Pirates of the Thunder by Jack L. Chalker Page A

second had an atmosphere that would prevent them from living any more freely than in the Thunder. “The distance from the sun is important, but only within a very broad range. Planets two, three, and four, here, and possibly five are all in that range, but even my long-range scanners indicate that only two has an atmosphere dense enough to have potential: It is also the only one showing any readings indicating early terraforming.”
    They were not blind, even in this poorly charted region. Master System had been here long before them. The area was better termed “unused” than “unexplored.” For one reason or another, the worlds here that Master System had attempted to change had either taken too long to develop or developed wrong. Although those worlds had been abandoned when more suitable planets elsewhere were developed, the processes put in motion were not halted. No one had ever found a paradise in this sector, but a number of the worlds, given many centuries to develop and mature, were at least usable and useful. And the sheer size of the sector ensured against accidental discovery of the Thunder by either freebooters or Master System.
    “I’m getting promising readings,” Star Eagle reported. “A very thick ozone layer and a high water content. We will have to see what the surface temperatures are like, though; it’s impossible to guess anything except the fact that this will be a very humid place and certainly warmer on the average than Earth. Let’s see.”
    One of the robot fighters had launched itself from the Thunder hours before and was now, under the firm control of Star Eagle, approaching the planet. This fighter had been modified by Maintenance for much more than defense and was capable of a soft landing if need be.
    “Initial readings aren’t optimistic,” Star Eagle told them. “The world has an axial tilt of less than eight degrees, which means little seasonal variation, and the equatorial surface temperature appears close to sixty-five degrees Celsius. Tremendous, vast water bodies, with very odd landmasses. No continents as such, just islands, none incredibly large so far. The average water depth must be very deep to account for this. Lots of islands, all with rugged topography, but not much else. Some of the volcanoes are active although there is no sign of massive eruption to the atmosphere. I would guess that these are not the major explosion type, but rather the slow, steady erupters with dense lava.”
    “What’s that mean?” Warlock asked, in an uncharacteristically chatty manner.
    “It means that there won’t be constant dust and soot in the air that would cause things to be too hot or block so much sun that it’d be freezing cold,” Hawks told her. “But it also means you have a chance of having liquid rock wash into your house almost anywhere, and probably frequent earthquakes. Not very appetizing.”
    “Interestingly, the most comfortable surface temperature would be in the polar regions,” Star Eagle said, “but there’s not a lot of promise there in surface area. The best compromise would be about thirty degrees north or south. Lots of island masses in clusters there, and a surface temperature estimated at perhaps thirty to forty degrees. I am sending the remote ship down to that latitude north for a ground scan. If I find something promising I will let you know.”
    The others looked at Hawks quizzically. “Hot,” he told them. “Days hotter than the worst summer days of America or China and nights as hot as hot summer days in Europe, with very little difference over a year. We could live there, though, if the air has the kind of makeup to block the worst and most damaging rays of the sun. Even so, those of us with the darkest skin will have the best protection. It won’t do anything for comfort, though.”
    “Atmosphere is quite good,” the pilot reported. “The trace gases are quite different and the water vapor is extremely high, but the oxygen-nitrogen