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15 - Galactic Patrol by E. E. Smith · Galactic Patrol

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  Speaker 1: Chapter fifteen of Galactic Patrol by E. E. Smith. This
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. It so happened
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  Speaker 1: that for many long weeks there had been lying in
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  Speaker 1: New York Spaceport an urgent shipment for Alsacan. And not
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  Speaker 1: only was that urgency a one way affair, for with
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  Speaker 1: the possible exception of a few packets whose owners had
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  Speaker 1: locked them in vaults and would not part with them
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  Speaker 1: at any price, there was not a single alsaconite cigarette
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  Speaker 1: left on Earth. Luxuries, then, as now soared feverishly in
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  Speaker 1: price with scarcity. Only the rich smoked alsaconite cigarettes. And
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  Speaker 1: to those rich, the price of anything they really wanted
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  Speaker 1: was a matter of almost complete indifference. And plenty of
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  Speaker 1: them wanted and wanted badly their alsaconite cigarettes. There was
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  Speaker 1: no doubt of that. The current market report upon them
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  Speaker 1: was bid one thousand credits per packet of ten, offered
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  Speaker 1: none at any price. With that ever climbing figure in mind,
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  Speaker 1: a merchant prince named Matthews had been trying to get
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  Speaker 1: an Alsacan bound ship into the Ether. He knew that
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  Speaker 1: one cargo of alsaconite cigarettes safely landed in any Tulurian
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  Speaker 1: spaceport would yield more profit than could be made by
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  Speaker 1: his entire fleet in ten years of normal trading. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: he had for weeks been pulling every wire and even
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  Speaker 1: every string that he could reach, political, financial, even at
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  Speaker 1: times verging altogether too close for comfort upon the criminal,
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  Speaker 1: but without results. For even if he could find a
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  Speaker 1: crew willing to take the risk to launch the ship
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  Speaker 1: without an escort would be out of the question. There
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  Speaker 1: would be no profit in a ship that did not
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  Speaker 1: return to Earth. The ship was his to do with
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  Speaker 1: as he pleased, but the escorting maulers were assigned solely
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  Speaker 1: by the Galactic Patrol, and that patrol would not give
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  Speaker 1: his ship an escort. In answer to his first request,
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  Speaker 1: he'd been informed that only cargoes classed as necessary were
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  Speaker 1: being escorted at all regularly, that semi necessary loads were
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  Speaker 1: escorted occasionally when of a particularly useful or desirable commander,
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  Speaker 1: and if opportunity offered. The luxury loads such as his
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  Speaker 1: were not being escorted at all, and that he would
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  Speaker 1: be notified if, as and when the Prometheus could be
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  Speaker 1: given an escort. Then the merchant Prince began his siege.
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  Speaker 1: Politicians of high rank, local and national sent in requests
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  Speaker 1: of varying degrees of diplomacy. Financiers first offered inducements, then
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  Speaker 1: threatened to bear down, and then put on all the
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  Speaker 1: various kinds of pressure known to their pressure loving ilk
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  Speaker 1: please demands, threats and pressures were alike, However, futile. The
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  Speaker 1: patrol could not be coaxed or bullied, cajoled, bribed or cowed,
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  Speaker 1: and all further communications upon the subject, from whatever source
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  Speaker 1: originating were ignored. Having exhausted his every resource of diplomacy, politics, guile,
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  Speaker 1: and finance, the merchant Prince resigned himself to the inevitable
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  Speaker 1: and stopped trying to get his ship off the ground.
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  Speaker 1: But then, like the proverbial bolt from the blue, New
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  Speaker 1: York sub base received from Prime Base an open message
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  Speaker 1: not even coded with dread, authorized spaceship Prometheus to clear
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  Speaker 1: for alsakin at will, escorted by Patrol Ship B forty
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  Speaker 1: two TC eight thirty eight, whose present orders are hereby canceled,
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  Speaker 1: signed Haines. A demolition bomb dropped into that sub basse
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  Speaker 1: would not have caused greater excitement than did that message.
