Rogue Ship, page 6
It was vaguely believed by the scientists who succeeded Dr. Tellier that the ship had run into one of the paradoxes implicit in the Lorentz-Fitzgerald Contraction Theory.
Whatever the explanation, it was never solved.
Watching Tellier, Lesbee wondered if his companion and best friend felt as empty inside as he did. Incredibly, this was the first time he – or anyone – had been outside the big ship. 'We're actually heading down,' he thought, 'to one of those great masses of land and water, a planet.'
As he watched, fascinated, the massive ball grew visibly bigger.
They came in at a slant, a long, swift, angling approach, ready to jet away if any of the natural radiation belts proved too much for their defense systems. But as each stage of radiation registered in turn, the dials showed that the lifeboat machinery made the proper responses automatically.
The silence was shattered suddenly by an alarm bell.
Simultaneously, one of the screens focused on a point of rapidly moving light far below. The light darted toward them.
A missile!
Lesbee caught his breath.
But the shining point of light veered off, turned completely around, took up position several miles away, and began to fall with them.
His first thought was: 'They'll never let us land,' and he experienced intense disappointment.
Another signal sounded from the control board.
'They're probing us,' said Tellier, tensely.
An instant after the words were uttered, the lifeboat seemed to shudder and to stiffen under them. It was the unmistakable feel of a tractor beam, probing from the other craft. Its field clutched the lifeboat, drew it, held it.
The science of the Alta III inhabitants was already proving itself formidable.
Underneath him, the lifeboat continued its movement.
The entire crew gathered around and watched as the point of brightness came closer, resolved into an object, which rapidly grew larger. It loomed up close, bigger than they.
There was a metallic bump. The lifeboat shuddered from stem to stern.
Even before the vibrations ceased, Tellier said, 'Notice they put our airlock against theirs.'
Behind Lesbee, his companions began that peculiar joking of the threatened. It was a coarse comedy, but suddenly it had enough actual humor to break through his fear. Involuntarily, he found himself laughing.
Then, momentarily free of anxiety, aware that Browne was watching and that there was no escape, he said, 'Open the airlock! Let the aliens capture us as ordered.'
13
A few minutes after the outer airlock was opened, the airlock of the alien ship also folded back. Rubberized devices rolled out and contacted the Earth lifeboat, sealing off both entrances from the vacuum of space.
Air hissed into the interlocking passageway between the two craft. In the alien craft's lock, an inner door opened.
Again Lesbee held his breath.
There was a movement in the passageway. A creature ambled into view. The being came forward with complete assurance, and pounded on the hull with something he held at the end of one of his four leathery arms.
The creature had four legs and four arms, and a long, thin body held straight up. It had almost no neck, yet the many skin folds between the head and the body indicated great flexibility was possible.
Even as Lesbee noted the details of its appearance, the being turned its head slightly, and its two large expressionless eyes gazed straight at the hidden wall scanner that was photographing the scene, and therefore straight into Lesbee's eyes.
Lesbee blinked at the creature, then tore his gaze away, swallowed hard, and nodded at Tellier. 'Open up!' he commanded.
The moment the inner door of the Earth lifeboat opened, six more of the four-legged beings appeared, one after another, in the passageway, and walked forward in the same confident way as had the first.
All seven creatures entered the open door of the lifeboat.
As they entered, their thoughts came instantly into Lesbee's mind...
As Dzing and his boarding party trotted from the small Karn ship through the connecting airlock, his chief officer thought a message to him.
'Air pressure and oxygen content are within a tiny percentage of what exists at ground level on Karn. They can certainly live on our planet.'
Dzing moved forward into the Earth ship, and realized that he was in the craft's control chamber. Then, for the first time, he saw the men. He and his crew ceased their forward motion, and the two groups of beings – the human and the Karn -gazed at each other.
The appearance of the two-legged beings did not surprise Dzing. Pulse viewers had, earlier, penetrated the metal walls of the lifeboat and had accurately photographed the shapes and dimensions of those aboard.
His first instruction to his crew was designed to test whether the strangers were, in fact, surrendering. He commanded: 'Convey to the prisoners that we require them, as a precaution, to remove their clothing.'
...Until that direction was given, Lesbee was still uncertain as to whether or not these beings could receive human thoughts as he was receiving theirs. From the first moment, the aliens had conducted their mental conversations as if they were unaware of the thoughts of the human beings. Now as he watched, the Karn came forward. One tugged suggestively at his clothing. And there was no doubt.
The mental telepathy was a one-way flow only – from tie Karn to the humans.
He was already savoring the implications of that as he hastily undressed... It was absolutely vital that Browne should not find out about this.
Lesbee removed all his clothes; then, before putting them down, took out his notebook and pen. Standing there naked, he wrote hurriedly:
'Don't let on that we can read the minds of these beings.'
He handed the notebook around, and he felt easier as each of the men read it, and nodded at him silently.
