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

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Gold in the Sky, Part six of five stories by
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Alan Norse. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: recording by Kirk Zigler. They did not pause even to
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: catch their breath for the first twenty minutes. As Tom
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: led them swiftly and silently down the maze of corridors
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: and shoots that made up the ventilation system of the
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: huge ship. Gregg lost his bearing completely in the first
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: twenty seconds. Each time his brother paused at a junction
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: of tubes, he felt a wave of panic rise up
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: in his throat. Suppose they lost themselves in here. He
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: heard Johnny's trousers flapping behind him, and saw Tom's figure
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: flit past another grill up ahead and plunge doggedly on.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: It was amazingly hard to move quietly, even in stocking feet.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: They made a soft thud with each footfall. There was
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: no sign of detection, no sound of alarm. Finally they
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: came out into a large shaft which allowed them to
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: stand upright, and they stopped to catch the breath main
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: tube in the living quarters. Tom said, when they had
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: caught up to him, joins with the lower level two.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: By a series of shoots, We've actually been circumnavigating the ship.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: I wanted to get as far away from that lounge
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: compartment as possible in case they check up on you
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: right away. We can't have much time, Johnny said. That
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: second guard must have been coming to relieve the other,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: and when the first one doesn't report back, they'll smell
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: something fishy. They talked it over for a moment. Johnny
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: had been careful to leave the hatchway into the corridor
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: ajar before he climbed into the elevator's shaft, and then
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: he pulled the shaft snugly into place behind him. Any
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: One who came would find two unconscious guards, a burned
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: out hole in the wall, and the door unlocked. We'll
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: hope that he takes things at face value and assumes
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: we're at large in the ship somewhere for a while
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: at least, Johnny said. That hole in the wall is
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: going to set them back a couple of steps too,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: But they'll sound the alarm at least. Tom said, you
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: bet they will. They'll have every man on the crew
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: shaking down the ship for us, but they may not
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: think of the ventilators until they can't find us anywhere else.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: But sooner or later, they're bound to think of it.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: That's true, Johnny said, unless they keep seeing us in
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: the ship. The way I figure it, this crew has
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: been on battle stations plenty of times. They'll be able
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: to search the whole ship in half an hour. We're
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: just going to have to show ourselves at least enough
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: to keep them searching. Well, what if they do think
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: of the ventilators, Greggs said, they'll still have a time
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: finding us. Maybe, but don't underestimate Tawny. He might just
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: mask up his crew and flood the tubes with cyanide.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: They thought about that for a minute. There was no
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: sound here but their own breathing and the low chug,
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: chug chug of the pumps somewhere deep in the ship. Momentarily,
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: they expect to hear the raucous clang of the alarm
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: bell as some crew member or another walked into the
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: lounge and found them gone, But so far there was
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: no sign that they had been discovered missing. No, Johnny said, Finally,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: if we just hide out in here and hope for
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: a chance that one of the scout ships they'll find
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: us eventually. But we've got three big advantages if we
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: can figure out how to use them. That fancy gun
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: for one, a way to get around the ship for another,
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: and the fact that there's one more of us than
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: they could count on. He flipped on his pocket flash
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: and began drawing lines on the dusty floor of the shaft.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: My idea is to keep them so busy fighting little
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: fires that they won't have a chance to worry about
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: where the big one is. He drew a rough outline
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: sketch of the organization of the ship. This look right
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: to you from what you've seen, he asked Tom. Pretty much?
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Tom said, there are more connecting tubes, all the better.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: We want to get the generators with our little toy
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  Speaker 1: here first. That'll darken the ship and put the blowers
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: out of commission in case they think of using gas. Also,
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: it will cut out their computers and miss the launching rigs,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: which might give us a chance to get a scout
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: ship away in one piece, if we could get a
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: board one. All right, the generators are first, Tom said,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: But then what there are four hundred men on this ship.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: They'll have every airlock triple guarded. They'll block us, for sure.
