19 - Empire by Clifford D. Simak

**Clifford D. Simak** (0:00)
CHAPTER XIX Of Empire By Clifford Simak This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
Craven watched the invincible gather speed and tear swiftly through the black, saw it grow tiny, and then disappear entirely, either swallowed by the distance, or snapping into the strange super-space that existed beyond the speed of light. He turned from the window, chuckling. Stutzman snarled at him. What's so funny? The scientist glared at the wolfish face without speaking, walked to the desk, and sat down. He reached for pencil and paper. Chambers walked over to watch him. You have found something, Doctor, he said quietly. Craven laughed throatily. Yes, I have. I found a lot. Manning thinks he can keep us out here, but he's wrong. We'll be in the solar system less than a week after he gets there. Chambers stifled a gasp, tried to speak calmly. You mean this? Of course I mean it. I don't waste my time with foolish jokes. You have the secret of material energy. Not that, the scientist growled. But I have something else as valuable. I have the secret of Manning's drive. I know what it is that enables him to exceed the speed of light, to go ten thousand times as fast as light. The Lord knows how much faster if he wanted to.
No ordinary drive could do that, said Chambers. It would take more than power to make a ship go that fast. You bet your life it would, and Manning is a boy who's got it. He uses a space field. I think I can duplicate it. And how long will it take you to do this work? About a week, Craven told him. Perhaps a little longer, perhaps a little less. But once we go, we'll go as fast as Manning does. We'll be short on power, but I think I can do something about that, too. Chambers took a chair beside the desk. But do we know the way home? We can find it, said Craven. But there are no familiar constellations, objected Chambers. He dragged us out so far that there isn't a single star that any one of us can identify. I said I'd find the solar system, Craven declared impatiently, and I will. Manning started out for it, didn't he? I saw the way he went. The sun is a Type G star, and all I'll do is look for a Type G star. But there may be more than one Type G star, objected the financier. Probably are, Craven agreed. But there are other ways of finding the sun, and identifying it. He volunteered no further information, went back to work with the pad and pencil. Chambers rose wearily from his chair. Tell me when you know what we can do, he said. Sure, Craven grunted.
That's the sun, said Craven. That faint star between those two brighter ones. Are you sure of it? demanded Stutzman. Of course. I don't make blunders. It's the only Type G star in that direction, suggested Chambers helpfully. Not that either, declared Craven. In fact, there are several Type G stars. I examine them all, and I know I'm right. How do you know? challenged Stutzman. Spectroscopic examination. That collector-field of ours gathers energy just like a burning-glass. You've seen a burning-glass, haven't you? He stared at Stutzman, directing the question at him. Stutzman shuffled awkwardly, unhappily. Well, Craven went on, I use that for a telescope. Gathered the light from the suns, and analysed it. Of course, it didn't act like a real telescope, produce an image, or anything like that, but it was ideal for spectroscopic work. They waited for him to explain. Finally, he continued, All of the stars I examined were just Type G stars, nothing else. But there was a difference in one of them. First, the spectroscopes showed lines of reflected light passing through oxygen and hydrogen, water vapour and carbon dioxide—pure planetary phenomena, never found on a star itself. Also it showed that a certain percent of the light was polarised. Now remember that I examined it for a long time, and I found out something else from the length of observation which convinces me. The light varied with a periodic irregularity. The chronometers aren't working exactly right out here, so I can't give you any explanation in terms of hours, but I find a number irregularly recurring changes in light intensity and character, and that proves the presence of a number of planetary bodies circling the star. That's the only way one could explain the fluctuations for the G-type star is a steady type. It doesn't vary greatly and has no light fluctuations to speak of, not like the seaford admirer types. And that proves it's our sun, asked Chambers. Craven nodded. Fairly definitely, I'd say. How far away is it? Stutzman wanted to know. Craven snorted. You want to ask something like that. But, declared Stutzman, there are ways of measuring how far a star is away from any point, measuring both the distance and the size of the star. Okay, agreed Craven. You find me something solid and within reach that's measurable. Something, preferably, about two hundred million miles or so across. Then I'll tell you how far we are from the sun. This ship is not in orbit. It's not in fixed space. I have no accurate way of measuring distances and angles simultaneously and accurately, especially angles as small as these would be. Craven and Stutzman glared at one another.