IV
Standish left the glade with a heavy heart and returned to the space ship. In the ravine, he made two discoveries. There was a spring of clear water pouring from a fissure in the cliff side. Growing about it was an edible variety of moss. Although he had concentrated food in the liner's galley to keep him for a long time, these finds were reassuring.
He also found that the combination of the mineral soil and the two suns affected growth tremendously. Planting a few dried kernels of corn, he was amazed to see them take root almost instantly and reach full maturity within a few hours.
He now set upon a task which he had been mulling over in his brain for some time.
There were ray cannons mounted on the space liner's stern. Two of these had broken muzzles, but the third was intact. Standish went down into the bowels of the ship and found a dozen old message projectiles. Cigar-shaped objects of heat-resisting corodite, these projectiles were a part of all space crafts' emergency equipment. They were used for distress signals when radio or visiscreen equipment failed.
In the hollow chamber of each of the twelve projectiles he placed the same message:
Castaway. Mason Standish. Lieutenant-defense-engineer Earth. On unknown planet, somewhere near Sirius-Earth Route. December 28, 3020.
He had no means of astronomical calculation. So he aimed the gun at twelve different points of the heavens and fired haphazardly. Chances of intelligent life ever finding those projectiles were millions to one against him. But whatever the odds, he must miss no opportunity.
Next he made a thorough survey of the wrecked liner, carrying all usable objects to the forecastle, which swiftly took on the appearance of a storage room. As these articles began to grow in number, satisfaction and pride of ownership gripped him.
It was in the midst of these labors that he was suddenly struck with an idea. Why not construct a space ship from the wrecked parts of the liner? He had six atomic motors, and surely from their wreckage he could salvage enough to build one of half the trajectory power. And with a smaller ship, he might be able to find his way back to Earth.