It made another picture--Art Kuzak, the old friend, gone somewhat too
big for his oversized britches, perhaps... No doubt Art had had to put
aside some grandiose visions, considering the turn that events had
taken: Whole asteroids moved across the distance, and put into orbit
around the Earth, so that their mineral wealth could be extracted more
conveniently. Space resorts established for tourists; new sports made
possible by zero-gravity, invented and advertised. Art Kuzak had the
gift of both big dreaming and of practice. He'd talked of such things,
before.
Nelsen's smirk was wry. "Dispersal for survival. I agree," he said.
"When they tried to settle Mars, it was being mentioned. Also, long
before that. Your wisdom is not new, Art. It wasn't followed perhaps
because people are herding animals by instinct. Anyhow, our side has to
hold what it has _really_ got--one-fourth of Pallastown above the
surface, and considerably more underground, including shops,
installations, and seventy per cent of its skilled inhabitants,
determined to stay in the Belt after the others were killed or wounded,
or ran away. Unless you've quit claiming to be a practical man, Art,
you'll have to go along with helping them. You know what kind of
materials and equipment are needed, and how much we can supply, better
than I do. Or do I have to withdraw my fraction of the company in
goods? We'll take up the dispersal problem as soon as possible."
Art Kuzak could only sigh heavily, grin a lopsided grin, and produce.
Soon a great caravan of stuff was on the move.
There was another picture: Eileen Sands, the old Queen of Serene in a
not-yet-forgotten song, sitting on a lump of yellow alloy splashed up
from the surface of Pallas, where a chunk of mixed metal and stone had
struck at a speed of several miles per second, fusing the native alloy
and destroying her splendid _Second Stop_ utterly in a flash of
incandescence. Back in Archer, she looked almost as she used to look at
Hendricks'. Her smile was rueful.
"Shucks, I'm all right, Frank," she said. "Even if Insurance, with so
many disaster-claims, can't pay me--which they probably still can. The
boys'll keep needing entertainment, if it's only in a stellene space
tent. They won't let me just sit... For two bits, though, I'd move into
a nice, safe orbit, out of the Belt and on the other side of the sun
from the Earth, and build myself a retreat and retire. I'd become a
spacewoman, like I wanted to, in the first place."
"I'll bet," Nelsen joshed. "Otherwise, what have you heard and seen?
There's a certain fella..."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account