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05 - Five Stories by Alan Nourse by Alan E. Nourse · Five Stories by Alan Nourse

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Speaker 1: Gold in the Sky, Part five of five stories by
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Speaker 1: Alan Norse. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain
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Speaker 1: recording by kerk Ziggler. Crouching back into the shadow, Tom
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Speaker 1: Hunter waited as the heavy footsteps moved up the corridor,
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Speaker 1: then back down, then up and down again. He peered
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Speaker 1: around the corner for a moment, looking quickly up and
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Speaker 1: down the curving corridor. The guard was twenty yards away,
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Speaker 1: moving toward him at a slow, measured pace. Tom jerked his
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Speaker 1: head back, then peered out again as the footsteps receded.
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Speaker 1: The guard was a big man with a heavy duty
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Speaker 1: scanner resting in the crook of his elbow. He paused,
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Speaker 1: scratched himself, and resumed his pacing. Tom waited, hoping that
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Speaker 1: something might distract the big man, but he moved stolidly
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Speaker 1: back and forth, not too alert, but far from too
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Speaker 1: alert to risk breaking out into the main corridor. Tom
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Speaker 1: moved back into the darkened corridor where he was standing
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Speaker 1: trying to decide what to do. It was a side
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Speaker 1: corridor and a blind alley. It ended in a large
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Speaker 1: hatchway marked hydrophonics, and there were no branching corridors. If
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Speaker 1: he were discovered here there would be no place to hide,
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Speaker 1: but he knew he could never hope to accomplish his
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Speaker 1: purpose here. A hatch clanged open, and there were more
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Speaker 1: footsteps down the main corridor as a change of guards
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Speaker 1: hurried by. There was a rumble of voices, and Tom
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Speaker 1: listened to catch the words. Don't care what you think,
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Speaker 1: the boss says, tighten it up. But they got him
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Speaker 1: walked in, So tell it to the boss. We're supposed
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Speaker 1: to check every compartment in the section every hour. Now
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Speaker 1: get moving. The footsteps moved up and down the corridor then,
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Speaker 1: and Tom heard the hatches clanging open. If they sent
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Speaker 1: a light down this spur, He turned to the hatch,
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Speaker 1: spun the big wheel on the door, and stepped inside
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Speaker 1: just as the footsteps came closer. The stench inside was
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Speaker 1: almost overpowering. The big, darkened room was extremely warm, the
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Speaker 1: air damp with vapor. The plastic coat of walls streamed
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Speaker 1: with moisture. Against the walls. Tom could see the great
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Speaker 1: hydrophonic vats that held the yeast and algae cultures that
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Speaker 1: fed the crew of the ship. Water was splashing in
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Speaker 1: one of the vats, and there was a gurgling sound
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Speaker 1: as the nutrient broth drained out to be replaced with
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Speaker 1: fresh He moved swiftly across the compartment into a darkened
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Speaker 1: area behind the rows of vats and crouched down. He
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Speaker 1: heard footsteps and the ring of metal as the hatchway
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Speaker 1: came open. One of the guards walked in, peered into
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Speaker 1: the gloom, wrinkled his nose, and walked out again, closing
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Speaker 1: the hatchway behind him. It would do for a while
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Speaker 1: if he didn't suffocate, but if this ship was organized
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Speaker 1: like smaller ones, it would be a blind alley. Modern
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Speaker 1: hydrophonic tanks did not require much servicing. Once the cultures
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Speaker 1: were growing. The broth was drained automatically and sluiced through
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Speaker 1: a series of pipes to the rendering plant, where the
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Speaker 1: yeasts could be flavored and pressed into surrogate steaks and
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Speaker 1: other items for space ship cuisine. There would be no
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Speaker 1: other entrances, no way to leave excit up the way
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Speaker 1: he had come in, and with the guards on duty,
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Speaker 1: that was out of the question. He waited, listening as
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Speaker 1: the checkdown continued in nearby compartments. Then silence fell again.
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Speaker 1: The heavy yeast aroma had grown more and more oppressive, now.
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Speaker 1: Suddenly a fan went on with a whir, and a
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Speaker 1: cool draft of freshened, reprocessed air poured down from the
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Speaker 1: ventilator shaft above his head. Getting into the orbit ship
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Speaker 1: had been easier than he had hoped in the excitement.