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  Speaker 1: Neither the base commander, the captain of the Maler, the
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  Speaker 1: captain of the Prometheus, nor the highly pleased but equally
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  Speaker 1: surprised Matthews could explain it, but all of them did
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  Speaker 1: whatever they could to expedite the departure of the freighter.
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  Speaker 1: She was and had been for a long time, practically
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  Speaker 1: ready to sail. As the base commander and Matthews sat
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  Speaker 1: in the office shortly before the scheduled time of departure,
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  Speaker 1: Kinnison arrived, or more correctly, he let them know that
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  Speaker 1: he was there. He invited them both into the control
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  Speaker 1: room of his speedster, and invitations from Gray Lensman were
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  Speaker 1: accepted without question or demure. I suppose you're wondering what
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  Speaker 1: this is all about, he began. I'll make it as
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  Speaker 1: short as I can. I asked you in here because
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  Speaker 1: this is the only convenience place in which I know
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  Speaker 1: that what we say will not be overheard. There are
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  Speaker 1: lots of spy rays around here, whether you know it
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  Speaker 1: or not. The Prometheus is to be allowed to go
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  Speaker 1: to Alsacan because that is where pirates seem to be
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  Speaker 1: most numerous, and we do not want to waste time
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  Speaker 1: hunting all over space to find one. Your vessel was selected,
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  Speaker 1: mister Matthews, for three reasons, and in spite of the
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  Speaker 1: attempts you've been making to obtain special privileges, not because
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  Speaker 1: of them. First, because there's no necessary or semi necessary
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  Speaker 1: freight waiting for clearance into that region. Second, because we
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  Speaker 1: do not want your firm to fail. We do not
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  Speaker 1: know of any other large shipping line in such a
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  Speaker 1: shaky position as yours, nor of any firm anywhere to
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  Speaker 1: which one single cargo would make such an immense financial difference.
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  Speaker 1: H you're certainly right there, Lensman Matthews agreed wholeheartedly. It
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  Speaker 1: means bankruptcy on the one hand and a fortune on
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  Speaker 1: the other. So here's what's to happen. The ship and
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  Speaker 1: the mauler blast off on schedule. Fourteen minutes from now.
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  Speaker 1: They get about two when they are both recalled urgent
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  Speaker 1: orders for the maler to go on rescue work. The
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  Speaker 1: maler comes back, but your captain will, in all probability
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  Speaker 1: keep on going, saying that he started out for Alsakin
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  Speaker 1: and that's where he's going. But he wouldn't He wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: dare The ship owner gasped, Sure he would, Kinnison insisted,
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  Speaker 1: cheerfully enough. That's the third good reason your vessel is
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  Speaker 1: being allowed to set out because it certainly will be attacked.
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  Speaker 1: You didn't know it until now, but your captain and
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  Speaker 1: over half of your crew are pirates themselves. And what pirates?
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  Speaker 1: Matthews bellowed. I'll go down there and you'll do nothing whatever,
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  Speaker 1: mister Matthews, except watch things, and you'll do that from here.
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  Speaker 1: The situation is entirely under control. But my ship, my cargo,
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  Speaker 1: the shipper wailed, will be ruined if let me finish, please,
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  Speaker 1: the lensman interrupted. As soon as the Maler turns back,
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  Speaker 1: it's practically certain your captain will send out a message
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  Speaker 1: letting the pirates know that he's easy prey. Within a
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  Speaker 1: minute after sending that message, he dies, so does every
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  Speaker 1: other pirate aboard. Your ship lands on Valeria and takes
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  Speaker 1: on a crew of space fighting Wildcats headed by Peter
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  Speaker 1: van Buskirk. Then it goes on to Alsacan. When the
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  Speaker 1: pirates board that ship, after its pre arranged half hearted
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  Speaker 1: resistance and easy surrender, they are going to think that
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  Speaker 1: all hell's out for noon, especially since the Mauler, back
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  Speaker 1: from her rescue work, will be tagging along not too
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  Speaker 1: far away. Then my ship will really go to Alsacan
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  Speaker 1: and back safely. Matthews was almost dazed. Matters were entirely
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  Speaker 1: out of his hands, and things had moved so rapidly
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  Speaker 1: that he hardly knew what to think. But if my
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  Speaker 1: own crews are pirates, some of them may, but I
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  Speaker 1: can of course get police protection if necessary. Listen, unless
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  Speaker 1: something entirely unforeseen happens, the Prometheus will make the round
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  Speaker 1: trip in safety cargoes, and all under Maler escort all
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  Speaker 1: the way. You will, of course have to take the
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  Speaker 1: other matter up with your local police. And when is
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  Speaker 1: the attack to take place, Sir, asks the base commander.