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  Speaker 1: Not when we get through, they won't. Johnny grinned, We've
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: got an old friend aboard who's going to help us.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: Friend ever hair of panic. Johnny said, just listen a
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: minute quickly, then he outlined his plan. Tom and Greg listened,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: watched Johnny make marks with his finger in the dust.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: When he finished, Greg whistled softly. You missed your life work,
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: He said, you should have gone into crime. Johnny said
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: it's perfect. Tom said, if it works, but it all
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: depends on one thing. Keep it rolling after we start.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: For another five minutes, they went over the details. Then
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: Johnny clapped them each on the shoulder. It's up to
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: you too, he said, let's go. They moved down the
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: large shaft to the place where it broke into several spurs.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: Johnny started down the chute toward the engine rooms. Tom
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: and Greg headed in opposite directions toward the main body
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: of the ship. Just as they broke up, they heard
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: a muffled metallic sound from the nearest compartment grill. It
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: was the clang, clang, clanging of the orbit ship's general alarm.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Crewmen stopped with food halfway to their mouths, jerked away
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: from the tables. Orders buzzed along a dozen wires and
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: section chiefs began reporting their battle stations, alert and ready. Finally,
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: Tonny snapped on the general public address system speaker. Now
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: get this, he roared. I want every inch of this
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  Speaker 1: ship searched, every corridor, every compartment. I want a special
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: crew standing by for missile launching. I want double guards
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: at every airlock. If they get a ship away from here,
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: the man who lets them through had better be dead
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  Speaker 1: when I find him. He broke off, clutching the speaker
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: until his voice was under control again. All right, move,
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: they're armed, but there's no place where they can go them.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: A section chief came back over the speaker. Dead or alive? Boss, alive,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: you idiot, at least the hunter brat. I'll take the
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: other one any way you can get him. He switched
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: off and waited, pacing the control cabin like a caged animal.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: Ten minutes later, a buzzer sounded Hydrophonic's boss, all Claire,
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: no sign of them. Nothing Another buzz number seven or
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: hold nothing here? Still another buzz cruise quarters nothing, Boss.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: One by one, the reports came in. Fuming, Tawny checked
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: off the sections, watched the net draw tighter throughout the ship.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: They were somewhere they had to be, but nobody seemed
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: to find them. He was buzzing for his first mate
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: when the power went off, the lights went out, the
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: speaker went dead in his hand. The computer sighed contentedly
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: and stopped computing. Abruptly, the emergency circuits went into operation,
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: flooding the darkness with harsh white lights. The intercom started
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: buzzing again. Engine room, Boss, what happened down there? Tawny roared.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: The man sounded like he had just run the mile generators,
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: he panded, blown out. Well, get somebody in there to
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: fix them. Have a crew seal off the area. Can't
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: Boss fix them? I mean, why not? What have we
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: got electricians for. There's nothing left to fix. The generators
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: aren't wrecked, they're demolished. Then get the pair that did it.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: They're not here. We've been sealed up tight. There's no
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: way anybody could have gotten in here. After that, things
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: began to get confusing. For a while, MARYL. Tawni thought
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: that his crew was going crazy, and then he began
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: to wonder if he were the one that was losing
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: his mind. Whatever the case, Maryle Tawny was certain of
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: one thing. The things that were happening on his orbit
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: ship could not possibly be happening. A guard in one
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: of the outer shell storage holes called in with a
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: disquieting report. Gregg hunder at sea had just been spotted
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: vanishing into one of the storage compartments from the main
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: outer shell corridor. When the guard had broken through the
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: jammed hatchway to collar his trapped victim, there was no
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: sign of the victim anywhere around. At the same moment,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: a report came in from a guard on the opposite
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: side of the ship. He had just spotted Gregg Hunter there,
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: it seemed, moving down a spur corridor. The guard had
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: held his fire according to Tawny's orders, and summoned help
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: to corner the quarry, but when help arrived, the quarry
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: had vanished. Five minutes later, the Hunter Boy was discovered