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Speaker 1: As the new prisoners were brought aboard, security measures had
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Speaker 1: been lax. No one had expected a third visitor. In consequence,
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Speaker 1: no one looked for one. Huge as it was, the
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Speaker 1: Jupiter Equilateral Ship had never been planned as a prison,
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Speaker 1: and it had taken time to stake out the guards
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Speaker 1: in a security system that was at all effective. In addition,
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Speaker 1: every man who served as a guard had been taken
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Speaker 1: from duty somewhere else on the ship. There had been
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Speaker 1: no guard at the airlock. In the first few moments
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Speaker 1: after the prisoners were taken off the Ranger ship, Tom
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Speaker 1: waited until the ship was moored. Clinging to the fin strut,
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Speaker 1: he watched Greg and Johnny taken through the lock as
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Speaker 1: soon as the last of the crew had crossed over
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Speaker 1: after securing the ship. Presently, the orbit ship airlock had
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Speaker 1: gone dark, and only then had he ventured from his
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Speaker 1: place of concealment, creeping along the dark hull of the
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Speaker 1: Ranger ship and leaping across to the airlock a momentary risk. Then,
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Speaker 1: as he opened the lock in the control room, he
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Speaker 1: knew a signal light would blink on a panel as
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Speaker 1: the lock was opened. Tom moved as quickly as he could,
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Speaker 1: hoping that in the excitement of the new visitors, the
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Speaker 1: signal would go unnoticed, or if spotted, that the spotter
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Speaker 1: would assume it was only a crewman making a final
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Speaker 1: trip across to the Ranger ship. But once inside, he
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Speaker 1: began to realize the magnitude of his problem. It was
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Speaker 1: not a tiny independent orbit ship with a few corridors
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Speaker 1: and compartments. This was a huge ship, a vast complex
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Speaker 1: of corridors and compartments and holds. There was probably a
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Speaker 1: crew of a thousand men on this ship, and there
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Speaker 1: was no sign where greg and Johnny might have been taken.
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Speaker 1: He moved forward, trying to keep to the side corridors
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Speaker 1: and darkened areas. In the airlock. He had wrapped up
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Speaker 1: his pressure suit and stored it on a rack. No
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Speaker 1: one would notice it there and it might be handy later.
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Speaker 1: He had strapped his father's gun case to his side,
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Speaker 1: some comfort, but a small one now Crouching behind the
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Speaker 1: east vat, he lifted out the gun, hafted it idly
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Speaker 1: in his hand. It was a weapon, at least. He
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Speaker 1: was not well acquainted with guns, and in the shadowy light,
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Speaker 1: it seemed to him that this one looked odd for
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Speaker 1: a revolver. It felt wrong, out of balance in his hand.
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Speaker 1: He slipped it back into the case. After all, it
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Speaker 1: had been fitted to Dad's hand, not his, and Johnny
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Speaker 1: or Gregg would know how to use it better than
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Speaker 1: he would if he could find them. But to do
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Speaker 1: that he would have to search the ship. He would
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Speaker 1: have to move about. He couldn't just wait in the
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Speaker 1: storage hold, and with all the guards that were posted,
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Speaker 1: he would certainly stumble into one of them sooner or
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Speaker 1: later if he tried leaving this spot. He shook his
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Speaker 1: head and started for the hatch. He would have to
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Speaker 1: chance it. There was no other way to tell how
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Speaker 1: much time he had, but it was a sure bet
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Speaker 1: that he didn't have very long. In the spur corridor again,
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Speaker 1: he waited until the guard's footsteps were muffled and distant.
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Speaker 1: Then he darted out into the main corridor, moving swiftly
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Speaker 1: and silently away from the guard. At the first hatchway.
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Speaker 1: He ducked inside and waited in the darkness, panting. The
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Speaker 1: guard had stopped walking. Then his footsteps resumed, but more quickly.
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Speaker 1: Coming down the corridor. He stopped almost outside the hatchway door.
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Speaker 1: Funny Tom heard him mutter, I'd have sworn. Tom held
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Speaker 1: his breath, waiting. There was a storage hold, but he
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Speaker 1: didn't dare move even to take cover. The guard stood
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Speaker 1: motionless for a moment, then grunted and resumed his slow pacing.
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Speaker 1: When he had moved away, Tom caught his breath in
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Speaker 1: huge gasps, his heart beating in his throat. It was
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Speaker 1: no use, he thought in despair. Once or twice he
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Speaker 1: might get away with it, But sooner or later a
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Speaker 1: guard would be alert enough to investigate an obscure noise,
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Speaker 1: a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye.
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Speaker 1: There had to be another way. His eye probed the
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Speaker 1: storage hold hopelessly, and then stopped on a metal grill
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Speaker 1: in the wall. For a moment, he didn't recognize what
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Speaker 1: it was. Then there was a whush, whush, whosh as
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Speaker 1: the fan went on, and he felt cool air against
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Speaker 1: his cheek. He held out his hand to the grill,
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Speaker 1: and found air coming from there. A ventilation shaft. Every
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Speaker 1: spacecraft had to have it, reconditioning units for air inside
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Speaker 1: the ship. The men inside needed a constant supply of
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Speaker 1: fresh oxygen, but even more without pumps to move the
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Speaker 1: air in each compartment, they would soon suffocate from the
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Speaker 1: accumulation of carbon dioxide in the air they breathed out,
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Speaker 1: or bake from the heat their bodies radiated. On the
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Speaker 1: other hand, the yeasts in the algae required carbon dioxide
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Speaker 1: and yielded copious amounts of oxideen as they grew. In
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Speaker 1: Roger Hunter's little orbit ship, the ventilation shafts were small,
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Speaker 1: a loose network of foot square ducks leading from the
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Speaker 1: central pumps and air reconditioning units to every compartment in
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Speaker 1: the ship. But in a ship of this size, the
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Speaker 1: grill was over a yard wide four feet tall. It
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Speaker 1: started at about shoulder height and ran up overhead. The
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Speaker 1: ducks would network the ship, opening into every compartment, and
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Speaker 1: no one would ever open them unless something went wrong.