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  Speaker 1: That's what the Maler skipper wanted to know when I
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  Speaker 1: told him what was ahead of him. He wanted to
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  Speaker 1: sneak up a little closer about that time. I'd like
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  Speaker 1: to know myself, But unfortunately that will have to be
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  Speaker 1: decided by the pirates after they get the signal. It
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  Speaker 1: will be on the way out, though, because the cargo
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  Speaker 1: she has aboard now is a lot more valuable to
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  Speaker 1: Boscon than a load of Alsaconite's cigarettes would be. But
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  Speaker 1: do you think you can take the pirate's ship that way?
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  Speaker 1: Asked the commander dubiously. No, but we'll cut down his
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  Speaker 1: personnel to such an extent that he'll have to head
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  Speaker 1: back for base. Ah, that's what you want, the base
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  Speaker 1: I see, he did not see quite, but the lensmen
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  Speaker 1: did not enlighten him further. There was a brilliant double
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  Speaker 1: flare as freighter and mauler lifted into the air. Kennison
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  Speaker 1: showed the ship owner out. Hadn't I better be going
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  Speaker 1: to asked the commander those orders? You know? A couple
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  Speaker 1: of minutes yet, I have another message for you, Official
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  Speaker 1: Matthews won't need a police escort long, if any. When
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  Speaker 1: that ship is attacked, it's to be the signal for
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  Speaker 1: cleaning up out every pirate in Greater New York, the
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  Speaker 1: worst pirate hotbed on. Tellus neither you nor your force
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  Speaker 1: will be in on it directly, but you might pass
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  Speaker 1: the word around so that our own men will be
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  Speaker 1: informed ahead of the telenews outfits. Oh good, that's needed
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  Speaker 1: doing for a long time. Yeah, but you know it
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  Speaker 1: takes a long time to line up every man in
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  Speaker 1: such a big organization. They want to get them all
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  Speaker 1: without getting any innocent bystanders. Who's doing it Prime Base? Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: enough men will be thrown in here to do the
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  Speaker 1: whole job in an hour. That is good news. Clear
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  Speaker 1: ether Lensmann and the base commander went back to his
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  Speaker 1: post as the airlock toggles rammed home, sealing the exit
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  Speaker 1: behind the departing visitor. Kennison eased his speedster into the
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  Speaker 1: air and headed for Valeria. Since the two vessels ahead
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  Speaker 1: of him had left atmosphere inertialis, as would he, and
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  Speaker 1: since several hundred seconds had elapsed since their takeoff, he
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  Speaker 1: was of course some ten thousand miles off their line,
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  Speaker 1: as well as being uncounted millions of miles behind them.
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  Speaker 1: But the larger distance meant no more than the smaller,
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  Speaker 1: and neither of them meant anything at all to the
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  Speaker 1: Patrol's finest speedster, Kinnison, on easy touring blast, caught up
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  Speaker 1: with them in minutes, closing up to less than one
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  Speaker 1: light year. He slowed his pace to match theirs and
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  Speaker 1: held his distance. Any ordinary ship would have been detected
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  Speaker 1: instantly long since, in fact, but Kinnison rode no ordinary ship.
