He searched two months. That most celestial bodies within the Solar
System already had been discovered did not deter him. He found his
planet and came to a landing. He got into his pressure suit, lugging
his gravitic equipment with him. He immediately started taking
readings.
The gravity was shallow, less than one-tenth of a gee. Far too little.
There was no atmosphere. The ground was frozen, but upon submitting it
to flame it gave off the lines characteristic of phosphorus, nitrogen,
hydrogen. That pleased him. He made other readings, then he went into
his ship and wrote in his diary:
There are many drawbacks. The planet is only 483 miles in diameter.
It, at present, has no atmosphere. Being frozen, it will have to
be thawed. Obviously, it cannot, at present, support Plymouth Rock
chickens, much less human beings. I must now determine velocity,
orbit, year, and day.
A month later he wrote in his diary:
Money will be needed. Much more than can be supplied by discovering
juncture faults. Plymouth Rock chickens need worms; worms perhaps
need Plymouth Rock chickens. One finds it necessary to grow corn
also. Gravity lugs must be installed deep in the ground. Gravity
lugs are expensive. An interesting fact is that in four weeks this
planet will intersect the plane of the ecliptic. Something can be
done with this information.
Harvey determined the major and minor apices of the "perp" planet. He
determined its point of intersection with the plane of the ecliptic.
Then he went to the planet Earth, and came into a sleek landing at the
New York spaceport. He went to the information window, asking for and
receiving the time-schedules of all lines sending freight or passenger
ships between the planets. He studied them for a week in his hotel
room. He went back to the information desk to confirm his findings.
The clerk was most helpful. Yes, the liner _Hermes_ of the firm of
Gramenger & Lewis would leave Venus at 7:17 Solar Standard time on a
Wednesday three weeks from now bound for Titan of Saturn. The space
coordinates Harvey had figured out were correct. Yes, the shipping
firm of Gramenger & Lewis would not dare change the trajectory or the
schedule on as little as three weeks notice. To do so would involve
loss of prestige as well as of millions of dollars in contracts and
passenger fees. Harvey thanked him and went to the Claims Registration
Office on Luna.
"I wish," he told the official, "to register prior discovery and
ownership of a planet whose orbit lies perpendicular to the plane of
the ecliptic."
The official doubted very much that any "perp" planets remained to be
discovered, telling Harvey they were useless anyway. Harvey did not
laugh.
* * * * *
The official spent an hour poring over catalogues, showing increasing
amazement. Finally he said, "You're in luck!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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