braking’ effect at last began to have an appreciable effect.
“It looks to me,” Viona said, at the telescope as usual, “as though both those nearer worlds are populated. If not that, then they at least have something resembling cities.”
The Amazon came across to the instrument and looked for herself. Under the ultra-powerful lenses the nearer planets to the binary, which appeared smudgy to the naked eye, leaped into acid-sharp prominence, revealing several things simultaneously. There was an atmosphere on each world for one thing, and indeed drifts of water vapor, which announced clouds. Beneath these clouds was a patchwork of light and dark areas, probably corresponding to continents and oceans. The main point was that the continental areas were pockmarked with square shapes interwoven with straight lines. Definitely they could not be natural formations, so the only conclusion was cities linked by roads, rails, or some other form of communication.
“Wonder if they’re a backward people?” Viona asked, as her mother looked at her thoughtfully, “If they are, we’ll seem like beings of wonder: If they’re not, we’ll probably be resented as interlopers.”
“Either way, we can take care of ourselves,” the Amazon replied, shrugging. Then she took over Abna’s job at the control board while he, too, made a study of the scene ahead.
His interest, however, was not concentrated so much on the normal worlds as upon the luminous outermost one, toward which he presently directed