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  Speaker 1: His speedster was immune to all detection save electromagnetic or visual,
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  Speaker 1: and therefore, even at that close range, the travel of
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  Speaker 1: half a minute for even a slow spaceship in open
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  Speaker 1: space he was safe, for electromagnetics are useless at that distance,
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  Speaker 1: and visual apparatus, even with subether converters, is reliable only
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  Speaker 1: up to a few mere thousands of miles unless the
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  Speaker 1: observer knows exactly what to look for and where to
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  Speaker 1: look for it. Kinnison then closed up and followed the
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  Speaker 1: Prometheus and her maler escort, and as they approached the
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  Speaker 1: Valerian solar system, sure enough, the recall message came booming in. Also,
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  Speaker 1: as had been expected, the renegade captain of the freighter
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  Speaker 1: sent back first his defiant answer and then his message
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  Speaker 1: to the pirate high command. The mawler turned back, the
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  Speaker 1: merchantman kept on. Suddenly, however, she stopped inert and from
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  Speaker 1: her ports were ejected discreet bits of matter, probably the
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  Speaker 1: bodies of the Bosconian members of her crew. Then the Prometheus,
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  Speaker 1: again inertialus, flashed directly toward the planet Valeria. An inertialis
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  Speaker 1: landing is of course highly irregular, and is made only
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  Speaker 1: when the ship is to take off again immediately. It
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  Speaker 1: saves all the time ordinarily lost in spiraling and deceleration,
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  Speaker 1: and saves the computation of a landing orbit, which is
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  Speaker 1: no task for an amateur computer. It is, however, dangerous.
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  Speaker 1: It takes power, plenty of it to maintain the force
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  Speaker 1: which neutralizes the inertia of mass, and if that force fails,
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  Speaker 1: even for an instant while a ship is upon a
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  Speaker 1: planet's surface, the consequences are usually highly disastrous. For in
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  Speaker 1: the neutralization of inertia, there is no magic, no getting
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  Speaker 1: of something for nothing, no violation of nature law of
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  Speaker 1: the conservation of matter and energy. The instant that force
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  Speaker 1: becomes inoperative, the ship possesses exactly the same velocity, momentum,
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  Speaker 1: and inertia that it possessed at the instant the force
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  Speaker 1: took effect. Thus, if a space ship takes off from
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  Speaker 1: Earth with its orbital velocity of about eighteen and one
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  Speaker 1: half miles per second relative to the Sun, goes free,
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  Speaker 1: dashes to Mars, lands free, and then goes inert its
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  Speaker 1: original velocity, both in speed and in direction, is instantly restored,
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  Speaker 1: with consequences better imagined than described. Such a velocity, of course,
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  Speaker 1: might take the ship harmlessly into the air, but it
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  Speaker 1: probably would not. But the Prometheus landed free, and so
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  Speaker 1: did Kinnison. He stepped out, fully armored against Valeria's extremely
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  Speaker 1: heavy atmosphere and laboring a trifle under its terrific gravitation,
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  Speaker 1: to be greeted cordially by Lieutenant van Buskirk, whose fighting
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  Speaker 1: men were already streaming aboard the freighter. Hi Chief, the
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  Speaker 1: Dutchman called gaily. Everything went off like clockwork. Won't hold
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  Speaker 1: you up long, be blasting off in ten minutes. Ho Lefty,
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  Speaker 1: the lensman, acknowledged as cordially, but saluting the newly commissioned
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  Speaker 1: officer with an exaggerated formality, say, Buss, I've been doing
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  Speaker 1: some thinking. Why wouldn't it be a good idea to
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  Speaker 1: uh uh? It would not denied the fighter positively. I
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  Speaker 1: know what you're going to say, that you want in
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  Speaker 1: on this party, but don't say it. But I Nicks,
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  Speaker 1: you've got to stay with your speedster. No room for
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  Speaker 1: her inside, and she's full to the last meter with
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  Speaker 1: cargo and with my men. You can't clamp on outside,
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  Speaker 1: as that would give the whole thing away. And besides,
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  Speaker 1: for the first and last time in my life, I've
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  Speaker 1: got a chance to give a gray lensman orders u U.