Dzing communicated telepathically with someone on the ground. 'These strangers,' he reported, 'clearly acted under command to surrender. The problem is, how can we now let them overcome us, without arousing their suspicion that this is what we want them to do?'
Lesbee did not receive the answer directly. But he picked it up from Dzing's mind: 'Start tearing the lifeboat apart. See if that brings a reaction.'
The members of the Karn boarding party went to work at once. Off came the control panels. The floor plates were melted and ripped up. Soon instruments, wiring, controls were exposed for examination.
Browne must have watched the destruction; for now, before the Karn could start wrecking the automatic machinery, his voice commanded:
'Watch out, you men! I'm going to shut your airlock and cause your boat to make a sharp right turn in exactly twenty seconds.'
For Lesbee and Tellier, that simply meant sitting down in their chairs and turning them so that the acceleration pressure would press them against the backs. The other men sank to the ripped-up floor, and braced themselves.
Underneath Dzing, the ship swerved. The turn began slowly, but he permitted it to propel him over to one wall of the control room. There, he grabbed with his numerous hands at some handholds that had suddenly moved out from the smooth metal. By the time the turn grew sharper, he had his four short legs braced, and he took the rest of the wide swing around with every part of his long, sleek body taut. His companions did the same. They all pretended to be affected by inertia.
Presently, the awful pressure eased up, and he was able to estimate that their new direction was almost at right angles to what it had been.
He had reported what was happening while it was going on. Now, the answer came: 'Keep on destroying. See what they do, and be prepared to succumb to anything that looks like a lethal attack.'
Lesbee wrote quickly in his notebook: 'Our method of capturing them doesn't have to be subtle. They'll make it easy for us – so we can't lose.'
Lesbee waited tensely as the notebook was passed around. It was still hard for him to believe that no one else had noticed what he had about this boarding party.
Tellier added a note of his own: 'It's obvious now that these beings were also instructed to consider themselves expendable.'
And that settled it for Lesbee. The others hadn't noticed what he had. He sighed with relief at the false analysis, for it gave him that most perfect of all advantages: that which derived from his special education.
Apparently, he alone knew enough to have analyzed what these creatures were.
The proof was in the immense clarity of their thoughts. Long ago, on earth, it had been established that man had a faltering telepathic ability, which could be utilized consistently only by electronic amplification outside his brain. The amount of energy needed for the step-up process was enough to burn out brain nerves if applied directly.
Since the Karn were utilizing it directly, they couldn't be living beings.
Therefore, Dzing and his fellows 'were an advanced robot type.
The true inhabitants of Alta III were not risking their own skins at all.
Far more important to Lesbee, he could see how he might use these marvelous mechanisms to defeat Browne, take over the Hope of Man, and start the long journey back to Earth.
14
He had been watching the Karn at their work of destruction, while he had these thoughts. Now, he said aloud: 'Hainker, Graves.'
'Yes?' The two men spoke together.
'In a few moments I'm going to ask Captain Browne to turn the ship again. When he does, use our specimen gas guns!'
The men grinned with relief. 'Consider it done,' said Hainker.
Lesbee ordered the other four crewmen to be ready to use the specimen-holding devices at top speed. To Tellier he said, 'You take charge if anything happens to me.'
Then he wrote one more message in the notebook: 'These beings will probably continue their mental intercommunication after they are apparently rendered unconscious. Pay no attention, and do not comment on it in any way.'
He felt a lot better when that statement also had been read by the others, and the notebook was once more in his possession. Quickly, he spoke to the screen:
'Captain Browne! Make another turn, just enough to pin them.'
And so they captured Dzing and his crew.
As he had expected, the Karn continued their telepathic conversation. Dzing reported to his ground contact: 'I think we did that rather well.'
There must have been an answering message from below, because he went on, 'Yes, Commander. We are now prisoners as per your instructions, and shall await events... The imprisoning method? Each of us is pinned down by a machine that has been placed astride us, with the main section adjusted to the contours of our bodies. A series of rigid metal appendages fasten our arms and legs. All these devices are electronically controlled, and we can, of course, escape at any time. Naturally, such action is for later...'
Lesbee was chilled by the analysis; but for expendables there was no turning back.
He ordered his men: 'Get dressed. Then start repairing the ship. Put all the floor plates back, except the section at G-8. They removed some of the instruments, and I'd better make sure myself that it all goes back all right.'
When he had dressed, he reset the course of the lifeboat, and called Browne. The screen lit up after a moment, and there, staring back at him, was the unhappy countenance of the forty-year-old officer.
Browne said glumly: 'I want to congratulate you and your crew on your accomplishments. It would seem that we have a small scientific superiority over this race, and that we can attempt a landing.'
Since there would never be a landing on Alta III, Lesbee simply waited without comment, as Browne seemed lost in thought.
The officer stirred finally. He still seemed uncertain. 'Mr. Lesbee,' he said, 'as you must understand, this is an extremely dangerous situation for me – and' – he added hastily – 'for this entire expedition.'