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: in the hydrophonic section, busily reducing all the yeast vats
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  Speaker 1: to shambles with a curious weapon that seemed to eat
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: holes in things. He ate the deck out from under
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: the guard's feet, sending him plunging through the floor into
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: the galley. By the time he had scrambled back again,
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: the Hunter Boy was gone, and a rapid moved to
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: seal off the region failed to turn him up again.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: The guard was upset. Tawny was a great deal more
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: upset because at the time Gregg Hunter was reportedly plain
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: havoc with the yeast vats in hydrophonics. He was also
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: reportedly knocking guards down like ten pins in the main
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: corridor off the engine room, while reinforcements tried to pin
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: him down with a wide beam stunner. Quite suddenly, emergency
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: circuits closed and lights flashed in the control cabin the
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: special signal for a meteor collision with the outer shell
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: in number three hold. Tawny signaled for the section chief frantically,
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: what's happening down there? I can't talk. The section chief gasped,
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: gotta get into a suit. We're leaking in here. Well,
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: plug up the hole. The hole is four feet wide, sir.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: There was a fit of coughing and the contact broke.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: The signals for number four hold and number five hold
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: were flashing now while the crew members in the vicinity
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: scrambled for pressure suits, someone systematically proceeded to blow holes
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: in number nine, number ten, number eleven holes. It was impossible.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: The reports came in thick and fast. Gregg Hunter was
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: in two places at once, and everywhere he went. In
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: both places there was a trail of unbelievable destruction. Bulkheads demolished,
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: gaping holes torn in the outer shell, the air conditioning
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: units smashed beyond repair. Tawny buzzed for his first mate.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: An emergency switch cut into the line with the frantic
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: voice of a section chief. Johnny Coombs had been spotted
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: disappearing into the ventilator shaft in the engine sector. Well
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: go in after him. Tawny screamed, He got his first
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: mate finally, and snarled orders into the speaker. They are
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: in the ventilators. Get a crew in there and stop them.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: But it was dark in the ventilator shafts, no emergency
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: lights in there. Worse, the crewmen were hearing the things
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: that were being whispered around the ship. The ventilator shafts
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: yawned menacingly before them. They went in reluctantly. Once in
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: the dark maze of tunnels, identify v occasion was difficult.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Two guards met each other headlong in the darkness and
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: put each other out of the fight in a flurry
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: of nervous stunn or fire. While they searched more of
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: the holes were broken open, leaking air through gaping rents
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: in the hall. Tawny felt the panic spreading. He tried
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: to curb it, and has spread in spite of him.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: The fugitives were appearing and disappearing like race. Reports back
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: to the control cabin took on a frantic note, confused
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: and garbled. Now the second level bulkheads were being attacked.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: Over a third of the compartments were leaking precious air
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: into outer space. When a terrified section chief came through
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: with the report that two Gregg hunters had been spotted
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: by the same man at the same time, and that
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: the guards in the sector were shooting at anything that moved,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: including other guards. Tawny made his way to the radio
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: cabin and put through a frantic signal to Jupiter Equilateral
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: headquarters on Mars. The contact took forever, even with the
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: ship's powerful emergency boosters. By the time someone at headquarters
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: was reading him, Tawny's report sounded confused. He was trying
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: for the third time to explain clearly and logically how
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: two men and a ghost were scuddling his orbit ship
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: under his very feet. When one wall of the cabin
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: vanished in a crackle of blue fire, and he found
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: himself staring at two Gregg Hunters and a grim faced
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Johnny Coombs. He made squeaking noises into the microphone and
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: dropped it with a crash. He groped for a chair.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: Johnny jerked him to his feet again. A scout ship,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: he said, tersely, clear it for launching. We want one
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: with plenty of fuel, and we don't want a single
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: guard anywhere near the airlock. He picked up an intercom
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: microphone and thrust it into the little fat man's trembling hand.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: Now move, and you better make sure they understand you,
