Scavengers in Space Page 15

From a few miles out in space, the job of searching the surface had not appeared difficult. From the rock itself, things looked very different. There was no way, from the surface, to scan large areas, and the surface was so rough that they had to take constant care not to damage their boots or rip holes in their suits. There were hundreds of crevices and caves, half concealed by the loose rock that crumbled under their feet as they moved.

  They spread out from the scooter for an hour of fruitless searching. Tom spent most of the time pulling his boots free of surface cracks and picking his way over heaps of jagged rock. None of them got farther than a hundred yards from the starting place. None of them found anything remarkable.

  “We could spend weeks covering it this way,” Greg said when they met at the scooter again. “Why don’t I take the scooter and criss-cross the whole surface at about fifty feet? If I spot anything, I’ll yell.”

  It seemed like a good idea. Greg strapped himself into the scooter’s saddle, straddling the fuel tanks, using the hand jet to guide himself as he lifted lightly off the surface. He disappeared over the horizon of rock, then reappeared as he moved over the surface and back.

  Tom and Johnny waited with the major. Twenty minutes later Greg brought the tiny craft back again. “It’s no good,” he said. “I’ve scanned the whole bright side, came as close as I dared.”

  “No sign of anything?” Johnny said.

  “Not a thing. The dark side looks like a sheer slab, from what my lights show. If we only had some idea what we were looking for.”

  “Maybe you weren’t close enough,” Tom said. “Why not drop each of us off to take a quarter “of the bright side and work our way in?”

  The others agreed. Tom waited until the major and Johnny had been posted; then he hopped on the scooter behind Greg and dropped off almost at the line of darkness, where the sheer slab began. All of them had hoped that there might be a sign, something that Roger Hunter might have left to mark his cache, but if there was one, none of them spotted it. Tom checked with the others by the radio in his helmet, and started moving back toward the center of the bright side.

  An hour later he was only halfway to the center, and he was nearly exhausted. At a dozen different spots he thought he had found a promising cleft in the rock, a place where something might have been concealed, but exploration of the clefts proved fruitless.

  And now his confidence began to fail. Supposing he had been wrong? They knew the rock had passed very close to Roger Hunter’s asteroid, the astronomical records proved that. But suppose Dad had not used it as his hiding place at all? He pulled himself around another jagged rock shelf, staring down at the rough asteroid surface beyond.

  At the base of the rock shelf, something glinted in the sunlight. He leaped down, and thrust his hand into a small crevice in the rock. His hand closed on a small metal object.

  It was a gun. It felt well-balanced, familiar in his hand—the revolver Dad had always carried in his gun case.

  He had to let them know. He was just snapping the speaker switch when he heard a growl of static in his earphones, and then Greg’s voice, high-pitched and excited:

  “Over here! I think I’ve found something!”

  It took ten minutes of scrambling over the treacherous surface to reach Greg. Tom saw his brother tugging at a huge chunk of granite that was weged into a crevice in the rock. Tom got there just as the major and Johnny topped a rise on the other side and hurried down to them.

  The rock gave way, rolling aside, and Greg reached down into the crevice. Tom leaned over to help him. Between them they lifted out the thing that had been wedged down beneath the boulder.

  It was a metal cylinder, four feet long, two feet wide, and bluntly tapered at either end. In the sunlight it gleamed like polished silver, but they could see a hairline break in the metal encircling the center portion.

  They had found Roger Hunter’s bonanza.

  In the cabin of the scout ship they broke the cylinder open into two perfect halves. It came apart easily, a shell of paper- thin but remarkably strong metal, protecting the tightly packed contents.

  There was no question what the cylinder was, even though there was nothing inside that looked even slightly familiar at first examination. There were several hundred very tiny thin discs of metal that fit on the spindle of a small instrument that was packed with them. There were spools of film, thin as tissue but amazingly strong. Examined against the light in the cabin, the film seemed to carry no image at all. But there was another small machine that accepted the loose end of the film, and a series of lenses that glowed brightly with no apparent source of power. There was a thick block of shiny metal covered on one side with almost invisible scratches.

  A time capsule, beyond doubt. A confusing treasure, at first glance, but the idea was perfectly clear. A hard shell of metal protecting the records collected inside.

  Protecting against what? A planetary explosion? Some sort of cosmic disaster that had blown a planet and its people into the fragments that now filled the Asteroid Belt?

  At the bottom of the cylinder was a small tube of metal. They examined it carefully, trying to guess what it was supposed to be. At the bottom was a tiny stud. When they pressed it, the cylinder began to expand and unfold, layer upon layer of thin glistening metallic material that spread out into a sheet that stretched halfway across the cabin.

  They stared down at it. The metal seemed to have a life of its own, glowing and glinting, focusing light into pinpoints on its surface.

  It was a map.

  At one side, a glowing ball with a fiery corona, an unmistakable symbol that any intelligent creature in the universe that was able to perceive it at all would recognize as a star. Around it, in clearly marked orbits, ten planets. The third planet had a single satellite, the fourth two tiny ones, the sixth eleven. The seventh planet had ten, and was encircled by glowing rings.

