Free Keystones: Tau Prime by Alexander McKinney Page A

made sure that you were stable.” From Jamie’s tone you would have thought she was sucking on lemons.
    Jonny’s voice then came over the com system. “Deklan, so good of you to join us. You both need to see this.”
    A dark screen illuminated to show Deklan his first view of the new solar system. A blue sun cast a harsh but beautiful light. Side windows revealed close-up images of the planets. There were seven gaseous giants, each of which dwarfed Jupiter, and another wormhole, giving the system two wormholes in space. But that wasn’t what was most impressive. The feed zoomed in on one image until it filled the entire screen. It was a shiny blue globe.
    Jonny sounded triumphant. “We have readings back. The atmosphere is breathable. In fact, it’s almost Earth-normal. People could live there. Deklan, we need you up here.”
    Deklan was amazed by this positive confirmation of an Earth-normal planet. Everyone had believed they existed, but he was one of the first people to see one up close. In response to his summons to the bridge, Deklan asked, “Why?”
    “We need to know the laws on planetary annexation.”
    When he returned to the bridge, Calm nodded at him. “Ah, Mr. Tobin, glad you’re back up. We have some questions for you.”
    Deklan returned Calm’s nod as he approached a vacant console. “Yes,” he said, “planetary annexation. It’s not a specialty of mine. There haven’t been unclaimed planets to annex for over a century now.” Deklan’s hands flew over a keyboard as he consulted Serenity ’s legal library. “Over a century ago America tried to claim the moon by planting a flag. The United Nations at the time declared it a non-legal action. Since then other and more complex issues have arisen, such as the legal rights of ownership for stable Lagrange points.”
    At the mention of Lagrange points, Jonny did a swift double-take before diagrams popped up showing all of the Lagrange points in the system and highlighting the stable ones.
    Deklan cleared his throat. “As I was saying, Lagrange points and planets have been claimed on a by-use basis. Otherwise they are owned equally.” Deklan examined the blue globe that Jonny had said was nearly Earth-normal. “Now this might be different. We’ve never had a planet like this to colonize. It might well bring us into the realm of new law.”
    “I see,” said Calm in a dubious voice. “And what exactly does that mean?”
    Deklan hoped that his next words weren’t going to end his chances of continuing to search for Susan. “It means that there is no clear precedent, but if you can prove that you’re using it before anyone else, you may be able to stake a claim and have it stick.”
    Calm shook his head. “I can’t say that I care. I want to explore, not own.”
    “You don’t care?” said a slack-jawed Jonny.
    “Not about the money, no. But I do want to see what’s on that new planet. Send a probe back down the wormhole announcing the news.” Calm showed the broadest smile that Deklan had seen from him. “We’re about to be the first men to visit an extra-solar planet.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Planet Fall

“Don’t you think that we should go down in a shuttle?” Jonny asked.
    Calm barely paid any attention to Jonny as he went through an environmental checklist. The planet now christened “Exo” appeared to be free of environmental hazards that could jeopardize Serenity . “No, not really. Why?”
    Jonny looked frustrated but controlled. “Because I don’t want to trust a safety list created a century ago by someone who never had to try to land on an unknown Earth-normal planet!” He paused and evaluated Calm’s face before he continued. “If we damage a shuttle, we can maybe come up with a solution. However, if we damage Serenity , we’re screwed. There are no safety nets out here. We don’t know the planet’s physical laws.”
    Deklan nodded in silent agreement with every point. Jonny was making a good case. Deklan hoped