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: because you're coming with us. MARYL. Tawny stared first at Tom,
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: and then at Gregg, and finally at the microphone. Then
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: he moved. The orders he gave to his section chiefs
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: were very clear and concise. He had never argued with
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: a ghost before, and he didn't care to start now.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: It was over so quickly that it seemed to Tom
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: it had just begun, and if so much had not
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: been at stake, it might have been fun. It had
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: been the gun, the remarkable gun that Roger Hunter had
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: left as his legacy, that had been the key. It
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: ate through steel, an aluminum alloy like putty. Whatever his
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: power source, however, it worked by whatever means it had
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: been built. There had been no match for it on
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: the orbit ship. It had worked, and that was all
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: that mattered. Right then. With it, and with the advantage
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: of a ghost that walked like a man, Tom huntered
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: to be exact, they had reduced the Jupiter Equilateral orbit
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: ship to a smoking wreck. In something less than thirty minutes.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: The signal came back that a scout ship was ready unguarded.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: Johnny prodded Tawny with the stunner. You first, he said,
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: But where are you taking me? You'll see, Johnny said,
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: it was a trick. Tawny said, glaring at Tom. They
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: told me they shot your ship to pieces. The ship, yes,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: Tom said, not me. Well, well that's good, that's good,
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: Tony said quickly. He turned to Greg. You don't have
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: to take me back. The bargain is still good, move,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: Johnny Coombs said, with Tony between them. Gregg and Tom
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: marched down the corridor toward the airlock, with Johnny bringing
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: up the rear. No one stopped them, no one even
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: came near them. One crew member stumbled on them in
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: the corridor, he saw Tony with a gun in his
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: back and fled in terror. They found the scout ship
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: and strapped Tawny down to an exhilaration bunk, binding his
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: hands and feet so he couldn't move. Greg checked the
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: controls while Tom and Johnny strapped down. A moment later,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: the engines fired and the leaking wreck of the orbit
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: ship fell away, dwindling and disappearing in the blackness of space.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: It was a quiet journey. The red dot that was
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: Mars grew larger every hour. One of the three stayed
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: awake at all times to watch Tawny while the others slept.
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: During the second rest period, Tom woke up while Greg
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: was on duty. How's our prisoner doing? Tom asked, no
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: problem there. He can barely move. I almost wish he'd
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: try something. He's too quiet. It was true Tonny had
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: recovered from his shock, but rather than grow more worried
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: as Mars grew on the screen, he seemed to become
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: more cheerful by the minute. He doesn't seem very worried,
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: does he, Tom said no, and it doesn't quite add.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: We've got enough on him to get Jupiter e collateral
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: pushed right out of the belt. I'd still feel better
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: if we had the whole pitcher for the major, Tom said,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: we still don't know what Dad found or where he
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: hit it. Uneasiness grew, Tawny ignored them, staring at the
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: image of the red planet on the viewscreen almost eagerly.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Then eight hours out of sun Lake City, a un
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: patrol ship appeared, moving toward them, swiftly intercepting orbit. Gregg said,
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: looks like they're waiting for us. They watched as the
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: big ship moved in tangentle orbit, matching at speed to theirs.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: Then Greg snapped the communicator switch sound off. He said, cheerfully,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: We've got a surprise for you. Stand by, we're boarding you.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: The patrol sent back and put your weapons aside. Four
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: scooters broke from the side of the patrol ship. Greg
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: activated the airlock. Five minutes later, a man in patrol
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: uniform with captain's bars stepped into the cabin, a stunner
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: ready in his hand. Three patrolmen came in behind him.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: The captain looked around the cabin and then saw Tawny
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: and took a deep breath. Well, thank the stars, you're
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: safe at any rate, Pete, Jimmy, take the controls. Hold on.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: Greig said, we don't need a pilot. The captain looked
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: at him, sorry, but we're taking you in. There won't
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: be any trouble unless you make it. You three are
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: under arrest, and I'm authorized to make a stick if
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: I have to. I suggest you just cooperate. They stared
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: at him, and then Johnny said, what are the charges?
