Science fiction; Short stories; Space ships -- Fiction
Captain Loomis swung on the group of men. "All right, now, I want you to
get this straight. This is our catch. We don't know what's aboard it,
and we don't know where it came from, but it's our prize. That means not
a word goes back home about it until we've learned all there is to
learn. We're going to get the honors on this one, not some eager Admiral
back home--"
The men stirred uneasily, worried eyes seeking Sabo's face in alarm.
"What about the law?" growled Sabo. "The law says everything must be
reported within two hours."
"Then we'll break the law," the captain snapped. "I'm captain of this
Station, and those are your orders. You don't need to worry about the
law--I'll see that you're protected, but this is too big to fumble. This
ship is from the stars. That means it must have an Interstellar drive.
You know what that means. The Government will fall all over itself to
reward us--"
Sabo scowled, and the worry deepened in the men's faces. It was hard to
imagine the Government falling all over itself for anybody. They knew
too well how the Government worked. They had heard of the swift trials,
the harsh imprisonments that awaited even the petty infringers. The
Military Government had no time to waste on those who stepped out of
line, they had no mercy to spare. And the men knew that their captain
was not in favor in top Government circles. Crack patrol commanders were
not shunted into remote, lifeless Satellite Stations if their stand in
the Government was high. And deep in their minds, somehow, the men knew
they couldn't trust this little, sharp-eyed, white-haired man. The
credit for such a discovery as this might go to him, yes--but there
would be little left for them.
"The law--" Sabo repeated stubbornly.
"Damn the law! We're stationed out here in this limbo to watch Saturn
and report any activity we see coming from there. There's nothing in our
orders about anything else. There have been ships from there, they
think, but not this ship. The Government has spent billions trying to
find an Interstellar, and never gotten to first base." The captain
paused, his eyes narrowing. "We'll go aboard this ship," he said softly.
"We'll find out what's aboard it, and where it's from, and we'll take
its drive. There's been no resistance yet, but it could be dangerous. We
can't assume anything. The boarding party will report everything they
find to me. One of them will have to be a drive man. That's you,
Brownie."
The little man with the sharp black eyes looked up eagerly. "I don't
know if I could tell anything--"
"You can tell more than anyone else here. Nobody else knows space drive.
I'll count on you. If you bring back a good report, perhaps we can
cancel out certain--unfortunate items in your record. But one other
should board with you--" His eyes turned toward John Sabo.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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