Midplanet! How the whole system had thrilled when its discovery was finally determined last year! For decades science had known there was a planet between Saturn and Uranus, ever since Pickering had proved the perturbations of those planets' orbits pointed to a body between them. Yet telescopes had always failed to detect it. Few had taken it seriously. Yet, it was there.
It was discovered finally by electromagnetic induction coils at the Mars Prime Observatory. It was rechecked from Flagstaff and searched for by Tycho Eye. The latter could not see it. It was still invisible, a strangely dark world.
It was then that I conceived my great idea. For years I had secretly nourished my grievance against the world into which I found myself born. All the great heroic acts had been done. The major planets pioneered, Gretelspoon had at last opened up Pluto, and there was nothing left for me to do to show that I too was made of godlike stuff. But Midplanet ... there was my chance!
Hastily I outfitted a small spaceship with all that I would need. Hastily but craftily I had the orbits charted and the controls processed. My destiny was always certain for had it not been my destiny to come into a large fortune early in life? Surely this had been ordained?
Then I had hurtled through space towards Midplanet alone, secretly. The world would not know of my triumph until I returned to tell them and receive their adoring plaudits. Months went past while I endured the hardships of space-sickness, the cosmitch, and voidal ague.
At last Midplanet loomed dark in the celestial panorama. Still it cast no light, still it was a black orb sailing silently on its mighty orbit, unattended by any moon.
Finding that my ship was irrevocably destined to hit the planet, I determined to land rather than turn back. So it came about that I plunged down through the darkness and found to my amazement that after several hundred yards of opaque gaseous envelope, I emerged into brilliant blue sky and rapidly approached the green surface.
After the crash and after I had picked myself up and rubbed arnica on my black-and-blue spots, the problem of the dark planet turned light demanded my attention.
I realized that some strange gas or mixture of gases chanced to make up the outermost strata of the atmosphere of Midplanet. A gaseous compound that absorbed light one way but would not pass it once it had struck the surface of the planet. So that above the planet remained swathed in lightless mystery, while below the sky seemed to radiate blue and the lighting and warmth was held in to appear as a beautiful spring day on Earth.
This then had been the circumstance which had kept Midplanet veiled from the sight of man until I, Ajax Calkins, tore aside the veil. I felt a glow of warmth suffuse my body with pride for this accomplishment.