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  Speaker 1: And those orders are to stay out of and away
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  Speaker 1: from this ship, and I'll see to it that you
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  Speaker 1: do too, you little Tilurian wart boy. What a kick
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  Speaker 1: I get out of that? You would, you big dumb
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  Speaker 1: Valerian ape. You always were a small sold type, Kinnison retorted, Piggy,
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  Speaker 1: piggy Haines. Huh uh huh. How else could I talk
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  Speaker 1: so rough to you and get away with it? However,
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  Speaker 1: don't feel too bad. You aren't missing a thing. Really,
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  Speaker 1: this thing is in the cans already, and your fun
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  Speaker 1: is up ahead somewhere. And oh, by the way, Kim, congratulations,
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  Speaker 1: you had it coming. We're all behind you from here
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  Speaker 1: to the next universe and back. Thanks same to you,
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  Speaker 1: Buss and many of em. Well, if you won't let
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  Speaker 1: me stow away, I'll tag along behind I guess clear
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  Speaker 1: ether or rather, I hope it's full of pirates by
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  Speaker 1: tomorrow morning. It won't be, though, probably don't imagine they'll
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  Speaker 1: move till we're almost there, and tag along Kinnison did,
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  Speaker 1: through thousands and thousands of parsecs of uneventful voyage. Part
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  Speaker 1: of the time he spent in the speedster, dashing hither
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  Speaker 1: and yon. Most of it, however, he spent in the
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  Speaker 1: vastly more comfortable Mauler to the armored side of which
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  Speaker 1: his tiny vessel clung with its magnetic clamps while he
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  Speaker 1: slept in a gossiped and read, exercised, and played with
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  Speaker 1: the Mahler's officers and crew in deep space camaraderie. It
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  Speaker 1: so happened, however, that when the long awaited attack developed,
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  Speaker 1: he was out in his speedster, and thus he saw
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  Speaker 1: and heard everything. From the beginning. Space was filled with
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  Speaker 1: the old familiar interference. The raider flashed up, locked on
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  Speaker 1: with magnets, and began to beam, not heavily, scarcely enough
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  Speaker 1: to warm up the defensive screens, and Kinnison probed into
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  Speaker 1: the pirate with his spy ray. Terrestrials and Americans, he exclaimed,
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  Speaker 1: half aloud, startled for an instant, but naturally they would be,
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  Speaker 1: since this is a put up job, and over half
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  Speaker 1: the crew were New York gangsters. The Blytas got his
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  Speaker 1: spy ray screens up. The pilot was grumbling to his captain.
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  Speaker 1: The fact that he spoke in English was immaterial to
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  Speaker 1: the Lensman. He would have understood equally well any other
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  Speaker 1: possible form of communication or of thought exchange. That wasn't
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  Speaker 1: part of the plan, was it? If Helmuth or one
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  Speaker 1: of the able minds his base had been directing that attack,
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  Speaker 1: it would have stopped right there. The pilot had shown
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  Speaker 1: a flash of feeling that, with a little encouragement might
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  Speaker 1: have grown into a suspicion. But the captain was not
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  Speaker 1: an imaginative man. Therefore nothing was said about it either way.
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  Speaker 1: Probably the mates on duty. He's not one of us,
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  Speaker 1: you know, all the better if he is, the captain
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  Speaker 1: will open up. If he doesn't do it pretty quick too,
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  Speaker 1: I'll open her up myself. There you see the port's opening,
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  Speaker 1: slide a little forward, hold it, go get'em. Men and
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  Speaker 1: then men, hundreds of them, armed and armored, swarmed through
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  Speaker 1: the freighter's locks. But as the last man of the
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  Speaker 1: boarding party passed the portal, something happened that was most
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  Speaker 1: decidedly not on the program. The outer port slammed shut,
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  Speaker 1: and its toggles drove home. Blast those screens. Knock him down.
