The Old Man of the Stars by John Burke Read Free Book Online

of course we don’t know the actual value of the quantities represented: we only know—and recognise—the proportions, the relation of one symbol to another. There’s even a clock here: and I’m willing to swear it’s based on the same principles as our own clocks.”
    Matthew hastened to agree. “After seeing the linear clocks of Antares and some of the weird devices used by other races,” he said, “it hits you in the eye when you come across a clock that looks like a clock.”
    â€œWhat it amounts to,” murmured Clifford, “is that these creatures started from the same basic suppositions as the builders of our own space ship—of our own civilisation, even. It’s not just that they worked away at a problem and came to the same conclusion; they started out the same. There’s a family likeness in everything here that can’t be mistaken. Everything fits into our own scheme of knowledge. And that dying creature spoke to me in our own language. It’s as though he were a member of a race that had been educated by Earthmen, taught to cope with things as Earthmen cope with them. This race may have learned its groundwork from Earthmen, just as a musical genius-to-be learns his basic theory from a teacher; and then they’ve developed these techniques further—”
    â€œAnd then,” Matthew continued, “they’ve turned against their benefactors.”
    â€œIf they were benefactors,” said Clifford.
    â€œWhat are you getting at?”
    â€œI don’t know. It was a thought that came into my head. I’m not really sure,” he frankly laughed, “that I know what I mean. I was just groping.”
    They looked at the array of displays on the control panel as though expecting them to surrender their meaning at once.
    Clifford went on: “But what’s so impossible is that if these figures we’ve worked out mean anything at all—and they tally in every way—this ship travels at a speed that...that...well,” he waved his right hand vaguely, “we’ve never believed in such a thing.”
    Matthew said: “It’s no good pretending we’re not sure. We’re quite certain. These figures can’t lie. We’ve worked out the relationship between the clock symbols, those four displays above the scanner, and this heap of charts, and we know we’ve worked it out right. And if these figures mean what we think they mean—what we’re damned sure they mean—then a ship powered by these engines could reach Earth in twenty-five years.”
    Bellhouse shook his head dazedly. He said: “But that means—”
    â€œIt means,” said Matthew, “that if we could transfer the engines to our own ship, or adapt them for our own use, everyone on board could reach Earth alive. Not just myself, and not the descendants of the original crew, but all those who actually embark!”
    They went out into the open air and looked up at the stars that were already bright in the first haze of twilight.
    Clifford said: “We don’t know how those engines work. We don’t know how seriously damaged they are. We don’t know if they will work in a larger ship such as ours. But by heaven, we’re going to find out. I want to see Earth and find out what has been happening. The prospect of seeing Earth itself was only a dream, but now it’s a possibility. And by the time we’ve finished it will be a probability!”
    * * * *
    They worked for three months on exasperating preparations that had to be made before the real work could be tackled. Men whose work would have been welcomed full-time on the mechanical side had to spend a certain amount of time on the land, maintaining food supplies for present requirements and preparing concentrates for the journey. Most of the food would of course be grown on board by the shallow culture method, providing concentrates in