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Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from Astounding Stories October 1931. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
At this the titanic thing went wholly, colossally mad.]
The Red Hell of Jupiter
_A Complete Novelette_
By Paul Ernst
* * * * *
CHAPTER I
_The Red Spot_
[Sidenote: What is the mystery centered in Jupiter's famous "RedSpot"? Two fighting Earthmen, caught by the "Pipe-men" like theirvanished comrades, soon find out.]
Commander Stone, grizzled chief of the Planetary Exploration Forces,acknowledged Captain Brand Bowen's salute and beckoned him to take aseat.
Brand, youngest officer of the division to wear the triple-V fordistinguished service, sat down and stared curiously at his superior.He hadn't the remotest idea why he had been recalled from leave: butthat it was on a matter of some importance he was sure. He hunched hisbig shoulders and awaited orders.
"Captain Bowen," said Stone. "I want you to go to Jupiter as soon asyou can arrange to do so, fly low over the red area in the southernhemisphere, and come back here with some sort of report as to what'swrong with that infernal death spot."
He tapped his radio stylus thoughtfully against the edge of his desk.
"As you perhaps know, I detailed a ship to explore the red spot abouta year ago. It never came back. I sent another ship, with two good menin it, to check up on the disappearance of the first. That ship, too,never came back. Almost with the second of its arrival at the edge ofthe red area all radio communication with it was cut off. It was neverheard from again. Two weeks ago I sent Journeyman there. Now _he_ hasbeen swallowed up in a mysterious silence."
An exclamation burst from Brand's lips. Sub-Commander Journeyman!Senior officer under Stone, ablest man in the expeditionary forces,and Brand's oldest friend!
Stone nodded comprehension of the stricken look on Brand's face. "Iknow how friendly you two were," he said soberly. "That's why I choseyou to go and find out, if you can, what happened to him and the othertwo ships."
Brand's chin sank to rest on the stiff high collar of his uniform.
"Journeyman!" he mused. "Why, he was like an older brother to me. Andnow ... he's gone."
* * * * *
There was silence in Commander Stone's sanctum for a time. Then Brandraised his head.
"Did you have any radio reports at all from any of the three shipsconcerning the nature of the red spot?" he inquired.
"None that gave definite information," replied Stone. "From each ofthe three ships we received reports right up to the instant when thered area was approached. From each of the three came a vaguedescription of the peculiarity of the ground ahead of them: it seemsto glitter with a queer metallic sheen. Then, from each of the three,as they passed over the boundary--nothing! All radio communicationceased as abruptly as though they'd been stricken dead."
He stared at Brand. "That's all I can tell you, little enough, Godknows. Something ominous and strange is contained in that red spot:but what its nature may be, we cannot even guess. I want you to gothere and find out."
Brand's determined jaw jutted out, and his lips thinned to apurposeful line. He stood to attention.
"I'll be leaving to-night, sir. Or sooner if you like. I could go thisafternoon: in an hour--"
"To-night is soon enough," said Stone with a smile. "Now, who do youwant to accompany you?"
Brand thought a moment. On so long a journey as a trip to Jupiterthere was only room in a space ship--what with supplies and all--forone other man. It behooved him to pick his companion carefully.
"I'd like Dex Harlow," he said at last. "He's been to Jupiter before,working with me in plotting the northern hemisphere. He's a good man."
"He is," agreed Stone, nodding approval of Brand's choice. "I'll havehim report to you at once."
He rose and held out his hand. "I'm relying on you, Captain Bowen," hesaid. "I won't give any direct orders: use your own discretion. But Iwould advise you not to try to land in the red area. Simply fly lowover it, and see what you can discern from the air. Good-by, and goodluck."
Brand saluted, and went out, to go to his own quarters and make thefew preparations necessary for his sudden emergency flight.
* * * * *
The work of exploring the planets that swung with Earth around the sunwas still a new branch of the service. Less than ten years ago, it hadbeen, when Ansen devised his first crude atomic motor.
