Лестер Дель Рей - The Mysterious Planet

was between Pluto and Neptune. Its orbit was now known not to be circular, but egg-shaped, with the small end of the oval reaching a distance of less than three billion miles from the sun, and the large end estimated as reaching out to about seven billion miles, far beyond Pluto. It looked like a crazy orbit, but that was only part of it.

In one month, since first spotted, it had covered nearly fifty million miles. At such a distance from the sun, it should have been crawling along slowly—yet it was traveling at twice the speed of Earth in defiance of all laws of planetary orbits!

Then he saw the message was copied from one of the more sensational Earth papers, and stopped wondering about it. The reporter was going into great detail about its being a

“mystery planet” because of its speed, but that paper was never accurate. They’d probably just put the decimal point in the wrong place.

“So your father’s keeping tabs on you?” Bob asked, as he handed back the sheets with a poker face. It was a dirty crack, but he couldn’t resist it.

Jakes flushed deeply and frowned. “No such thing. He’s too busy for that. I’m paying his private secretary plenty to send me all the news on X.”

“For what? The Navy can get information direct, without your help.”

“Cut it out, Bob.” Jakes frowned again, and then shrugged. “You should guess why I want the information. I’m going to investigate that planet in the Icarius—maybe be the first man to land on it. This little ship’s as fast as any Navy ship, and she’s fueled to go there and back ten times.”

Bob grabbed for the sheets again, and checked. He was right—Space Navy was in charge of investigations, and had marked Planet X as unsafe for civilians until it could be tested officially. He pointed it out silently to Jakes.

The other grinned. “Sure. They want all the glory— that’s why they’re going to move the Outfleet to Neptune to study X. But until I land there, they can’t stop me—and after I do, nobody’s going to stop me! I’ll be a hero!”

“You’ll be a fool!” Bob told him hotly. “That’s why you got kicked out of Space Academy—for doing just such fool things against orders. I should report you to the Fleet Commander.”

“Won’t do any good,” Jakes said. “You can’t prove it, and my father can get me clearance out of the port, as long as I say I’m just going to Neptune—nothing illegal about that.”

He could probably get away with it, since citizens were expected to co-operate voluntarily with the Navy, and usually did so. But it left a bad taste in Bob’s mouth. He got up and started out again; some of his feeling must have shown, since Jakes suddenly made an effort to laugh.

“Aw, I’m just needling you, Bob,” he said quickly. “I’m going to Neptune, sure—I’ve got clearance for that. I probably won’t try to reach Planet X first. I could, though. The Icarius could beat anybody.”

“Maybe. But she isn’t carrying six-inch armor, like a battlewagon. Anyhow, I’ve got to be going. Better keep your pretty little toy away from the Outplanets, Si.”

Jakes saw him to the port, grinning more easily. “Jealous, eh?” he fired as his parting shot.

Bob shrugged and went down the pedestrian walk toward headquarters. Jakes’s crack rankled a bit, because he knew he was jealous. He had no real desire for a private yacht, but he couldn’t help resenting the fact that Jakes would be able to be on the front line if anything proved interesting about Planet X. Part of bis resent-ment probably came from the fact that his father hadn’t even told him the Outfleet was heading for Neptune.

Then he grinned ruefully at his thoughts. He had been back only one night, and the usual family reunion had taken up all the time. He had no right letting Simon Jakes get under his skin. After all, he’d been on his way to ask his father about Planet X, and he could still do it.

Bob’s father was just leaving his office at the end of Wing Nine’s hangar when Bob got there.

The older man was a perfect picture of what a Wing Commander should be—erect, well-muscled without fat, with a face that held command and self-confidence without being either stern or proud. His uniform was strictly regulation, without the fancy cut that some men affected. The deep gray trousers and jacket were without ornamentation, except for the golden sun on his collar.

His voice was warm and relaxed. “Morning, Bob. Thought you might be around, so I’ve been killing time. Want to come along while I check our loading schedule?”

He took the answer for granted and headed for the front of the hangar. Then he suddenly stopped, and swung about with a grin on his face.

“You might as well know it now, Bob,” he said. “You’re looking at the man who’s been selected to investigate Planet X! My orders were just confirmed this morning.”

Bob blinked, and nearly stumbled. “You haver he gasped, and then felt foolish at the treble note that had crept into his voice. “Here I was just coming to ask if you knew anything about it. Why didn’t you tell me last night? You must have known.”

“Naturally,” Commander Griffith agreed. “But not officially. And we don’t spread rumor in the Navy, boy. I was just going to tell the men about it.”

He turned again and Bob followed him. He was all confused now. He was glad his father had the assign-merit; he knew it would be a prize chance for advancement toward the coveted position of Fleet Commander; every man in the Fleet had probably wanted the opportunity, and his father had gotten it! But again a twinge of jealousy hit at him.

If he’d been two years older, and commissioned, he could have been going, maybe. But now he’d have to stay here on Mars, without even the companionship of his father, until the Academy opened again.

It was probably the last chance for exploration he would ever know. The planets had all been covered, years before; and the stars were still out of reach, and wouldn’t be touched during his lifetime. Now a brand new planet showed up—and the best he could do would be to read about it!

Obviously, official word had already been beaten by the rumors, since the men of Wing Nine were clumped into little groups around their twenty ships when Bob and Commander Griffith reached them. They broke up at once, grinning, and began descending on the two.

Griffith halted them with a wave of his hand. “It’s official, boys. We’re heading out for Outpost by Neptune in three days. We base there, scout Planet X, and land to explore if it looks feasible. If not, we’re to determine the orbit of the planet exactly. And it’s no secret now that Planet X is heading inward at a speed that makes some of the astronomers think it must be from outer space, and not a real planet at all! So it should be interesting!”

A whoop went up from them, and the younger men began a crazy snake dance in and out among the ships.

Griffith grinned broadly, and turned back to Bob. “There’s one little thing I forgot to tell you,” he said, too casually. He stopped to light his pipe, then met Bob’s eyes suddenly. “I got special permission to take along a junior aide—some young fellow from the Academy, for instance. Any suggestions?”

Bob’s mouth really fell open then. He stared up at his father, not quite daring to believe what the other was saying. “You mean…”

Griffith nodded. “I mean you, of course! You know the old tradition—on anything except the most dangerous special mission, the Academy usually places one of its cadets as a reward for good work. It keeps up interest. This tune you were on the list of students recommended, and Fleet Commander Jonas thought it might be a good idea --">