Astounding British Edition, Vol. 6, No. 8 — page 22: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

oe sty Daly ee ei 20 Edith shuddered a little. “That’s a big prs. Stine gb she said. “You intend to destroy a whole stellar system?” “I don’t know. I’m going to see whether that stuff would actually start an overall sus- taining fission reaction in a planet after the minor fission got under way. If it does, then it is no worse for me to blow up a dead system than it would be for my little infor- mant getting us to blow up ours.” “You sound rather positive about it.” “One or the other,” said Barden. “I’m bothered. No matter how you look at it, we ... or I, was like a small child given matches to play with in a nitrocellulose storehouse. Unless you’d come up with youre, I'd have most certainly blown us sky ig Eis “Right. I think we owe my friends a debt of gratitude.” “I'll agree to that. But for this test, we'll ramble until we find a relatively unimportant star with only one or two planets, devoid of life. Then we'll try it.” “But even with dead system, you’re taking a lot upon yourself.” “How?” “There will, from that time on, be a monument.to the memory of Thomas Bar- den. You'll be the object of argument and of both admiration and hatred. Flag- wavers will either point with pride or view with alarm, depending upon their politics. Why not wait until the thing is discussed?” “Forever? No, Edith. None of us can afford it. We must know. If this works, Sol has a rather dangerous weapon against any possible conquesting races in the galaxy. Regardless of what has gone before, Sol is in a position to go out and make her mark upon the galaxy. It is best to go prepared, and if we fear nothing, we,neither need fear subjugation.” “But destroying a stellar system—” “Who'll miss it?” he asked. She looked blank. “I don't know,” she said. “It just seems so big. It doesn’t seem right that one man should be able to go out and destroy a stellar system. One that has been stable for million upon million of years. Superstition. perhaps,” she said _ thoughtfully. “I’m not a religious woman, Tom. I am not sacrilegious, either. Some- how, somewhere, there must be a God—” “Who made the universe. With a density of ten to the minus twenty-eighth power and an average temperature of matter about twenty million degrees? For the benefit of Terrans. Well if so, Edith, He is willing to see one of His experiments used to further mankind in his struggle. Ad astra per aspera, my dear!” Edith agreed solemnly but was obviously unconvinced. “Look,” he hastened to add, “if all this was put here for the benefit of Terrans, we're expected to use it. If we are incidental ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION in some grand lan encompassing a billion” suns in a thousand galaxies, loss of one sun wont matter.” “TI suppose that’s logic,” she said. “I’d prefer not to talk about it too much. I know it should be done, but it still seems all wrong somehow.” “We've got to know. Remember there’s a lot of truth in the whole thing,” he said thoughtfully. “And also a lot of untruth. They did tell me the way to interstellar travel—in a slightly slaunchwise fashion. They told you about the disintegration- process. Now, darn it, Edith, did they scare us away from planetary tries because they knew it would damage the system or for another_ reason? How do we know the thing would ruin a-planet and ultimately the system? Answer, we do not.” She nodded glumly. “I supopse that itis a step toward the final solution.” “Right, and as soon as we can get a nice system, we'll try it!” “This is Procyon,” said Tom Barden. “Or so they tell me. I wouldn’t know.” The star was a small disk almost dead ahead; its light shone down through the fore dome of the ship augmenting the lights in the observation room. “Sentiment again,” she said. “Id prefer a system more distant.” “Tf this has the right kind of planets, Procyon it is,’-said Barden flatly. “If it has planets unsuited for life, what possible good can it do Terra? Plus the fact that the instability that follows the nova for a few years will act as a nice signpost toward Terra from all parts of the galaxy. Re- member, men will really be spreading out with the new drive.” “Again you're right. But have you no sentiment?” He looked at her. “Not when it inter- feres with practicality—” They were coasting along at half the speed of light, under the super-drive. On all sides were running cameras. One coast across the system with the moving picture cameras covering the sky would bring any planets into ken; the parallax of planetary bodies would show against the fairly con- stant sky. There was also visual observation for interest’s sake. . At the far side, the ship came to a stop with respect to Procyon,-and while the films were developing, Jerry Brandt swapped ends and ran the ship nearer the center of th system. Procyon, from one side port, looke about as large as Sol from Terra and it seemed about as bright and warm. It was here that they met the alien ship. It came from nowhere and passed them slantwise at a terrific velocity. As it passed, a stabbing beam darted once, and the beam-end burst inte a coruscation of sheer energy. oO CORNICGHOOKS.CO 1 ele