The Planet Mappers

"They named the sun 'Carveria' after you, Mr. C." His wife leaned forward, eyes shining with pride, and an arm across the shoulders of each of the boys. "They named the planets...

An hour or so later he heard his name called, urgently. He sprang up and ran into the other room, to see his brother beckoning him from the doorway of their parents' bunkroom. A...

It consisted of an exceptionally strong broadcasting unit that beamed the message of a tape, continuously, toward Terra. Jon made up the tape while Jak was giving the feeding. I...

"Nothing good, you can bet." His father's voice was grimmer than any of them had ever heard it before. "Any time you run across that pirate, you can lay mighty big odds there's...

"What sort of shape will it leave us in?" his father almost raised up in interest, and held up his hand when his wife would have broken in. "Are there any after-effects?"

Jak, having disposed of the used plastic from their suits, had come into the control room and was listening interestedly, as was their mother, who was hovering near, not quite s...

"I had to get out of there." Jon winced as he began taking off his shirt, and Jak crammed his fist into his mouth to keep from crying out as he saw the great, angry red welts an...

Their mother looked from one to the other doubtfully, then smiled in a constrained manner. "You ... you're probably right, Jon. Mr. C. did say this would make or break us. I lea...

There was no tail, and the blocky legs--one at each corner of the weirdly triangular body--seemed to end in clawed feet. The head was shaped something like that of a horse, but...

As he heard that dread yet telltale _spang_ against the hull of their spaceboat, young Jon Carver dropped his reelbook and sprang to his feet. His eyes looked swiftly to help hi...

"Who cares?" There was a lilt of joy and pure thankfulness in their mother's voice. "We are back on Earth--home--and all of us are whole. That's the best part of all."

"Just rigged up a series of photo-electric cells and relays, so now all I have to do is throw one switch and it takes care of all the little details of landing, just as this oth...

"See how brittle it is," Jak ignored the interruption as he touched a stem, only to have it snap off like a slim glass fibre. "Can't tell without a more thorough microscopic exa...

Mrs. Carver kept her voice level, but her eyes caught and held those of her younger son. "I'm sorry if I seem too stubborn about this, Jon; but I just don't like the idea of you...

He learned to read even before he entered kindergarten and has always had a fondness for the strange and off-trail in stories. When science fiction and fantasy first gained thei...