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MISSION
OF
GRAVITY
by
HAL CLEM ENT
A tense report of a
trip fraught with emotion,
daring and suspense.
Published by
GALAXY PUBLISHING CORP.
421 Hudson Street, New York 14, N. Y.
A Galaxy Novel
by special arrangement with
Doubleday
&
Co.
Published in book form and copyright 1957 by Doubleday & Co.
Copyright, 1958, by Galaxy Publishing Corporation
Copyright, 1954, by Doubleday
&
Company, Inc.
Copyright, 1953, by Street & Smith Publications, Inc.
Galaxy Novels
are sturdy, inexpensive editions
of choice book-length stories, both original and
reprint, selected by the editors of
Galaxy Magazine.
Cover by Wallace A. Wood
Printed in the U.S.A. by
The Guinn Company Inc.
New York 14, N. Y.
I: W INTER STORM
The wind came across the bay like something living. It tore
the surface so thoroughly to shreds that it was hard to tell
where liquid ended and atmosphere began; it tried to raise
waves that would have swamped the
Bree
like a chip, and
blew them into impalpable spray before they had risen a
foot.
The spray alone reached Barlennan, crouched high on
the
Bree's
poop raft. His ship had long since been hauled
safely ashore.
Barlennan was not particularly superstitious, but this close
to the Rim of the World there was really no telling what
could happen. Even his crew, an unimaginative lot by any
reckoning, showed occasional signs of uneasiness. There
was bad luck here, they muttered—whatever dwelt beyond
the Rim and sent the fearful winter gales blasting thousands
of miles into the world might resent being disturbed. At
every accident the muttering broke out anew, and accidents
were frequent. The fact that anyone is apt to make a mis­
step when he weighs about two and a quarter pounds in­
stead of the five hundred and fifty or so to which he has
been used all his life seemed obvious to the commander;
but apparently an education, or at least the habit of logical
thought, was needed to appreciate that.
Even Dondragmer, who should have known better . . .
Barlennan’s long body tensed and he almost roared an or­
der before he really took in what was going on two rafts
away. The mate had picked this moment, apparently, to
check the stays of one of the masts, and had taken advan­
tage of near-weightlessness to rear almost his full length
upward from the deck. It was still a fantastic sight to see
him towering, balanced precariously on his six rearmost
legs, though most of the
Bree's
crew had become fairly used
to such tricks; but that was not what impressed Barlennan.
A t two pounds’ weight, one held onto something or else
was blown away by the first breeze; and no one could hold
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