Robert Wicks

“ And Towers had selected this planet because it bore relatively the same relationship to the brighter, hotter Sirius as did the Earth to the sun. While farther away it should have approximately the same conditions as did the Earth. And it had seas, not as large as on Earth, but seas, nevertheless.
Yet there was a fallacy in the argument. Presumably all of the stars in the outer arms of the Milky Way and their planets were about the same age. With similar conditions as the Earth, life must have been born and walked out of the seas of Sirius Three just as it did on Earth. ”

“ We’ll be the first men to set foot on a planet of another solar system.”
Four years had gone by in the ship; thirteen years on Earth. Four years of Colonel Towers. Military discipline grew more strict each day. Space does funny things to some men. The “we’ll be the first men” had turned into, “I’ll be the first man.”
But it was Captain Brandon who drew the assignment of scouting Sirius Three for a suitable landing place for Astro, of sampling its atmosphere and observing meteorological conditions. Even as Brandon climbed into the scout-ship, Towers had cautioned him. ”

“ He looked back at the nylon chute again. Another thought ran through his mind. Suppose they don’t spot me in the dark. When the sun—Sirius, I mean—comes up, there’s a good chance they’ll spot the parachute and search for him.
He slid the canopy open and looked down at the red soil of Sirius Three. He hesitated for a moment, then swung his feet over the side and dropped to the ground.
“At least I’ll have that satisfaction,” he said, grinning under his oxygen mask. ”

“ While nine years pass on Earth when we make the trip, our RT is mere moments.”
“Good Lord!” Brandon said. “You must have passed us up.”
“Been on this planet for nearly a year,” the first man said. “Got men on dozens of planetary systems throughout the Milky Way. One ship went a thousand light years out. By the time they come back, civilization on Earth will be two thousand years older.”
“Have you got a tele-talkie?” Brandon asked. ”

“ Rather, it was a slang expression referring to a major advance in inter-planetary travel due to a maximum scientific and technological effort.
“Let ’em have Mars and Venus,” the colonel would say—“Let ’em have the whole damn Solar System! We’ll make a quantum jump—leap-frog ahead of ’em. ”