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Speaker 1: And then he was laughing out loud, working the grill
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Speaker 1: out of the slots that held it to the wall,
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Speaker 1: trying to make his hands work. In his excitement, he
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Speaker 1: knew he had found his answer. The grill came loose,
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Speaker 1: lifted down a piece. He stopped short as footsteps approached
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Speaker 1: in the corridor, paused and went on. Then he peered
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Speaker 1: into the black, gaping hole behind the grill. It was
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Speaker 1: big enough for a man to crawl in. He shinned
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Speaker 1: up into the hole and pulled the grill back to
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Speaker 1: a slot behind him, where far away he heard a
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Speaker 1: throbbing of giant pumps. There was a rush of cool,
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Speaker 1: fresh air past his cheek, cold when it contacted the
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Speaker 1: sweat pouring down his forehead, but he could not quite
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Speaker 1: stand up, but there was plenty of room for him
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Speaker 1: to crouch and move. Ahead of him was a black tunnel,
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Speaker 1: broken only by a patch of light coming through the
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Speaker 1: grill that opened into the next compartment. He stared into
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Speaker 1: the blackness, his heart racing. Somewhere in the ship, Johnny
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Speaker 1: Coombs and Gregg Hunter were prisoners, but now Tom knew
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Speaker 1: there was a way to escape. It was a completely
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Speaker 1: different world, a world within a world, a world of
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Speaker 1: darkness and silence, of a thousand curving and intersecting tunnels,
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Speaker 1: some large, some small. For hours, it seemed to him
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Speaker 1: that he had been wandering through a tomb, moving through
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Speaker 1: the corridors of a dead ship, the lone surviving crewman.
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Speaker 1: There was some contact with the other world, of course,
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Speaker 1: the world of the spaceship outside. Each compartment had its
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Speaker 1: metal grill, and he passed many of them, but there
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Speaker 1: were like doors that only he knew existed. He met
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Speaker 1: no one in these corridors. There was no danger of
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Speaker 1: sudden discovery and arrest in these dark alleys. His boots
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Speaker 1: had made too much noise as he started out, so
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Speaker 1: he slipped them off, hanging them from his belt, and
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Speaker 1: moving on in his stocking feet. As he went from
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Speaker 1: duck to duck, he had an almost ridiculous feeling of
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Speaker 1: freedom and power. In every sense. He was an invisible man.
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Speaker 1: Not one soul on this great ship knew he was
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Speaker 1: here or even suspected. He had the run of the ship,
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Speaker 1: complete freedom to go wherever he chose. He could move
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Speaker 1: from compartment to compartment as silently and invisibly as if
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Speaker 1: he had no substance at all. He knew the first
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Speaker 1: job was to learn the pattern of the ducks, and
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Speaker 1: orientation was a problem. He had heard stories of men
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Speaker 1: getting lost in the deep underground mining tunnels of Mars,
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Speaker 1: wandering in circles for days until their food gave out
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Speaker 1: and they starved. And there was that hazard here. For
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Speaker 1: every duck looked like every other one, But there was
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Speaker 1: a difference here. Because the ducks curved just as the
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Speaker 1: main ship's corridors did. He could always identify the center
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Speaker 1: of the ship by the force of false gravity pulling
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Speaker 1: the other way. Furthermore, as the ducks grew closer to
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Speaker 1: the pumps and reconditioning units, they opened into larger vents,
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Speaker 1: and the noise of the pumps thundered in his ears.
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Speaker 1: After an hour of exploration, Tom was certain that from
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Speaker 1: any place in the ship he could at least find
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Speaker 1: his way to the outer layer and from there to
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Speaker 1: one of the scout ship airlocks. Finding Greg and Johnny
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Speaker 1: was quite a different matter. He could not see enough
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Speaker 1: through the compartment grills to identify what the compartments were.
11:43
Speaker 1: He was forced to rely on what he could hear.
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Speaker 1: The engine rooms were easily identified. In one area, he
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Speaker 1: heard the banging of pots and pans, the steaming of kettles.
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Speaker 1: Obviously the galley he found the control area, he could
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Speaker 1: hear the clatter of typing instruments, and the click, click
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Speaker 1: click of the computers working out the orbits and trajectories
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Speaker 1: for the scout ships as they moved out from the
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Speaker 1: orbit ship or came back in. In another compartment, he
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Speaker 1: heard a dispatcher chattering his own special cold language into
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Speaker 1: a microphone in a low pitched voice. He passed another
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Speaker 1: grill and then stopped short as a familiar voice drifted
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Speaker 1: through MARYL. Tawny's voice. Tom hugged the grill, straining to
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Speaker 1: catch the words. The company man sounded angry. The man
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Speaker 1: he was talking to sounded even angrier. I can't help
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Speaker 1: what you want or don't want, Meryl. I can only
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Speaker 1: report what we found, and that's nothing at all. Every
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Speaker 1: one of these claims has been searched twice over Dock
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Speaker 1: and his boys went over them, and we didn't find
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Speaker 1: anything they missed. I think you're barking up the wrong tree.
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Speaker 1: There's got to be something, Tony said, his voice tight
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Speaker 1: with anger. Hunter couldn't have taken anything away from here.
