PLANET EXPLORER
Original title: Colonial Survey
Murray Leinster
Complete and Unabridged
AVON PUBLICATIONS, INC.
575 Madison Avenue—New York 22, N. Y.
Planet Explorer (Colonial Survey) is based upon material
originally appearing in Astounding Science Fiction, copyright,
1956, by Street & Smith Publications, Inc.
Copyright 1957, by Murray Leinster. Published by arrangement
with Gnome Press, Inc. Printed in the U.S.A.
[Transcriber's Note: Extensive research did not uncover any
evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
To Austin Stanton, Esq.
Who believes that the things I write about should be accomplished rightaway;
Who believes that all men are potential geniuses;
Who gives responsibility and opportunity to men while they are young;
And thereby does his bit to make actual the things I only write about.
Murray Leinster
WORLDS AND WORLDS
Eons from now, MAN will hurtle through the void in gravity-defyingships across light-years of distance to far-flung planets ... and morestaggering yet, he will COLONIZE these islands in the unimaginably vastocean of space. There will be worlds, and worlds, such as—
LANI III—a glacier-land warmed by man
XOSA II—a shining desert made green by man
LOREN II—an inferno of beasts, tamed by man
THE FASCINATING, HEROIC STORY OF A TRAIL-BLAZER TO THEUNKNOWN—outer-space service officer Bordman, who uses incredibleknowledge and skill to make the star-flung outposts of civilizationready to receive new, vast surges of humanity!
Contents
| SOLAR CONSTANT |
| SAND DOOM |
| COMBAT TEAM |
| THE SWAMP WAS UPSIDE DOWN |
SOLAR CONSTANT
Bordman waked that morning when the partly-opened port of hissleeping-cabin closed of itself and the room-warmer began to whir. Hefound himself burrowed deep under his covering, and when he got hishead out of it the already-bright room was bitterly cold and his breathmade a fog about his head.
He thought uneasily it's colder than yesterday! But a SeniorColonial Survey Officer is not supposed to let himself seem disturbed,in public, and the only way to follow that rule is to follow it inprivate too. So Bordman composed his features, while gloom filled him.When one has just received senior service rating and is on one's veryfirst independent survey of a new colonial installation, the unexpectedcan be appalling. The unexpected was definitely here, on Lani III.
He'd been a Survey Candidate on Khali II and Taret and Arepo I, all ofwhich were tropical, and a Junior Officer on Menes III and Thotmes—onea semi-arid planet and the other temperate-volcanic—and he'd done anassistant job on Saril's solitary world, which was nine-tenths wat