At once, with the introduction of this tremendous new motive power,men had begun to build space ships and explore the sky. And, as sooften happens with a new invention, the thing had grown rather beyonditself.
Everywhere amateur space flyers launched forth into the heavens to trytheir new celestial wings. Everywhere young and old enthusiasts setAnsen motors into clumsily insulated shells and started for Mars orthe moon or Venus.
The resultant loss of life, as might have been foreseen, wasappalling. Eager but inexperienced explorers edged over onto the wrongside of Mercury and were burned to cinders. They set forth in shipsthat were badly insulated, and froze in the absolute zero of space.They learned the atomic motor controls too hastily, ran out ofsupplies or lost their courses, and wandered far out into space--stiffcorpses in coffins that were to be buried only in time's infinity.
To stop the foolish waste of life, the Earth Government stepped in. Itwas decreed that no space ship might be owned or built privately. Itwas further decreed that those who felt an urge to explore must jointhe regular service and do so under efficient supervision. And therewas created the Government bureau designated as the PlanetaryExploration Control Board, which was headed by Commander Stone.
* * * * *
Under this Board the exploration of the planets was undertakenmethodically and efficiently, with a minimum of lives sacrificed.
Mercury was charted, tested for essential minerals, and found to be avalueless rock heap too near the sun to support life.
Venus was visited and explored segment by segment; and friendlyrelations were established with the rather stupid but peaceable peoplefound there.
Mars was mapped. Here the explorers had lingered a long time: and allover this planet's surface were found remnants of a vast and intricatecivilization--from the canals that laced its surface, to great citieswith mighty buildings still standing. But of life there was none. Theatmosphere was too rare to support it; and the theory was that it hadconstantly thinned through thousands of years till the last Martianhad gasped and died in air too attenuated to support life even increatures that must have grown greater and greater chested in eons ofadaptation.
Then Jupiter had been reached: and here the methodical planet byplanet work promised to be checked for a long time to come. Jupiter,with its mighty surface area, was going to take some exploring! Itwould be years before it could be plotted even superficially.
* * * * *
Brand had been to Jupiter on four different trips; and, as he walkedtoward his quarters from Stone's office, he reviewed what he hadlearned on those trips.
Jupiter, as he knew it, was a vast globe of vague horror and sharpcontrasts.
Distant from the sun as it was, it received little solar heat. But,with so great a mass, it had cooled off much more slowly tha
n any ofthe other planets known, and had immense internal heat. This meantthat the air--which closely approximated Earth's air in density--wascool a few hundred yards up from the surface of the planet, and danklyhot close to the ground. The result, as the cold air constantly sankinto the warm, was a thick steamy blanket of fog that coveredeverything perpetually.
Because of the recent cooling, life was not far advanced on Jupiter.Too short a time ago the sphere had been but a blazing mass. Tropicalmarshes prevailed, crisscrossed by mighty rivers at warmer than bloodheat. Giant, hideous fernlike growths crowded one another in aneverlasting jungle. And among the distorted trees, from the blanket ofsoft white fog that hid all from sight, could be heard constantly anear-splitting chorus of screams and bellows and whistling snarls. Itmade the blood run cold just to listen--and to speculate on whatgigantic but tiny-brained monsters made them.
Now and then, when Brand had been flying dangerously low over thesurface, a wind had risen strong enough to dispel the fog banks for aninstant; and he had caught a flash of Jovian life. Just a flash, forexample, of a monstrous lizard-like thing too great to support its ownbulk: or a creature all neck and tail, with ridges of scale on itsarmored hide and a small serpentine head weaving back and forth amongthe jungle growths.
* * * * *
Occasionally he had landed--always staying close to the space ship,for Jupiter's gravity made movement a slow and laborious process, andhe didn't want to be caught too far from security. At such times hemight hear a crashing and splashing and see a reptilian head loomgigantically at him through the fog. Then he would discharge thedeadly explosive gun which was Earth's latest weapon, and the creaturewould crash to the ground. The chorus of hissings and bellowings wouldincrease as he hastened slowly and laboriously back to the ship,indicating that other unseen monsters of the steamy jungle had flockedto tear the dead giant to pieces and bolt it down.
