A. Van Vogt: Rogue Ship

Orbiting at four thousand miles from the surface of the planet, the giant Hope of Man maintained a velocity befitting its closeness – and the preliminary study began of a planet that was instantly observed to have cities on it.

What should have been the thrill, literally, of a lifetime, was a fearful fight against mounting tension. The instruments on the bridge, and in the alternative control room, in their quiet way reported surface and atmospheric conditions at least partially unfavorable to human life. Yet it was understood by everyone that readings taken at a distance were only indicative.

Once, when Lesbee II accompanied his father to the bridge, aging chemist Kesser came dragging over. 'The sooner we get down there into the atmosphere for the final testing, the better I'll like it,' he said.

Lesbee II had the same feeling, but his father only shook his head. 'You were just out of college, Mr. Kesser, when you signed up for the voyage. You have not that awareness of the standards of precaution by which we must act. That's the trouble aboard this ship. Those who were born during the trip will never begin to understand what efficiency is. I don't intend to inspect this planet directly for at least two weeks, possibly even longer.'

As the days passed, the initial information was confirmed by new readings. The planet's atmosphere had a strong greenish tinge that was identified as chlorine. There was a great deal of oxygen in the stratosphere, and the comparison that everybody made was to a habitable Venus, but here masks would have to be worn against the irritating chlorine. Kesser and his assistants were uncertain about the exact composition of the hydrogen and nitrogen in the air below, but this merely increased their desire to go down and examine it.

At four thousand miles, the difference between water and land was sufficiently distinguishable for a photographic map to be made. Cameras, taking thousands of pictures a second, obtained a view entirely free of sparks.

There were four main continents, and uncountable islands. Fifty-nine hundred cities were large enough to show clearly, despite the distance. They were not lighted at night, but that could have been because there was no night in the Earth sense. When Alpha A was not shining down on the continents below, either Alpha B or Alpha C, or both, were shedding some equivalent of daylight.

'We mustn't assume,' said Captain Lesbee, in one of his daily talks on the intercoms, 'that the civilization here has not discovered electricity. Individual lights in houses would not necessarily be visible if they weren't used often.'

These talks, Lesbee discovered, did not serve the function that his father intended. There was a great deal of criticism, a feeling that the commander was becoming too cautious.

'Why don't we dive down,' said one man, 'collect some samples of the atmosphere, and end this uncertainty? If we can't breathe that stuff down there, let's find it out, and get started home.'

In spite of his confidence in his father, Lesbee found himself sharing the sentiment. Surely, the people below would not take violent offense. And, besides, if they departed immediately -

Privately, his father told him that the mutiny had been called off pending developments. The rebel plan, to settle for ever, was shaken by the possibility that the planet might not be suitable for human beings, and that, in any event, permission to settle would have to be secured from the present inhabitants.

'And though they won't admit it,' said the commander, 'they're afraid.'

Lesbee was afraid, too. The idea of an alien civilization made his mind uneasy. He went around with an empty feeling in his stomach, and wondered if he looked as cowardly as he felt. There was only one satisfaction. He was not alone. Everywhere were pale, anxious faces and voices that quivered. At least he had his father's strong, confident voice to encourage him.

He began to build up pictures of a nonmechanical civilization that would be dazzled and dominated by the tremendous and wonderful ship from Earth. He had visions of himself walking among the awed creatures Like a god come down from the sky.

That vision ended forever on the ninth day after the orbit was established, when a general warning was sounded from every speaker on the ship.

'This is Captain Lesbee. Observers have just reported sighting a superspaceship entering the atmosphere below us. The direction the ship was traveling indicates that it must have passed within a few miles of us, and that we were seen.

'All officers and men will therefore take up action stations.

'I will keep you informed.'

Lesbee put on his suit, and climbed up to the bridge. The sparks were dancing like mad on the outside of the plastiglass, and it was a pleasure to sit down at the bridge directive board and watch the screen that had been rigged up two days before by the physics department. The screen was fed frames by the high-speed scanners, but an electronic device eliminated every picture that had a spark on it. The speed of the pictures made the scene appear continuous and uninterrupted.

He was sitting there when, abruptly, there was a flash of brightness at the lower end of the screen – about ten miles away.

A ship!

It was instantly a matter for speculation, as to how it had got within range so quickly. One second, the surrounding space was empty; the next second, a gigantic spaceship had hove to.

Captain Lesbee's voice came quietly from the speaker: 'Apparently these beings have discovered a drive principle, and have inertia-defeating techniques, that enable them to dispense with gradual starts and stops. They must be able to attain interstellar maximum velocities within minutes of leaving their atmosphere.'

Lesbee II scarcely heard. He was watching the alien vessel. He did remember thinking that it took the Hope of Man many months to accelerate and decelerate, but that thought quickly blanked out; the comparison was too unfavorable.

With a start he saw that the ship was larger. Closer.

Sharply, the commander's voice came: 'Torpedo crews, load! But take warning! Any officer firing without orders will be punished. These people may be friendly.'

Silence reigned on the bridge while the two vessels approached within two miles of each other. Both were now in the same orbit, the alien slightly behind the Earth ship but evidently using power, for it was coming closer still. A mile, then half a mile. Lesbee licked dry lips. Distractedly, he glanced at First Officer Carson and saw that he was rigid in his chair, glaring into the screen. The man's bearded face showed that same stiff tension.

Again, Captain Lesbee's voice came on the speaker behind them: 'I want all weapons officers to listen carefully. The following order applies only to Torpedo Chamber A, under the command of Technical Gunnery Mate Doud. Doud, I want you to ease out a disarmed torpedo. Understand me! Kick it out with compressed air.'

Lesbee II saw the torpedo emerge, and heard his father's voice give more directions: 'Ease it out several hundred yards, so they can't miss seeing it. Then keep it under radio control cruising around in a narrow area of about two hundred feet.'

The commander explained quietly to his unseen audience: 'My hope is that this action will apprise the other ship that we have weapons but are not using them in aggressive action. Their response may indicate whether or not their quiet approach was a friendly or a cunning one. It might also give us some information that we desire, but I won't develop on that at this moment. Do not be alarmed. All our screens are up. These consist of various types of repulsion energy fields. They represent Earth's mightiest science.'

That was briefly reassuring. But the empty feeling came back to Lesbee II, as a hard, tense voice sounded on the speaker: 'This is Gunnery Mate Doud. Somebody's trying to take the radio control of the torpedo away from me.'