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Speaker 1: He didn't have a chance to. You read the reports,
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Speaker 1: I know, the other said wearily. I know what the
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Speaker 1: report said. Then what he found is still out there.
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Speaker 1: There's no other possibility. Tony said, we went over that
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Speaker 1: rock with a microscope. We blew it to shreds Essay
13:14
Speaker 1: has gone through the fragments literally, piece by piece. They
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Speaker 1: found a low grade iron, a trace of nickel, a
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Speaker 1: little tin, and lots of granite. If we never found
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Speaker 1: anything richer than that, we'd have been out of business
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Speaker 1: ten years ago. There was a long silence. Tom pressed
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Speaker 1: closer to the grill. Then he heard Tawny slam his
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Speaker 1: fist into his palm. You know what Roger Hunter's doing,
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Speaker 1: don't you? He said, He's making fools of us. That's what.
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Speaker 1: The man's dead, and he's making us look like idiots.
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Speaker 1: If we hadn't been so sure we had the load spotted,
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Speaker 1: he broke off. Well that's done, we can undo it.
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Speaker 1: But this brat of his any luck, There not a word.
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Speaker 1: He's playing coy. Maybe he doesn't know anything. Doc made
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Speaker 1: a bad mistake when he blasted the other one. Suppose
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Speaker 1: he was the only one that knew. All right, it
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Speaker 1: was a mistake. Tawny snapped, What was he supposed to do?
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Speaker 1: Let him get back to Mars. We've got a good
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Speaker 1: front there, but it's not that good. If the United
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Speaker 1: nations gets a toe hold out here, the whole belt
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Speaker 1: will go into their pocket. You realize that they're waiting
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Speaker 1: for us to make one slip. He paused, and Tom
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Speaker 1: heard him pacing the compartment. But I think we've got
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Speaker 1: our boy. This one knows we've been spoiling him so far.
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Speaker 1: That's all. Well, now we start digging. When I get
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Speaker 1: through with him, he'll be begging us to let him
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Speaker 1: tell you. Just watch me as soon as the ok
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Speaker 1: comes through. Tom drew back from the grill, moving on
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Speaker 1: in the darkness. So far he had not rushed his exploration.
14:44
Speaker 1: There was a chance to use the ducks for escape.
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Speaker 1: He wanted to know them well. But now he knew
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Speaker 1: the hour was getting late. So far, Greg and Johnny
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Speaker 1: had been stalling Tawny, but Towny was getting impatient. He
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Speaker 1: moved quickly, and he thought again of what Tawny had said.
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Speaker 1: Tonny was right about one thing. There was no way
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Speaker 1: that Dad could have hidden a big strike so nobody
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Speaker 1: could find it. It had to be there, and yet
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Speaker 1: it wasn't. He and Greg hadn't found it. Tonny's men
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Speaker 1: hadn't found it either. Why not? There must be a reason,
15:16
Speaker 1: But he could not put his finger on it. Half
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Speaker 1: an hour later, he was seriously worried. Half of the
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Speaker 1: compartments in the area were deserted, the men leaving for
15:26
Speaker 1: the cafeteria. The thought reminded Tom how hungry he was,
15:30
Speaker 1: and thirsty his small emergency ration kit was empty. He
15:34
Speaker 1: toyed with a thought of sneaking into a food storage compartment,
15:37
Speaker 1: then thrust it out of his mind as too risky.
15:40
Speaker 1: He had to find Greg and Johnny before anything. He
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Speaker 1: passed a grill and heard a murmur of voices. Something
15:48
Speaker 1: in the deep bass rumble caught his ear and he
15:51
Speaker 1: stopped listened. The voices also stopped. He waited for them
15:56
Speaker 1: to begin pressing against the grill. Johnny Coombs was not
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Speaker 1: the only man with a deep bass voice. He might
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Speaker 1: have been mistaken. He listened, but there was no sound.
16:06
Speaker 1: He heard the whir of a fan begin. Still no sound,
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Speaker 1: not even footsteps. And then it happened so fast he
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Speaker 1: was taken completely off guard. The grill suddenly gave way,
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Speaker 1: pitching him forward into the compartment. Something struck him behind
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Speaker 1: the ear. As he fell, there was a grunt, a
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Speaker 1: sharp command, and he was pinned to the floor in
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Speaker 1: semi darkness of the compartment. Then he heard a gasp
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Speaker 1: and he opened his eyes. He was staring into his
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Speaker 1: brother's startled face. Greg was pinning his shoulders to the
16:36
Speaker 1: carpeted deck, and behind him, Johnny Coombs had a fist raised,
16:40
Speaker 1: but they had stopped in midair like a tableau of puppets.
16:43
Speaker 1: Greg gaped, his jaw falling open, and Tom heard himself saying,
16:48
Speaker 1: what are you trying to do? Kill a guy? Seemed
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Speaker 1: to me, one time is enough. He had found them
16:54
Speaker 1: in the first instance of astonishment. They were speechless. Later,
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Speaker 1: Tom said it was the first time in his life
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Speaker 1: he had ever seen Greg totally without words. His brother
17:04
Speaker 1: jumped back as if he had seen a ghost, and
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Speaker 1: his mouth worked, but no sounds came out. Don't worry,
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Speaker 1: it's me all right, Tom said, and I'm mighty hungry.
