Discovery (Part Three) (standard:science fiction, 1113 words) [3/8] show all parts
Author: Goreripper	Added: Nov 06 2000	Views/Reads: 2960/1904	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
The spaceship Discovery finally arrives at its destination, and the people aboard are amazed at what they find there.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

supported an array of satellites. Not all of them had been accounted 
for yet, but the team had already counted more than ten, some a few 
spans in diameter, and others which were huge. One was so large it was 
almost a full-fledged planet itself. This mammoth object and its family 
circled immediately beyond the small ringed world we had recently 
passed but was much further from it than the little planet was to the 
one Discovery was now above. Just as they were reporting to us the team 
was preparing to dip the atmospheres of both the planet and its largest 
moon. The central recording core of our spaceborne university was in 
overdrive. 

We heard no message from the other three teams for some time, but as
they were now so far away this did not concern us. 

Our staff took stock of what we had learned so far of this extraordinary
and vast solar system. So far we had found four gas giants, innumerable 
minor planetary bodies and four smaller rocky worlds. Two of these were 
in inferior orbits to our current location, and the innermost was very 
close to the central sun. That sun was quite similar to our own, but 
the similarities to our own planet that were so visibly evident below 
us was the most incredible discovery so far. Even the fact that its 
companion moon was almost one-fifth  its size was a coincidence againt 
which no gambler would have laid a bet. 

People had already begun to call the star Neffergi, much to the
Professor's chagrin, and the planet we orbited N3. Both seemed 
appropriate for the time being, though the Professor would not permit 
the application of his name to the star or its children in his presence 
and referred to it himself simply as NW1, for New World. He was an 
eminent scientist, after all, and not given to romanticism. He argued 
that it was not he who had discovered the star at all, and that naming 
it should be left to the Institute on our return. There were few of us, 
however, who were prepared to leave it at that. 

END OF PART THREE 


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