PLANET IN REVERSE
By HENRY GUTH
On that insanely jumbled world, their love
was a solid fact. Yet he could only stare
helplessly as she sobbed out on his shoulder,
"Dleif emit desrever senutpen morf em evas!"
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Planet Stories Spring 1948.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Communication with Earth was out. Completely. Radio deader than avacuum.
Darrel Bond allowed himself a grin. The fleet admiral had warned himagainst straying off the freight lanes. Had, in fact, threatened tobreak him down to a button-pusher if he did it again. That was a laugh!Button-pusher! What was he now, if not a button-pusher?
In the old days, space piloting had been something—a thrill and achallenge. But now—buttons! Ships so automatic that he seemed to justgo along for the ride. One man controlling a million-ton ship where itused to require a crew of fifteen or twenty. A lonely, boring business.
That's why he had taken over the ship and swung outside Uranus'orbit. Mostly to break up the monotonous routine. And then there wasNeptune.... The planet had been out of bounds ever since those geodeticexpeditions had set out for Neptune over two centuries ago—and nevercome back. Early space patrols and search parties had been sent intothat part of the celestial sphere—only to disappear forever. Theplanet had become a symbol of the terrifying unknown. Eventually it wasforbidden by interplanetary law to stray beyond the orbit of Uranus.
But why? There must be reasons for those disappearances. Who couldresist an invitation like that?
"Some day," they said. "Some day. All in good time."
Now was as good a time as any.
But the radio was dead. It shouldn't be. It had a hell of a long range!And the gravity plates. Acting up. He should land somewhere and do arepair job.
Darrel looked at Neptune growing on the screen. He was getting close.
It stood to reason.
Neptune right handy ... and he needed seventy hours or so to repair theplates.
Simple.
Funny about that radio though. All of a sudden, without warning orreason, it had gone dead. And the gravity plates, too. Then thatstrange, rending sensation when he was approximately halfway of themean distance between the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. A strong forcehad seemed to grip the ship and wrestle with it for a few frenziedseconds.
Then the dead radio and the fouled-up plates.
But here was Neptune, bulging on the screen.
Darrel concentrated on his instruments—and began to check the ship'sspeed.
Before venturing out the airlock, he made a superficial check of thegravity plates. Not too bad. He could probably repair them in less thanthe seventy hours he'd thought he would need. The radio was in flawlesscondition. He switched on the transmitter, and sent signals crashingpowerfully out into space. But the receiver received nothing. Not aspark, not a gasp.
Might as well look around outside.
Outside, unexpectedly, there was a girl. So beautiful it was a physicalshock. Raven-black hair, cream skin and a small, sharply-outlinedfigure clothed in a strangely translucent yellow tunic. An incarnationof delicate loveliness. Fragile. Unbelievable.
She stood about twenty feet from the ship—waving. Waving listlesslyand with an expression of infinite sadness on her face.
Darrel watched, dumbfounded, as the girl walked toward him hesitantly.Tears w