Page 127 - The Perpetrations of Captain Kaga

Reforming the World of Bolix

affairs. But what to do with “Don’t Lose Your Marbles!”? All that
work for nothing? He packed up his few possessions and stood by the
airlock.
A sudden wave of altruism overcame him. He sat down by his
computer terminals and called Dr. Assassassa on the ComSet. The
University switched his call through to the faculty bunkers, and a
sleepy Pazoutian voice finally responded.
“Wawawoosh…is that you, Captain Kaga? By all the Eggs, it’s the
middle of the night. Don’t you ever sleep?” The screen revealed that
the professor had tried to recreate his nest on Pazouti in as much
detail as possible: feathers and fibers floated about the room,
disturbed by the sudden awakening of its occupant.
Captain Kaga hurriedly said, “I’ve no time to apologize properly,
Doctor. I’m leaving Gornat IV tonight, and I want to leave something
that might help you in your research.”
Kaga quickly explained the reasoning behind “Don’t Lose Your
Marbles!” and concluded, “I’m transmitting the whole game program
to your office computer as is. It certainly works well enough to be
used in the laboratory, and I don’t think you’ll have trouble finding
volunteers to play a new game.”
“Shawooshawoo,” said Dr. Assassassa, now more awake. “That’s
quite an idea you have there. I’ll make good use of it. Thank you—and
good luck!”
Kaga signed off and left the bunker, bundled up in his radiation
suit. He found an unoccupied Traxi and clambered in. A few minutes
later he was at the spaceport, seeking directions to the PKU vessel. It
was a sleek new model with an advanced autopilot; as soon as he
entered the cabin, soft mechanical voices directed him to the
acceleration couch and advised him of deepspace procedures and
precautions.
After the liftoff, he went to sleep for a few hours. Then, feeling
more alert, he asked the conversational monitor, “Give me the report
on Bolix.”
A screen overhead slowly illuminated and narration began.

Contact was first established with planet Y27-894-3N by
PKU exploratory mission H27-56JA. It is a large heavy-
metal body orbiting at considerable distance from its star,
Y27-894. Peculiarities in the gravitation, orbital velocity
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