What struck Lesbee, as he heard those words, was that Browne was not going to let him back on the ship. But he had to get aboard to accomplish his own purpose. He thought: 'I'll have to bring this whole conspiracy out into the open, and apparently make a compromise offer.'
He drew a deep breath, gazed straight into the eyes of Browne's image on the screen, and said, with the complete courage of a man for whom there is no turning back: 'It seems to me, sir, that we have two alternatives. We can resolve all these personal problems either through a democratic election or by a joint captaincy, you being one of the captains and I being the other.'
To any other person who might have been listening, the remark must have seemed a complete non sequitur. Browne, however, understood its relevance. He said with a sneer, 'So you've come out in the open. Well, let me tell you, Mr. Lesbee, there was never any talk of elections when the Lesbees were in power. And for a very good reason. A spaceship requires a technical aristocracy to command it. As for a joint captaincy, it wouldn't work.'
Lesbee urged his lie: 'If we're going to stay here, we'll need at least two people of equal authority – one on the ground, one on the ship.'
'I couldn't trust you on the ship!' said Browne flatly.
'Then you be on the ship,' Lesbee proposed. 'All such practical details can be arranged.'
The older man must have been almost beside himself with the intensity of his own feelings on this subject. He flashed, 'Your family has been out of power for over fifty years! How can you still feel that you have any rights?'
Lesbee countered, 'How come you know what I'm talking about?'
Browne said, a grinding rage in his tone, 'The concept of inherited power was introduced by the first Lesbee. It was never planned.'
'But here you are,' said Lesbee, 'yourself a beneficiary of inherited power.'
Browne said, from between clenched teeth, 'It's absolutely ridiculous that the Earth government which was in power when the ship left – and every member of which has long been dead – should appoint somebody to a command position... and that now his descendant thinks that command post should be his, and his family's, for all time!'
Lesbee was silent, startled by the dark emotions he had uncovered in the man. He felt even more justified, if that were possible, and advanced his next suggestion without a qualm.
'Captain, this is a crisis. We should postpone our private struggle. Why don't we bring one of these prisoners aboard so that we can question him by use of the films, or play acting? Later, we can discuss your situation and mine.'
He saw from the look on Browne's face that the reasonableness of the suggestion, and its potentialities, were penetrating.
Browne said quickly, 'Only you come aboard – and with one prisoner. No one else!'
Lesbee felt a dizzying thrill as the man responded to his bait. He thought: 'It's like an exercise in logic. He'll try to murder me as soon as he gets me alone and is satisfied that he can attack without danger to himself. But that very scheme is what will get me aboard, and I've got to get on the ship to carry out my plan.'
Browne was frowning. He said in a concerned tone: 'Mr. Lesbee, can you think of any reason why we should not bring one of these beings aboard?'
Lesbee shook his head. 'No reason, sir,' he lied.
Browne seemed to come to a decision. 'Very well. I'll see you shortly, and we can then discuss additional details.'
Lesbee dared not say another word. He nodded, and broke the connection, shuddering, disturbed, uneasy.
'But,' he thought, 'what else can we do?'
He turned his attention to the part of the floor left open for him. Quickly he bent down and studied the codes on each of the programming units, as if he were seeking exactly the right ones that had previously been in those slots.
He found the series he wanted: an intricate system of cross-connected units that had originally been designed to programme a remote-control landing system, an advanced Waldo mechanism capable of landing the craft on a planet and taking off again, all directed on the pulse level of human thought.
He slid each unit of the series into its sequential position and locked it in.
Then, that important task completed, he picked up the remote-control attachment for the series and casually put it in his pocket.
He returned to the control board and spent several minutes examining the wiring and comparing it with a wall chart. A number of wires had been torn loose. These he now reconnected, and at the same time he managed with a twist of his pliers to short-circuit a key relay of the remote-control pilot.
Lesbee replaced the panel itself loosely. There was no time to connect it properly. And, since he would easily justify his next move, he pulled a cage out of the storeroom. Into this he hoisted Dzing, manacles and all.
Before lowering the lid, he rigged into the cage a simple resistance network that would prevent the Karn from broadcasting on the human-thought level. The device was simple merely in that it was not selective. It had an on-off switch which triggered, or stopped, energy flow in the metal walls on the thought level.
When the device was installed, Lesbee slipped the tiny remote control for it into his pocket. He did not activate the control. Not yet.
From the cage, Dzing telepathed: 'It is significant that these beings have selected me for this special attention. We might conclude that it is a matter of mathematical accident, or else that they are very observant and so noticed that I was the one who directed activities. Whatever the reason, it would be foolish to turn back now.'
A bell began to ring. As Lesbee watched, a spot of light appeared high on one of the screens. It moved rapidly toward some crossed lines in the exact center of the screen. Inexorably, then, the Hope of Man, as represented by the light, and the lifeboat moved toward their fateful rendezvous.
15
