Astounding British Edition, Vol. 9, No. 10 — page 33: what you’re looking at

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

MISSION OF GRAVITY 31 numerous smaller streams. Two of these tributaries had been rather difficult to cross, requiring that the Bree be unlashed from the sled and floated across at the end of a towrope while tank and sled drove below the surface on the river bed. Now, however, the streams had become so narrow that the sled actually bridged them and no such delays occurred. At long last, fully twelve hundred miles from where the Bree had wintered and some three hundred south of the equator, with Lackland bowing under an additional half gravity, the streams began to bear definitely in the general direction of their travel. Both Lackland and Barlennan let several days pass before mentioning it, wishing to be sure, but at last there was no more doubt that they were in the watershed leading to the eastern ocean. Morale, which had never been low, never- theless improved noticeably; and several sailors could now always be found on the tank’s roof hoping for the first glimpse of the sea as they reached each hilltop. Even Lackland, tired sometimes to the point of nausea, brightened up; and as his relief was the greater, so proportion- ately greater was his shock and dismay when they came, with practically no warning, to the edge of an escarpment; an almost sheer drop of over sixty feet, stretching as far as the eye could see at right angles to their course. CHAPTER IX. For long moments nothing was said. Both Lackland and Barlennan, who had worked so carefully over the photo- graphs from which the map of their journey had been prepared, were far too astonished to speak. The crew, though by no means devoid of initiative, decided collectively and at the first glance to leave this problem to their captain and his alien friend. “How could it have been there?” Bar- lennan was first to speak. “I can see it’s not high, compared to the vessel from which your pictures were taken, but should it not have cast a shadow far across the country below, in the minutes before sunset?” “Tt should, Barl, and I ‘can think of only one reason it escaped us. Each picture, you recall, covered many square miles; one alone would include all the land we can see from here, and much more. The picture that does cover this area must have been made between sun- rise. and noon, when there would have been no shadow.” “Then this cliff does not extend past the boundary of that one picture?” “Possibly; or, just as possibly, it chanced that two or three adjacent shots were all made in the morning—I don’t know just what course the photo rocket flew. If, as I should imagine, it went east and west, it wouldn’t be too great a co- incidence for it to pass the cliff several times at about the same time of day. “Still, there’s little point in going through that question. The real problem, since the cliff obviously does exist, is how to continue our journey.” That ques- tion produced another silence , which lasted for some time. It was broken, to the surprise of at least two people, by the first mate. “Would it not be advisable to have the Flyer’s friends far above learn for us just how far this cliff extends to either side? It may be possible to descend an easier slope without too great a detour. It should not be hard for them to make new maps, if this cliff was missed on the first.” Barlennan translated this re- mark, which was made in the mate’s own language. Lackland raised his eyebrows. “Your friend may as well speak English himself, Barl—he appears to know enough to understand our last conversation. Or do you have some means of communicat- ing it to him that I don’t know about?” Barlennan whirled on his mate startled and, after a moment, confused. He had not reported the conversation to Don- dragmer; evidently the Flyer was right— his mate had learned some English. Un- fortunately, however, the second guess had also some truth; Barlennan had long been sure that many of the sounds his vocal apparatus could produce were not audible to the Earthman, though he could not guess at the reason. For several seconds he was confused, trying to decide whether it would be better to reveal Dondragmer’s ability, the secret of their (COMMICLAOVO)| KS 5 (eC)