Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction November 1953. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
THE BOOK
A weird world—cut off from the Universe, it had universalwisdom; facing death at every moment, it had the secret ofpeace!
By MICHAEL SHAARA
Illustrated by Mel Hunter
eauclaire was given his first ship at Sirius. He was called up beforethe Commandant in the slow heat of the afternoon, and stood shufflingwith awkward delight upon the shaggy carpet. He was twenty-five yearsold, and two months out of the Academy. It was a wonderful day.
The Commandant told Beauclaire to sit down, and sat looking at him fora long while. The Commandant was an old man with a face of many lines.He was old, was hot, was tired. He was also very irritated. He hadreached that point of oldness when talking to a young man is anirritation because they are so bright and certain and don't knowanything and there is nothing you can do about it.
"All right," the Commandant said, "there are a few things I have totell you. Do you know where you are going?"
"No, sir," Beauclaire said cheerfully.
"All right," the Commandant said again, "I'll tell you. You are goingto the Hole in Cygnus. You've heard of it, I hope? Good. Then you knowthat the Hole is a large dust cloud—estimated diameter, tenlight-years. We have never gone into the Hole, for a number ofreasons. It's too thick for light speeds, it's too big, and MappingCommand ships are being spread thin. Also, until now, we never thoughtthere was anything in the Hole worth looking at. So we have never goneinto the Hole. Your ship will be the first."
"Yes, sir," Beauclaire said, eyes shining.
"A few weeks ago," the Commandant said, "one of our amateurs had alens on the Hole, just looking. He saw a glow. He reported to us; wechecked and saw the same thing. There is a faint light coming out ofthe Hole—obviously, a sun, a star inside the cloud, just far enoughin to be almost invisible. God knows how long it's been there, but wedo know that there's never been a record of a light in the Hole.Apparently this star orbited in some time ago, and is now on its wayout. It is just approaching the edge of the cloud. Do you follow me?"
"Yes, sir," Beauclaire said.
"Your job is this: You will investigate that sun for livable planetsand alien life. If you find anything—which is highly unlikely—youare to decipher the language and come right back. A Psych team will goout and determine the effects of a starless sky upon the alienculture—obviously, these people will never have seen the stars."
he Commandant leaned forward, intent now for the first time.
"Now, this is an important job. There were no other linguistsavailable, so we passed over a lot of good men to pick you. Make nomistake abo