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  Speaker 1: Get in there with the spyray, barked the pirate captain.
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  Speaker 1: He was not one of those hardy and valiant souls who,
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  Speaker 1: like Giller's sleeve, led in person the attacks of his cutthroats.
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  Speaker 1: He emulated instead the higher Basconian officials and directed his
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  Speaker 1: raids from the safety of his control room. But as
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  Speaker 1: has been intimated, he was unlike those officials in that
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  Speaker 1: he lacked directorial ability. Thus it was only after it
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  Speaker 1: was too late that he became suspicious. I wonder if
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  Speaker 1: somebody could have double crossed us hijackers. We'll soon know,
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  Speaker 1: the pilot growled, and even as he spoke, the spy
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  Speaker 1: rae got through, revealing a very shambles for Van Buskirk
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  Speaker 1: and his valerians had not been caught napping, nor were
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  Speaker 1: they a crew unarmored, partially armored, and rendered even more
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  Speaker 1: impotent by internal mutiny, strife, and slaughter, such as the
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  Speaker 1: pirates had expected to find. Instead of such a crew,
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  Speaker 1: the boarders met a force that was overwhelmingly superior to
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  Speaker 1: their own, not only in point of numbers, but even
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  Speaker 1: more markedly in the strength and agility of its units. Also,
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  Speaker 1: the defenders were more capably armed than were the attackers, since,
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  Speaker 1: in addition to the efficient armor of the patrol and
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  Speaker 1: its ultra deadly portable weapons, at least one of those
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  Speaker 1: to semi portable projectors commanded every corridor of the freighter.
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  Speaker 1: In the blasts of those projectors, most of the pirates
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  Speaker 1: died instantly, not knowing what struck them, not even knowing
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  Speaker 1: that they died. They were the fortunate ones. The others
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  Speaker 1: knew what was coming, and they saw it as it came.
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  Speaker 1: For the Valerians did not even draw their dilameters. They
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  Speaker 1: knew that the pirate's armor could withstand for many minutes
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  Speaker 1: any hand weapons beams, and they disdained to remount the
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  Speaker 1: heavy semi portables. They came in with their space axes,
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  Speaker 1: and at the sight the pirates broke and ran, screaming
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  Speaker 1: in panic fear. But they could not escape. The toggles
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  Speaker 1: of the exit port were not only in their sockets,
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  Speaker 1: but they were also locked in them. Therefore, the storming
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  Speaker 1: party died to the last man, and as Van Buskerk
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: had foretold, it was scarcely even a struggle for any
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: ordinary space armor is just so much tin against a
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: Valerian swinging a space axe. The spy rae of the
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: pirate captain got through just in time to see the
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: ghastly finale of the massacre, and his face turned first
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: purple and then white. The patrol he gasped, Valerians, a
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: whole company of em. I'll say, we've been double crossed,
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: right O, we've jolly well, Bean, the pilot degreed. You
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: don't know the half of it yet either, because somebody's coming,
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: and it isn't a boy scout. If a molar should
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: suck us in, we'd be very much a spent force.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: What cut out the conversation? Is it a maller or not?
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: A bit too far away yet to say, but it
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: probably is. They wouldn't have sent those Jaspers out without cover,
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: old Bean. They knew that we can burn that freighter's
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: screens down in an hour. Better cut the beams and
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: get ready to run. What the commander did so wild
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: thoughts racing through his mind. If a malar got close
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: enough to him to use magnets, he was done cutting
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: Arcs would burn through his armor like cheese. And he
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: had no fighting men left. And even if he had
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: even a full crew of the most savage fighters known
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: would have to be inescapably cornered before they would mix
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: it with what that maler had aboard. He would have
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: to go back to base. Tally ho old Fruit. The
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: pirate slammed his levers over to maximum blast. It's a
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: moler and we've been bloody well jobbed back to base Yes,
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: and the discomfited captain energized his communicator to report to
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: his immediate superior the humiliating outcome of the supposedly carefully
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: planned coup. End of Chapter fifteen