17:15
Speaker 1: Greg and Johnny stared at the black hole behind the grill,
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Speaker 1: and then Greg was plummeling him, pounding him on the back,
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Speaker 1: so excited he couldn't get a sentence out, and Johnny
17:24
Speaker 1: was hoovering over them, incredulous but forced to believe his
17:28
Speaker 1: eyes like a father overwhelmed by the impossible behavior of
17:31
Speaker 1: a pair of unpredictable children. It was a jubilant reunion.
17:36
Speaker 1: They broke open the cabinets and refrigerator in the back
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Speaker 1: of the lounge and pulled out a sirrow ham and rolls.
17:41
Speaker 1: While Johnny got some coffee going, Tom was so fammished
17:45
Speaker 1: he could hardly wait to make sandwiches of the ham.
17:47
Speaker 1: He ate as fast as he got it. But finally
17:50
Speaker 1: he slowed up, his mouth empty enough to talk. All right,
17:54
Speaker 1: let's have the story, Greg said, still looking as though
17:58
Speaker 1: he couldn't believe his eyes. Last we saw you, you
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Speaker 1: were blown into Adams out there, and that's scavenger. You've
18:04
Speaker 1: got some nerve turning up now and scaring us half
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Speaker 1: out of our skins. You want me to go back
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Speaker 1: in my hole, Just sit still and talk, Tom told
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Speaker 1: them then, starting from the beginning through it all, Greg
18:17
Speaker 1: stared in admiration. We've got a genius among us, that's all,
18:22
Speaker 1: he said. Finally, and I always thought you were the
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Speaker 1: timid one. But what else could I do? Tom said,
18:30
Speaker 1: You know what they say about grabbing a tiger by
18:32
Speaker 1: the tail. Once you get hold, you've got to hold on. Okay,
18:37
Speaker 1: Greg said, but the next time I make a crack
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Speaker 1: about your retiring nature. Remind me to stick my foot
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Speaker 1: in my mouth. I'll do it for him, Johnny Coombs rumbled.
18:48
Speaker 1: Tom nodded toward the open grill. The only thing I
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Speaker 1: don't see is how you knew I was back there,
18:55
Speaker 1: Johnny grinned. We were busy taking down the grill when
18:58
Speaker 1: you came along. We found three microphones in this place
19:01
Speaker 1: and figured they might have someone behind the grill. And
19:04
Speaker 1: then we heard somebody breathing back there. We thought they'd
19:06
Speaker 1: posted a guard back there just to snoop us. Well,
19:10
Speaker 1: I'm glad you didn't hit him any harder. Johnny started
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Speaker 1: to say something, then stopped, cocked his head toward the door.
19:17
Speaker 1: There were footsteps in the corridor outside. They came closer,
19:21
Speaker 1: stopped by the door quick. Johnny hissed back inside. There
19:27
Speaker 1: was no time to look around for other concealment. Tom
19:30
Speaker 1: leaped across the room, jumped into the shaft again, and
19:33
Speaker 1: Gregg slammed the grate up into place just as the
19:35
Speaker 1: hatchway door swung open. Meryl Tawny walked into the room
19:39
Speaker 1: with two burly guards behind him. For the first few seconds,
19:43
Speaker 1: Gregg was certain that they were lost. He stood with
19:46
Speaker 1: his back to the ventilator, grill frozen in his tracks.
19:49
Speaker 1: As the fat little company man came in the room,
19:52
Speaker 1: he tried to keep his face blank, but he knew
19:55
Speaker 1: he wasn't succeeding. He saw the puzzled frown form on
19:58
Speaker 1: Tawni's face. The company man motioned to the guards in
20:02
Speaker 1: the room, peered suspiciously at Gregg and Johnny. Am I
20:06
Speaker 1: interrupting something, by any chance, nothing at all? Johnny blurted,
20:11
Speaker 1: We're just talking talking. Tony repeated the word as if
20:15
Speaker 1: it were some strange language he didn't quite understand. He
20:19
Speaker 1: looked at the guard, let's just check them. While one
20:22
Speaker 1: guard padded down their clothes, the other withdrew a stunner
20:25
Speaker 1: held it on ready, Tony prowled the lounge. He glanced
20:29
Speaker 1: at the food on the table, then reached under the
20:31
Speaker 1: chair cushion and withdrew a disconnected microphone, looked at the
20:34
Speaker 1: loose wires and tossed it aside. They're clean, the guard said.
20:40
Speaker 1: Tonni's face was a study of uneasiness, but he clearly
20:43
Speaker 1: could not pinpoint what the trouble was. He finally shrugged,
20:47
Speaker 1: turned on the smile again, although his eyes remained watchful. Well,
20:52
Speaker 1: maybe you won't mind if I joined the talking for
20:54
Speaker 1: a while. He said, you've been comfortable, no complaints, no complaints.
21:01
Speaker 1: Greg said that I presume or ready to talk business.
21:04
Speaker 1: He looked at Greg. You said you are ready to bargain.
