The Secret of the Ninth Planet | Page 5

Region. By Guided Missile Post by
Moon Base control, Ptolomaeus Crater. Official. Open Without Delay.



CHAPTER TWO
The Valley of Stolen Sunlight

FOR A moment all three were silent with amazement. "From California and Moon Base
for us?" gasped Burl, finally. "But why? What can they want of us?"
His father frowned. "Only way to find out is to open it and see." He squatted down to
study the cylinder closer. Burl pointed a finger at the nose.
"Looks like a crack there. Maybe it unscrews. Let's lift it."
It was not as heavy as it had appeared, for, like all rocket missiles, it was made of the
light but tough alloys that were necessary to conserve weight-lift costs and fuel reserves.
They stood it upright and tried to turn the top. After a little resistance, it unscrewed
slowly. Inside, they found a rolled document bearing the seal of the United States Air
Force.
Burl took it out, and unfolded it with unsteady hands. His father read over his shoulder.
Gonzales poked at the empty cylinder, impatiently. Finally, he burst out, "What does it
say? What do they want?"
Burl turned to him. "It's unbelievable! It's it's just so darned surprising! The dimness of
the days, the drop in temperature it wasn't just around here! It was all over the world!"
Quickly, he went on to tell the Peruvian what they had just learned. The communication
was from the U.S. Space Commission and it had been directed on its flight from
California by the Moon Base, because only from the satellite could the exact location of
the Dennings be spotted. It seemed that the Dennings were the only scientifically trained
personnel close to the point on Earth where the disturbance originated. This also
accounted for the blanketing of radio waves in their vicinity. Several airplanes had tried
to locate them, but strange disturbances in the ether and atmosphere had made it
impossible to establish contact. Also, the back reaches of the Andes were poorly mapped
and treacherous in air currents, even in normal times.
"During the last week, a certain fraction of the Sun's light and energy reaching the Earth
has been diverted. It has been bent or focused in much the same way that a lens bends
light rays and the point to which it has been directed is a spot only seven miles from here!
Over that last mountain range," said Burl, pointing.
Gonzales followed his finger. "Just over the mountains lies the source of the trouble,"
said Burl excitedly. "And we're the nearest to it. They want us to go over there, see what
it is, stop it, or report back. It took the telescopes in Moon Base to locate us and to track
the center of the trouble!"
Mark Denning pursed his lips. "We'll have to start tomorrow, and we'll have to go fast. A
loss of light and heat, however slight, could have very serious effects on life if continued
too long. We can make it by tomorrow night, if we start early and leave the Indians and
pack animals behind."
The other two nodded. Mark looked at them in the half-light of the Moon. "You'll have to

stay with the equipment, Pedro, otherwise the Indians might abandon it. Burl and I will
start out at dawn."
Gonzales agreed and the three made their way back to the camp. At the first sign of light
breaking in the morning horizon, Burl and his father started off. They carried only
enough equipment for survival, plus the additional items that might be needed for the
emergency ahead.
The trek over the mountains was a hard one, the path narrow, steep, sometimes
nonexistent. There were few signs of Indians or animals, and it was plain that few ever
traveled over this range. The air was cold and thin, vegetation sparse and hardy. All
around them was the cold blue of the sky a shade darker than usual and the gaunt peaks
of ancient mountains. The Inca kings may have claimed the land here, but even their
hardy legions had never conquered these lonely and hostile sky domains.
Panting and weary with hours of climbing, Burl and his father made a quick lunch in a
sheltered jumble of rock near the top. Then, shouldering their packs again, they trudged
on. At last they reached a point where the view of the other side spread out before them a
breathtakingly clear vision of the little valley below.
As they looked down, the air seemed to shimmer and vibrate. Burl rubbed his eyes. "It
hurts," he said.
His father squinted. "There's a powerful vibrational effect. It may be a very dangerous
concentration of the invisible rays of the Sun as well as of light."
Once Burl had gotten used to