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: You ought to know? The captain said, we have a
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: formal complaint from the main offices of Jupiter Equilateral charging
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: you with piracy, murder, kidnapping of a company official, and
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: totally wrecking a company orbitship. I don't see how you
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: managed it, but we're going to find out. In short order,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: there was a stunned silence in the cabin, and then
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: a sound came from the rear of the cabin. Marril
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: Tawi was laughing. They were taken into a small, drab
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: internment room. A half an hour passed and still no
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: word from the major. From the moment the patrol crew
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: had boarded them, everything had seemed like a bad dream.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: The shock of the arrest, the realization that the captain
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: had been serious when he reeled off the charges lodged
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: against them. They had been certain it was some kind
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: of ill planned joke until they saw the delegation of
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: Jupiter equilateral officials waiting at the port to greet Marril
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: Tawni like a man returned from the dead. They had
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: watched Tony climb into the sleek company car and drive
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: off toward the gate while the captain had escorted them
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: without a word down to the internment rooms. The door
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: clicked and the captain looked in. All right, come along now,
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: he said, is the major here? Tom said, you'll see
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: the major soon enough. The captain herded them into another room,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: where a clerk efficiently fingerprinted them. They went down a
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: ramp to a jittery platform and boarded a un official car.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: The trip to the city was slow. Rush hour traffic
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: from the port was heavy. When they reached u N headquarters,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: there was another wait in an upper level ante room.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: The captain stood stiffly with his hands behind his back
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: and ignored them. This looks serious, Greg burst out, Finally,
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: we haven't done anything. You haven't even let us make
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: a statement. Make your statement to the Major. It's his headache,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: not mine, I'm happy to say, but you let that
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: man walk out of there scott free. The captain looked
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: at him. If I were you, he said, I'd stop
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: complaining and start worrying. If I had Jupiter equilateral at
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: my throat, I'd worry plenty, because once they start, they
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: don't stop. A signal light blinked, and he took them downstairs.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: Major Brierton was behind his desk, his eyes tired, his
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: face grim. He dismissed the captain and motioned them to seats.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: All right, let's have the story, he said, and by
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: the ten moons of Saturn, it had better be convincing,
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: because I've about had my fill of you three. He
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: listened without interruption as Tom told the story, with Greg
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: and Johnny adding details from time to time. Tom told
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: him everything from the moment they had blasted off for
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: Roger Hunter's claim to the moment the patrol ship had
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: boarded them, except for a single detail. He didn't mention
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: the remarkable gun from Roger Hunter's gun case. The gun
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: was still in the spacer's pack he had slung over
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: his shoulder. He had not mentioned it when the patrolman
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: had taken their stunners away. Now, as he talked, he
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: felt a twinge of guilt in not mentioning it, but
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: he had a reason. Dad had died to keep that
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: gun secret. It seemed only right to keep the secret
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: a little longer. When he came to the part about
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: their weapons, he simply spoke of Dad's gun and omitted
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: any details, And through the story the Major listened intently, interrupting,
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: only occasionally pulling at his lip and scowling. So we
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: decided that the best way to convince you that we
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: had the evidence you wanted was to bring Tawny back
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: with us. Tom concluded, a brilliant maneuver, the Major said, dryly,
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: a real stroke of genius. But then the patrol ship
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: intercepted us and told us we were under arrest, and
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: when we landed, they let Tawny drive off without even
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: questioning him. The least we could do under the circumstances.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: The Major said, well, I'd like to know why Gregg
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: broke in bitterly? Why pick on us? We've been telling you, Yes, yes,
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: I heard every word of it, the Major sighed, if
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: you knew the trouble, Oh, what's the use I've spent
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: the last three solid hours talking myself, horse throwing in
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: every bit of authority I could muster and jeopardizing my
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: position as coordinator here for the sole purpose of keeping
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: you three idiots out of jail for a few hours. Jail,
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: that's what I said, The brig the place where they
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: put people when they don't behave You three are sitting
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: on a nice big powder keg right now, and when
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: it blows, I don't know how much of you is
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: going to be left. Do you think we were lying?