  The fifth planet was broken into four parts.

  Beyond the tenth planet there was nothing across a vast expanse of the map, but at the far side was another star symbol, this one a double star with four planetary bodies.

  They stared at the glowing map, speechless. There could tie no mistaking the meaning of the thing that lay before them, marked in symbols that could mean only one thing to any intelligence that could recognize stars and planets.

  In the center of the sheet was another symbol. It lay halfway between the two solar systems, in the depths of interstellar space. It was a tiny picture, a silvery sliver of light, but it too was unmistakable.

  It could be nothing else but a star ship.

  Later, as they talked, they saw that the map had told each of them, individually, the same thing. “They had a star- drive,” Tom said. “Whatever kind of creatures they were, and whatever the disaster that threatened their planet, they had a star-drive to take them out of the solar system to another star.”

  “But why leave a record?” Greg wanted to know. “If nobody was here to use it.”

  “Maybe for the same reason that Earthmen bury time capsules with records of their civilization,” Major Briarton said. “I’d guess that the records here will tell, when they have been studied and deciphered. Perhaps there was already some sign of intelligent life developing elsewhere in the solar system. Perhaps they hoped that some of their own people would survive. But they had a star-drive, so some of them must have escaped. And with the record here—”

  “We may be able to follow them,” Greg said.

  “If we can decipher the record,” Johnny Coombs said. “But we don’t have any clue to their language.”

  “Did you have any trouble understanding what the map had to say?” the major said quietly.

  “No.”

  “I don’t think the rest will be much more difficult. They were intelligent creatures. The record will be understandable, all right.” He started to fold the map back into a tube again. “Maybe Roger Hunter tried to use the film projector. We’ll never know. But he must have realized that he h
ad discovered the secret of a star-drive. He realized that the United Nations should be the ones to explore and use it, and he gave his life to keep it out of the hands of Tawney and his men.”

  “A pity,” a cold voice said close behind them, “that he didn’t succeed, after all.”

  They whirled. In the hatchway to the after cabin Merrill Tawney was standing, with a smile on his lips and a Markheim stunner trained directly on Major Briarton’s chest.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The Final Move

  For a moment they could only stare at Tawney’s smiling face. Then the lieutenant made a swift move. “Don’t try it,” Tawney snapped, tightening his finger on the trigger. “I’m an excellent shot. One more move from any of you, and the major will leam what stun-shock feels like.”

  Swiftly the little company man crossed the cabin, motioning them together against the wall with his stunner. He reached out to the radio panel, flipped it open, and expertly ripped out a handful of wiring. Then he leaned back against the control board, smiling again. “I realize I’m much earlier than you expected, Major. You did a very neat job of camouflaging your takeoff. We were almost fooled, and no doubt the dummy ship you sent off later got full fanfare. I suppose there will be a dozen patrol ships converging on this spot in a few hours, expecting to surprise a Jupiter Equilateral ship making a desperate attempt to hijack your little treasure here.”

  The fat man laughed cheerfully. “Unfortunately for you,” he went on, “we have many friends on Mars, including a man in the map room. I’m afraid your little trap isn’t going to work after all.”

  The major’s face was gray. “How did you get here?”

  “By hitch-hiking. How else? Most uncomfortable, back there, even with a pile of pressure suits for padding, but your pilot was really very skillful.”

  Johnny Coombs turned on the major. “What does he mean, a trap? I don’t get this.”

  The major sighed wearily. “I had to try to force his hand. Even if we found what we were looking for, we had no case that could stand up against them. We needed proof, and I thought that with this as bait we could trap them. He’s right about the patrol ships, but they won’t be near for hours.”

  “And that will be a little late to help,” Tawney said pleasantly.

  The major glared at him. “Maybe so, but you’ve gone too far this time. This is an official U.N. ship. You’ll never be able to go back to Mars.”

  “Really?” the fat man said. “And why not? Officially I’m on Mars right now, with plenty of people to swear to the fact.” He chuckled. “You seem to forget that little matter of proof, Major. When your patrol ships find a gutted ship and five corpses, they may suspect that something more than an accident was involved, but what can they prove? Nothing more than they could prove in the case of Roger Hunter’s accident. Scout ships have been known to explode before.”

  He ran his hand over the metal cylinder. “And as for this, it’s really a surprise. Of course when we failed to find any evidence of mining activity, we were certain that Roger Hunter’s bonanza was something more than a vein of ore, but this!” He looked at their long faces. “Don’t worry, it will all be over quickly. My ship will be here in minutes now, and as soon as we have transferred your little treasure, we won’t make you suffer any longer. And you can be certain that we will exploit the secret of a star-drive to the very fullest.”

  “How do you think you can get away with it?” the major said. “Turning up with something like that right after a whole series of suspicious accidents in space?”

  “Oh, we aren’t as impatient as some people. We wouldn’t be so foolish as to break the news now. Five years from now, maybe ten years, one of our orbit ships will happen upon a silvery capsule on one of our asteroid claims, that’s all. I wouldn’t be surprised if a non-company observer might be on board at the time, maybe even a visiting senator from Earth. For something this big, we can afford to be patient.”

