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it contains highly sophisticated detection gear.
"You have no reason to believe me, but also have no reason not to capture this
scout. I also have information of highest priority about Earth defenses and
coming operations there.
"I am broadcasting now on the emergency frequency. I am recording and this
message will automatically repeat on the two main communication frequencies,
then the emergency frequency again. It will be continuous until we meet.
Message ends."
After this Jan could only wait. And begin to worry. Re kept his receivers on
and picked up a number of coded messages from Earth fleet command directed at
the
IP-256, all of which he cheerfully ignored. It would be best if the enemy
forces thought that the scout ship had vanished completely. This could only
cause dismay, and hopefully a good bit of confusion, perhaps even make them
think about possible secret weapons that the rebels might possess. Yet Jan was
still worried. His plan was a good one, the only possible one, but it required
a great deal of patience.
Since he had received no communications from the attacking fleet it could mean
that his message had been received and that the instructions were being
carried out. Or that everything had gone wrong, and they were heading swiftly
into interstellar space. Or even worse, that there had been a mistaken
identification of the ships approaching Earth, that they were defending, not
attacking, forces. Once he had started to worry, he found a great deal to
worry about.
Captain Lastrup did not make life any easier. As soon as he had regained
consciousness he began a continuous and high-pitched description of what would
happen to Jan after he had been returned to justice. Saliva ran down his chin,
unnoticed by him in the intensity of his feelings, while his voice grew hoarse
and rasping. Jan tried to stem the flow by threatening to get the throttling
wire out again, but this had no effect. Then he warned that he would gag the
Captain, and when this made not the slightest difference he actually put the
threat into practice. But the sight of the bulging eyes, the face gradually
turning from red to purple as Lastrup swung and writhed and bounced off of the
bulkhead was too much, too inhumane. He ungagged the man and turned the radio
on loud to roar counterpoint to the ravings.
Two days went by like this, with the Captain dozing off for blessed minutes in
his
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logy%20(UC).txt bindings, only to awake and resume the tirade again. He would
not eat, spat out the food that Jan tried to feed him, but did drink some
water. Undoubtedly to keep his voice in good operating order. When Jan let him
use the sanitary facilities he fought to escape and in the end Jan had to wire
him to the apparatus. It was very
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Therefore it was a tremendous relief for Jan on the third day when he found a
weak blip at the outermost edge of the lowpower radar screen he was
broadcasting. It was approaching on what very well might be a converging
course. He killed the recorded broadcast, dropped the power down to the
weakest signal possible. And crossed his fingers.
"This is Kulozik on IP-256. I have a blip on my radar. I)o you read me?"
The radio frequency rustle of the stars was all he heard. He sent the signal
again, stepped up the gain on his receiver-then heard it, weak but there.
"Do not alter course, IP-256. Do not attempt to start your engines for any
reason.
Do not attempt any more broadcasts. If you do we will fire. Open your outer
port but do not attempt to leave your ship or we will fire. Out?'
Definitely warlike, Jan thought. But he would probably be doing the same thing
if he were in their place. He killed his radar transmitter, but left the
receiver on, since it was well shielded and produced no detectable emissions.
After that all he could do was evacuate the airlock and open the outer hatch.
And wait.
"My friends are coming," he said, with more assurance than he really felt.
This had not the slightest effect on his captive who described Jan's tortured
future for the thousandth time. It was not pleasurable to hear and having the
Captain removed from his earshot would be one of the major pleasures that
would come with the end of this trip.
Something clattered in the airlock.
A moment later the cycling light flashed on and Jan could hear the air pumps
laboring. He swung about to face the lock, floating there, waiting expectantly
as the green light blinked and the inner door opened.
"Raise the hands. Don't move."
Jan did as he was ordered and two armed men kicked in from the lock chamber.
One of them ignored Jan and swung on by him toward the Captain who turned his
abuse in the newcomer's direction. The other man, his face obscured by the
gold sputtering of his helmet, waved his gun toward the airlock.
"Get into one of those suits," he said.
While Jan was putting it on the first man came down from the control room.
"Just the two of them," he said.
'And maybe a bomb wired to go off. This still could be a trap."
"Well, you volunteered for this mission?'
"Don't remind me. Stay with the tied-up one, don't release him, while I
shuttle this one over."
Jan was only happy to obey. Once outside the lock he saw the spidery form of a
medium-sized deep spacer in orbit to the rear of the scout. His captor, with a
jet pack on his suit, grabbed Jan by the arm and towed him over to the open
airlock of the waiting ship. There were {wo other gunmen watching him as he
came out of the airlock and stripped off his suit. A large man in a black
uniform was looking at him closely. His hair was blond, melding into gray, his
jaw large and pugnacious and thrust in Jan's direction.
"I am Admiral Skougaard," he said. "Now tell me what all this is about."
Jan was unable to talk, speechless, overwhelmed by a sense of deepest despair.
Because the Admiral was wearing the same Space Forces uniform that he was.
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Jan fell back, as though struck a physical blow. The guns followed him and the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]