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: Gregg said, do you know what you're charged with? The
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: Major snapped back some sort of nonsense about piracy plus
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: kidnapping plus murder, to say nothing of totally disabling a
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: seventeen million dollar orbit ship and placing the lives of
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: four hundred crewmen in jeopardy. The Major picked up a
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: sheet of paper from his desk. According to Maryltawni statement,
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: the three of you hijacked a company scoutship that chanced
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: to be scouting in the vicinity of your father's claim.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: Your attack was unprovoked and violent. Everybody on Mars knows
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: you were convinced that Jupiter Equilateral was responsible for your
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: father's death. He looked up in the absence of any evidence,
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: I might add, although I did my best to tell
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: you that he rattled the report sheet. All right. You
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: took the scout ship by force, with the pilot at gunpoint,
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: and made him home in on his orbit ship. Then
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: you proceeded to reduce that orbit ship to a leaking wreck.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: Although Tawny tried to reason with you and even offered
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: you amnesty if you would desist. By the time the
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: crew stopped shooting each other in the dark, fifteen of
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: them subsequently expired. It says here you had stolen another
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: scout ship and kidnapped Tawny for the purpose of extorting
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: a confession out of Jupiter Equilateral, threatening him with torture
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: if he did not comply. The Major dropped the paper
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: to the desk. Johnny Coombs picked it up, looked at
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: it owlishly, and put it back back again. Pretty large
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: operation for three men, major, he said. The Major shrugged.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: You were armed. That orbit ship was registered as a
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: commercial vessel. It had no reason to expect a surprise
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: attack and had no way to defend itself. They were
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: armed to the teeth. Gregg said, disgustedly, why don't you
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: send somebody out to look? Oh? I could, but why
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: waste the time and fuel. There wouldn't be any weapons aboard.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: Then how do you explain the fact that the Scavenger
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: was blown to bits and Dad's orbit ship ripped apart
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: from top to bottom? Details? The major said, mere details.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: I'm sure the company's lawyers can muddy the waters quite
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: enough so that the little details like that are overlooked,
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: particularly with a sympathetic judge and a judge that plays along.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: He stood up and ran his hand through his hair.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: All right, Granted, I'm painting the worst picture possible, but
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: I'm afraid that's the way it's going to be. I
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: believe your story, don't worry about that. I know why
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: you went out there to the belt, and I can't
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: really blame you, I suppose, but you were asking for
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: trouble and that's what you got. Frankly, I'm amazed that
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: you ever returned to Mars, and how you managed to
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: make rubble of an orbit ship with a crew of
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: four hundred men trying to stop you is more than
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: I can comprehend. But you did it all right. Fine,
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: you were justified. They attacked you, held you prisoner, threatened you. Fine,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: they'd have cut your throats in another few hours. Perhaps fine.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: I believe you, But there's one big question you can answer,
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: and unless you can, no court in the Solar System
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: will listen to you. What question, Tom said, The question
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: of motives. The Major replied, you had plenty of motive
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: for doing what Tawny says you did. But what motive
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: did Jupiter Equilateral have if your story is true? They
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: wanted to get what dad found out in the belt. Ah, yes,
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: that mysterious bonanza that Roger Hunter found. I was afraid
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: that that's what you'd say. And it's the reason that
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: Jupiter Equilateral is going to win this fight and you
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: are going to lose it. I don't think I understand,
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: said Tom slowly. I mean that I'm going to have
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: to testify against you, the Major said, because your father
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: didn't find a thing in the asteroid belt and I
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: happen to know it. It's been a war, the Major
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: said later, a dirty, vicious war with no holds barred
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: and no quarter given. Not a shooting war, of course,
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: nothing out in the open, but a war just the same,
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: with the highest stakes of any war in history. It
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: didn't look like a war at first, the Major went on,
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: Back when the colonies were being built. Nobody really believed
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: that anything of value would come of them. Scientific outposts, perhaps,
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: places for vibratories and observatories, not much more. The colonies
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: were placed under United Nations control. Nobody argued about it,
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: and then things began to change. There was wealth out
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: here and opportunities for power. With the overpopulation at home,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: Earth was looking more and more Tomorrow and Venus for
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: a place to move, not tiny colonies, but places for
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: millions of people. And as Mars grew, Jupiter Equilateral grew.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: But it was just a mining company, Tom said. At
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: first it was, but then its interests begin to expand.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: The company accumulated wealth, unbelievable wealth, and had developed many friends.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: Soon it had friends back on Earth fighting for it,
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: and the United Nations found itself fighting to stay on Mars.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: I don't see why, Tom said. The company already has
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: half the mining claims in the belt. They aren't interested
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: in the mining, The major said. They have a much
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: longer range goal than that. The men behind Jupiter Equilateral
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: are looking ahead. They know that someday earth men are
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: going to have to go to the stars for colonies.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: It won't be a matter of choice. After a while,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: they'll have to go well. Jupiter Equilateral's terms are very simple.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: They're perfectly willing to let the United Nations control things
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: on Earth. All they want is control of everything else Mars.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: If they can drive us out Venus too, if it
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: ever proves up for colonies, and if they can gain
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: control of the ships that leave our solar system for
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: the stars, they can build an empire. And they know it.
