It had risen from the surface of Ganymede,
and then, possibly because its engines could not develop sufficient
repulsive force, the tremendous pull of the giant planet had dragged it
away. It had vanished through the cloud-belts towards the flaming
surface beneath--and the experiment had never been repeated.
Here, however, was a vessel which had actually, as Redgrave had
convinced his hosts by means of celestial maps and drawings of his own,
left a planet close to the Sun, and safely crossed the tremendous gulf
of six hundred and fifty million miles which separated Jupiter from the
centre of the system. Moreover, he had twice proved her powers by taking
his host and two of his newly-made friends, the chief astronomers of
Ganymede, on a short trip across Space to Calisto and Europa, the second
satellite of Jupiter, which, to their very grave interest, they found
had already passed the stage in which Ganymede was, and had lapsed into
the icy silence of death.
It was these two journeys which led to the last adventure of the
_Astronef_ in the Jovian System. Both Redgrave and Zaidie had
determined, at whatever risk, to pass through the cloud-belts of
Jupiter, and catch a glimpse, if only a glimpse, of a world in the
making. Their host and the two astronomers, after a certain amount of
quiet discussion, accepted their invitation to accompany them, and on
the morning of the eighth day after their landing on Ganymede, the
_Astronef_ rose from the plain outside the Crystal City, and directed
her course towards the centre of the vast disc of Jupiter.
Pages:
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210