Page:Amazing Stories Volume 10 Number 13.djvu/74

72 first it was just a black speck, almost imperceptible against the dazzling solar glare. Like a toy balloon being inflated, it grew with amazing rapidity until it eclipsed the sun except for the stupendous, writhing tongues of flame which made up the solar corona.

Once, as he bent over the space chart, tracing the line which indicated the path of the ship during the previous twelve hours, Ensign Mayer said: "Excuse me, Captain Brink, but it looks to me as if we have gone nearly a million miles out of our way. Couldn't we reach our destination sooner if we steered toward the location where Mars will be when we get there, rather than pointing our nose exactly at the point where it is now?"

"That's correct," Brink agreed. "We would get there a bit sooner, but not nearly so safely. You mustn't forget that, with interplanetary relations seriously strained as they are at present, the military observers of Mars will keep a constant lookout for alien spaceships. By keeping in the shadow of the planet we have a much better chance of frustrating their vigilance."

"Ah, now I understand the reason for our seemingly erratic course," Mayer responded. "But how about our rocket discharges? Aren't they more easily seen at night than in the daytime?"

"Undoubtedly," the captain admitted. "But that's a risk we cannot avoid completely. At our present distance from Mars, our exhaust flames are visible from the planet only through powerful televiews. The only likelihood of detection is that some astronomer might just happen to point his instrument in our direction. And even if he did, he could easily mistake us for a meteor. As soon as we are close enough to be seen by the naked eye, we shall turn off the braking rockets we are using now and rely on our gravitation nullifiers to retard our speed and set us down safely."

"But how shall we conceal ourselves after we land?" Mayer asked. "There aren't any forests or thickets on Mars are there?"

"No," Brink affirmed. "The only vegetation that can exist on Mars consists of cultivated grains and native vines which would not offer any cover for even the tiniest of flyers."

"I suppose your plan is to keep shifting the position of the Cosmicraft so it will always be on the night side of the planet," Mayer suggested.

"No," the Captain responded. "That wouldn't be at all feasible. Fortunately we don't have to worry so very much about the Cosmicraft being discovered after we land on Mars. Thanks to a very ingenious device which was invented by a spalpeen named Jimmy Sullivan, the Cosmicraft can virtually be made invisible when it is resting on the ground." Calling out to Lieutenant Sullivan, who was at the controls, Brink said: "Take a couple of bows, Jimmy."

Sullivan took his eyes off the instrument board just long enough to glance over his shoulder and say: "What do you want me to bow for?"

"The Chief has been telling me about your wonderful invention," Mayer explained.

"Which one?" Jimmy asked, "I have so many wonderful inventions to my credit."

"You shouldn't be so modest about them," Captain Brink laughed. "The one we were talking about is the invisibility device."

"Yes," said Mayer, shifting his position so that Sullivan could talk to