21:07
Speaker 1: Greg said, but I haven't heard any terms yet. Terms
21:13
Speaker 1: very simple. You direct us to the load, We give
21:16
Speaker 1: you half of everything we realize from it. Tony said, smiling,
21:20
Speaker 1: You mean you'll write us a contract with a U
21:23
Speaker 1: N witness to it. Well, hardly under the circumstances. I'm
21:27
Speaker 1: afraid you'll have to take our word. Greg looked at
21:31
Speaker 1: the company man and shook his head. Not that I
21:33
Speaker 1: don't trust you, he said, But I'm afraid I can't
21:36
Speaker 1: give you what you want. Greg said, why not, because
21:41
Speaker 1: I don't know where dad made his strike. The company
21:44
Speaker 1: man's face darkened. Somebody knows where it is. Your father
21:48
Speaker 1: would never have found something like that without telling his
21:51
Speaker 1: own sons. Sorry, Greg said, of course, I can tell
21:56
Speaker 1: you where you can find out if you want to go. Look,
21:59
Speaker 1: we've already searched his records. Some of his records, Greg said,
22:03
Speaker 1: not all of them. There was a compartment behind the
22:06
Speaker 1: main control panel in Dad's orbit ship. Dad used it
22:09
Speaker 1: to store deeds, claims, and other important papers. There was
22:12
Speaker 1: a pack of notes in there before your men fired
22:15
Speaker 1: on the ship. But of course maybe you searched more
22:18
Speaker 1: thoroughly the second time. Tony stared at him for a moment,
22:22
Speaker 1: then at Johnny. Johnny Coombs shrugged his shoulders solemnly and
22:26
Speaker 1: shook his head without a word. The little company man
22:29
Speaker 1: walked to the intercom speaker on the wall. He spoke
22:32
Speaker 1: sharply into it, waited, then had a brief, pungent conversation
22:36
Speaker 1: with someone. He turned back to Greg, his face heavy
22:39
Speaker 1: with suspicion. You saw these papers, certainly I saw them.
22:44
Speaker 1: I didn't have time to read them, though, what else
22:47
Speaker 1: could they be? Let me warn you, Tony said coldly.
22:51
Speaker 1: If I send a crew out there on a wild
22:54
Speaker 1: goose chase, the party will be over when they get back.
22:56
Speaker 1: Do you understand you've been given every consideration. This is
23:01
Speaker 1: a fool's errand you'll pay for it dearly. He turned
23:05
Speaker 1: on his heel snarled at one of the guards. I
23:08
Speaker 1: want them watched every minute, he said. One of you
23:11
Speaker 1: stay with them constantly. It won't take long to find
23:14
Speaker 1: out if this is a stall. He stalked out, and
23:17
Speaker 1: the hatchway clang behind him. The guard went along the
23:21
Speaker 1: big one with the stunner stayed behind, eyeing his prisoners unpleasantly.
23:25
Speaker 1: The stunner was in his hand, the safety off. Johnny
23:29
Speaker 1: Coombs started across the room toward the kitchenette, passing close
23:33
Speaker 1: to the guard. Suddenly he turned swung his fist heavily
23:37
Speaker 1: on the guard's neck. The stunner cracked, but Greg had
23:40
Speaker 1: jumped aside. Another blow from Johnny's fist sent the gun flying.
23:44
Speaker 1: Another blow and the guard's leg slid out from under him.
23:47
Speaker 1: He fell unconscious to the floor. In an instant, they
23:50
Speaker 1: were across the room, lifting down the grill, helping Tom
23:53
Speaker 1: out of his hiding place. Okay, boy, Johnny said to Greg,
23:58
Speaker 1: I guess you pulled the trigger with that story of yours,
24:02
Speaker 1: not me, Greg said, Tom did. He's the one that
24:05
Speaker 1: showed us the way out the same way he came in.
24:08
Speaker 1: The guard was out for a while. They made sure
24:10
Speaker 1: of that first. Then there was a hasty consultation. The
24:14
Speaker 1: airlocks are guarded, Johnny said, and if they stumble into
24:18
Speaker 1: the elevator shafts, they can smoke us out in no time.
24:21
Speaker 1: How are we going to get to a scout ship
24:23
Speaker 1: without showing ourselves? For that matter, how are we going
24:26
Speaker 1: to get a scout ship away from here without being
24:28
Speaker 1: blown up the way the Scavenger was blown up? I
24:32
Speaker 1: think I know a way, Tom said, we have something
24:35
Speaker 1: to keep a lot of crew busy. If we could
24:37
Speaker 1: get to the ship's generators and put them out of
24:39
Speaker 1: commission somehow, it might do it. Why Craig wanted to know,
24:45
Speaker 1: because of the air supply. Tom said, Without generators, the
24:49
Speaker 1: fans won't run. They'll have to get a crew to
24:51
Speaker 1: fix them, or they'll suffocate. But that would only take
24:55
Speaker 1: a few men. Johnny said. As soon as the generators
24:59
Speaker 1: went out, they'd look for us, and if we were missing, well,
25:02
Speaker 1: they'd have the whole crew beating the bushes for us.
25:04
Speaker 1: It wouldn't be long before somebody thought of the ventilators.
25:08
Speaker 1: But we've got to do something, and do it fast.
25:10
Speaker 1: Tom said, I know Johnny chewed his lip. It's a
25:14
Speaker 1: good idea, but we need more than just the generators.