Oh, Jupiter was a nice planet! mused Brand. A sweet place--if onehappened to be a two-hundred-foot snake or something!
He had always thought the entire globe was in that new, raw, marshystate. But he had worked only in one comparatively small area of thenorthern hemisphere; had never been within thirty thousand miles ofthe red spot. What might lie in that ominous crimson patch, he couldnot even guess. However, he reflected, he was soon to find out, thoughhe might never live to tell about it.
Shrugging his shoulders, he turned into the fifty story building inwhich was his modest apartment. There he found, written by theautomatic stylus on his radio pad, the message: "Be with you at seveno'clock. Best regards, and I hope you strangle. Dex Harlow."
* * * * *
Dex Harlow was a six-foot Senior Lieutenant who had been on many anout-of-the-way exploratory trip. Like Brand he was just under thirtyand perpetually thirsting for the bizarre in life. He was a walkingdocument of planetary activity. He was still baked a brick red from atrip to Mercury a year before: he had a scar on his forehead, theresult of jumping forty feet one day on the moon when he'd meant tojump only twenty; he was minus a finger which had been irreparablyfrost-bitten on Mars; and he had a crumpled nose that was the outcomeof a brush with a ten-foot bandit on Venus who'd tried to kill him forhis explosive gun and supply of glass, dyite-containing cartridges.
He clutched Brand's fingers in a bone-mangling grip, and threw his hatinto a far corner.
"You're a fine friend!" he growled cheerfully. "Here I'm having afirst rate time for myself, swimming and planing along the Riviera,with two more weeks leave ahead of me--and I get a call from the OldMan to report to you. What excuse have you for your crime?"
"A junket to Jupiter," said Brand. "Would you call that a goodexcuse?"
"Jupiter!" exclaimed Dex. "Wouldn't you know it? Of course you'd haveto pick a spot four hundred million miles away from all that grandswimming I was having!"
"Would you like to go back on leave, and have me choose someone else?"inquired Brand solemnly.
"Well, no," said Dex hastily. "Now that I'm here, I suppose I might aswell go through with it."
Brand laughed. "Try and get you out of it! I know your attitude towarda real jaunt. And it's a real jaunt we've got ahead of us, too, oldboy. We're going to the red spot. Immediately."
* * * * *
Dex's sandy eyebrows shot up. "The red spot! That's where Coblenz andHeiroy were lost!"
"And Journeyman," added Brand. "He's the latest victim of whatever'sin the hell-hole."
Dex whistled. "Journeyman too! Well, all I've got to say is thatwhatever's there must be strong medicine. Journeyman was a damn fineman, and as brave as they come. Have you any idea what it's allabout?"
"Not an idea. Nobody has. We're to go and find out--if we can. Are youall ready?"
"All ready," said Dex.
"So am I. We'll start at eleven o'clock in one of the Old Man's bestcruisers. Meanwhile, we might as well go and hunt up a dinnersomewhere, to fortify us against the synthetic pork chops and breadwe'll be swallowing for the next fortnight."
They went out; and at ten minutes of eleven reported at the greatspace ship hangars north of New York, with their luggage, aconspicuous item of which was a chess board to help while away thelong, long days of spacial travel. Brand then paused a little whilefor a final check-up on directions.
They clambered into the tiny control room and shut the hermeticallysealed trap-door. Brand threw the control switch and precisely ateleven o'clock the conical shell of metal shot heavenward, gatheringsuch speed that it was soon invisible to human eyes. He set theircourse toward the blazing speck that was Jupiter, four hundred millionmiles away; and then reported their start by radio to CommanderStone's night operator.
The investigatory expedition to the ominous red spot of the giant ofthe solar system was on.