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: They were silent for a moment. Then Johnny Coombs said,
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: doesn't anybody on Earth know about this? There are some
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: who know, but they don't see the danger. They think
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: of Jupiter Equilateral as just another big company. So far,
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: you in control of Mars and Venus has been held up,
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: even though the pressure on the legislators back on Earth
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: has been getting heavier and heavier. Jupiter Equilateral won the
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: greatest fight in its history when they limited you in
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: jurisdiction to Mars and kept us out of the belt.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: And now they hope to convince the lawmakers that were
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: incompetent to administer the Martian colonies and keep peace out here.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: If they succeed, we'll be called home in nothing flat.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: We've had to fight just to stay the major spread
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: his hands helpless. Like I said, it's been a war.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: Our only hope was to prove that the company was
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: using piracy and murder to gain control of the asteroids.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: We had to find a way to smash the picture
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: they've been painting of themselves back on Earth as big,
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: benevolent organization interested in only the best for Earth colonists
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: on the planets. We had to expose them before they
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: had the Earth in chains. But now, maybe not even
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: a century from now, but sometime years from now, when
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: the breakthrough to the stars come and earthmen discovered that
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: they want to leave Earth, they have to pay toll.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: They could never do that, Gregg protested, they're doing it, son,
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: and they're winning. They've been searching desperately for a way
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: to fight back. And that was where your father came in.
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: He could see the handwriting and he knew what was happening.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: That was why he broke with the company and tried
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: to organize a competing force before it was too late,
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: and it was why he died in the belt. He
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: knew I couldn't send an agent out there without unquestionable
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: evidence of major crime of some sort or another. But
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: a private citizen could go out there, and if he
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: happened to be working with the U N hand in glove,
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: nobody could do anything about it. Then Dad was a
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: UN agent. Oh not officially, there's not a word in
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: the records. If I were forced to testify under oath,
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: I would have to deny any connection. But unofficially he
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: went out there to lay a trap. The Major told
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: them then it had been an incredible risk that Roger
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: Hunter had taken, but the decision had been his. The
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: plan was simple, to involve Jupiter Equilateral in a case
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: of claim jumping in piracy that would hold up in court,
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: pressed by a man who would not be intimidated and
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: could not be bought out. Roger Hunter had made a
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: trip to the Belt and come back with stories very
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: carefully planted in just the right ears of a fabulous strike.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: He knew that Jupiter Equilateral had jumped a hundred rich
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: claims in the past, forcing the independent miners to agree,
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: frightening them into silence, sort disposing of them with accidents,
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: but this was one claim they were not going to jump.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: The UN cooperated, helping him spread the story of his
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: big strike until they were certain that Jupiter Equilateral would
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: go for the bait. Then Roger Hunter had returned to
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: the belt, with the un patrol ship close by in
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: case he needed help. We thought it would be enough,
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: the Major said, unhappily. We were wrong. Of course. At
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: first nothing happened, not a sign of a company's ship, nothing.
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: Your father contacted me. Finally he was ready to give up.
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: Somehow they must have learned that it was a trap.
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: But they had just been careful, was all. They had
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: waited until our guard was down, and then moved in
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: fast and hit hard. He sank down in his seat
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: behind the desk. Regarding the Hunter twins, sadly, you know
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: the rest. Perhaps you can see now why I tried
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: to keep you from going out there. There was no
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: proof to uncover, and no bonanza load for you to find.
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: There never was of a nance a load. The twins
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: looked at each other, and then at the Major. Why
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: didn't you tell us, Greggs said, Would you have listened?
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: Would telling you have kept you from going out there?
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: There was no point telling you. I knew you would
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: have to find out for yourselves, however painfully. But what
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: I'm telling you now is the truth.