25:17
Speaker 1: We've got to disable the ship, throw so many things
25:20
Speaker 1: at them so fast and from so many different directions
25:23
Speaker 1: that they don't know which way to turn. That means
25:26
Speaker 1: we need to split up, and we'd need weapons. He
25:29
Speaker 1: hefted the guard's markhim. One stunner between three of us
25:33
Speaker 1: isn't enough. Well, we have this. Tom unbuckled Roger Hunter's
25:37
Speaker 1: gun case from his belt. Dad's revolver. It's not a stunner,
25:41
Speaker 1: but it might help. He tossed the case to Johnny.
25:44
Speaker 1: I can give you both a rundown on how the
25:46
Speaker 1: shafts go. We could plan to meet at a certain
25:49
Speaker 1: spot in a certain length of time. He broke off,
25:51
Speaker 1: looking at Johnny. The big miner had taken Roger Hunter's
25:55
Speaker 1: gun from the case and hefted it in his hand.
25:58
Speaker 1: Started to check it automatically as Tom talked, But now
26:01
Speaker 1: his hand froze as he stared at the weapon. What's wrong?
26:05
Speaker 1: Tom asked? This gun is wrong? Johnny said, all wrong?
26:09
Speaker 1: Where did you get this thing from Dad's spacer pack,
26:12
Speaker 1: the one the patrol brought back the major gave it
26:15
Speaker 1: to us in sun Lake City. Tom peered at the gun.
26:19
Speaker 1: Is it broken or something? It's just Dad's revolver, it
26:23
Speaker 1: is eh. Johnny turned the gun over in his hand.
26:26
Speaker 1: Whoever told you about guns? What's wrong with it? There
26:30
Speaker 1: was an odd expression on Johnny's face as he handed
26:33
Speaker 1: the weapon back to Tom. Take a look at it,
26:36
Speaker 1: he said, tell me whether it's loaded or not. Tom
26:40
Speaker 1: looked at it. Except for a few hours on the
26:42
Speaker 1: firing range, he had no experience with guns. He couldn't
26:46
Speaker 1: have taken down a Markheim and reassembled it if his
26:48
Speaker 1: life depended on it. But he had seen his father
26:51
Speaker 1: take the old revolver out of the leather case many
26:53
Speaker 1: times before. Now Tom could see that this was not
26:56
Speaker 1: the same gun. The thing in his hand was large
26:59
Speaker 1: and o The hand grips didn't fit. There was no
27:03
Speaker 1: trigger guard and no trigger. Several inches along the gleaming
27:06
Speaker 1: metal barrel was a shiny stud and below it a
27:09
Speaker 1: dial with notches on it. That's funny, Tom said, I've
27:14
Speaker 1: never seen this thing before. Greg took it from him,
27:17
Speaker 1: balanced it in his hand. Doesn't feel right, he said,
27:21
Speaker 1: all out of balance. Look at the barrel, Johnny said quietly.
27:26
Speaker 1: Greg looked. There was no hole in the end of
27:29
Speaker 1: the barrel. This thing's crazy, he said, and then some
27:33
Speaker 1: Johnny said, you haven't had this out of the case
27:36
Speaker 1: since you took it from the pack. Just once said Tom,
27:40
Speaker 1: and I put it right back. I hardly looked at it.
27:43
Speaker 1: Maybe it's just a new model, Dad got. It's no
27:46
Speaker 1: new model. I'm not even sure it's a gun, Johnny said.
27:49
Speaker 1: Doesn't feel like a gun. What happens when you push
27:52
Speaker 1: the stud here? Greg asked. Johnny licked his lips. Nervously,
27:57
Speaker 1: Try it, he said. Greg leveled the thing at the
28:00
Speaker 1: rear wall of the lounge and pressed the stud. There
28:03
Speaker 1: was a sharp buzzing sound and a blinding flash of
28:05
Speaker 1: blue light against the wall. It looked, for all the
28:08
Speaker 1: world like the flash of a live power line shorting out.
28:12
Speaker 1: They squinted at the flash, rubbed their eyes, and stared
28:15
Speaker 1: at the wall, or at what was left of the wall,
28:18
Speaker 1: because most of the wall was gone. The metal had
28:21
Speaker 1: bullied out in a six foot hole into the storage
28:23
Speaker 1: hold beyond. Johnny Coombs whistled, whh this thing did that?
28:28
Speaker 1: He whispered, must have, But there's no gun ever made
28:32
Speaker 1: that could do that. He walked over to the hole
28:34
Speaker 1: in the wall. That's half inch steel plate. There's no
28:38
Speaker 1: way to pack that kind of energy into a handgun.
28:41
Speaker 1: They stared at the innocent looking weapon in Gregg's hand.
28:44
Speaker 1: Whatever it is Dad must have put it in the
28:47
Speaker 1: gun case. Yes, he must have. Johnny said, well, don't
28:51
Speaker 1: you see what that means. Dad must have found it somewhere,
28:55
Speaker 1: somewhere out here in the belt, a gun that no
28:57
Speaker 1: man could have made. He took the weapon, ran his
29:00
Speaker 1: finger along the gleaming barrel. I wonder, he said, what
29:05
Speaker 1: else Dad might have found out there? Somewhere below them,
29:10
Speaker 1: they heard a hatch clang shut, and even deeper in
29:13
Speaker 1: the ship, generator motors began throbbing in a steady, even rhythm.
