Chapter 26: 342

We were falling towards the hurricane swept planet below while floating helplessly inside the hull of the Argo. I managed to twist myself into a position where I could push my feet against the inside wall of the hull. It seemed an eternity but was probably only about three seconds, before I could grab hold of the back of the helmsman's chair.

Pulling myself into a more or less upright position, I took one of my hands off the back of the chair and reached out to the control panel. There I flicked the 'height control' switch from 'automatic' to 'manual'. Seeing what I had done, Brian adjusted the drive to increase our distance from the planet.

Immediately there was the sound of falling bodies behind us. I looked around to see everyone picking themselves up off the deck. Then the door to the galley was thrown open and a soup streaked Brenda Burns strode in brandishing a ladle.

"What flipping idiot was responsible for that?" she glared at us.

It broke the tension and we all burst out laughing.

"It's not funny," she said, "that, whatever it was, tossed lunch all over the galley. It's a good thing, I keep the floor so clean that you can eat off it, or you would all go hungry."

She realised what she had just said and to whom she had said it. She laughed and collapsed into a vacant seat.

"I'm sorry," I said to her, "I think that we were unexpectedly struck by lightning which knocked out our radar and put us into freefall."

"Well, don't let it happen again," she grinned at me. Then addressing everybody she said, "I guess lunch will be a little late, today."

"Let me come and help you," said Ada rising from her chair, "have you got any clean aprons?"

Once again we were laughing. Ada and Brenda left for the galley. David Maltby had wandered through from the drive room.

"What was that? It was somewhat exciting while it lasted."

"I think it was Radar failure," I said, "will you check it out, please?" He crossed to the bridge power panel and flipped a switch. After a moment, we could smell burning, and he flipped the switch off again. Producing a screwdriver from his back pocket, he removed the front panel from the Radar processing equipment. A wisp of smoke was still emerging from one of the circuit boards.

Inspecting the panel designation after removing it, he said. "I think I may have a replacement board in stock."

He wandered off to the rear of our craft. A few moments later, he reappeared bearing a circuit board which he inserted into the vacant space.

"There, that should work now," he said as he replaced the cover. With the radar restored, Brian made a few tentative adjustments to check the system, and soon declared it fully functional. He then set course for 61 Cygni, and the latest colony being installed by the Spacebees. As we entered the system, he detected the planetary beacon and changed course towards it. Eventually, when we were still about a million miles from touchdown, we were hailed.

"Quartus Space Port to Argo, please land in front of the control tower and remain in your craft until approached. Over."

"Argo to Quartus. Acknowledged."

"How did they know the name of this craft?" asked Robert Hooke, "They couldn't possibly have seen it."

"No," I said, "their radar triggers the Argo to respond with our registry number. Their computer translates that into a name which it displays. In any case, they were expecting us."

"I see," he replied, "but why were they expecting us?"

"It was only polite to inform them of our coming. They have to provide us with resources, such as a guide to report their progress and to show us around. It wasn't important to spring our visit on them as a surprise."

"Of course not."

By this time, we had landed and were waiting as instructed. An officer, carrying a bag, obviously a medical bag, crossed to the Argo. Brian let him in.

"I'm sorry to have to greet you like this," he said, "but we've run into a local disease. We've got a vaccine for it, but it could be rather nasty if left untreated. I'm Doctor Alex Healy, by the way. Admiral, if I could have your arm first."

He set his bag down on a chair and withdrew a box containing a bottle of the vaccine, a syringe and a container of wrapped needles. He proceeded to inoculate us all.

"There. That should do it. I would prefer if you would kindly remain aboard for a couple of hours before disembarking. That should give the vaccine time enough to work. Captain Bollinger should be here shortly to report and to prevent you from becoming too bored."

He left us, and the President asked, "didn't the crew of the Voyager come across the disease here?"

"I don't think that they came here. We visited in the Endeavour but didn't leave the craft. It looked so suitable for further study that we pressed on to the next planet out. I believe that Voyager was so busy with Secundus that it didn't have time to study the planets here. We do need more craft of that class."

Ten minutes later, Captain Bollinger came out to us.

"I'm sorry for the greeting we've given you, but we've had a few fatalities before we formulated the vaccine. Now, I'm sure you want to review our progress. If we could all fit around a table..."

Our guests and I moved to the Mess end of the bridge deck and sat round one of the tables. Chris, flanked by Bob and Gerald, sat facing the President and Robert Hooke. Brian and I sat at the ends. Chris unrolled a map showing the surrounding area for about fifty miles distant.

He pointed at the map and said, "The land about here is a large alluvial plain. It should make for excellent farming country, and we're counting on it. The initial surveys taken of the river here suggest that it will work as a deep water port, As we see it this world could also host a thriving tourist industry. For winter sports, you could go to Quintus. For anything else you could come here."

"What about other resources, like mining?" I asked.

"The only obvious one that we've found so far, has been the desert sand. There's an awful lot of silicon tied up there in silicates."

"How soon do you expect to be before you're ready for colonists?" asked the President.

"Well, the current stage of the infrastructure should be complete in about two months. After that it will depend on the arrival of the colony's key personnel. Have you got any lined up yet?"

"We're working on it," I said, "for how many colonists are you preparing?"

"About two thousand. We're ready now for five hundred so that any time you want to, you can start sending colonists."

"How soon before you start on Quintus?"

"The advance party is already there. They aim to complete their survey next week."

Chris looked at his watch.

He said, "Alex told me to keep you locked up for two hours. I see that's just about up, so I can show you something of this world. If we're going to make this a tourist world, our first export is going to have to be the vaccine for what Alex is calling the Quartus syndrome."

"What are the symptoms of this disease?" asked Robert Hooke.

"The victim suffers from a lethargy which deepens until the body just shuts down. The fatality rate appears to be about one in fifty or so. The vaccine acts quickly and is a hundred percent successful. Let's walk over to the Governor's Office and I'll give you the latest reports. Then we've laid on lunch for us in the Governor's dining room."