  There was silence in the little scout ship cabin. They knew that Tawney meant everything he said. For all his smiling conversation, he was alert, and the weapon in his hand did not waver. A single false move would just bring the inevitable that much sooner.

  And the end seemed inevitable. This was a desperate move on Tawney’s part. He was gambling everything on it; he would not take the chance of letting any of them return to Mars or anywhere else to testify.

  As soon as Tawney’s ship arrived, it would all be over.

  Greg caught Tom’s eye, saw the hopelessness on his brother’s face. He clenched his fists angrily. If it were not for Tom, Dad’s bonanza might have gone on circling the sun for centuries, maybe forever, wedged in its hiding place on the rocky surface of the eccentric asteroid.

  But it had been found. Earth needed a star-drive badly; a few more years, and the need would be desperate. And if a group of power-hungry men could control a star-drive and hold it for profit, they could blackmail an entire planet for centuries, and build an empire in space that could never be broken.

  He knew that it must not happen that way. Dad had died to prevent it. Now it was up to them.

  Greg glanced quickly around the cabin, searching for some way out, something that might give them a chance. His eyes stopped on the control panel, and he sucked in his breath, his heart pounding. A possibility.

  It would require a swift, sure move, and someone to help, someone with fast reflexes. It was dangerous; they might all be killed. But if his training at Star-Jump was good for anything, it might work.

  He caught Johnny Coombs’ eye, winked cautiously. A frown creased Johnny’s forehead. He shot a quick look at Tawney, then lowered his eyelid a fraction of an inch. Greg could see the muscles of his shoulders tightening.

  Greg took quick stock of the cabin again. Then he took a deep breath and bellowed, “Johnny! Duck!”

  Almost by reflex, Johnny Coombs hurled himself to the floor. Tawney swung the gun around. There was an ugly ripping sound as the stunner fired, but Greg was moving by then. In two bounds he was at the control panel. He hooked an arm around a shock bar, and slammed the drive switch on full.

  There was a roar from below as the engines fired. Greg felt a jolt of pain as the accelleration jerked at his arm. Tom and the major were slammed back against a bulkhead, then fell in a heap on top of Johnny and the lieutenant as the awful force of acceleration dragged them back. Across the cabin Tawney sprawled on the floor. The stunner flew from his hand and crashed against the rear bulkhead.

  On the panel Greg could see the acceleration gauge climbing swiftly—past four g’s, up to five, to six. The ship was moving wildly; there was no pilot, no course.

  With all the strength he could muster Greg tightened his arm on the shock bar, lifting his other arm slowly toward the cut-off switch. He had spent many hours in the acceleration centrifuge at Star-Jump, learning to withstand and handle enormous forces of acceleration for brief periods, but the needle was still climbing and he knew he could not hold on long. His fingers touched the control panel. He strained, inching them up toward the switch.

  His fingers closed on the stud, and he pulled. The engine roar ceased. On the floor behind him Tawney moved sluggishly, trying to sit up. Blood was dripping from his nose. He was still too stunned to know what had happened.

  Greg leaped across the room, caught up the stunner, and then sank to the floor panting. “All right,” he said as his breath came back, “that’s all. Your ship may have trouble finding us now, but I bet our pilot can get us back to Mars.”

  When they left the Sun Lake City infirmary it was almost noon, and the red sun was gleaming down from overhead.

  Walking slowly, the Hunter twins moved along the surface street toward the U.N. building.

  “Hell recover without any trouble,” the doctor assured them. “He caught the stunner beam in the shoulder, and it will be a while before he can use it, but Johnny Coombs will be hard to keep down.”

  They had promised Johnny to return later. They had had check-ups
themselves. Tom’s eyes were surrounded by purple splotches, and his broken left arm was in a sling. Greg’s arms and legs were so stiff he could hardly move them. The major and the lieutenant were sore but uninjured.

  Now the boys walked without talking. Already a U.N. linguist was at work on the record tapes from the metal cylinder, and a mathematician was doing a preliminary survey on the math symbols on the metal block.

  “I hope there’s no trouble reading them,” Greg said.

  “There won’t be. It’ll take time, but the records are decipherable. And Dr. Raymond was certain that the engineering can be figured out. Earth is going to get her star-drive, all right.”

  “Well, one thing’s sure—there’ll be some changes made, with the U.N. moving out into the belt,” Greg said. “And we’ve got work to do.”

  “You mean the trial?” Tom said. “I guess. The major says that Jupiter Equilateral is trying to pin the whole thing on Tawney now. But they won’t get away with it, if we can stand together on our story of what happened.”

  Greg looked at his brother and grinned. “You know something, Twin?” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to have much trouble standing together from now on about anything.”

  Somewhere in the distance the twins heard the rumble of engines. They stopped and watched as a great silvery cargo ship rose from the space port and headed up into the dark blue sky. They watched it until it disappeared from sight.

  They were both thinking the same thing.

  An Earth-bound ship, powerful and beautiful, limited to the sun and nine planets, unable to reach farther out. But some day soon a different kind of ship would rise.

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