Cold Heart
First of all, we were surprised to find a planet so far out. Secondly, well that’s what this report is all
about.
My name is Mitch…Mitch Gleason, Captain of the Forerunner. It’s a Class C scout ship, out of the Briggs Explorer based on Number Two.Yeah, Number Two because that planet’s second from its red giant. Our scout ships checked out the other three. There wasn’t much to report. The inner one was hot, no atmosphere and no life. No significant organics were detected in other two -- being gas giants, there was plenty of the usual stuff, like methane, ammonia, and some simple amino acids.
We were on our last orbit around Number Four and stowing away our equipment when Clark Frazer, our navigator, let out a little
howl.
“Whoa. Mitch, I got something here.”
All our scout ships carried a three-man crew ─ a captain, a navigator, and a tech, who, in this case, was Lucy Kindall. She was sitting next to Clark.
“What is it now? Another toothache?”
She was referring to Clark’s bout a week before. We used some creative techniques to pull that tooth. At least we thought they were creative. What Clark thought was another matter entirely.
He gave her a dark stare and answered, “Not quite, Doctor Lucy.”
Those two always put on a good show. Space travel was long and boring for the most part, and occasional fireworks were a welcome
diversion.
“Now, now, children. Let’s behave. Whatcha got, Clark?”
Clark’s face lit up, and his mouth widened into a grin. He finessed a knob beneath his scope.
“How about a planet?”
“Oh?”
In a flash, Lucy had unbuckled and wedged herself into Clark’s seat, dislodging him.
“Nice, real nice. What would your mother say if she saw you behave this way?” asked Clark as he floated nearby.
Lucy peered into the scope.
“Well, is Clark right?” I asked.
“It does look like one. More like a planetoid, and pretty far out.”
“Worth a closeup?”
Lucy punched a few buttons on a panel behind the scope.
“The spectrometer readings indicate water and organics, and an atmosphere of mostly nitrogen, a little oxygen and carbon dioxide. It’s thin, probably breathable. Temps on the sunny side seem to be in the low twenties, and on the dark side, way low…maybe around minus fifty.”
I was already voting for the sunny side.
about.
My name is Mitch…Mitch Gleason, Captain of the Forerunner. It’s a Class C scout ship, out of the Briggs Explorer based on Number Two.Yeah, Number Two because that planet’s second from its red giant. Our scout ships checked out the other three. There wasn’t much to report. The inner one was hot, no atmosphere and no life. No significant organics were detected in other two -- being gas giants, there was plenty of the usual stuff, like methane, ammonia, and some simple amino acids.
We were on our last orbit around Number Four and stowing away our equipment when Clark Frazer, our navigator, let out a little
howl.
“Whoa. Mitch, I got something here.”
All our scout ships carried a three-man crew ─ a captain, a navigator, and a tech, who, in this case, was Lucy Kindall. She was sitting next to Clark.
“What is it now? Another toothache?”
She was referring to Clark’s bout a week before. We used some creative techniques to pull that tooth. At least we thought they were creative. What Clark thought was another matter entirely.
He gave her a dark stare and answered, “Not quite, Doctor Lucy.”
Those two always put on a good show. Space travel was long and boring for the most part, and occasional fireworks were a welcome
diversion.
“Now, now, children. Let’s behave. Whatcha got, Clark?”
Clark’s face lit up, and his mouth widened into a grin. He finessed a knob beneath his scope.
“How about a planet?”
“Oh?”
In a flash, Lucy had unbuckled and wedged herself into Clark’s seat, dislodging him.
“Nice, real nice. What would your mother say if she saw you behave this way?” asked Clark as he floated nearby.
Lucy peered into the scope.
“Well, is Clark right?” I asked.
“It does look like one. More like a planetoid, and pretty far out.”
“Worth a closeup?”
Lucy punched a few buttons on a panel behind the scope.
“The spectrometer readings indicate water and organics, and an atmosphere of mostly nitrogen, a little oxygen and carbon dioxide. It’s thin, probably breathable. Temps on the sunny side seem to be in the low twenties, and on the dark side, way low…maybe around minus fifty.”
I was already voting for the sunny side.