29:17
Speaker 1: In the silence of the lounge, they could hear their
29:19
Speaker 1: own breathing, and outside one thousand tiny sounds of the
29:22
Speaker 1: ship's activity were audible. But now they had attention only
29:26
Speaker 1: for the odd shaped piece of metal in Greg's hand,
29:29
Speaker 1: and for the hole that gaped in the wall. You
29:32
Speaker 1: think that this was what Dad found, Greg said, the
29:35
Speaker 1: big strike he told Johnny about it must be part
29:39
Speaker 1: of it. Tom said, but what is it and where
29:42
Speaker 1: did it come from? It doesn't make any sense, Greg protested,
29:47
Speaker 1: It doesn't make sense the way we've been looking at it.
29:50
Speaker 1: Tom said, all we found was some gobbly gook in
29:53
Speaker 1: Dad's private log to tell us what he found. But
29:56
Speaker 1: it couldn't have been a vein of ore, or Tawny's
29:59
Speaker 1: men would have unearthed it. It had to be something else,
30:02
Speaker 1: something that was so big and important that Dad didn't
30:05
Speaker 1: even dare let Johnny in on it. Yes, that's been
30:08
Speaker 1: the crazy part of it to me. Johnny said, I've
30:11
Speaker 1: done a lot of mining with your dad. If he'd
30:13
Speaker 1: hit rich Or, he would have taken me out there
30:15
Speaker 1: to mine it with him. But he didn't. He said
30:18
Speaker 1: it was something he had to work on a loan
30:20
Speaker 1: for a while, and he sent me back as if
30:23
Speaker 1: he'd found something that scared him, Tom said, or something
30:27
Speaker 1: he didn't understand. He was afraid to tell anybody, and
30:30
Speaker 1: whatever he found, he managed to hide it somewhere so
30:34
Speaker 1: that nobody would find it. Then why didn't he hide
30:37
Speaker 1: this part of it too, Greg said, maybe to be
30:41
Speaker 1: sure there was some trace of it left if anything
30:44
Speaker 1: happened to him. Tom said they were silent for a moment.
30:47
Speaker 1: The only sound was the stertorous breathing of the unconscious guard. Well,
30:52
Speaker 1: Greg said, finally, I have to admit it makes sense.
30:56
Speaker 1: It makes other things add up better too. Dad was
30:59
Speaker 1: no fool, must have known that Tawny was onto something,
31:02
Speaker 1: and Dad never would have risked his life for an
31:04
Speaker 1: oar strike. He'd either have made a deal with Tawny
31:07
Speaker 1: or let him hijack the load if that was all
31:10
Speaker 1: there was to it. But there's still one big question.
31:13
Speaker 1: Where did he hide what he found? And we aren't
31:15
Speaker 1: going to find the answer here. He walked over to
31:18
Speaker 1: the hole in the wall. Made quite a mess of it,
31:21
Speaker 1: didn't it, Johnny said, looks like it. I wonder what
31:24
Speaker 1: that thing would do to a ship's generator plant. He
31:27
Speaker 1: turned to Johnny. We haven't much time with this thing.
31:31
Speaker 1: We could tear the ship apart, leave them so confused
31:33
Speaker 1: they'll never know what broke loose. And if we could
31:36
Speaker 1: get that gun back to Major Brierton, he'd have to
31:39
Speaker 1: listen to us and get the UN patrol into the search.
31:43
Speaker 1: They had been so intent on their talking that they
31:45
Speaker 1: did not hear the footsteps in the corridor until the
31:48
Speaker 1: door swung open. It was another guard, the one who
31:51
Speaker 1: had departed with Tawny. He stopped short, blinking at his
31:54
Speaker 1: companion on the floor, and then at the gaping hole
31:57
Speaker 1: in the wall. When he saw the twins side by side,
32:00
Speaker 1: his jaw sagged and a strangled sound came from his throat.
32:04
Speaker 1: Then Johnny grabbed his arm, jerked him into the lounge
32:07
Speaker 1: and slammed the hatch shut. Gregg pulled the stunner from
32:10
Speaker 1: his holster and tossed it to Tom. The guard let
32:13
Speaker 1: out a roar, twisted free, and met Johnny's fist as
32:16
Speaker 1: he came around. He sagged at the knees and slid
32:19
Speaker 1: to the floor beside the other guard. All right, Johnny said,
32:23
Speaker 1: We've dealt the cards. Now we'd better play the hand. Tom.
32:26
Speaker 1: You first. Tom pulled the ventilator grill down and climbed
32:29
Speaker 1: up into the shaft. Gregg followed, with Johnny at his heels,
32:33
Speaker 1: pulling the grill back up into place from the inside.
32:36
Speaker 1: They waited for a moment, but there was no sound
32:38
Speaker 1: from the lounge. All right, Johnny said, breathlessly, Let's move swiftly.
32:44
Speaker 1: They started down the dark tunnel. End of Golding the
32:48
Speaker 1: Sky Part five recording by Kirk Ziggler ogged in Utah,
32:53
Speaker 1: voiceovers by Kirk dot Com